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Bad Cell Service in Longmont? How a Reliable Home Network Fixes Dead Zones

Wed, 28 Oct 2026 17:29:11 GMT

Short answer: if your phone drops calls or shows one bar inside your Longmont home or office, you don't have to wait for the carriers to fix the towers. A properly designed wireless network can carry your calls and texts over Wi-Fi instead. It needs access points placed where you actually use your phone, each one wired back to your internet connection. Next Step Communications designs and installs these networks for homes and businesses across Longmont, Niwot and the rest of Northern Colorado.

Below, we'll cover:

why so many people around Longmont are losing signal this fall
why some buildings were dead zones long before that
how Wi-Fi calling works
what makes a network that carries calls reliably
what the process looks like when we fix it for you

Why is cell service so bad in Longmont right now?

If it feels like your coverage got worse this fall, you're not imagining it. More than 100 people in Longmont and Niwot have filed complaints with the FCC about their cell service since early September 2026, according to local reporting. Neighbors have described calls dropping mid-sentence and texts arriving late or not at all. Many say their phones show full bars outside but nothing in the living room.

The cause is unusual. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have limited their signal in parts of Boulder County to comply with federal rules protecting the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone north of Boulder. Table Mountain is a 1,700-acre federal research site where scientists study radio waves and test communications technology. Transmitters near it, including cell sites, have to keep their signal below certain levels so they don't interfere with that work. When carriers turn their signal down to stay within those limits, homes and businesses on the edges of their coverage feel it first.

In October, Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Representative Joe Neguse wrote to the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. They asked both agencies to sit down with the carriers and find a fix, pointing to public safety and the county's wildfire risk. That's good news. But federal agencies and three national carriers don't move quickly, and any solution will take time to reach individual neighborhoods. In the meantime, you still need your phone to work in your kitchen, your home office and your shop.

It's not only the towers: why buildings create dead zones

Even before this fall, plenty of Longmont homes had rooms where the phone simply didn't work. Cell signals have to get through your walls and roof to reach you, and many modern building materials are very good at blocking them:

Low-E windows. The energy-efficient coating that keeps your house warm in a Colorado winter also reflects radio signals.
Metal roofing and siding. These are common on newer builds, shops and outbuildings around Boulder and Weld counties, and they block signal very effectively.
Stucco, brick and concrete. Traditional stucco is often applied over wire mesh, which acts like a shield.
Basements. Below-grade rooms are surrounded by earth and concrete, which is why so many basement offices and media rooms have no service.
Distance and layout. In a large home, the rooms on the far side from the tower can lose most of their signal before it reaches them.

Commercial buildings have it worse. Steel framing, metal warehouse walls and large footprints can leave the middle of the building with no service even when the parking lot has full bars. For a business, that means missed customer calls, staff walking outside to finish a conversation, and two-factor login codes that never arrive.

A quick way to tell which problem you have: step outside and check your bars. If you have a strong signal in the driveway but lose it indoors, your building is a big part of the problem. If you have a weak signal outside too, the tower situation is to blame. If there's signal outside, a cell booster can bring it indoors (more on that below). Either way, Wi-Fi calling works, because it doesn't depend on the cell signal reaching you at all.

How does a wireless network fix bad cell service?

Every major carrier supports Wi-Fi calling , and almost every modern smartphone has it built in. When it's turned on and the cell signal is weak, your phone sends ordinary calls and text messages over your Wi-Fi network instead of the cell tower. Your number stays the same, the people you call see nothing different, and there's no app to install. You dial and text exactly as you always have.

The catch is that Wi-Fi calling is only as good as the Wi-Fi underneath it. Two common setups cause trouble:

a single router in a closet
a store-bought mesh kit that passes the signal wirelessly from one unit to the next

Both tend to produce the same symptoms people blame on their carrier: calls that break up as you walk between rooms, robotic-sounding audio, and drops at the edge of coverage. Streaming a movie can handle a hiccup because it loads ahead of what you're watching. A live phone call can't. Voice needs a connection that is steady, not just fast.

That's where a professionally designed network makes the difference.

Access points placed by design, not by guesswork

We place access points where you actually spend time and take calls. That includes the kitchen, the home office, the bedroom at the end of the hall, the basement, the garage and the detached shop. We plan coverage room by room around how you use the space, not around wherever an outlet happens to be.

Every access point wired back to the network

Each access point runs on its own structured cabling , which carries both data and power to the device over a single cable. Every access point gets a full-strength connection straight from your internet connection, instead of picking up a weaker signal over the air from the unit next to it. That's the single biggest reason a wired system holds a call steady where a wireless-only mesh struggles.

Seamless roaming from room to room

A properly configured system hands your phone from one access point to the next as you move. A call that starts in the kitchen doesn't drop in the hallway or on the stairs. Getting this right is mostly about configuration and placement, and it's one of the details off-the-shelf kits often miss.

Coverage outdoors and in outbuildings

Plenty of Longmont-area properties have a patio, a backyard, a barn, a shop or a guest house where people need their phone to work. Outdoor access points are simply an extension of your home or business network, so the same coverage, and the same Wi-Fi calling, carries on outside.

For a separate building, such as a detached shop, barn or office, we can install a point-to-point wireless bridge. It connects a building on the same property, or a separate one up to about a mile away with good line of sight, back to the main building where your internet and network are located. The bridge is hidden, and the remote building gets Wi-Fi, hardwired connections and cameras, all on the same network as the main building.

