▼

Access Fiber

Show All Answers

1. When will Access Fiber Internet be available in my neighborhood?

The City is building the fiberoptic network to pass all premises in the City of Anacortes. Our Interactive Availability Map will help you determine if service is available in your area of Anacortes.

2. If I place an order now, can I change my mind?

Placing an order now allows us to see where service is in high demand, and which plan is most popular. This helps us to plan and forecast more accurately as we grow our network. When we enter a neighborhood with several awaiting orders we will first contact the customers to confirm the order and the service requested. There is no penalty for changing your mind before an installation date is agreed upon and scheduled.

3. Other providers offer discounts and promotional pricing sometimes, does Access Fiber do this too?

We consider our complete offerings: service levels, pricing, local customer support, and truly unlimited data plan to be an unparalleled value to Anacortes residents. In essence, we believe our overall value to you will be superior to our competitors' services, including their temporary discounts/promotions. You will not receive price hikes from us after being in service for a short period of time. You will not be put on long periods of hold on the telephone while trying to navigate through multiple layers of computerized voices misinterpreting what you say. You will not have to wait days for a service call to your home, should the need arise. You will get a knowledgeable, experienced, unscripted, and local city employee helping with your needs.

The City of Anacortes also has its Utility Discount Program. More information can be found here:  Utility Discount Program

4. Is there a fee to have Fiber Internet connected at my home or business?

There is a one-time installation/setup fee of $100 after the installation and setup are complete, which will appear on your first bill. The fee defrays the much higher full cost of physically installing lines and devices, provisioning and testing devices, and setting up accounts. Each time a customer goes into service, a number of dedicated City employees are involved in making it a success.

5. What does the installation process look like?

In general, installation looks a bit like a traditional cable or DSL Internet installation. If you are in a location where the fiber is connected to telephone poles we would drop a line to your building, this is called an "aerial" drop, we then penetrate a wall to get the fiber inside and terminate the fiber in the home. If you are in an area where utilities are underground, we bore or trench to the home and then follow the same steps as an aerial installation. The fiber does not use or disturb other lines (phone, coaxial cable, power, etc.) to your home. For more on the installation process, please visit our What to Expect During Installation  page.

6. Will my router work with the Fiber Internet service?

Maybe: we provide an ethernet connection out of our ONT (aka "modem"), if your router accepts ethernet as the internet connection then it should work. If your router is a router/cable-modem combination device, which has an older style coaxial cable input, then it will not work with our service.  Also, routers that are more than a couple years old may not meet the newer WiFi standard which could limit your WiFi internet performance at our high-end service level. If desired, we can provide a router that we manage for an additional monthly cost of $10.

7. Why would I want a Managed Wi-Fi plan?

With a City Managed Wi-Fi plan, we will provide a router at installation that our department can maintain and troubleshoot. The fee for this additional hardware and associated support service is an additional $10 per month. For those that don't want the hassle of maintaining their own router, this is a great option. Also, if you provide your own router and have a connection issue that is determined to be outside of our network and hardware, we will not be able to troubleshoot a router or other equipment we have not issued. We also have a call center in case a problem arises; it would be best used after hours, weekends and holidays.

8. If I want to provide my own router, how much should I expect to pay for a decent one?

Routers range widely in price and specifications, but you can expect to spend anywhere between $50-$300, depending upon your needs. If you home is large enough and you need to blanket the entire site with WiFi signal, a "whole-home" or "mesh" system may be needed (see the question below).

9. If I start on one service plan, may I move to another plan without penalty?

Yes, customers may change plans to accommodate their usage and billing will be prorated. Just a quick telephone call or email to our friendly City staff will make this happen.

10. How do I cancel service with Access Fiber?

You may cancel service at any time if you are a residential customer. If you are a business customer, you may cancel service after the one year commitment has elapsed. To cancel service, return our ONT (aka "modem") or City Managed Wi-Fi router to us at Anacortes City Hall (904 6th St, Floor 2, next to Utility Payments) during normal business hours. Make sure to return the power supply cable with the equipment.

11. How long do I have to keep the service?

Residential customers will be on a month to month contract that they may cancel at any time without penalty. Business customers must pay for service for an initial 12 month period before their contract becomes month to month.

12. When can I cancel my former service?

We recommend that you keep your existing service provider until our service has successfully been installed, in order to prevent any gaps in service.

13. If I rent or lease a property do I need to get permission from my landlord to get Fiber Internet service?

Yes, we will contact the property owner on your behalf in order to get permission to install fiber. We will collect the property owner's contact information from you.

14. My email is through my current Internet provider. Will Anacortes Fiber provide my new email?

Anacortes Fiber internet does not offer email accounts, but there are numerous options (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Zoho, etc.) that offer free email services. Some providers will allow you to keep your email with them even if you don't use them as your internet service provider.

15. Can I get phone service through Access Fiber?

We do not provide phone service however the link below takes you to a document that may be helpful. Phone lines that use your internet connection are called "Voice over Internet Protocol", also known as "VoIP" phone lines. VoIP phone services generally cost less that traditional phone services, while having more features and producing better sound. Typically, a VoIP phone service provider sends you a small box that connects directly to the internet. You can then plug your telephone directly into that box.

https://www.anacorteswa.gov/1103/Phone-TV-Service-Replacement-Resources

16. If I live in a condo that gets a bulk-rate to provide service to all units and is paid by the condo association, will Anacortes Fiber do the same?

We can provide a bulk contract so that all of the bills are paid by the condo association, however we do not offer a discount. We are confident in our competitiveness, since our service is already a great price for the speed and we feel that bulk-rate discounts would not be fair to other residents.

17. Have More Questions?

Contact us. Phone: (360) 588-8361. Email: broadband@cityofanacortes.org. Visit: Anacortes City Hall - 904 6th St., Anacortes, WA 98221