Once you complete an application, you will be added to a queue and contacted for installation when it becomes available. Construction has begun and it is expected that all subscribers should be connected by the end of Summer 2021.
In many cases, you won’t have to do anything. If you have another “forever” email (such as Gmail or Hotmail) you’ll continue to receive your email. If your email is through your previous Internet service provider (ISP) you may be able to keep that too. Verizon, for example, transferred all of their email to AOL or Yahoo, and you can continue to access your verizon.net email account(s) even if you are no longer a Verizon customer.
Overview of Verizon’s move to AOL mail
You could save hundreds of dollars a year by transitioning from satellite TV to online streaming video. In the world of cable television, this is called “Cutting the Cord.” Up here in the hilltowns, you can think of it more as “Ditching the Dish.” This flier will help you get started.
Cutting the Cord: How to Stream Video with Whip City Fiber
We are committed to providing the best service for your new high-speed Internet service. If you have any questions you can contact us at Customer Service: customerservice@wgeld.org/413-485-1251 or Tech Support: techsupport@whipcityfiber.com/1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357).
Whip City Fiber (WCF) is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) for Colrain. It is owned and operated by Westfield Gas & Electric in Westfield, Massachusetts. Colrain Broadband has contracted to work with Whip City Fiber through an intermunicipal agreement. Whip City Fiber has been in operation since 2015 and is successfully serving the customers of Ashfield, Leyden, Heath and other surrounding towns. Their knowledge and experience with engineering high-speed Internet is a substantial benefit for Colrain. Partnering with Whip City Fiber gives us access to their customer service and tech support teams. By using WCF we benefit Colrain subscribers and keep costs low.
The Colrain Municipal Light Plant (MLP) was created by residents at the Annual Town Meeting in 2015 as a municipal utility. Colrain Broadband is the enterprise within the MLP created to build and operate a high-speed broadband fiber-optic network to provide Colrain residents with this critical service.
Whip City Fiber runs on a data network that is constructed of optical fibers instead of the traditional copper wire or coaxial cable. Optical fiber is a hair-thin piece of glass that is specially designed to transmit light impulses. One small fiber can carry multiple signals at once and the signal does not degrade over long distances. Unlike coaxial cable, performance is not affected by interference or shared bandwidth. The fiber-optic network provides high-speed access that runs at the speed of light.
Each year the use of the Internet for applications and services is increasing. As high-definition video, telemedicine, distance learning, telecommuting, and other applications continue to evolve, only fiber technology provides the bandwidth to carry the heavy data load we expect to see. We’re excited that Colrain can take advantage of this cutting-edge access, which will support our community into the future.
Whip City Fiber is a community-owned company with a commitment to provide premium services to our customers. Our gigabit service is the fastest available and our customer service team is always on call. The revenues generated by Whip City Fiber in Colrain are reinvested in Colrain to cover the cost of operating Colrain’s network, which in turn benefits our entire community.
If you are a current Verizon Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) customer, please DO NOT cancel your service until your Whip City Fiber service is working. You risk losing your existing internet connection if you cancel your account early. Also, if you are planning on “porting” your existing Verizon telephone number to the new Premier telephone service, you will need to keep your Verizon telephone service active until Verizon completes the porting process. This can take as long as 3 to 4 weeks. If you cancel your Verizon service before the process is complete, you run the risk of losing your telephone number.
It’s easy! Complete an application online or call 1-833-WCF-CALL (1-833-923-2255) and one of our customer service representatives can answer any questions you have and complete your application over the phone. When installation appointments are available, the customer service team will contact you to schedule an appointment.
NOTE: We anticipate that installation crews will be active in Colrain through May 2021. You will receive the promptest service by signing up prior to then. Installations may take longer once the crews are no longer in town on a regular schedule.
The person who signs up should be the one who is going to be billed for the monthly service (this is usually the renter unless the landlord is going to include the price of Internet in the rent or the unit is currently empty).