One network for everything else, too

The same network carries your streaming, smart home devices, work laptop, video doorbell and security cameras . Fixing your phone service ends up improving everything else connected in the house.

You can read more about how we approach this on our home and business networking page.

What about a cell signal booster?

If your phone has a usable signal outside the building but loses it indoors, a cell signal booster is another option, and it's one we still install. An antenna mounted on the outside of the building picks up the existing signal, and the booster brings it inside so your phone works throughout the house or office.

A booster can only bring in a signal that's already there. It can't amplify a signal that doesn't exist, so if there's nothing usable outside, as in some of the areas hit by this fall's coverage cuts, a booster won't help. That's where Wi-Fi calling over a solid network is the more dependable fix. During the walk-through, we'll look at what signal you have outside and recommend the approach that fits, or a combination of both.

What does the process look like?

Every building is different, so we start by understanding yours rather than selling a box.

Walk-through. We look at the layout, the construction materials and where your phone currently fails. We also talk through how you use each space. Where do you take work calls? Where do the kids do homework? Is there a shop or office out back?
Design. We plan the number and placement of access points, the cable routes, and where the network equipment will live.
Proposal. We lay out the recommended work in a proposal, so you know exactly what's being installed before we start.
Installation. We run the cabling, mount the access points cleanly, and install the network equipment.
Programming. We set up and configure the network, including the settings that let your phone hand off smoothly from one access point to the next.
Testing. We test the wireless signal and coverage throughout the property, including the spots that used to be dead zones.
Phone setup. We connect your household's phones to the network, activate Wi-Fi calling, and make sure your emergency address is set correctly.

What internet connection do I need for Wi-Fi calling?

Wi-Fi calling uses very little bandwidth, so reliability matters far more than speed. Most of Longmont is well served by wired internet, and a fiber optic connection from one of the area's fiber internet providers makes an excellent foundation for Wi-Fi calling. Our job is to make sure that connection actually reaches every corner of the building.

Fiber and cable don't reach rural properties east of town or up toward the foothills. Out there, Starlink is often the realistic option, and it can carry Wi-Fi calling too. We install both the dish and the network behind it, so the whole chain from the satellite to your phone is set up properly. See our Starlink installation page for more.

What happens during a power outage?

This is worth thinking about, especially given Boulder County's wildfire risk and the wind-driven outages the Front Range sees every year. Wi-Fi calling depends on your internet connection and your network equipment, and both need power. When the power goes out, your phone falls back to whatever cell signal is available, which in a dead zone may not be much.

We recommend, and almost always quote, a rack-mounted or standalone battery backup for the network equipment. It surge-protects the gear and, depending on how much equipment is connected to it, keeps your internet and any cameras on the network running for a short period while the power is out. If you need several hours of runtime, we can install a larger system to keep everything operational through an extended outage.

Is there anything I need to set up on my phone?

Two things. First, turn on Wi-Fi calling in your phone's settings. On an iPhone, it's under the Phone settings. On most Android phones, it's under the call or connection settings. Some carriers also ask you to activate it on your account the first time.

Second, when your carrier asks, enter your correct street address as your emergency (E911) address. When you call 911 over Wi-Fi, that registered address is what helps dispatchers find you, so keep it accurate and update it if you move. If you're not sure how, we're happy to walk you through it when we finish the install.

Is this just for homes, or for businesses too?

Both. We install networks for homes, home offices, shops, clinics, offices, warehouses and multi-unit buildings. For businesses, the stakes are higher: a dropped call can be a lost customer, and staff who can't get a signal at their desk end up taking calls in the parking lot.

With a well-built business network, staff can take calls anywhere in the building and customers don't hear the line breaking up. Login codes and alerts arrive when they should. The same network is a solid foundation for cameras, card readers and guest Wi-Fi. For property managers, the same approach can cover common areas, leasing offices and maintenance spaces.

There's no minimum job size. A single room with no signal is worth a call just as much as a whole building.

Frequently asked questions

Will Wi-Fi calling cost me extra?

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile don't charge extra for Wi-Fi calling within the U.S. on standard plans. Check your own plan for international calling rules.

Do I need a new phone?

Almost certainly not. Wi-Fi calling has been standard on iPhones and mainstream Android phones for years.

Will my phone switch back to the cell network when I leave the house?

Yes. Your phone switches between Wi-Fi and cellular automatically, so you don't have to do anything.

Can guests use Wi-Fi calling in my home?

Yes, as long as they're connected to your Wi-Fi and have Wi-Fi calling turned on. A separate guest network keeps them off your main network while still giving them reliable calls.

Can't I just buy a mesh kit from a big-box store?

You can, and in a small, simple home it may be enough. Larger homes, homes with thick walls or basements, and commercial buildings are a different story. There, wireless-only mesh units often lose quality each time the signal passes from one unit to the next, and that shows up first on voice calls. Wired access points avoid that problem.

How many access points will I need?

It depends on the size, layout and construction of the building. A compact home may need two or three, while a large home with a basement and outbuildings may need more. We'll recommend a number after the walk-through rather than guessing up front.

Will the carriers eventually fix coverage in Longmont?

Possibly. Federal lawmakers have asked regulators to work with the carriers on a solution. But a well-built network fixes indoor dead zones either way, including the ones caused by your building itself. It will keep paying off however the tower situation plays out.

What areas do you serve?

