BendBroadband provides three Internet service levels with the following speeds:

• Bronze will deliver a maximum speed of 8Mbps download and 1Mbps upload.
• Silver will deliver a maximum speed of 12Mbps download and 1.5Mbps upload.
• Gold will deliver a maximum speed of 16Mbps download and 1.5Mbps upload.

These are the maximum speeds provided per profile and they can vary depending on your home network and programs being used on your computer. BendBroadband provides service to the cable modem and cannot control what happens beyond the modem. Home routers, wireless set-ups, your operating systems, and the specifications of your PC can cause your speeds to fluctuate. In addition, websites experiencing heavy traffic could cause slower speeds. If you have home network or wireless devices, try plugging your Ethernet cable directly into your cable modem from your PC. If problems still occur you can contact our technical support department at (541) 382-5551.

Wireless routers typically cause a reduction in signal strength or speed. For best results, consider connecting the computer directly to the cable modem.

First we will run through a series of test (from our offices) to ensure that your cable modem is responding properly and that there is nothing wrong with your connection. If a problem with our service is discovered, we will immediately work to resolve the issue. If we believe the problem is linked to your home or your equipment, we will inform you of this. Once we have tested that our system is working, you have the option to request an on-site test at your modem by a BendBroadband technician for a fee of $39.50. If we find that there are issues that are our responsibility, we will waive the fee and work to resolve the issue. However, in most cases we find the speed issue is caused by customer-provided equipment; i.e. routers, wireless set-up, and PCs.

BendBroadband will provide an Internet connection to your cable modem and will ensure that the signal from our facility to your modem is functioning properly (within normal parameters). What happens beyond the cable modem is out of our control and is your responsibility. Customer-provided routers, wireless devices, and PCs along with other in-home problems can cause your speeds to be degraded. BendBroadband will assist customers in the setting up their email and Internet connection to the PC to provide full connectivity to the Internet.

Our original goal was to impact the very small number of customers whose high usage has significantly increased our high-speed Internet cost structure. The intent was to pass the cost of increased infrastructure on to this small segment while not impacting the average user. After further review, we felt we could greatly simplify the model by providing one usage allowance of 100GB. With a 100GB allowance, approximately 99% of our customers will see no change in price and 98% of customers will not even need to monitor their usage during the month. We have determined that 91% of customers use below 10GB and 98% use less than 50GB.

Charging for usage over 100GB allows us to continue to invest in a network to provide all users with consistently high performance, while maintaining our current package pricing. Based on recent usage patterns, we have projected that only 0.5% of customers will incur additional bandwidth usage charges.

Yes, both downloading and uploading count towards your monthly allowance.

A small percentage of customers will be affected by this change. We have identified 99.5% of customers use less then 100GB per month which is our allowance for all products. The average BendBroadband subscriber uses 4.8GB per month and 98% of our subscribers use less than 50GB per month.

Once you exceed the 100GB allowance. you will be billed at $1.50 per GB. For example, if you use 110GB you would pay your monthly base rate plus $15 (10GB multiplied by $1.50).

There are two ways to check your monthly consumption.

1. Go to www.bendbroadband.com/usage to view your monthly usage. This requires a BendBroadband email address to sign-on. Please visit webmail.bendbroadband.com to sign-up for an e-mail address. All high-speed Internet subscribers receive an email account free of charge.
2. Check your monthly billing statement. Starting in June, each month your bill will show in (GB) how much bandwidth you consumed.

1. Peer-to-peer file sharing applications may be the problem. These programs operate as file servers by default and offer files from your hard drive to other Internet users, possibly resulting in excessive bandwidth usage without your knowledge.
2. If you have a wireless home network, there is a possibility that other people are using your wireless network without your knowledge which can also cause increased bandwidth usage. Please secure your connection with a password to block others from using your files. To secure your wireless network you will need to refer to the documentation, website, or technical support of the manufacturer of your wireless router.
3. Your computer may be infected by a computer virus. A virus will often send out mass emails from your computer without your knowledge. Installing antivirus software on your computer and scanning for possible infections may resolve this issue. BendBroadband will offer virus software starting in July 2008. Please visit our web portal at my.bendbroadband.com to sign-up for antivirus software, or buy our Gold or Silver product to receive this software for free.

The chart below provides examples of different types of Internet activities how much bandwidth per month is needed for each. Please note that upload and download data are measured equally. Upload is data sent from your PC and download is receiving data to your PC.

	Included In Package
	100 GB
Gigabytes	100
Megabytes	100,000
Kilobytes	100,000,000
Bytes	100,000,000,000
Web Pages (30K Web Page)	3,333,333
Emails (2,000 Characters 14K)	7,142,857
Songs (3min or about 4MB)	25,000
Flash Video Clips (3 min = 5MB)	20,000
TV Shows (44 min or 500MB)	200
Movies (1.5GB)	67
Online Gaming (15MB/Hour)	6800 Hours
Internet Radio (128kbps)	1825 Hours
*These figures are estimates and are not intended to be cumulative.

 

Connection speeds are measured in bits per second.
Consumption (Bandwidth) is measured in bytes transferred.