On the application you should indicate that you are a renter and include your landlord’s contact information in the appropriate fields. Your landlord will be contacted for the necessary installation permissions. The homeowner (landlord) MUST be present on installation day since both the outside and inside installation involves work on the property and changes to the wiring and drilling through walls or floors. Thus, installation can only be approved by the property owner.
If the property owner can’t be present on installation day, s/he can appoint someone who will be on site on installation day and be authorized to make decisions about the installation and pay for any upgrades. We encourage all renters and homeowners to discuss installation details and ongoing service before sign up.
If your address didn’t come up in the dropdown box, please type in the full address and submit your application.
If you have other problems submitting the application online, contact Whip City Fiber customer support by phone at 413-485-1251 or via email at customerservice@wgeld.org.
Working directly with WCF customer service is the fastest way to solve your application problem.
If you signed up more than 7 days ago and still haven’t gotten your follow-up email, please check your junk email folder to make sure it didn’t get filtered out. Still not there? Contact Whip City Fiber at 833-WCF-CALL (833-923-2255) or customerservice@wgeld.org to make sure you signed up and ask them to resend the follow-up email.
Colrain Broadband is available at $89/month for residential service, which includes free equipment, Wi-Fi and standard installation.
Residential service includes home-based businesses.
Commercial Internet service costs will be determined on an individual case-by-case basis. Contact Colrain Broadband at info@colrainbroadband.net.
See our Pricing and Policies.
There is no charge for standard installation, which includes a first floor or basement connection at your home. Custom installations and longer or complex drops to the home will incur additional charges based on labor and materials. See the Colrain Drop/Install Policy for additional details.
There are no contracts for Colrain Broadband residential service.
You must pay your bill electronically to our internet service provider - Whip City Fiber. Payment can be made either through electronic fund transfer from your bank account or you may pay by credit card.
We encourage you to use automatic payments from your bank account (EFT). This saves you and the town money and ensures you don’t miss a payment, which could result in service disconnection. You will have the option to pre-pay your account if you so choose.
Payment by cash or check is not an option due to the costs involved. We hope you are already accustomed to automatic bill paying for other household expenses.
Whip City Fiber will issue electronic invoices to the email address you provide. You must provide an email address to sign up for service. There is no option for paper bills. This is to ensure costs of operating our network are as low as possible.
Bills are due upon receipt. There is a 10-day grace period, after which time your account will be deemed in default, service will be terminated, and a reconnection fee may be charged.
When your installation is scheduled, Whip City Fiber will let you know if there will be costs outside those covered by the Town of Colrain. This will happen 2 to 3 weeks before your installation.
You will not be billed for the monthly service or additional charges until everything is installed and working at your home. All payments will be made online. You will receive an email with login information to the Whip City Fiber billing portal. This is where you can make changes to your preferred billing method at any time.
No. Colrain Broadband must pay to maintain and operate our network all year round, and it is not cost-effective for us to offer seasonal service.
If you are having problems with your Whip City Fiber service, please call the Whip City Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357). They will provide free phone support. More complex issues which require a visit and may result in additional charges. Note: Whip City Fiber equipment is always supported at no charge.
Customers receive the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) [like a DSL modem] and Wi-Fi router at no charge with each account. Authorized account users that are living in the same residence and their guests will be able to connect multiple devices to the service.
Sharing Wi-Fi outside of your household is a violation of the acceptable terms of use.
You can cancel your service (but we hope you won’t!) with a simple phone call to 1-833-WCF-CALL (1-833-923-2255). You will need to return your router and phone equipment (if applicable) to Westfield Gas + Electric/Whip City Fiber at 100 Elm St., Westfield (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.).
STEP 1 - SIGN UP
• Click the sign-up link on the Colrain Broadband home page or go to https://www.whipcityfiber.com/colrain/fiberapp.
• Enter the first part of your home address. Choose your home address from the dropdown list, and press Enter or click the magnifying glass to the right of your address.
