BEACON BROADBAND – NETWORK PRACTICES 

Broadband Internet Service Disclosures
Consistent with the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet Rules found in Part 8 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, BEACON BROADBAND provides this information about our network management practices, performance characteristics, and terms of service. This information is provided so that our current customers, prospective customers, third-party content providers and other interested parties can make informed choices regarding their broadband Internet services.
 
We welcome questions or comments about this information. You may contact us at:
 
BEACON BROADBAND
PO Box 999; 16147 HWY 101 S
Brookings, OR 97415
 
24/7 Customer Support
(541) 254-9265
 
Email: support@beaconbroadband.com

Network Practices
 
General description
BEACON BROADBAND provides a variety of fiber-based high-speed broadband Internet service offerings to our residential and business customers. We provide service over our broadband network and through third parties’ fiber optic lines connecting to the Internet. We also contract with one or more companies for specific network monitoring and management services. We monitor our network and traffic patterns and make necessary changes to manage and improve overall network performance.  We use reasonable, nondiscriminatory network management practices to improve overall network performance and ensure a high-quality online experience for all users. Our network management practices do not throttle, target, or block any lawful specific content, application, service, or device. As network management issues arise and technology develops, we may employ additional or new network management practices. We will update these disclosures as necessary.
 
Related documents and disclosures
Use of our fiber broadband high-speed Internet service is also governed by:

 
Congestion Management
BEACON BROADBAND uses various tools and techniques to manage and monitor its network, deliver its service, and ensure compliance with the Acceptable Use Policy.  Without effective network management, customers would be subject to the harmful effects of spam, viruses, security attacks, network congestion, and other risks or degradations of the service.  While the risk of these events cannot be entirely avoided, BEACON BROADBAND’s network management practices reduce the risk.
 
BEACON BROADBAND uses quality of service (QoS) to separate data types and may prioritize them at different levels. For example, voice calls may be prioritized over general Internet traffic.
Our congestion management practices potentially affect all network traffic but do not target any specific content, application, service, or device.
 
Prioritization
BEACON BROADBAND does not prioritize traffic that benefits any party or affiliate in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise.
 
Application-Specific Practices
BEACON BROADBAND uses industry-standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies to help meet its customer commitment. We may identify and block known hostile ports to protect the security of our network and its customers.
 
Device Attachment Rules
BEACON BROADBAND places no general restrictions on lawful devices that a customer may connect to our network, so long as the device is (i) compatible with our network and (ii) does not harm our network or other users. Our fiber broadband Internet service works with most PCs and laptops, including Macs and other Internet-compatible devices like game systems and Internet-enabled TVs. If a wireless router is connected to the service, wireless Internet-compatible devices can connect to our network, including computers, tablets, smartphones, and other devices. If a customer or potential customer believes that they have an unusual configuration, contact us, and we will help determine if there is a compatibility issue.
 
Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) equipment
We install Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) at the customer’s premises to enable the use of our high-speed broadband Internet service delivered via our FTTH network.
 
Network and End User Security
The following provides a general description of the practices we use to maintain the security of our network.
 
Hostile port blocking:
We may identify, and block known hostile ports to prevent unwanted files, browser hacking, and virus attacks.
 
Hostile IP blocking: 
We may identify and block known hostile IP addresses to prevent DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks, infrastructure hacking attempts, and malicious customer attacks.
 
Virus and spam filtering:
Network management activities may include identifying spam, detecting malicious Internet traffic, and preventing the distribution of viruses or other harmful code or content.
 
Other tools and techniques may be implemented to meet our goal of delivering the best possible broadband Internet experiences to all of our customers.
 
Data usage
BEACON BROADBAND has not established a monthly data usage cap for its customers. We do, however, monitor usage. We regularly review accounts with uncommonly high usage relative to all other accounts to ensure such accounts have not been subjected to cloning, unauthorized access, other security breaches, or unlawful activity. As part of our review, we may contact account holders to inquire about usage and may take or require actions to correct problems such as security, class of use, or unlawful activity.
 
 
Performance Characteristics
 
High-speed broadband Internet Service is provided via fiber connections. ONTs are installed at the customer premise, and we utilize X-PON FTTH technologies to deliver service to the end user. BEACON BROADBAND provisions its ONTs and engineers its network to maximize customers’ ability to receive the maximum speed levels for each service tier. BEACON BROADBAND does not, however, guarantee that a customer will achieve those speeds at all times. BEACON BROADBAND advertises its speeds as “up to” a specific level based on the tier of service to which the customer subscribes. The actual speed a customer experiences may vary based on several factors and conditions.
 

  • Performance of a customer’s Internet-connected device, including its age, memory, processing capability, operating system, the number of applications simultaneously running, and the presence of any malware or viruses.
  • Type of connection between a customer’s computer and ONT. For example, wireless connections may be slower than direct connections into a router or ONT. Wireless connections may also be subject to more significant fluctuations, interference, and congestion.
  • The distance packets travel (round trip time of packets) between a customer’s computer and its final destination on the Internet, including the number and quality of the networks of various operators in the transmission path. The Internet is a “network of networks”. A customer’s connection may traverse the networks of multiple providers before reaching its destination, and the limitations of those networks will most likely affect the overall speed of that Internet connection.
  • Congestion or high usage levels at the website or destination. Suppose a large number of visitors are accessing a site or particular destination simultaneously. In that case, your connection will be affected if the site or destination does not have sufficient capacity to serve all visitors efficiently.
  • Gating of speeds or access by the website or destination. To control traffic or performance, many websites limit the speed at which visitors can download from their sites. Those limitations will affect a customer’s connection.
  • A subscriber-owned router's performance is installed. Equipment performance may degrade over time, and specific devices cannot handle higher speeds.

 
Latency is another measurement of Internet performance. Latency is the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets on a network. Latency is primarily a function of the distance between two points of transmission but can also be affected by the quality of the network or networks used in transmission. Latency is typically measured in milliseconds and generally has no significant impact on everyday Internet usage. As latency varies based on any number of factors, most notably the distance between a customer’s computer and the ultimate Internet destination (as well as the number and variety of networks your packets cross), it is not possible to provide customers with a single figure that will define latency as part of a user experience.
 
The actual performance of our broadband high-speed Internet service will, in most cases, conform to the national wireline broadband Internet speed and latency levels reported by the FCC.
https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/measuring-broadband-america/measuring-fixed-broadband-ninth-report
The FCC has reported that fiber customers experience average latency delays of 12 milliseconds.
 
Commercial Terms
 
Pricing information for our fiber broadband high-speed Internet services is available online at https://beaconbroadband.com/fiber
 
Customer Information Privacy and Security
BEACON BROADBAND maintains the privacy and security of all customer network traffic under the BEACON BROADBAND privacy policy available online at: https://www.beaconbroadband.com/privacy-policy/
 
Additional Information
Please contact BEACON BROADBAND at (541) 254-9265 and/or support@beaconbroadband.com to discuss any issues or concerns. If any information in our policies and agreements is inconsistent with this network management disclosure, this disclosure controls.