Next Step Communications is based in Longmont and serves Northern Colorado. Our area runs from Cheyenne, WY, to Fort Morgan and down to Evergreen, Conifer and South Denver, including Niwot, Boulder, Mead, Firestone, Berthoud and Fort Collins.

Stop stepping outside to take a call

Maybe your dead zones started with this fall's coverage cuts, or maybe they've been there since the day you moved in. Either way, you shouldn't have to stand in the driveway to finish a phone call. As a Longmont-based company, we're dealing with the same coverage problems as our neighbors, and we know which fixes hold up. We'll look at where coverage fails, design a network that covers it, and get Wi-Fi calling working reliably throughout your home or business. Request an estimate or call us at 303-834-9486.

Home Networking and Starlink Installation in Boulder & Fort Collins, CO

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 14:22:23 GMT

Yes — Next Step Communications installs home and business networking, structured wiring, Wi-Fi systems and Starlink across Boulder, Fort Collins and the foothill and mountain communities around both cities, from Gunbarrel, Lyons, Jamestown and Ward to Wellington, Laporte and Red Feather Lakes. Our service area runs from Cheyenne, Wyoming down to Fort Morgan, out to Evergreen and Conifer, and into south Denver — depending on the distance, a visit further out than that may include a travel fee. If you've searched "networking company near me" or "who installs Starlink in Boulder" and come up empty, this page answers the questions we actually get asked from both towns.

Does Next Step Communications serve Boulder and Fort Collins?

Yes. Northern Colorado is our core territory, and Boulder and Fort Collins are two of the areas we hear from most — between the two, they account for roughly a fifth of everything we're asked to quote in a given year. That includes the city proper in both cases, plus the surrounding towns: Gunbarrel and the Boulder foothills on one side, Wellington, Laporte and Red Feather Lakes on the other. We also cover the harder-to-reach pockets nearby — Ward, Allenspark, Jamestown and Lyons in the mountains west of Boulder — which is exactly the kind of terrain where a generic ISP installer won't go.

If you're outside either city and unsure whether you're in range, the honest answer is: probably. Our footprint stretches well beyond the Front Range's obvious names, and the fastest way to find out is to ask when you request an estimate rather than assume you're too far out.

Why do homes in the Boulder foothills and mountains struggle with internet?

Elevation and tree cover are the two things that make Boulder County's foothill and mountain communities different from a flat Longmont subdivision. Satellite services like Viasat and HughesNet need a clear, consistent line of sight to a fixed point in the sky — a stand of ponderosa pine or a canyon wall in Jamestown or Ward blocks that instantly. Cable providers like Comcast and phone-line services like CenturyLink or Conexion often simply don't run lines that far up the canyon, or the copper that does exist is old enough that speeds crater long before the modem does.

That combination — no reliable cable, unreliable satellite — is exactly why Starlink has become the default answer for so many homes in Ward, Allenspark, Lyons and the Boulder foothills. It doesn't need a line back to a central office or a cable trunk; it just needs sky. But a dish set on a porch railing or propped against a tree, which is how a lot of DIY installs start out, is still fighting the same obstruction problem it was meant to solve. A proper roof or pole mount, run through a weatherproofed cable path into a router placed where the house actually needs Wi-Fi — not wherever the box happened to land — is the difference between a connection that holds through a Front Range windstorm and one that drops every time the weather turns.

What about Fort Collins, Wellington, Laporte and Red Feather Lakes?

Fort Collins presents a different version of the same problem. Inside the city, most homes have Comcast or CenturyLink available, but older neighborhoods and larger lots still fight weak Wi-Fi coverage once you get more than a room or two from the modem — an off-the-shelf mesh kit from a big-box store often can't push a clean signal through older plaster walls or across a finished basement. Head just outside city limits toward Wellington, Laporte or further northwest to Red Feather Lakes and the picture shifts again: acreage properties, detached shops and barns, cabins set back in the trees, and enough distance between buildings — or between the property and the nearest cable or fiber drop — that a single router was never going to reach the whole property in the first place.

We see a mix of both jobs from this area: structured Cat6 wiring run through a home during a remodel so every room gets a hardwired drop instead of relying on Wi-Fi alone, and standalone Starlink installs for properties where cable never made it out to the property line — which is the case for a lot of Red Feather Lakes, where Starlink is often the only realistic option. Both start the same way — a walkthrough of the property to figure out where the equipment actually needs to sit, not just where it's convenient to drill.

Can Next Step install a Starlink kit I already bought?

Yes, and it's one of the most common calls we get. A lot of Boulder and Fort Collins homeowners order the dish directly from Starlink, get partway through the ceiling-tripod setup, and call us once they realize a temporary mount isn't going to survive a Colorado winter. We install customer-owned kits as a standalone service — no obligation to have bought anything through us. We also sell Starlink as a one-stop package (dish, professional setup and a free month of service included) for anyone who'd rather skip the ordering step entirely. Either way, a typical install takes one technician three to four hours: mount, cable run, router placement and a signal check before we leave.

Is my job too small to bother calling?

We hear this question — almost word for word — several times a month, usually from someone with a single Starlink dish or one problem room of dead Wi-Fi, worried that a "real" networking company only wants whole-house rewires or commercial contracts. There's no minimum job size. We carry parts for every current Starlink dish generation and take on single-room Wi-Fi fixes the same way we take on a full structured-wiring build for a new house. If it's worth a phone call to you, it's worth a truck to us.

What if I've already had a bad experience with another provider?