• You’ll be asked for your contact information and a few questions such as which service/s you want. To streamline this process we’re primarily offering online sign ups. If you don’t know how to use a computer or get online, we’re here to help! Call us at 413-485-1251.
STEP 2 - INSTALLATION
• Installations will be scheduled once the fiber-optic network is completed in your section of the town.
• The installer will contact you for next steps and schedule an installation appointment at your convenience.
• Installations typically take 2-3 hours. An adult who can make decisions about the installation must be present for the installation. (A missed appointment costs the town $200-250, which you will be responsible for paying).
• The fiber-optic cable will be brought from the curb to your home and will enter your home through a small box mounted on your home near where your existing utilities are located. The technician will then set up the interior electronics.
• As soon as the technician is finished, you will have broadband in your home!
SPECIAL CASES
• If your home needs an underground connection, you’ll have two home visits. The installer will first contact you to make an appointment for an installation consultation. They will visit your home and determine whether you have an existing conduit that can be easily used or whether to install a new conduit. If you need a new conduit, they will stake out the proposed dig route. You will need to sign off on the plan. After a DigSafe permit is done, the installers will make a second appointment with you and return to put the conduit in the ground install the service inside your home. An adult who can make decisions about the installation must be present for both of these appointments. A missed appointment costs the town $200-250, which you will be responsible for paying.
• If you order Premier telephone service, the basic installation includes connecting one telephone to the Telo device. If you want to connect all of your home’s phone wiring and jacks to the service, you’ll have to pay for an additional home visit or do the work yourself. The cost for this additional wiring will likely be $150-200.
But WHEN will I actually have broadband in my home? You’ll have broadband as soon as installation at your home is complete. We expect home installations to be scheduled and completed beginning in early 2021. Which homes and which areas of town get installed first will be based on the overall construction schedule, weather, pace, and numbers of customers that have signed up. We are coordinating carefully with Whip City Fiber and their “drop” contractors to maximize efficiency and control costs.
Outside your home, near to where your current utilities enter the home, a small gray plastic clamshell box will be attached. This is called the NID (Network Interface Device) and it is where the fiber-optic cable will enter your home. It is about the same size as the box on your home now for your phone service. One cable will run from the NID to the inside of your home (a hole may need to be drilled for this by the installer).
Inside your home, you will have an ONT (Optical Network Device) placed (usually) in the basement and a wireless router placed in a central spot so the wireless signals can reach throughout your home. The ONT is about the size of deck of cards (just over 3”x4”) and the router is about the size of a small cereal box. The router is the piece of electronics that will broadcast the broadband signal throughout your home so you can wirelessly connect all your devices (computers, laptops, iPads, phones, TVs, etc) to the Internet. You can plug devices into the router directly if you choose not to use use WiFi.
If you order Premier telephone service, you will also have a Telo device placed near the router. This is a small box that plugs into the router and provides a jack for telephone service. The basic installation includes installing the Telo device and connecting one telephone directly into it. If you want to connect all of your home’s phone wiring and jacks to the service, you’ll have to pay for an additional home visit or do the work yourself. After Verizon has completed “porting” your telephone number, your home telephone wiring needs to be disconnected from Verizon’s system and connected to the Whip City Fiber system. This additional wiring work will cost the town the technician’s time (currently $50/hour) plus any materials or mobilization cost, and this amount will be billed to you. We estimate the cost will be $150-200. Alternatively, you can do the additional work yourself, as it involves just a few steps: use a screwdriver to open the Verizon network interface box on the outside of your house, open the customer access panel for your phone line, disconnect the phone wires, clip or tape the bare wires, close up the box, and then inside the house plug a phone cord between the Telo device and a telephone wall jack.
You are welcome to do certain parts of your in-home installation yourself, such as providing more complex interior wiring, or find and pay your own technicians/electrician to do so. The Whip City Fiber technician will still have to install and provision the fiber-optic network portion of the installation up to the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and router.
