Q: How far do you run your fiber and how do you hand off the connection?

A: We run our fiber directly to the side of your house/building. Due to how fragile the fiber optic cable is and the potential danger to human eyes from looking directly at the powerful, but invisible laser light, we install our fiber equipment in a small weatherproof box on the side of your home. Please don’t touch or open it for the reliability of your service and your safety. There is nothing inside that you can fix or adjust. Our installation team will place a new CAT6 Ethernet wire from outside to inside and power will be delivered to our equipment using this Ethernet cable. A CAT6 cable can handle speeds up to 10Gbit/s in both directions - that’s 10,000Mbit/s! If we need to upgrade in the future, we will change the equipment on the side of your house and install a new wire or fiber to facilitate future 100G speeds in 10 or 15 years. The fiber running directly to your house will carry all the data you will need for decades.

Q: Do I need to use your Plume SuperPod router/Wi-Fi access points?

A: No, but they provide excellent performance to ensure you get reliable and fast access throughout your home, so we highly recommend them. They will perform best if they are all hardwired together, but if that isn’t possible, they will wirelessly mesh to provide the best performance possible.

Q: Who installs the Plume SuperPods?

A: The Planet Networks install team will install them for you when they install your fiber connection.

Q: Are the Plume SuperPods more powerful than our standard Wi-Fi router?

A: Yes. Because their mesh technology enlarges the area of Wi-Fi service to ensure all areas of your home have excellent Wi-Fi coverage, the Plume AI service intelligently optimizes where the signal is used. Suppose you have a high-usage device such as your work-from-home computer with an excellent signal with one SuperPod. In that case, it will move lower priority and/or bandwidth devices, such as thermostats, light switches, coffee makers, etc., onto a more distant SuperPod, which may not have as strong a signal. The AI engine knows these devices don’t need a lot of bandwidth or speed, and moving them will enhance the speed available for your work computer.

Q: I ran a speed test, and I’m only getting 85-95Mbit/s, not the 250/500/1000Mbit/s I am paying for. Why?

A: Your router probably only has a 100Mbit/s Ethernet port and/or you are using an old/cheap Ethernet cable with only 4 of the 8 required wires connected. Both causes are pretty common when people upgrade from slower DSL connections. Check the specs for your router. If the WAN/Internet port is “100Mbit/s” or “FastEthernet”, you must upgrade your router to one with a Gigabit or 1000Mbit/s WAN port. Consider the Planet Networks Plume SuperPods for excellent performance. We recommend speedtest.net (from Ookla) and fast.com (from Netflix) for the most accurate results.

Q: I ran a speed test, and I’m only getting 250-350Mbit/s, not the 500 or 1000Mbit/s I am paying for. Why?

A: Are you using a hardwired Ethernet connection? Wi-Fi will top out at just under 400Mbit/s for most modern devices. Your CPU speed will also be a factor in the test. A direct Gigabit Ethernet connection directly to your router (or the gateway Plume SuperPod) on a fast computer will give the most accurate results. Are you using a high-speed and reliable test server? We recommend speedtest.net (from Ookla) and fast.com (from Netflix) The Plume app will test your speed automatically every 12 hours and perform a hardwired speed test internally to tell you how well your connection is performing.

Q: Are Parental controls included which allow us to control what our children do and when they can access the Internet?

A: Yes. Complete parental controls are included with our Plume Mesh Wi-Fi Solution. These controls group all of your child’s devices so they can be controlled with one policy per child for all of their devices.

Q: How does billing work if I prepay for one or two years?

A: We will charge your card when you sign up for service, but we won’t start your service period until you are connected. Once your fiber connection is installed, we will set that day to be your start date. You will have one or two years of service from that date until you need to pay again. Your billing for subsequent service periods will revert to our standard pricing. After your service is installed and you are satisfied, you may prepay for as many years as possible to receive the discount on subsequent years. Just contact our billing team to do so.

Q: Can Planet still install fiber if my wires are buried from the street to my house and there is no conduit path?

A: Ideally, you or the builder installed conduit from the closest pole to your home. We can use this conduit to run our fiber. If not, we can trench or dig to install conduit which we will use to install your fiber. Occasionally, there could be an additional charge for this work, depending on the distance and terrain. We will advise you what the charges are before commencing any work. We will also provide a free option for the conduit installation with a term and speed commitment based on the distance to be installed.

Q: Can I keep my existing number if I get telephone service through Planet Networks (VoIP)?

A: Yes. Absolutely! Please contact our fiber sales team via email sales@planet.net or phone 862-300-3125 and they will help you move your phone number to Planet. We will port your phone number and use it for your new Planet Networks Voice service.