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FAQs
Q.How do I become a member of Huxley Communications Cooperative?
Q. How long is my membership good for?
Q.What is a cooperative, and why are they important?
Q.What are your office hours?
Q.How do I pay my bill?
Q.When is my bill due?
Q.Can I keep my phone number if I switch to Huxley Communications from a competitor?
Q.Why am I receiving so much junk e-mail in my inbox?
Q.Why do I pay an FUSC charge for my home phone service?
Q.What do I do if I am having problems with my internet service?
Q.Why are connection fees and reconnect fees so high, when all you have to do is flip a switch?
Q.Is it required to have phone service to subscribe to high-speed internet service?
Q. What are the benefits of digital cable?
Q.Are premium movie channels included with the digital basic cable?
Q.How many e-mail accounts can I have with Huxley Communications?
Q.Why do my local channels have a bad reception?
Q. How long is my membership good for?
Q.What is a cooperative, and why are they important?
Q.What are your office hours?
Q.How do I pay my bill?
Q.When is my bill due?
Q.Can I keep my phone number if I switch to Huxley Communications from a competitor?
Q.Why am I receiving so much junk e-mail in my inbox?
Q.Why do I pay an FUSC charge for my home phone service?
Q.What do I do if I am having problems with my internet service?
Q.Why are connection fees and reconnect fees so high, when all you have to do is flip a switch?
Q.Is it required to have phone service to subscribe to high-speed internet service?
Q. What are the benefits of digital cable?
Q.Are premium movie channels included with the digital basic cable?
Q.How many e-mail accounts can I have with Huxley Communications?
Q.Why do my local channels have a bad reception?
Q. How do I become a member of Huxley Communications Cooperative?
A.
A. In order to become a member of Huxley Communications you must have telephone or internet service from Huxley Communications. We request a membership application to be completed in our Huxley office. Every member is required to pay a $25.00 Cooperative membership fee. A deposit may be required for new customers.
Q. How long is my membership good for?
A. Your membership with Huxley Communications is valid as long as you have service with the Cooperative and your account is in good standing. If you disconnect service we will refund your membership.
Q. What is a cooperative, and why are they important?
A. A cooperative is a member-owned business with membership open to those who use its services. It is democratically controlled with board members elected by the members. A cooperative is operated on a nonprofit basis and returns any margins or profits to members on the basis of patronage and at the discretion of its board of directors. Cooperatives were started as a way to provide services to rural areas when commercial companies either would not provide service or charged extremely higher rates. They are essential to the fabric of rural America.
Q. What are your office hours?
A. Huxley Communications is open in Huxley Monday through Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm.
Q. How do I pay my bill?
A. There are several ways to pay your monthly bill. You can stop into our office in Huxley during office hours to pay in person. We have payment drop boxes available 24/7 in Huxley and in Slater. Also you can pay by using your credit card or bank account via our website or by calling 597-2281. To pay via our website you must first create an online account through our Customer Control Center. You will need your Huxley Communications account number in order to create and access your account. This Customer Control Center gives you the ability to conveniently view and pay your Huxley Communications statement. You can also securely store your credit card and/or bank account information for future transactions by using the Customer Control Center.
Huxley Communications also has automatic debit (ACH) available. In order to register for ACH, we request that you visit our office to fill out a short form and supply a voided check to authenticate your account information. Your total amount due will then be deducted from your bank account on or around the 21st of every month.
Q. When is my bill due?
A. Customers generally receive their Huxley Communications bills on or near the 1st of the month. The bill is due upon receipt. If the bill is not paid by the end of the business day on the 20th of the month it is considered late. If a bill is not paid in full or arrangements have not been made by the last day of the month, services will be disconnected on the 1st day of the following month. Once a customer is on the disconnect list, even if service has not been physically disconnected, they will be assessed reconnect fees.
Q. Can I keep my phone number if I switch to Huxley Communications from a competitor?
A. Yes, local number portability does allow for you to retain your phone number as long as the number is being ported to the same geographical area or telephone exchange.
Local number portability is the ability to take an existing fixed-line telephone number assigned by a local exchange carrier (LEC) and reassign it to another LEC, while maintaining the same physical location.
Q. Why am I receiving so much junk e-mail in my inbox?
A. SPAM, the slang term for unsolicited commercial e-mail, is becoming more than a nuisance, it is an electronic epidemic! A recent statistic estimated over 90% of e-mail is now Spam. Spam emails can be extremely annoying, especially when you receive it in large quantities. As an internet service provider, this is an issue that we face head-on every day. We have several tools in place such as e-mail filters that catch thousands of these unwanted messages, but thousands more can still get through our equipment. Huxley Communications is well aware of this ongoing problem and we receive several calls a week asking for help! Since there are limits to what we as your internet service provider can do to help protect your e-mail address and your privacy, here are some things that you can do to help control spam yourself.
Never give your primary e-mail address to anyone you wouldn’t give your personal phone number to! This is a good practice that can help keep your address from getting on a spammers list.
