Viya 1Gig FAQs:

One Gigabyte per second (Gbps) is a 1000 megabits per second (Mbps) connection. One Gbps may be referred to as 1000 Mbps, 1GB, 1 GIG or 1 Gbps. 

Today the consumer profile has changed dramatically, with customers having multiple devices tied to one single internet connection in their homes or places of business. These devices can be business applications in the cloud, TVs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, printers, home security systems or game consoles. The more devices connected to your internet connection, the more overall speed you need to support them.

Viya’s 1Gig service gives you the possibility of:

• Access to your business applications in the cloud while your employees remain connected on multiple devices.
• Online gaming, knowing you have the fastest internet speed possible
• Using multiple devices at once without sacrificing speed
• Streaming or downloading movies, downloading games and uploading photos with little to no buffering or delays
• Working from home with the greatest efficiency and reliability you can get from a home internet connection
• All of this, at the same time, on the same internet connection

Viya will deliver 1 GIG speed to your home through HFC (Hybrid-Fiber-Coaxial). This means we are delivering your Internet service via an optical fiber from our service equipment location directly to a fiber node located in your neighborhood and the fiber node connects to the outside of your home with a coaxial cable. The use of HFC enables higher Internet speeds than other forms of communication, such as copper wire, that drastically reduce bandwidth..  

Viya owns and operates the fiber to the curve network that delivers our Viya’s 1Gig service. 

1Gig broadband internet plans are available to customers and businesses over a wide geographical area across St. John, St. Croix, and St. Thomas. For those customers interested in the 1Gig in Charlotte Amalie and other areas where 1Gig service has not been fully deployed yet, Viya has connectivity available via full fiber plans.

Charlotte Amalie is fully covered by broadband and fiber. This and other areas are part of the next phase of deployment.

Yes, as a Viya customer, you can upgrade to the 500MB or 1Gig service once it is available in your area.  Keep checking our website for updates.   Contact us to review your account and provide the steps to follow.   

We are focusing our efforts on making sure our current 1 GIG areas are receiving the best possible Internet experience. Then we will assess our expansion plans for other areas in the USVI where we currently offer service. Check our website periodically for updates.

Yes, the service is available for both residential and business customers. We also have full fiber solutions directly to businesses in some commercial areas, like Charlotte Amalie, available today. Click here for more information on our business services. 

A fiber-to-the-premise installation has two parts. We already have our fiber-to-the-premise network installed in your neighborhood. The first part is to prepare for the installation by extending the fiber from the street to the side of your house. This preparation work happens a few days before the actual installation date.

The second part takes place on your actual installation date. Your installation technician will explain what he/she will do to get your service up and running. The main priority is to establish the best location inside your home for the Ethernet cable outlet and modem. Once this is complete, our technician will go over the details of your new service. 

A home or business installation typically takes about three to five days from your service order date. This time window is four hours. You are required to provide a contact number, then our technician will call you when he/she is 30 minutes out to make sure you are home. You may also receive text messages with updates.

We do require that an adult over 18 years of age be at home for the service installation, since we need to access the interior of your home. This person needs to be able to make decisions regarding placement of the cable outlet, the router, to provide a sign-off when necessary, and anything else related to customizing your installation process. 

Yes, you can change the date or time of your installation date. We encourage you to contact us 24 hours before your scheduled appointment to make changes. Call 340-777-8492 – option 3

The weak link in the chain to receiving the fastest Internet speed is most commonly the device being used, which could be a laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc. More recently purchased devices may support faster Internet speeds than older devices. You will need to check the documentation for your specific devices to find out their maximum speeds. Newer laptops outfitted with a 1000BaseT network interface card may support up to 1 GIG speeds. However, most smartphones and tablets are limited to speeds well below 1 GIG. 

The next consideration is whether your device is plugged directly into the router via an Ethernet cable versus using Wi-Fi service. A direct connection via Ethernet cable is the best way to experience your device’s full speed. If you connect via Wi-Fi, your speed may decrease since wireless connections are inherently slower. Wireless connections can also be more adversely affected by distance from router as well as the number of walls or other obstacles between your device and the router. Wireless connections maximum speed is around 300Mbps. 

Another consideration is the wiring that distributes communication services throughout your home, commonly known as “inside wiring.” Modern homes usually come equipped with inside wiring that is more likely to support 1 GIG. Older homes are more likely to experience some loss in speed due to out-of-date inside wiring standards in place when those home were constructed. Cat 5e or Cat 6 cabling is the industry-standard cabling used for 1 GIG speeds. Cat 5 and below may only be able to achieve 100 Mbps speeds. 

Each device has its own maximum speed capacity. Check your device’s manual for the answer. For wireless devices, please check your device documentation for the “max sync rate.” This is the maximum speed your device is capable of running, excluding any other factor that my impact speed capabilities. 

No Internet provider can guarantee that specific speeds will always be achievable. Although we provision your service in our network to provide the maximum speed available with the plan you’ve chosen, several factors can affect that speed. Many of these factors are beyond Viya’s control. For example, the type of computer and other device you have, the applications running on your computer and even your Ethernet cabling can affect speed. In addition, the websites you visit and congestion on the Internet beyond Viya’s control may affect Internet speeds. 

While your current modem is capable of higher speeds, you will need a DOCSIS 3.1 modem, which Viya will provide at no additional cost. 

No. Viya will install a modem to support your new Internet service which has 4 Ethernet ports to connect your devices. However, when subscribing to our 1Gig service, your modem and 1GIG plan offered by VIYA include back up battery/UPS of 6-8* hours for a limited promotional period. *(Based to be used only for the modem). 

We cannot guarantee the performance of a personal router, and caution that it may negatively affect your experience. We therefore strongly recommend that you use the modem/router provided by Viya. This router is the latest technology (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) and is optimal for supporting speeds up to 1 GIG.

Yes. The equipment we will provide is designed to give you Internet access throughout your home, either through the wired connection or Wi-Fi. Keep in mind that the speed on WI-FI is considerably less than connected via ethernet cable to the modem.  If the Wi-Fi built into the device does not cover your home sufficiently, you can take advantage of our WiFi+ service.

Wi-Fi connections are slower than wired connections.  The built-in routers provided with our 1 GIG Internet have some of the latest technology available (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) and will optimize your Wi-Fi connections and minimize any speed degradation

No. Viya does not have data caps on any of our broadband Internet services.