Heath is offering free standard installations for those who sign up during the initial sign up period. A few of the most expensive installations will not be completely covered but will receive a substantial credit as part of the project. Standard installation includes a first floor or basement connection at your home from the road. For best service your Wi-Fi router will be installed in a central first-floor location. Custom installations beyond this will incur additional charges.
WiredWest will charge a one-time $99 activation fee to start a new service account.
WiredWest is a Coop of Town Municipal Light Plants. It is governed by the member towns and returns any excess revenue back to the towns. Participating towns have chosen to manage our networks regionally via the WiredWest Coop to reduce the burden, cost, and risk over managing as an individual town, and to share research and ideas about how to better provide service to our residents. Heath’s town owned network will be administered by WiredWest.
Construction is underway. You can sign up for service at this page on our website. Once you complete an application, you will be added to a queue and contacted for installation when it becomes available in your neighborhood. The current schedule has us starting to light up the first homes by early April and rolling out installations gradually over several months.
The deadline for signing up to be eligible for the drop credit during the initial sign up period is March 19, 2021.
Please note that the credit for the free installation is dependent on the availability of project funds.
In many cases, you won’t have to do anything. If you have Gmail or another “forever” email (Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail) you’ll continue to receive your email. If your email is through your previous ISP you may be able to keep that too. You will need to contact them directly for this information.
Yes, you can, by using any of several available streaming services.
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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@wiredwestfiber.net or call 1-833-WW1-WEST (1-833-991-9378) or Tech Support: techsupport@wiredwestfiber.net or call 1-833-WCF-WEST (1-833-923-9378).
Whip City Fiber was chosen by WiredWest to provide internet and Network Operator services for member towns. It is owned and operated by Westfield Gas + Electric in Westfield, Massachusetts. WiredWest has chosen to work with Whip City Fiber because, as a municipal utility, they are customer oriented and not driven by creating high profit. Whip City Fiber has a successful track record and a high level of customer satisfaction.
WiredWest runs on a data network which 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 our town can take advantage of this cutting-edge access which will support our community into the future.
WiredWest is a cooperative of town municipal light plants with a commitment to provide premium services to our customers. Our gigabit service is the fastest in town and our customer service is always on call. The revenues generated by WiredWest in member towns are reinvested locally to benefit the entire community.
Yes, your number can be “ported” from your existing home phone service. You will need to keep your existing telephone service active until your current provider completes the porting process. If you cancel your current service before the process is complete, you run the risk of losing your home telephone number.
You can complete an application online at www.wiredwest.net/towns/heath or call 1-833-WW1-WEST (1-833-991-9378) and one of our customer service representatives can answer any questions you have and complete your application over the phone.
During sign up you’ll be asked for your contact information and a few questions such as which service/s you want. An email address is required for service as payments must be made online. You’ll also be asked to agree to terms and conditions, giving permission for our installation company to visit your property. Signing up takes about 10 minutes.
If you don’t have good Internet or want some help, email heathbroadband@gmail.com and we will get back to you.
When installation appointments are available in your neighborhood, the customer service team will contact you to schedule an appointment
Yes, you will need to sign up for the Heath Fiber service on this page of our website. Your $49 deposit plus interest will appear as a credit on your first bill.
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.
We are offering 1 gigabit service which is up to 1,000 Megabits per second 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 are taking advantage of resources which require higher speeds and bandwidth, including streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, YouTubeTV, Sling, Amazon Prime Video), video calls, and Ultra High-definition television (UHD). WiredWest 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 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.
Technical support is available at 1-833-WCF-WEST (1-833-923-9378) if you have any concerns about the speeds you are getting.
WiredWest will issue electronic invoices to the email address you provide. You must provide an email address to sign up for service.
Bills are due upon receipt. Residential customers are required to have service for at least 6 months before cancelling.
WiredWest internet is available at $75/month for residential 1 Gigabit service for standard service or $59/month for economy residential 25 Mbps service. Both include free equipment and Wi-Fi. All customers will be charged a one-time $99 activation fee.
Heath is offering free standard installations for those who sign up during the initial sign up period. A few of the most expensive installations will not be completely covered but will receive a substantial subsidy as part of the project. Standard installation includes a first floor or basement connection at your home from the road. For best service your Wi-Fi router will be installed in a central first-floor location. Custom installations beyond this will incur additional charges.
WiredWest will charge a one-time $99 activation fee to start a new service account.
Residential customers are required to have service for at least 6 months before cancelling, but after that, no. WiredWest is providing a great service which we believe you’ll want to keep.
You must pay your bill electronically to WiredWest. You will receive an email with the payment link after installation. At this point you can set up your account, make a payment, or set up automatic payments. 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 our town network 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.
We hope you are already accustomed to online bill paying for other household expenses, if not, contact us at heathbroadband@gmail.com and we will provide assistance.
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 WiredWest billing portal. This is where you can make changes to your preferred billing method at any time.
Customers are allowed to “suspend” their internet service, which means they can request (via customer service) that their internet service be shut off, while maintaining an active account.
Customers may not suspend phone service. If they have phone service they can take the phone adapter with them to use elsewhere in the US. If you move your phone device to a different address, it is CRITICAL that you log into the Ooma portal or contact Ooma customer support to update your location for 911 services.
Customers may reinstate service within 120 days with no fee. A $99 fee applies if the service has been suspended for more than 120 consecutive days or if the service was previously suspended for any amount of time in the preceding 365 day period. If the service is not reinstated within one year, the account may be deactivated and we may collect the router. Reactivation of an account once it’s been deactivated will be treated as a new account and the current terms and activation fee for new customers applies. Residential customers are required to have service for at least 6 months before cancelling.