Competitor churn is a big part of what brings people to us in the first place — homeowners leaving Comcast, Viasat, Rise Broadband, HughesNet or Conexion after one too many outages, or asking us to redo a Ring camera or Starlink setup that a previous installer (sometimes themselves) got wrong. If that's you, the fix usually isn't a different brand of hardware — it's a proper installation: the right mount, cable run and equipment placement for your specific property, done once by someone who's seen the same terrain problem on the house down the road.

Frequently asked questions

Does Next Step Communications travel to Ward, Allenspark, Jamestown or Lyons?
Yes. These mountain communities west of Boulder are within our regular service area, and they're often where satellite and cable options are weakest — which is exactly where a proper Starlink or networking install matters most.

Do you sell Starlink kits, or only install them?
Both. We sell Starlink as a complete package with professional installation and a free month of service, and we install kits customers have already purchased on their own — there's no requirement to buy through us.

How long does a Starlink installation take?
A typical residential install takes one technician three to four hours, covering mounting, cable runs, router placement, and signal verification.

Do you work in Wellington, Laporte and Red Feather Lakes, or just inside Fort Collins city limits?
We cover Wellington, Laporte, Red Feather Lakes and the surrounding acreage properties as part of our regular Fort Collins service area, in addition to the city itself.

Is there a minimum job size?
No. We take on single-room Wi-Fi fixes and one-dish Starlink installs the same way we take on full structured-wiring builds for new construction.

What if I'm outside Boulder or Fort Collins but still in Northern Colorado?
Our service area runs from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Fort Morgan, out to Evergreen and Conifer, and into south Denver. Depending on the distance, a visit further out than that may include a travel fee. If you're unsure, ask when you request an estimate.

If you're in Boulder, Fort Collins, Red Feather Lakes, or anywhere in between and dealing with a dead-zone Wi-Fi problem, a Starlink dish that never got a real mount, or a property that just needs to be wired properly the first time, request a free estimate and we'll walk the property with you.

Starlink Installation in Northern Colorado: 4 Mistakes We Fix Most Often

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:21:42 GMT

Most of the Starlink work we get called out to isn't a new install. It's a re-do.

Someone buys the kit — direct from Starlink, or off the shelf at a big-box store — puts it up over a weekend, and it works. Mostly. Then the video calls start dropping at the same time every afternoon, or the speed is fine on the deck and useless in the back bedroom, and nobody can work out why. Four things account for almost all of it, and three of them are decided before the dish ever comes out of the box.

The short answer

Obstructions. The dish needs a clear view of a large patch of northern sky — not just "the sky".
Mount choice. Starlink sells several and they are not interchangeable. The roof decides which one.
The cable run. The connector isn't standard Ethernet, so you can't extend it with a spare patch lead.
Router placement. Where the router lands decides your Wi-Fi, and the utility room is usually the wrong place.

1. The dish can see the sky — just not enough of it

In the continental US a Starlink dish needs a clear view toward the north. The constellation isn't permitted to transmit toward the equator, where the geostationary satellites sit, so the dish looks north-northwest to north-northeast. Which means the tree that matters is the one on your north side — and in the foothills that is almost always a ponderosa nobody thought about.

It also needs a wide cone of sky rather than a gap: roughly a hundred degrees. That is why a spot that looks open from the ground still fails. You're checking for a hole in the canopy when the dish needs most of the ceiling.

The frustrating part is what a partial obstruction does. A tree doesn't block the signal outright, it weakens it. The dish sees a satellite, begins handing over to it, and the handover fails. You get a dropout of a few seconds — long enough to end a Teams call, short enough that a speed test five minutes later looks perfect. Which is exactly why people conclude that Starlink is fine and their laptop is broken.

Use the obstruction checker in the Starlink app before you commit to a position, and give it time. It only records a blockage when a satellite actually passes behind the obstruction, so a reading taken twenty minutes after setup tells you very little. Leave it running for a day and then look.

If the reading is poor, the order of fixes is: get the dish higher, move it a few metres, then trim. Height solves more than people expect — a pole that clears the roofline and the first stand of trees often takes a marginal site to a clean one. Trimming works too, but you're on a two-or-three-year cycle before you're back up there again.

2. The mount is wrong for the roof

Starlink sells several mounts and they are not interchangeable. Which one you need depends on the roof, and getting it wrong means either a compromised aim or a hole in the wrong place.

Pivot mount — for slanted, shingled roofs. The usual choice on a Front Range pitched roof.
Ridgeline mount — sits on the ridge of a gable roof under ballast weights, no drilling. Rated for slopes under about 45 degrees, and the right answer when you'd rather not put a fastener through the roof at all.
Wall mount — an exterior wall near the top of a gable or fascia, accommodating up to about a four-inch overhang.
Pipe adapter — for an existing pole, roughly 31 to 63.5 mm. Metal pipe only, not PVC.
X-frame base — ground-level or a temporary setup.

Two things go wrong most often. The first is drilling into a shingle roof without flashing the penetration properly — fine until the first spring melt, and then not fine at all. The second is choosing a mount for cable convenience rather than for the aim: a wall mount on the south side of the house because the route was easier, on a dish that needs to look north.

3. The cable run is the part people underestimate

The connector on a current Starlink dish is not RJ45. You cannot make up a longer run with a spare patch cable and a coupler out of a drawer, and this is the single most common thing we get called about. We've had a kit sitting in a box for weeks because the original cable had been cut to length by someone who reasonably assumed it terminated like Cat6.

