What is Rainbow Fiber?

Fiber networks are the most advanced and reliable networks. It offers the most up-to-date technology and is considered future proof.

Coaxial: Distance becomes a problem. Bandwidth can degrade quickly and can require extenders every 5,000 feet.

DSL: Minimal speeds are available and distance is very limited.

Fiber: Deliver speeds and transmit data at a fast rate and have low latency.

1. Faster Internet: Our network is capable of keeping up with the technology demands of residents and businesses. Fiber is able to provide the fastest download and upload speeds, allowing consumers to do as much streaming, gaming, and file uploading as they wish.

2. Increased Home Value: Having access to fiber at your home increases your home value by 3.1%. A study from the Fiber Broadband Association showed that a house that has fiber access adds 1.3% value and adds an additional 1.8% if the house can support up to 1 gig. Adding 3.1% to your home’s value is equivalent to adding $5, 437 to the sample median home price. That’s like adding 1 full fireplace, ½ bathroom, or ¼ of a swimming pool.

3. Community Development: A fiber network can help a city position their community for tomorrow’s jobs and economic growth. Chambers and economic development groups will be able to show developing businesses the possibilities their business can do with their broadband connection.

We are committed to installing fiber in every fiberhood that reaches the percentage goal of level of interest. Once the fiberhood reaches the required percentage goal, the fiberhood will be put in line to have fiber built to it.

The fiber project is expected to take several years to complete. The initial construction is expected to begin in 2021. Rainbow will build to each fiberhood after they receive the required percentage goal of level of interest. The sooner your fiberhood reaches the goal, the sooner your fiberhood will be put on the construction list!

Yes, we installed fiber-to-the-home to all of our cooperative towns (Bendena, Denton, Everest, Huron, Muscotah, Robinson, Whiting, and Willis) in 2010. Since then, we have built a fiber network to businesses in some of our other communities (Hiawatha, Highland, Horton, Sabetha, Seneca, Troy, and Wathena).

We also have been a part of two tribal fiber deployments: Iowa Tribe and Sac and Fox Nation.

Recently, we installed a fiber network to the Shannon Industrial Park and the Atchison Amelia Earhart Airport.

Please visit our residential service page here or our business service page here.

First, show interest by filling out this form. Once we have reached the percentage goal of level of interest for your fiberhood, you will transition to the construction stage. Once construction is complete, your fiberhood will go to the sign-up phase.

The sign-up stage will consist of selecting the plan that best fits your business or family’s needs and paying a $25 non-refundable commitment fee. The commitment fee will be applied to your first month’s service. Once there are enough commitments for your fiberhood, construction plans will be underway!

It is important that you express your interest in the fiber network to your neighbors. The faster we reach the percentage goal of interest for your fiberhood, the faster you’ll receive access to our fiber network!

Click here to take our interactive broadband calculator.

Click here to take a speed test.

You may want to take it several times – at different times of the day to see how doing different activities will require different amount of bandwidth.

We are offering free installation for new residential customers in Atchison. That’s a savings of up to $118!

Yes, it is possible that your yard will be impacted by the fiber network. The construction crews will always use the right of way if possible. However, each yard and home are different and can vary by the outdoor circumstances.

Should there be any roads closed, our construction crews will work with the appropriate party (for example, the city) to ensure everyone’s safety.

Yes, you heard right! Our permanent business location will be at 101 Commercial Street in Atchison. However, we are doing some modifications to the building. Our temporary office location will be at 721 Commercial Street.

Checking the progress of your fiberhood’s interest is easy! Simply, click here and re-enter your address and click “Find”. The screen will show you a map of the city of Atchison along with a progress bar that shows the percentage of interest submitted.

Please do not select “I’m Interested” again if you have already submitted interest for your location. If you are unsure if your address has submitted interest, please give us a call at 800-892-0163.  

When submitting your interest through the site, be sure to have your friends and neighbor email addresses handy. At the end of the interest submission, you have the option to share on social media & emailing your friends and neighbors. The email contains the link that they need to submit interest for their location.

If you’ve already submitted your interest and didn’t have your friend’s email handy, you can fill out a form through this link and your friend will receive an email letting them know you submitted interest and thought they might be interested, too!

Yes, customers may choose to use their own wireless router. However, if you don’t want to worry about installing, setting up, and managing your own router, you can choose to rent a router from us. Information on our wireless router can be found here under the Premium Wi-Fi section.

A fiber drop consists of a fiber cable that connects the fiber cables from our network to the Network Interface Device on the side of your home. Our construction crews will be around to run your fiber drop during the construction phase of your fiberhood. 

You may be wondering why your services aren’t installed once your fiber drop is ran. This can happen for a number of reasons. The fiber process involves a few different construction crews working on different aspects of the project simultaneously. Sometimes the fiber drop crew will make it to your property before the splicing is done for your neighborhood.