Yes, but only in very limited cases. If you need to replace or add to the underground conduit route between the utility pole and your house, you can perform some of that work. The town has available the necessary conduit. Before proceeding please contact Colrain Broadband at info@colrainbroadband.com to acquire the conduit and a list of specifications and requirements that must be met. You cannot install any part of an aerial drop.
If you want a specialized connection you will pay the difference between the cost of the option you choose and the cost of the “designed” option. An example of this is if your existing utilities use an aerial connection to your home, but you instead want the fiber to go underground. Another example is if you need an underground conduit put in and you want the conduit to go around your garden or another landscaping feature instead of following the path of your existing utilities. You can discuss these options and get estimates during your initial consultation.
We are offering 1 gigabit service, which is up to 1,000 Mbps upload and download speed. Actual speeds may vary due to a number of factors including the age and speed of your equipment and which software and websites you are using. You will always get the best speeds when your computer or other device is using a hardwired connection.
Many customers take advantage of resources that require higher speeds and bandwidth, including streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Sling, Playstation Vue, Amazon Prime Video), video calls, and ultra-high-definition (UHD) television. Whip City Fiber provides the speed for customers to use these services and other Internet resources without glitches or buffering.
A Wi-Fi router is included with residential service to provide wireless access to tablets, phones, gaming systems, and other devices in your home. You should expect speeds over a wireless connection to be approximately half that of the wired speed.
We are building a system that supports gigabit bandwidth. We expect you will receive up to 1,000 Mbps for both upload and download. A wired speed test should be around 960 Mbps and a wireless test approximately 440 Mbps. Your actual speed will be affected by the age and speed of your devices, the software you are using, the server of the site you are visiting, and the overall volume of internet traffic at any given moment. As usage increases, we can add more capacity without having to run new cables.
When you are connected to the Colrain network you will be able to check your speed with the speed test located in the very top menu on the homepage to the right of the search bar. The Whip City Tech Team is available at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357) if you have any concerns about the speeds you are getting.
The Whip City Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357) is our front line when you need a little extra help. They are available for free phone support 24 hours a day. If we cannot fix a problem remotely, we will dispatch a technician, although some visits may incur an additional charge. We always support Whip City Fiber equipment at no charge. The Whip City Tech Team can provide phone support on issues including setting up devices, transferring email, and streaming video.
The installers are trained to work with you to find the best placement for the inside the home electronics. Things like whether you have a basement, the size of your home, wall thickness, electrical outlet locations, and aesthetics for the location can be considered when you are working with your installer to decide where to locate the electronics.
Generally, we install fiber, the Optical Network Terminal (ONT), in a basement or first floor location. For best performance, the router is placed in a central location on the first floor. Custom installation may be available for an additional charge.
Whip City Fiber provides all the equipment you will need for service. You will receive an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) device, which is a fiber optic modem, and a router that will provide connection and WiFi for your home and devices. Both the ONT and router are provided at no charge and are supported and managed by Whip City Fiber.
You will get an Alcatel-Lucent G-010G-A Optical Network Terminal (ONT) and a SMART/RG 802.11ac Gigabit WiFi Router. If you subscribe to the Premier telephone service, you will also have an Ooma Telo. The ONT, Router, and Telo remain the property of Whip City Fiber.
Although you can install your own router, we strongly recommend that you consider the router provided by Whip City Fiber. Using your own router will not reduce the installation cost and will make it harder for Whip City Fiber to remotely troubleshoot any problems you may have. If they need to send out a technician to solve a problem that turns out to be due to your router, you will be charged for the service call.
Yes. The ONT (optical Network Terminal) (modem) will be hardwired to the fiber-optic cable coming into your home and to the router. The router is the piece of electronics that can transmit a wireless signal. You can plug your devices directly into the router and turn off WiFi with a button on the side of the router. You can also put in a completely hardwired system, if you wish, following installation.
