Managed wireless services

I'm a 31 year old Network Engineer with 7 years experience at a University with mostly a Route/Switch and Firewall background but I have working knowledge of wireless as well.

I've just been offered a position at a regional ISP as a Network Engineer in their Managed Services group. I would be managing their wireless services that they sell to customers, such as apartment buildings, dorms, businesses, etc.

Having never worked in wireless day to day or at a MSP, I'm looking for opinions of those who have......or any advice/comments in general really. This is a fairly new offering from the ISP(2 years?) so one of my concerns is that my responsibilities aren't as clearly laid out as I would like. I tried to get an idea from the interviewer(would be my direct supervisor) about how responsibilities would be shared between Engineers and Field Techs. He gave me a general idea but I think I'm going to need to press for a more concrete idea of what it entails. Then again, responsibilities weren't clearly laid out when I took my current job at the University either but I was also just breaking into the industry at that time so it was a step up regardless. They currently have one other Engineer managing the wireless. I did not get a chance to meet him but that is another thing on my list.

I do have an acquaintance that I connected with on LinkedIn who used to work at this ISP and spent 17 years there and was happy there. He only left because he got an offer he couldn't refuse. By his account, my would-be manager is "pretty easy to work with". The culture of the company seems great. The University I currently work at does purchase bandwidth from this ISP and we are generally happy with their services. I also have their services at my home and am quite happy.

I would be receiving a 40% raise + 7.5% bonus. They actually beat my desired salary by 5% percent on the first offer which still has my mind blown. I'm "over the moon" at the financial offer and I have always wanted to work at an ISP at some point in my career. I always wanted to work at a University too and I've done that now so I feel like I should move on.

If I were to take the position, I would like to someday transition from the Managed Services group over to the Core Networking group doing Route/Switch, at least that's my thoughts today. Maybe I'll be happy with wireless and stay there, who knows. Within a ISP, is it difficult to move from the Managed Services group to the IT/Core Networking group? Depends on the company, I know.

With my current position here at the University, raises are flat, we have gotten 1% total over the last 3 years. I have this network running like a well oiled machine and am not reaping the rewards from it. I suspect we will get a menial 3-5% next year which doesn't make up for the goose eggs before. Potential for raises is definitely better at the new position as well. My University position does have a very laid back environment though and of course, the job security is there.

Any advice is appreciated.