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1. Can you tell me more about Wicked Broadband, is there a contract, i.e. "what's the catch?""Wicked Broadband is a grassroots, local Internet Service Provider; it is the goal of Wicked Broadband to provide all of Lawrence Kansas with access to the Internet. At least 10% of our customers are provided with free or reduced rates for service, the rest of our customers pay full price at the very low starting price of $23.98 per month. There are no contracts to sign, service may be ended between 30 day increments, and there are no hidden fees.
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2. How do I sign up? Am I in your coverage area?To sign up for residential service you have a few options. If you have access to the Internet, point your browser to lawrencefreenet.org, if you do not have an ISP currently, and you have a Wi-Fi card installed then you can still sign up for service online by being within range of one of our Wi-Fi radios. Your Wireless Internet enabled device will find a connection named Freenet. Once you are in a range that your laptop or other browser authenticating device can transmit back a clear signal, select Freenet as the Wi-Fi signal you would like to connect to. Now that you can view our home page, click on "Coverage". Here you will enter your address to confirm that we are offering service in your neighborhood. If we show absolutely no service available to you, but you are within the city limits, then we strongly encourage you to keep us in mind for the future, as we are constantly getting closer to providing a complete network for all of Lawrence Kansas. If we are offering you service, then you can continue on to the "Sign Up" tab. Once all of your customer data has been entered, and a payment by debit, credit, or scratch card has been processed, your service will be ready. In most cases your user name is your first name followed by your last, all lower case with only a period "." between your first and last name. Your password that you create for use at sign-up must be at least 8 characters long, include at least one lower case letter and one special character such as !@#$%^&*(). For those customers who need to rent or buy one of our indoor Wi-Fi Modems you will need to come to our offices to pick a unit up before the service will work at your address. If an Outdoor Wi-Fi Antenna is required, then an appointment will have to be made to install the antenna. If you prefer you may call customer support at 785.371.4214, and one of our customer support agents will be able to sign you up for service over the phone, or answer any additional questions you may have. If you are in the area of our offices, you can sign up for service at the kiosk in our lobby. If you are interested in setting up a business account, send an email to: contact.lfn@lawrencefreenet.org, and someone will get back to you about the services we offer.
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3. Why can't I connect to the Internet?If you are using a wireless card to connect, make sure that it is enabled and that you have selected the Freenet signal, keep in mind our radios have a range of up to a thousand feet, however your wireless card may not transmit much farther than 150 feet, so even though you may get a strong Freenet signal showing on your machine, that does not factor in your computer's ability to send a signal back or the overall quality of the signal. If you are using one of our Wi-Fi Modems to connect, then you may need to "Power Cycle" your or your and your computer, this involves cutting the power to the Wi-Fi Modem for about ten seconds and then plugging it back in, often this all that is needed to get a connection working once again, it may be necessary to reboot your computer at this time as well. If you are setting up your for the first time then you may need to change the physical location of your Wi-Fi Modem. The ideal space for the is near a window that faces the direction of the radio that your connection will be passing through; customer support will be able to provide you with the location of that particular radio. Confirm that you are attempting to connect via Ethernet; you may need to disable a Wireless Card to enable your Ethernet Port. At times the radio themselves may be the culprit, if you have tried the above, and you suspect that the radio that your attempting to connect to is suffering failure then please contact customer support at 785.371.4214, and we will troubleshoot the problem further. If you have an Outdoor Wi-Fi Modem you can still "Power Cycle" the equipment by disconnecting the Power-by-Ethernet connection. Disrupt the flow of power for at least ten seconds so the Outdoor Modem is forced to reset.
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4. Can you tell me my log in name and/or password; I get an error that says "User Name and/or Password"Usually your default user name is your first name followed by a then your last name with no spaces and all lower case letters. For example "john.smith". If you still need assistance call Lawrence Freenet, provide your name or phone number, and customer support will provide you with your correct user name. If you lose your password customer support can reset it and provide you with a new one. This new password can be changed once you log in on the Lawrence Freenet home page.
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5. Where are you located, and what are your hours of operation?"Wicked Broadband is located at 925 Iowa St. Ste R, Lawrence, KS, 66046. Our lobby hours are 8am to 6 pm Monday through Friday. Customer Support can be reached during Lobby Hours at 785-371-4214.
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6. How do I disconnect, will I get a refund for equipment, and can I have my service prorated?"To cancel service, contact customer support at 785.371.4214 so that we will stop billing you after your 30 days of service have expired. Service will not be prorated, as you are obligated to purchase an entire 30 day period of service, which we deduct from your credit or debit card every month until we are told to stop. You must give us at least seven (7) days notice before your billing date if you want to stop service and not be billed for another 30 days. If you are renting our equipment, you must return it before we will file any disconnect. To receive a full or partial refund on equipment that you have purchased then you must return the equipment in working condition before your first 30 days of service has passed. We hate losing customers so we will definitely want to know your reasons for canceling service, and will do what we can to keep you as a customer. Remember, if you are still in possession of our equipment then you will continue to be billed for your service until the equipment is returned.
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7. When is my billing date?We have 4 dates through out the month that we deduct from our customers' accounts. Your billing date is directly related to the date you signed up: If you signed up between the 1st and the 7th, then you are billed on the 1st If you signed up between the 8th and the 14th, then you are billed on the 8th If you signed up between the 15th and the 21st, then you are billed on the 15th If you signed up between the 22nd and the end of the month, then you are billed on the 22nd
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8. Do you think my modem may be malfunctioning?You may need to "power cycle" your modem, this involves cutting the power to the Wi-Fi Modem about ten seconds then plugging the unit back in, often this all that is needed to get a connection working once again. If you are just setting up your for the first time then you may need to change the physical location of your modem. The ideal space for the Wi- Fi Modem is near a window that faces the direction of the radio your connection will be passing through; customer support will be able to provide you with the location of that particular radio. If these options do not solve your problems then please contact customer support.
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9. How do I enter my scratch card, and/or where do I get my scratch card?"Scratch cards are purchased and used somewhat like a pre-paid phone card; our customers who receive free service also use these cards and will arrange to pick up the cards at our offices. In some occurrences, customers who are receiving service in apartment complexes or housing communities will instead be receiving their scratch cards from their landlords. The scratch card information is entered into our system by the customer themselves through the lawrencefreenet.org home page. Under the home tab hit "Click Here" to the left of where it reads "Manage your account on-line". Next you will enter your user name and password, on the following screen there are many options, you will choose "Edit Your Scratch Card Information". Here you can enter the serial number and access code for your new scratch cards. If you have multiple cards they all can be entered at this time, i.e. if you have 6 scratch cards and enter them all in January, then you will have service for 6 months until they expire in July.
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10. Why do I get an error that says, no IP address, or will not authenticate?"These errors occur when your cannot associate with the local radio signal. The first step is to confirm that you are using the correct password as this error suggests you are unable to authenticate your service. Another culprit may be interference; interference can be caused by dense materials or electrical devices and appliances. At times simply moving your Wi-Fi Modem to a window that faces your nearest radio will be enough to allow your modem to retrieve an IP address and authenticate. If these possible solutions do not work then contact customer support so we can troubleshoot further.
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