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Frequently Asked Questions

Equipment

EQUIPMENT: If I sign up for the VIBRANT Broadband Fixed Wireless system, what type of equipment will be installed and where will it be installed?

A site evaluation will be done by an Installation Technician. With a standard installation, a “J-Arm” will be installed on your home and a small receiver plate will be attached to the J-Arm (see photo). If your site requires a custom installation due to trees or other items blocking a wireless signal, a technician will discuss various options and pricing with you before installation. You may also refer to our installation guide at www.vibrantbroadband.com/installations. You will also receive a new router for inside your home or business. This router is standard and necessary for our technicians to be able to troubleshoot any problems you may have with your system. Should you have a router of your own you wish to use, you may install that AFTER the VIBRANT router.

EQUIPMENT LOCATION: If I don’t want the installation equipment on my home, can I put it in another location, such as a shed, pole, or barn?

Yes, that is a possibility if the alternate location is within distance guidelines for optimum service. A technician will make that determination during the on-site evaluation. Additional costs will apply.

BEST ROUTER LOCATION: Where is the best place in my home to locate the router?

To reach all of your home’s devices, it is best to locate your router near the center of your home. However, we can install a WiFi extender (at an additional cost) that enables all your devices to receive the best possible service.

Is there a fee for your equipment?

There may be a monthly equipment fee. It covers the cost of the equipment bringing our service to your home. This includes the ONT/POE and Transceiver plus any related equipment. If the equipment needs updating, we will maintain or replace it as necessary. We also include a wi-fi router without adding a separate fee.


Service

FIBER TO THE HOME: How do I know I’m getting 500Mbps or Gig speeds?

VIBRANT will deliver up to the speed package you are paying for, however, your home and equipment must be able to support those speeds to take advantage of them. Most Wi-Fi-5 routers will only have a wireless throughput of up to 500 Mbps in perfect conditions. That throughput is split up between your devices, so wireless speed tests aren’t 100% reliable. If you connect your devices directly through CAT5 cable, you can achieve the full speeds VIBRANT delivers to your home.

VIBRANT Premium Protection: Why should I choose VIBRANT Premium Protection?

VIBRANT Premium Protection offers remote tech support should you experience issues with most devices on your home network (WiFi, etc.). Without the VIBRANT Premium Protection, a service call would be billable. You also get virus and malware protection, a password vault, 250GB of cloud storage, and PersonaDefender which helps protect your identity. More information on VIBRANT Premium Protection is available here.

Can I cancel cable TV if I have VIBRANT Broadband?

Having a strong, fast, and reliable internet service could change the way you watch television! Instead of being spoon-fed whatever is available on cable TV at any one time of the day, why not stream your favorite television shows when and where you want to watch them? You can subscribe to a streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime for far less than cable. Or simply go to National Geographic or HGTV and instantly download or stream your favorite shows on your smart TV, phone, computer, or iPad. Have a disagreement about what to watch? Everyone in the family can stream what they wish, when they wish, all at the same time on separate devices with no slow-downs or annoying buffering. That’s freedom! Learn more about streaming here!

WEATHER: Does the weather affect my service?

Weather rarely, if ever affects our service. During the strongest downpours and the heaviest snowfalls, VIBRANT customers have not reported their Internet down due to weather conditions.

How do I check my Internet speed?

You can your speed by clicking this link and then clicking the “GO” button.

How is VIBRANT Fixed Wireless different?

VIBRANT’s Fixed Wireless system is unique. It is a line-of-sight system delivering fiber-fast speeds with low latency and is virtually unaffected by weather. Each monopole is fed by fiber-optic Internet. Your connection to the wireless radios on the monopole is one “hop” to a fiber connection. Competitor fixed-wireless can have several “hops” spanning up to hundreds of miles before a solid Internet connection is reached. Each “hop” adds to the latency (or delay). This delay slows down your Internet experience.

Do I get a new email address with VIBRANT?

Unfortunately, VIBRANT Broadband does not offer email addresses. We recommend you set up an email address with a service dedicated to email like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook before switching to VIBRANT Broadband. You may also need to update your website logins with your new email address before your old email address is no longer available.

Once you have a generic email address, you are free to take it with you no matter where you move to or whose Internet service you have.

What is VIBRANT’s Hybrid Internet?

VIBRANT Broadband’s hybrid system gives you the most reliable and fastest connection to your home. Depending on your location, you will either get high-speed Internet delivered directly from our fiber line or from one of our Fixed Wireless monopoles.

VIBRANT Fiber-to-the-premise

VIBRANT Fixed-Wireless

VIBRANT’s Fixed Wireless system is unique. It is a line-of-sight system delivering fiber-fast speeds with low latency and is virtually unaffected by weather. Unlike other fixed-wireless services, VIBRANT’s is a single “hop” from your premise to a fiber-fed monopole. Other systems “hop” from antenna to antenna several times before they get to a solid Internet connection.

What does 99.9% uptime mean?

VIBRANT Broadband is a modern fiber-optic system with redundancy built into our network. We incorporate backup systems so your data will get to where it needs to go. Outside of a catastrophic event, VIBRANT Broadband is always online.

What does symmetrical speed mean?

Symmetrical speed means that your upload and download speed is the same. For example, if you have our Fiber 100 package, you will get 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload. This gives you the fastest speeds possible to do upload-heavy tasks like making video calls, posting content online and to social media, uploading files to online servers, and live streaming over platforms like YouTube and Facebook.


Support

My Internet is running slow or not connecting. What should I do?

In most cases, a simple reboot of the ONT or POE will get your speed and connection back.

ONT

If you are on our fiber-to-the-premise service, you will have an ONT. The ONT is white and looks like this:

IMPORTANT! – DO NOT pull out the fiber cable from the top of the ONT unit.

  1. Locate the ONT and unplug the power at the electrical outlet. Wait 10 seconds.
  2. Plug ONT power back into the electrical outlet and wait 5 minutes.
  3. Test Internet to see if service restores. If service doesn’t restore proceed to the next step.
  1. Locate the Plume SuperPod and unplug it from the electrical outlet. Wait 10 seconds.
  2. Plug in the Plume and wait 5 minutes before testing Internet service.

POE

If you are on our Fixed Wireless service, you will have a POE. It is black and looks like this:

  1. Locate the POE injector. Unplug the power cord and wait until the blue light goes off.
  2. Plug the POE injector back in and wait 5 minutes.
  3. Test Internet to see if service restores. If service doesn’t restore proceed to the next step.
  1. Locate the Plume SuperPod and unplug it from the electrical outlet. Wait 10 seconds.
  2. Plug in the Plume and wait 5 minutes before testing the Internet service.

After you’ve completed these steps, if you are still having issues, please contact Tech Support at 320-693-3231.

PROBLEMS AFTER HOURS? What happens if there are internet issues after business hours?

No worries! We will have technicians available around the clock at our 320-693-3231 number. If you have our VIBRANT Premium Protection program, we can assist you remotely with quick troubleshooting of your connectivity issue.

I’m having buffering issues?

Some streaming services have had buffering issues, even with a solid Internet connection. Here are some things to check before contacting tech support.

  1. Go online
    Check to see if you’re able to visit websites through your computer, tablet, or phone (provided it is connected to your Internet). If you can visit websites without an issue, try the next steps.
  2. Do a Speed Test
    If your speed is where it should be, then the buffering could be caused by something else. Click here to do a speed test.
  3. Check your streaming service
    Sometimes the streaming service itself may be having issues. We recommend checking on their website under the help center or customer support.
  4. Reboot the POE/ONT and router
    Follow the instructions as outlined in the “My Internet is running slow…” question under Support.
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