Most customers plan to use Whip City Fiber to set up streaming video on their television. Many devices (Roku, Apple TV, Amazon FireStick) will allow you to watch TV and movies over the Internet. We encourage you to do some research and complete the initial set up before your installation. Our installers can help when they are at your appointment if you get stuck. You can also call the Whip City Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357) for additional support with setting up your devices.
Although the Premier Phone Service is not appropriate for your alarm system, you have multiple options: keep your Verizon landline just for your alarm system, upgrade to a cellular-based alarm system (if you are in an area with reliable cell service), or upgrade to an Internet-based alarm system. Both cellular-based alarms and Internet-based alarms enable your alarm monitoring company to monitor the state of your alarm in real-time, instead of relying on your alarm making a phone call once or twice a day. Some offer smart-phone apps for you to check on your home yourself. We recommend that you contact your alarm monitoring company and ask them about the best options for your situation.
Connecting your special data jack wiring to the router will be an additional installation charge or you can do this work yourself. Any additional work requested will be billed at the rate charged to us by the contractor, currently about $50/hour plus materials if done at the time of the basic installation.
Colrain only offers static IP addresses to commercial customers. Static IP addresses have a monthly charge of $12.95.
This fiber optic network is designed with reliability in mind. By design, the path that provides your service contains only a limited number of components that might break. That said, as with any outdoor facility, we are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Fiber optic cabling is similar to any wire that is run on a utility pole and therefore subject to some risk. If there is a problem, Whip City Fiber has dedicated teams to work on repairs. Our goal is 99.99% uptime.
If your electric service is already overhead your fiber will be too. If your service is underground, a DigSafe will be scheduled. When that has cleared, we will use a minimally invasive process to bring the wire from the street to the house. Our crews are professionals and will restore your lawn as is necessary. We want happy customers and we stand behind our restoration work.
YES! Someone over 18 needs to be present. We will need to have access to the inside of your home to install fiber. We will offer various times for appointments to accommodate the time that works best for you.
Most likely. These holes are typically ½” or less. We will work with you to minimize the need for drilling and coordinate an agreed-upon route prior to beginning our work.
You can contact Whip City Fiber at 833-WCF-CALL (833-923-2255) any time after you have signed up to change the services you would like.
If you decide to add Premier telephone service and you are planning on “porting” your existing Verizon telephone number to the new service, it is critical to keep your Verizon telephone service active until Verizon completes the porting process. This can take as long as 3 to 5 days. If you cancel your Verizon service before the process is complete, you will lose your telephone number for good.
Whip City Fiber provides internet service. We do not provide television programing, but we offer amazing access to all streaming service providers. Many customers will subscribe to one or more streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Sling, Playstation Vue, etc.) for watching TV, movies, and sports over the internet.
Visit the Streaming page for additional information.
Many local channels are available through a streaming service provider. Refer to each service’s website to review availability.
Whip City Fiber offers Premier Phone Service for $12.95/month. This service provides phone calls over the internet and is not the same as a traditional landline. It is not appropriate for use with medical devices or alarm systems. Premier Phone Service includes free long-distance calling in the US, Canada, and Mexico, 911 service, call blocking, voicemail, and more.
In many cases, you won’t have to do anything. If you have Gmail or another “forever” email you’ll continue to receive your email. If your email is through your previous ISP you may be able to keep that too. Verizon, for example, transferred all of their email to AOL or Yahoo, and you can continue to access your verizon.net email account(s) even if you are no longer a Verizon customer.
For additional information:
Overview of Verizon’s move to AOL mail
These days so many parts of our lives are linked to the digital world that it’s especially important to connect to the internet safely. We suggest you install an antivirus software on your computers, laptops, and tablets. One reputable option available for free download is available at www.avast.com
Questions? Email us at techsupport@whipcityfiber.com or give us a call at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357).
