What rural ISPs really saw at this year's show - The Brothers WISP 198

About this episode

We're coming to you from WISPAPALOOZA 2026 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas! Greg Sowell is joined by Justin Miller, Adair Winter, Thomas, Tom, and Mac for a roundtable discussion about what caught their attention at this year's event.


And if there's one thing everyone noticed, it's that AI is absolutely everywhere.


From AI-powered network monitoring and troubleshooting to customer churn prediction, automated network configuration, and digital twins, the conversation quickly turns to how artificial intelligence is changing the way ISPs operate. But is everyone using it responsibly? The crew digs into data privacy, AI governance, the dangers of trusting automated decisions, and the importance of keeping humans involved.


Of course, there's plenty of actual networking technology to discuss, too!


We cover Zyxel's outdoor Wi-Fi 7 point-to-multipoint equipment, Cambium's uncertain product future, emerging fiber and power technologies, new propagation modeling platforms, LTE failover solutions, and some interesting hardware spotted on the show floor.


Things get especially interesting when the conversation turns to real-world network disasters, including building fires, wildfires, unexpected outages, and the creative ways network operators keep their infrastructure running when everything goes sideways.


We also dive into ArkMap, Unimus, EVE-NG, and the possibilities of using AI to build digital twins of production networks, identify problems buried in syslogs, predict failures, and automate troubleshooting.


Along the way, there's plenty of the usual Brothers WISP entertainment, including conference survival stories, questionable vendor pitches, autonomous vehicles, dynamic airline pricing, and a few discussions that go completely off the rails.


It's a long one, but there's a lot to unpack!


**Sponsors**
Preseem gives regional ISPs real-time visibility into every subscriber's experience across the entire network, helping operators identify problems before customers call, resolve tickets faster, and better understand whether churn is caused by network performance or competition. Learn more at preseem.com.
**/Sponsors**


Connect With the Guests:


Thomas: Find him at Unimus. Use the website's live chat and ask for Thomas or lostcreek.tech


Justin Miller: Active in the Little Brothers WISP Slack community. Occasionally on Facebook.


Adair Winter: Find him in the Little Brothers WISP Slack community or on Facebook.


Tom: Connect on LinkedIn or through the Little Brothers WISP Slack community.


Greg Sowell (Host): Visit gregsowell.com or catch him in the Little Brothers WISP Slack.


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