Customer Care : How do I? :: Learn More with FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can I change my username or password?
A1. Yes, but your username is limited to a maximum of 14 characters or less (letters or numbers) and your password must be at least 8 characters, but no more than 16 characters (letters, numbers, punctuation) long.
Passwords can be changed by calling tech support at:

Usernames need to be changed by calling Customer Service at:

Q2. Are my logins and passwords case sensitive?
A2. Your login is not case sensitive, but your password is - it's safer to treat both of them as if they were. Case sensitive means that password and PASSWORD are not the same thing - one will get you in, the other will be rejected. If you think you typed your password in correctly and it was rejected, please check your CAPS LOCK key to see if you accidently toggled it on.

Q3. Can I dial in from another phone number than the one I gave you?
A3. Yes, just like you can dial your best friend from any phone, with WVI Dial-up Internet you can dial in from anywhere. Just make sure it's a local call!

Q4. How about DSL?
A4. DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, is limited to the phone line it was installed on. Also, unless you have special networking hardware and software installed, only one computer can use your DSL connection at a time.

Q5. Do I have to use the software that you gave me or which came with my computer?
A5. No. While we may have provided you with Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, there are many other programs out there that can do the same things and which work just fine on our network. For web surfing there is Opera , Netscape, and Mozilla, most of which run both on Windows and other operating systems like MacOS and Linux. There are also an amazing number of alternatives to Outlook and Outlook Express, including Eudora , AllegroMail, YAMC (Yet Another Mail Client) , PMMail 2000 , or Incredimail. Do take note that our technical support staff is not able to be proficient on every e-mail program out there, so it is possible that we will not be able to help with some programs.

Q6. What is the best web browser available?
A6. The definitive answer to that is, "it depends." Microsoft Internet Explorer currently has the most users, but that is because a copy of it comes with every copy of Windows, not necessarily because it is the best. Any of the alternative browsers noted in the previous answer will do the job quite well. Some people prefer Mozilla or Opera because they adhere more tightly to the W3C standards for the WWW than Internet Explorer does. Other times Internet Explorer is more appropriate because a company has written their website to work with it and only it.

Q7. What is this "chat" thing that keeps getting mentioned in the news and does WVI have it?
A7. Chat is a term used to represent several different methods of talking to someone else in real time. The first, and probably best known and most used of these methods is also known as Instant Messaging or IM. IM involves making up "buddy lists" of people you know who are on the same service, and you can talk to them one-on-one via typing. An extension of this is the "conference room" where you can invite several people to join you and you can all chat together. Popularized by AOL, other IM services include ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, and open source Jabber. The second type of chat is known as IRC, for Internet Relay Chat. In IRC an IRC server hosts "channels" where people running IRC client software can join in and start talking. Additionally, many IRC servers are hooked together into IRC networks, all hosting the same channels. More info on IRC can be found here. A third type of chat are what are known as chat rooms, and while they can involve different technologies they basically consist of everyone logging into the same computer and talking to each other. A similar type of chat room can be found on some of the larger service providers such as AOL, CompuServe and MSN, which is limited to their subscribers only. Chat and IM'ing should be entered with the understanding that there basically are no rules, and like everything internet related, children should be supervised when using it.

Q8. What is DSL?
A8. DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line, is a method for receiving broadband internet service over a normal phone line. There are several types of DSL, but Willamette Valley Internet and SCTC/PTC/NEO only have two: ADSL and HDSL. ADSL, or Asymetric DSL, means that the upload and download speeds of a circuit are different. Normally the download speed is faster, since getting the information to display a webpage normally takes up much more bandwidth than sending the message requesting it. HDSL, or High-speed DSL, is actually a misnomer - it isn't any faster than ADSL, but normally both sides of the connection are the same speed. It's advantage is that, because it is able to use repeaters, HDSL will work further out than ADSL. Because our supplier of HDSL equipment is no longer making HDSL equipement, SCTC and WVI are no longer adding new HDSL subscribers.

Q9. Can I still use the phone with DSL?
A9. Yes! There are three advantages to DSL service:

  1. The connection with WVI is always on.
  2. It's much faster than dial-up.
  3. Unlike dial-up you can still use your phone when online.

The secret is that your normal phone service only uses part of the wire that it comes into your house on. DSL can use the remainder of the wire for high-speed digital internet service. Keeping the two signals separate is the job of filters that are installed on any phones that share the same line with the DSL service. You should receive several filters when you order DSL service and receive your modem.


Stayton Cooperative Telephone Company
502 North Second Avenue, Stayton, Oregon 97383
Phone: 503.769.2121
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