Officially you're choosing between the cable in the box and a 45-metre replacement from Starlink. That covers most houses. What it doesn't cover neatly is the case where the dish has to sit well away from the building to clear the trees — which is exactly the situation in the canyons.

There's a second problem specific to older homes up here. Getting from the roof to wherever the router needs to live means finding a route through the structure, and in a 1970s foothills house that route is rarely obvious. This is ordinary low-voltage work — the same thing we do running structured cabling — but it's the part a general contractor mid-remodel usually hasn't scoped, which is why we get called by builders about as often as by homeowners.

4. The router ends up in the wrong room

The kit's cable runs from the dish to the router, so the router tends to land wherever the cable was easiest to bring in: a garage, a mechanical room, a cupboard behind two block walls. Then the Wi-Fi is poor in the house and everyone blames the satellite.

Starlink's router is a competent piece of kit, but it is one access point — and one access point in a garage will not cover a 4,000-square-foot house with plaster walls and a walk-out basement. Nor will a mesh kit bought to paper over it. Mesh nodes that carry their backhaul over the same congested Wi-Fi inherit the problem they were bought to solve.

The right answer is usually to treat the two jobs separately: Starlink is the connection, and the house network is its own piece of work. Bring the dish's cable to a sensible point, then run wired access points out to where people actually work. That's what we'd do on a fibre or cable connection too. Starlink doesn't change it.

What about condos and HOAs?

A good share of the Starlink calls we take come from condos — third floor of a four-storey building, a balcony facing the wrong way, a roof nobody is certain you're allowed on.

Two things worth knowing before you buy anything. A balcony install often fails an obstruction check even when the view looks open, because the building above you removes the top of the sky. And roof access is usually a permissions question rather than a technical one, so it's worth asking the HOA or the building manager first. We're happy to look at a building and tell you whether the roof is the only realistic option before you commit.

Do you actually need an installer?

Not always, and we'd rather say so.

A single-storey house with an open northern aspect, a safely accessible roof and a router going into a central room is a genuine weekend job. Starlink designed the kit for exactly that, and it works.

It's worth a call when any of these are true:

You're in trees, in a canyon, or against a north-facing slope
The dish needs a pole, needs to sit well away from the house, or the roof isn't one you should be walking on
The cable has to get through a finished structure
Wi-Fi needs to reach more than one floor, an outbuilding or a detached shop
You're mid-build or mid-remodel and want it run inside the walls rather than tacked on afterwards
It's already up and dropping, and you want it diagnosed rather than guessed at

We install across Northern Colorado, and Starlink tends to make the most sense in the places where wired service doesn't reach — the Boulder County mountain communities like Ward, Allenspark, Jamestown and Lyons, and further north around Red Feather Lakes, Livermore and Estes Park.

Frequently asked questions

Can you install a Starlink kit I already bought?

Yes. A lot of the Starlink work we do is on hardware the customer already owns, whether it came direct from Starlink or off a shelf.

Which direction does a Starlink dish need to face in Colorado?

North, broadly — anywhere from north-northwest to north-northeast. Obstructions to the south of the dish matter far less than the ones to the north.

Will trees stop Starlink from working?

Usually they interrupt it rather than stop it. Partial obstruction causes short, repeated dropouts instead of a clean outage, which is why the problem often isn't spotted until weeks after installation.

How long is the Starlink cable, and can I extend it?

The kit ships with a cable and Starlink sells a 45-metre replacement. The connector is not standard Ethernet, so you cannot simply add a patch lead and a coupler to make up the distance.

Can Starlink be installed on a condo or apartment?

Often, yes — but balconies frequently fail obstruction checks because the building above blocks the upper sky, so it's worth resolving roof access with the HOA or building manager before buying hardware.

Do you service the mountain communities?

Yes. Ward, Allenspark, Jamestown, Lyons, Red Feather Lakes, Livermore and Estes Park are among the areas where Starlink is most often the right answer.

Getting it looked at

If your Starlink is up and dropping, or still boxed because the cable run stopped you, tell us where the house is and what's above it — that's usually enough for us to say what's involved. Request an estimate , or see what a Starlink installation covers.

Video Surveillance & Networking for Multi-Site Businesses in Northern Colorado

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 18:21:38 GMT

Yes — Next Step Communications designs and installs networking, structured cabling and video surveillance for businesses that operate more than one property across Northern Colorado. We work with property managers running multiple apartment communities, healthcare groups refreshing several clinics on the same schedule, multi-location retail chains, and general contractors who need a low-voltage subcontractor who can show up at site two the same way they showed up at site one. One point of contact, one set of standards, no re-explaining the job at every address.

Multi-site work looks different from a single homeowner's project, and a lot of the property managers, healthcare administrators and retail operators who call us are trying to figure out whether we actually do this kind of work before they explain their whole portfolio. Here's a direct answer to the questions we hear most from that caller.

Does Next Step Communications install networking and surveillance for businesses with more than one location?

Yes. A meaningful share of the commercial work we take on across the Front Range isn't a single building — it's a portfolio. That includes property management companies overseeing apartment communities where cameras need to cover parking, entries and common areas; healthcare groups rolling out the same camera and network standard across several clinic locations one at a time; and retail or service businesses with a handful of storefronts that all need to look and perform the same way on the back end.

The advantage of working with one low-voltage contractor across every site is consistency. The cabling standard, the camera models, the network hardware and the documentation are the same at location three as they were at location one, which matters when your IT contact or facilities lead isn't the person standing in the building day to day.