Create a “junk e-mail account” with a large online e-mail hosting company like MSN or Yahoo! Then give your junk e-mail address out when shopping online or doing other casual internet activity such as chat rooms.
NEVER respond to spam offers or reply to be “taken off the list”. This only aggravates the problem by telling the spammer it is a valid email address and you will receive exponentially more spam!
When registering with a web-site, read the terms and conditions thoroughly and make sure you understand what you are agreeing to. Many well-known companies sell your information to marketing companies. In many cases you probably give them permission to send you spam without even realizing it! Also when registering with a site make sure you “opt-out” of receiving additional e-mail from “our partners” or additional information on “our products and services”. If you check that box, you will most likely receive spam.
Avoid forwarding chain letters and other “paper trails” These types of e-mails can contain hundreds of legitimate addresses and if spammers get their hands on them it is a goldmine.
Protect your computer and personal information by installing virus protection that contains a firewall. This can keep your computer from being targeted by spammers and used as a “zombie computer”. You can also call Huxley Communications and ask about our Secure IT service.
Be careful of “phishing”. This is when an official looking e-mail asks you to provide confidential information via e-mail. Do not provide any unsolicited private information to anyone!
Q. Why do I pay an FUSC charge for my home phone service?
A. The “Federal Universal Service Charge” (FUSC) is authorized by the FCC and we are required to pay. We pass this cost along to our customers. It is not part of your local service rate. The purpose of this charge is to help to keep rates affordable for all Americans, regardless of where they live. The amount of the FUSC on your monthly bill depends on the services you order and the number of telephone lines you have. In most cases, the FUSC is applied as a percentage of your bill. It is set by the FCC on a quarterly basis.
The Federal Universal Service Fund assists with the costs of providing “affordable” telecom services to low-income individuals and to residents in rural, high-cost areas. In addition, the program helps schools, libraries and rural health care providers obtain leading edge services, such as high-speed Internet access. All providers of telecom contribute to the support of these universal service programs.
Q. What do I do if I am having problems with my internet service?
A. If you are experiencing difficulties with your internet service, the first step is to reboot your computer and any other internet equipment you may have present in your home or business. Often, a simple power cycle is sufficient to restore normal connectivity. If after restarting your computer you continue to have problems please call our 24/7 technical support line at 597-HELP (4357). They will walk you through simple troubleshooting steps to restore your connection. If tech support is unable to correct your issue they will escalate your trouble ticket to us and you will be contacted within 24 hours. For additional information you may visit our E-Support webpage.
Q. Why are connection fees and reconnect fees so high, when all you have to do is flip a switch?
A. There is a very common belief that all Huxley Communications has to do is “flip a switch” to activate, restore, or terminate service. Unfortunately, that is not the case. To activate or deactivate a customer there are several crucial steps involved. First of all a service order is created in our system. This must be manually typed in with the appropriate services installed. Your information is then updated in up to 16 databases depending on what service you have. The completed service order is then sent to a technician for switch work and/or a truck roll. Once the installation is complete the service order is returned to the office to update plant records and adjusted for billing.
When a customer is disconnected for non-payment of a bill, reconnection fees are essential to avoid passing those unnecessary “costs of doing business” onto other members of the cooperative.
Q. Is it required to have phone service to subscribe to high-speed internet service?
A. No. To be a high-speed internet customer from Huxley Communications you are not required to have phone service.
Q. What are the benefits of digital cable?
A. In addition to the increased picture and sound quality, you will also appreciate the increased variety. You will always know what programming is available because digital cable provides an on-screen guide. Movies, including some in Dolby digital surround sound, sports, news and more are all part of your package as well as CD-quality music channels to meet all of your household's musical interests.
Q. Are premium movie channels included with the digital basic cable?
A. No, premium movie channels are not included with digital basic cable. You can subscribe to those channels for an additional monthly fee. However, each digital premium service include several channels.
Q. How many e-mail accounts can I have with Huxley Communications?
A. Huxley Communications allows 2 courtesy e-mail accounts for residential customers and 5 courtesy e-mail accounts for businesses. Additional e-mail accounts can be created for a monthly fee.
Q. Why do my local channels have a bad reception?
A.
Huxley Communications serves several communities that are in very close proximity to the local broadcasting stations’ transmitters which are located in Alleman, IA. The problem with being located close to these towers is the signal that is broadcast in our area is very strong.
For a number of years, Huxley Communications has chosen to rebroadcast those local stations on translator channels 19-22 to avoid the possible problems caused by this issue. Because channel line-up space and bandwidth capacity is limited, we were forced to eliminate these translator channels.
The problem of bad reception can be corrected and is caused by faulty inside cable wiring.
Please check all the cable connections in your house to ensure that nothing is loose and all connections are secure and are in good condition. If no obvious problems exist, contact our office to schedule an appointment to have technician come to your home.
Thank you for your cooperation!