ECFiber Woodstock Frequently Asked Questions

ECFiber is a non-profit organization, also known as the East Central Vermont Telecommunications Union District (CUD). ECFiber was originally adopted by a vote of the residents at Woodstock Town Meeting in 2008 and later formalized in 2021 when the Vermont Legislature passed Act 71 with the aim of providing universal high-speed and affordable fiber-optic broadband to all unserved and underserved areas of the state. Since its inception, ECFiber has built 2300 miles of fiber-optic network and connected over 9,000 residential and commercial subscribers.

ECFiber service is available throughout Woodstock, at every residence and business where Green Mountain Power is available. However, there is an exception for a portion of the downtown business district which is served by an underground conduit that is not accessible to ECFiber.

 Unfortunately, they cannot. Here's why:

The Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) establishes a "Carrier Of Last Resort" for each town. When ECfiber was getting organized, Vermont Telephone Company (VTel) filed with the PUC to be the Carrier Of Last Resort for Bridgewater, Hartland, Springfield, and several other area towns.

At about the same time, VTel applied for and received a $116 million federal grant to bring fiber-optic internet service to every customer in their respective towns. Needless to say, ECFiber decided to focus its limited financial resources on other non-VTel towns. That included Woodstock, Reading, West Windsor, Barnard, Pomfret, Hartford, and 18 other towns.

Theoretically, VTel used a portion of its $116 million to upgrade its customers in Bridgewater and Hartland, although there is some question whether this actually happened. 

The ECFiber network is jointly owned by the Town of Woodstock and 20 other member towns. 

No. Act 71 prohibits ECFiber (or any other CUD) from using state or local taxes to build or maintain its network. However, CUDs are permitted to apply for and accept grants from governmental and non-governmental sources if and when they are available.

If you are interested in having ECFiber service at your home in Woodstock, the first step is to sign up at www.eciber.net/subscribe. Your subscription application triggers a site survey to determine what will be needed to bring ECFiber service from the nearest utility pole to your house. There is no charge or obligation associated with the site survey.

Once the survey is completed, ECFiber Customer Service will contact you about a convenient time to have the service connected inside your home. 

There is no cost to sign up for ECFiber or to have the site survey done. The survey will determine whether service can be provided aerially from a nearby utility pole, or underground from the pole to your house.

• If an aerial connection is available, ECFiber will pay for the first 400 feet of cable from the pole to your house. You are responsible for any additional distance.
• An underground connection is required if you currently receive your electrical service underground. The power company does not permit sharing of underground conduit, so you will be responsible for the installation of a dedicated conduit reaching your house from the utility pole. 

Whether you have an aerial of underground connection, ECFiber will charge you a $99 installation fee that covers all the work needed to bring service inside your home. This charge will appear on your first month's bill.

ECFiber does not offer underground conduit installation services. If you need the name of a local contractor who has provided this service for other ECFiber subscribers, please send us an email at woodstock@ecfiber.net.

ECFiber offers Basic Residential service for just $72/month, with optional telephone for an additional $25/month. Higher speed residential and commercial plans are available for a higher cost.

When readers of the Woodstock Community Crier were asked, "What would you tell other residents of the Woodstock community about your personal experience with ECFiber?" here's what they had to say:

• Excellent!
• It is the best
• Very fast internet! Back-up battery is great during power outages.
• It has been very reliable - we are happy with the service.
• Excellent dependable service. prior supplier was near worthless
• It’s the best. You need to have it.
• It’s fabulous
• Reliable, fast service
• It’s excellent, hassle free, and the prices don’t keep going up. I love supporting a Vermont business, and it’s never gone down the way previous carrier did at random times.
• Great connection. Lightening fast. Reasonably affordable. Helpful and responsive customer support and service people.
• We have had ECFiber for years and love it. On the few occasions we have needed help with something, the staff is available, friendly and situation quickly dealt with.
• ECFiber is fast and reliable with very good customer service, locally owned and operated, and committed to our communities.
• We have had ECFiber for over a year now and we love it.
• Excellent. Reliable. Fast.
• Affordable and reliable
• Great service
• It has been a good reliable experience
• That we have great, reliable service. Would recommend this to folks looking for service.
• Excellent service!
• ECFiber is great!
• I have never had a faster more reliable broadband connection in my life. Totally worth every penny!
• Great service, very little downtime
• Fantastic alternative to the mega providers. Customer service is the true test and theirs is terrific. Will never go back to Xfinity if I don't have to.
• Excellent service from day one. Real humans at the back office. Terrific value.
• Of course!
• The internet connection is fast and reliable. The billing department is hard to work with to correct errors and requires multiple calls to resolve simple issues. The online payment portal is in desperate need of an upgrade and sometimes does not work.
• They need to do better
• It works well, but at peak times (6-8pm) there is often a lot of buffering. I don't know who is responsible-- sometimes changing channels works, sometimes not.
• It’s been consistent with no hassle
• It works!
• Great service, and nice to have options for the service you need.
• It’s speedier and very reliable. We have been very happy with our service and quite happy that we made the switch to ECFiber.
• Very easy to contact, helpful and the product is better than others that I have had. Still goes down often for short periods.
• Works fine for TV, phone and internet although I maintain a phone landline, just in case
• it's the best hands down!
• Consistent, reliable, easy to contact for support
• ECFiber has been reliable.
• It’s been good! Occasional spottiness with connectivity though I haven’t noticed that lately.
• Strong internet
• That it has served us well.
• it's worth it
• Works fine quite reliable
• It’s frickin awesome