What does a multi-site video surveillance project actually involve?

It starts with a site walk at each property, not a one-size camera count. A 36-unit apartment community needs different camera placement than a single-tenant retail storefront — parking lot coverage, building entries, mail and package areas, and any spot where an incident report is likely to ask "do we have footage of this." We design the camera layout, cable runs and recording setup for each address, then keep the equipment and configuration consistent across the portfolio so any technician on our team — or your own IT contact — can service any location without relearning the system.

For property managers specifically, we frequently see wiring left behind by a previous vendor, dead cameras nobody's replaced, or a DVR nobody has the login for. Part of a multi-site project is often untangling what's already there before adding what's missing, one building at a time, without shutting down coverage while we work.

Can you standardize network and cabling design across every location?

Yes, and this is usually the biggest efficiency gain of hiring one contractor for a portfolio instead of a different local installer at each address. We document the cabling standard, switch and router configuration, and camera model list once, then apply it at every site. That means your team gets a network closet in Longmont that's wired the same way as the one in Fort Collins, with the same labeling convention and the same equipment on the support contract — not five different setups from five different vendors, each with its own quirks.

This matters most for healthcare and retail operators who answer to a corporate standard or a compliance requirement: a consistent, documented build is easier to audit, easier to hand off if staff changes, and easier for us to support remotely once it's in place.

Do you work with property managers and apartment communities specifically?

Yes — this is one of the more common calls we get. Apartment and multifamily property managers usually come to us after an incident (a break-in, a parking lot dispute, a liability claim) exposes that existing camera coverage has gaps, or after inheriting a system from a previous management company that nobody currently understands. We handle the full scope: exterior and common-area cameras, the network backbone to support them, and — where a community wants it — access control and gate systems tied into the same network.

What about healthcare offices, retail chains, or businesses with compliance requirements?

We've installed structured cabling and camera systems for healthcare groups coordinating a refresh across several clinic locations, and for retail and service businesses with multiple storefronts that need consistent coverage and network performance at every address. We're a low-voltage installer, not a compliance consultant — for anything with a specific regulatory requirement (HIPAA-adjacent network segmentation, for example), we build to the specification your IT or compliance team hands us and document the install so it holds up if you're ever asked to show it.

Is there a minimum job size, or are we too small a business to bother calling?

No minimum. We take on everything from a single-camera storefront to a full multi-building portfolio, and a lot of our commercial work starts small — one location, one trial project — before a property manager or operator brings us the rest of their sites once they've seen how the first one went.

What's the real difference between a home camera system and a commercial one?

Coverage requirements, storage, and who needs access. A home system usually covers a handful of entry points for one household. A commercial system has to account for public access areas, employee-only zones, parking and perimeter coverage, longer footage retention for liability purposes, and — on a multi-site job — remote viewing access for a facilities or security lead who isn't physically at any one location. The camera hardware itself isn't always dramatically different; the design, storage capacity and network backbone behind it are.

Can you also add background music or a commercial audio system across our locations?

Yes. Distributed audio is a natural add-on to a networking and camera project, especially across multiple locations — the same low-voltage infrastructure and network backbone that runs your cameras can carry a music system too. We install everything from a single-zone system in one small office to a multi-zone setup that lets different areas of a larger property — a lobby, a retail floor, a waiting room — play different audio or run in sync with each other.

For businesses playing music in public spaces, licensing matters — a personal streaming account isn't intended for that use. We set clients up with a properly licensed, public-use commercial streaming service, with the option to insert your own scheduled announcements or promotions into the music at set times of day if you want that. For commercial audio content specifically, we work with Custom Channels, a Boulder-based commercial audio streaming provider, when their programming is the right fit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you serve businesses outside the immediate Longmont area?

Yes. Our service area runs from Cheyenne, WY down to Fort Morgan, out to Evergreen and Conifer, and into South Denver, with travel further available for a fee — which covers most multi-site portfolios spread across the Front Range.

Can you take over a camera or network system installed by a previous vendor?

Yes, this is common on multi-site jobs, especially with property management turnover. We'll assess what's already in place — cabling, cameras, recording hardware — and tell you honestly what's worth keeping versus replacing, rather than assuming everything needs to be torn out.

Do all of our locations need to be done at the same time?

No. Most multi-site projects roll out one location at a time, on whatever schedule works for your operations, using the same design standard at each stop so the portfolio ends up consistent even though the work is phased.

Who do you send the invoice and project updates to on a multi-location job?

One point of contact on our side works with one point of contact on yours — typically a property manager, facilities lead or ops contact — so you're not fielding a different conversation at every address.

Do you handle both the network side and the cameras, or just one?

Both. Cameras need a network to run on, so we design and install the structured cabling and network hardware alongside the camera system rather than treating them as separate projects that have to be coordinated between two vendors.

Do you install background music or commercial audio systems, not just security and networking?

Yes — distributed audio, from a single zone to a multi-zone system, is something we add alongside networking and surveillance on multi-site jobs, including properly licensed public-use streaming and scheduled announcement insertion where a client wants that.

How do we get a quote for a multi-site project?

Request an estimate and tell us how many locations and roughly what each one needs — we'll usually start with a site walk at one property before scoping the full portfolio.

If you're managing more than one property or location across Northern Colorado's Front Range, see our commercial networking and surveillance page or request an estimate to start with a walkthrough of your first site. We also install wired and wireless networking , structured cabling , video surveillance and multi-zone audio systems for single-location homes and businesses across the region.