If you are having problems with your WiredWest service, please call the WiredWest Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-HELP (1-833-923-4357). They will provide free phone support. More complex issues which require a visit may result in additional charges. We always support WiredWest equipment at no charge.
There is no monthly charge for the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) [like a cable modem] and Wi-Fi router. Authorized account users that are living in the same residence and their guests will be able to connect multiple devices to the service at no extra charge. Equipment must be returned if service is terminated.
We certainly hope you’ll encourage your neighbors to sign up for their own service but sharing Wi-Fi outside of your residence 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-WW1-WEST (1-833-991-9378). You will need to return your router and phone equipment (if applicable) to the Town Hall at 1 East Main Street. Office hours are Mondays 2-7PM, Wednesdays and Saturday 2-5PM and Thursday 2-6PM. Please call ahead at (413) 337-4934 to be certain someone is there. Keep in mind that customers are required to have service for at least 6 months before cancelling.
Standard installation includes installation to the basement where other utilities enter the building. The Wi-Fi router will be placed in a central, first-floor location for optimal service. Other placement or additional wiring will incur additional charges.
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. • 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!
UNDERGROUND INSTALLATIONS
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.
PHONE INSTALLATION If you order WiredWest 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. Alternatively, if you wish to have your landline phones available in multiple locations in your home, it will be much less expensive for you to purchase a cordless phone system with multiple handsets, available at most online and big-box stores, than to have internal wiring done. With a multiple handset cordless phone you will plug the system base into the router and then place the phone handsets wherever you wish throughout your home.
Please note that if you cancel a scheduled appointment less than 18 hours in advance or if you miss a scheduled appointment, a $50 missed appointment fee will be charged on your first bill.
Electrical outlets There MUST be electrical outlets within 6 ft of where your router (usually centrally located in main part of the house) and ONT (usually located in the basement where the utilities enter your house) will be located. (ONT = Optical Network Terminal, a necessary component to run your home network). It is the homeowner’s responsibility to be sure these outlets are already installed prior to the home fiber installation.
Router location While the technician will be willing to help you find a good central location for your router, it is good to give some thought to this in advance, especially if you want to locate it further than 50ft from where the ONT will be installed (which will result in costs that you will have to absorb) or if you want it in a location that does not yet have an electrical outlet within 6ft (which will require you to arrange for an electrician to install an outlet in the area you wish to place your router).
Yes, 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.
Please note that if you cancel a scheduled appointment less than 18 hours in advance or if you miss a scheduled appointment, a $50 missed appointment fee will be charged on your first bill.
You are welcome to do certain parts of your in-home installation, such as providing more complex interior wiring, yourself or find and pay your own technicians/electrician to do so. The Westfield Gas & Electric 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.
If you want a specialized connection, you will need to absorb any additional costs incurred. 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. You can discuss options and get estimates during your initial consultation.
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. While fiber optic cabling is stronger than other wires that are run on a utility pole, they are still subject to some risk. If there is a problem, WiredWest has dedicated teams to work on repairs. Our goal is 99.99% uptime.
The Whip City Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-WEST (1-833-923-9378) is our front line when you need a little extra help. They are available for free phone support 24 hours a day. When necessary, we will dispatch a technician if we cannot fix a problem remotely although there may be an additional charge. We always support WiredWest equipment at no charge. The WiredWest Tech Team can provide 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.
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.
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 Wi-Fi with a button on the side of the router. You can have an electrician put in a completely hardwired system if you wish following installation.
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 us 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.
Most customers plan to use WiredWest 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 WiredWest Tech Team at 1-833-WCF-WEST (1-833-923-9378) for additional support with setting up your devices.
Although the WiredWest Premier Phone Service may not be appropriate for your current 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.
Yes, for small additional monthly charge. Please contact our customer service team at 1-833-WW1-WEST (1-833-991-9378) to set this up.
WiredWest 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 which will provide connection and WiFi for your home and devices. Both devices are supported and managed by WiredWest.
Yes, but please be aware that there are benefits to having the WiredWest router, which can be diagnosed and supported remotely. Using your own router will not decrease your monthly bill.
You can contact WiredWest Customer Service at 1-833-991-9378 after you have signed up to change the services you would like.
If you decide to add Premier telephone service after installation there will be an additional charge. If 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. If you cancel your Verizon service before the process is complete, you will lose your telephone number for good.
WiredWest 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, YouTubeTV, Sling, etc.) for watching TV, movies, and sports over the internet.
Visit the Streaming page for additional information.
Cutting the Cord: How to Stream Video with Whip City Fiber
Many local channels are available through a streaming service provider. Refer to each service’s website to review availability.
You may also be able to get local channels over the air with an HD digital antenna for free. Signal strength will vary depending on your home location. You can check your potential signal strength and channels at www.antennaweb.org by inputting your address information. Antennas range in price from $10 to $150, depending upon what channels you hope to get and how far away the stations are. You can purchase them at department stores or online.
WiredWest offers add on Premier Phone Service for $19.99/month (when purchased in conjunction with an internet service plan). or Standalone Premier Phone Service, without internet service, run through our fiber network is $49.00/month. Both of these services provide phone calls over the internet and are similar to but not the same as a traditional landline. They are not appropriate for use with medical devices or some alarm systems without adjustments. 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.
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@wiredwestfiber.net or give us a call at 1-833-WCF-WEST (1-833-923-9378).
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.
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.