Top Benefits of a Professionally Installed Wired or Wireless Gig capable Network

Mon, 07 Nov 2022 19:46:33 GMT

Why You Should Consider a Professionally Installed Internet Network in Your Northern Colorado Home

Next Step Communications Provides Professional Networking Services to Residents of Colorado’s Front Range

There are many advantages to having a professionally wired or wireless gigabit network installed in your Northern Colorado home, versus a Wifi mesh or consumer-installed router.

“When designing a network, it’s critical to understand the needs of today’s home office, audio, and video from a networking standpoint,” says Jason Parmley, owner of Next Step Communications, Northern Colorado’s leading provider of in-home wired and wireless networking solutions. “The user-installed mesh systems readily available today have considerable limitations in the modern home.”

A mesh system, in which you plug one small router the size of a hockey puck into your modem, and place a series of similar devices around your home to create a web network, have limited range and customers that own one of these systems soon find that they have to keep buying more units to try to get even coverage throughout the home. “They speak wirelessly to each other, but are limited to between 20 and 30 feet and have to be sitting on a table or piece of furniture so they tend to clutter the home,” Parmley explains. “This results in the loss of speed and continuity between each device, as they aren’t individually wired together in most cases. So the further away you move from the router, the slower your Internet speeds will be and the more pucks you will need to buy.”

Compare this to professionally installed wired or wireless networks, and you can clearly see the benefits of the latter. “At Next Step Communications, our professional network installers hardwire from the modem location with Cat-6 cable, which is Gig network capable, to individual access points that can be ceiling- or wall-mounted,” Parmley describes. “Those wireless access points are fed the needed power and Internet over the same Cat6 cable from a POE switch so close to the same speed that the modem is giving out the wireless access points are broadcasting it throughout the home is the speed delivered to your laptop, phone, television, and more. This results in very low latency from the actual internet device that is giving the entire network internet access to the device that is broadcasting the wireless.”

Another thing we typically like to do for our customers’ network is to install all of their network equipment in a central location in a small wall-mounted open frame rack system. This is a low cost way to organize the wiring and leave room for switches, battery backups/surge protection modems, and home automation hubs to keep everything nice and neat, labeled, and easy for the customer or us to work on or add to in the future.

In addition to providing faster speeds to clients using Internet from Comcast, Century Link, Next Light, Fort Collins new Fiber network, or TDS in the Northern Colorado region, Next Step Communications’ networking services offer more security than web or mesh networks. “Our networks feature a standalone commercial-grade VPN firewall router, which is much more secure,” says Parmley.

Lastly, Next Step supports its network installs 100%. So if you suddenly run into a problem with your Internet access, you can bypass phone support from your Internet provider and go directly to Next Step as your first stop for help. “If our customers have an internet issue, Next Step’s team can log into the router remotely and quickly assess if it’s an equipment issue or an issue with the Internet provider,” says Parmley. “Having our team there to diagnose issues on the spot saves our customers a lot of time and headaches.”

If you are a homeowner on Colorado’s Front Range looking to outfit your home with a professional wired or wireless networking system, contact Next Step Communications today for a free estimate .

Northern Colorado 24/7 Color View Camera For Home Surveillance

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 19:13:10 GMT

Home Surveillance in Full Color from Next Step Communications

Install 24/7 Color Video Surveillance on Your Northern Colorado Property

Northern Colorado home and business owners rely on Next Step Communications in Mead, Colorado, for the latest in residential and commercial video surveillance equipment. Next Step is pleased to now offer its clients the top of the line 24/7 Full Time Color Bullet Camera. You can now survey your property at all times in full color view with this remarkable camera. Features include:

Switchable TV1, AHD, CVI, CVBS
5MP (2560 x 1944 Resolution)
2.8 mm Fixed Lens
65-foot Visable Light Range
130dB WDR
IP67 Rated
DC12V

“These new surveillance cameras have extreme lowlight sensors, so you see full color surveillance footage—even at night,” says Jason Parmley, owner of Next Step Communications. “An integrated floodlight that is manually controlled or timed, as well as a microphone, puts this camera over the top.”

Are you a home or business owner looking for full-color video surveillance of your property in Longmont, Boulder, Mead, Erie, Broomfield, Johnstown, Windsor, Loveland, Firestone, Frederick, or Berthoud? Contact our team of the most experienced video surveillance design and installation experts in all of Northern Colorado for your free estimate today.

Ring Versus IP Cameras for Home Surveillance on Colorado’s Front Range

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 19:27:27 GMT

Next Step Communications Warns Against the Dangers of Data Breaches with Ring Cameras

Why an IP Camera System Is the Safest Option for Your Colorado Home

You may have heard in the news of late about some security flaws with the Ring system. Most recently, it’s been reported that Ring fired some employees for watching customer videos .

If you are a homeowner in Colorado’s Front Range who wants to feel totally secure that your home video surveillance footage is not in the wrong hands, contact Next Step Communications. A top service provider of video surveillance equipment and installation in Northern Colorado, the team at Next Step is primarily concerned about your privacy.

“Our doorbell and other home surveillance security cameras connect to a DVR that records video footage to a memory stick inside the device, as well as the hard drive of the system,” says Jason Parmley, owner of Next Step Communications. “Not only does this mean that you and only you have access to your footage and it’s not stored on a massive server somewhere, but you also have the benefit of having that footage on a portable flash drive if needed.”

Parmley says this comes in particularly handy in police investigations, where providing the home surveillance footage on a flash drive is preferable to trying to email or upload it.

“This is definitely a more attractive option to our customers, as it provides them with full access and control of their surveillance footage,” says Parmley. “There is no way someone can change, edit, or delete the footage.”

In addition, Parmley adds that his Northern Colorado home security clients have the option of selecting between two Apps that connect to their home surveillance systems, so they can monitor their residences from anywhere, at any time. Both Apps are triple encrypted, giving Colorado homeowners added peace of mind.

“My family and I had considered a traditional alarm system for our home security, but we have two large dogs who make us feel pretty safe,” says Joshua from Boulder County. “Moreso, we were concerned with the rash of break ins, particularly to vehicles in front of homes, when we began to consider our options. Jason at Next Step came out and did a compete assessment of our situation, and then provided us with a handful of options so we could make the best choice for our home and budget.

“We’ve had our home surveillance system from Next Step now for a few months and absolutely love it. In particular, we appreciate being able to check on our home via the cameras directly from an App on our iPhones. This is definitely a case of where technology can help provide peace of mind. Working in the tech field, I’m very cautious about wireless devices, and anything that could affect the security of my network. I feel 100% safe with this solution.”

If you are a resident of Longmont, Fort Collins, Loveland, Mead, Greeley, Dacono, Frederick, Windsor, Firestone, Louisville, Boulder, or Erie searching for a reliable home security system, contact Next Step Communications today.

Front Range Colorado Home Video Surveillance And The Law

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 19:05:40 GMT

Boulder Resident Contracts Next Step Communications for Home Video Surveillance System

How Video Surveillance on the Front Range Can Protect Your Interests from a Legal Perspective

When Vanessa was building her new home in North Boulder, Colorado, she received a disturbing email from a neighbor. “He said that my construction was damaging his property, and was demanding cash within 24 hours or he would file a lawsuit,” she reports. “I forwarded the email to my insurance broker and my general contractor. My insurance broker replied all, ‘Security Cameras!’”

Based on the recommendation of her Boulder-area general contractor, Vanessa contacted the video surveillance experts at Next Step Communications, experts in security camera installations for homes and businesses across Colorado’s Front Range.

Next Step installed video security cameras around Vanessa’s Boulder residence, whichshe can now access via an app on her cell phone. “They were so patient with me, and [knowledgeable about the technology and the equipment],” she says.

“Given Vanessa’s situation, our team found the best fit for her video surveillance needs and budget,” says Jason Parmley, owner of Next Step Communications. “In addition to our residential video surveillance solutions, Vanessa took advantage of other wiring and networking services for her new Boulder home. We were able to work closely with her contractor to ensure that the project was seamless and our client was wired for maximum Internet performance in her new construction.”

Vanessa adds that she is now armed with video footage of the work being done on her Boulder new construction, should any threats of a lawsuit arise again.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Vanessa rates Next Step Communication’s customer service an 11.9 or 12.9. “I’m constantly recommending Next Step Communications,” she says. “A friend in Minnesota texted me the other day asking about security cameras and I told her to call Next Step.”

If you are a resident or business owner in Colorado’s Front Range looking for experts to design and install a video surveillance system for you, contact Next Step Communications today.

The Next Step Difference With CEO Jason Parmley

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 17:37:12 GMT

Top Front Range, Colorado, Networking and Surveillance Company Puts the Customer First

A Q&A with Next Step CEO Jason Parmley

Below Jason Parmley, Co-owner/CEO of Next Step Communications, LLC, discusses how he got into the networking and surveillance business, and how he differentiates his company from the competition.

When did you get started in the industry? In 1997 I had my start in this industry installing cable TV before there was such a thing as high-speed internet. I quickly discovered that I excelled at the job and was a natural for all aspects of the industry—from mainline to basic installs to customer service. I loved what I did and always, always tried my best at whatever project I was working on—and I am proud of the work I have completed. As I honed my skills, I climbed the ladder to supervisor, project manager, and finally operations manager for two large companies. I did this for many years and found the work very stressful.

Why did you decide to go out on your own? Managing on average 30 technicians daily, on top of my own work, became too much. I worked very hard with little reward. After working for other large companies and running their businesses for them, I decided it was the time to take the Next Step with my brother-in-law, Ryan Brungardt, and start a new company that would allow us to express our creativity and personal approach at offering our skills and services. We wanted to mix our combined experience to explore and share the new technologies available on the market to our customers.

What is Next Step Communication’s mission? Our main goal was to create a fun experience, where our customers felt comfortable learning something new about technology, as well as having an incredible audio or video experience. We soon added surveillance camera installation as one of our services, after a customer needed help to catch a peeping tom. Our expertise in the A/V world transferred over to camera installations, and it now makes up a good portion of our work.

I want to offer our customers an experience that would make us stand out from other companies, and want our clients to trust and value our opinions when bringing their ideas to life in their home. In return, they want to share the experience they had with their friends and family. Customer recommendations are our main source of new clientele. We do very little advertising.

We always keep ourselves and staff up to date on any current and new technologies. We are excited about today’s new technology and the next future technology, which includes product day-to-day testing and staying active in our industry’s available training courses.

We hope you will take the “Next Step” and use our expertise and services for your home or business needs to see the difference for yourself. Schedule a free consultation with our team today for your Northern Colorado home or business networking or surveillance needs.