Enjoy the best of the Web with a subscription to BendBroadband Variety Pack. It is amazing access to some of the top Internet games, sports, leisure and information sites: AmericanGreetings.com, Clever Island, Encyclopædia Britannica®, MLB.com, NASCAR TrackPass RaceView, NHL® Premium Videos and Game Notes™, Shockwave® UNLIMITED and weather.com®! It's a great variety - something for everyone in the family!
1. What is BendBroadband Variety Pack?
BendBroadband Variety Pack is a bundle of premium services that enriches your whole family's life. When you subscribe, you get everything from games and research to sports and premium weather videos. Leisure, education, entertainment and information–what more could you ask from premium services right on your homepage–with one single sign-on.
2. What services are included in BendBroadband Variety Pack?
You get access to the following premium subscriptions:
3. How am I billed for Variety Pack?
Variety Pack services will simply be included on your BendBroadband monthly statement. No separate credit card charges or additional bills are required; just easy access to the best online premium services.
4. What is AmericanGreetings.com?
AmericanGreetings.com enables you to send premium eCards, and Create & Print customized greetings and projects. There are thousands of eCards for every holiday, and in many styles. AmericanGreetings.com features a reminder service, so you don't forget an important date! It also has invitations, photo cards and so much more, to delight friends and family with.
5. What is Clever Island?
Clever Island is an award-winning, fun, safe, learning games subscription service. It focuses on important educational skills, offering 3-8 year old children the choice of over 100 continuously updated games and activities in a self-contained virtual world. It's designed by experts from Hanna-Barbera, the Learning Company and Harvard University to be engaging, powerful, and fun. Comes with a separate parental control center to monitor and measure your child's progress.
6. What is Encyclopædia Britannica®?
This service offers unlimited access to a search and directory site featuring the full, updated, 32-volume Encyclopædia Britannica®–including over 120.000 articles. You get news, thousands of video and audio clips, hundreds of magazines and journals, research tools, Merriam-Webster's dictionary and thesaurus and more–all in an advertising-free environment.
7. What is NASCAR TrackPass RaceView?
NASCAR TrackPass RaceView is an amazing way to enhance your race viewing and inside knowledge. You get three different views, presented in a videogame-like atmosphere; get inside the car with your favorite driver, and see the field ahead, the field behind, or from the air. Also comes with Scanner and PitCommand, giving you even more inside access to all audio communications between driver and crew!
8. What is MLB.com?
MLB.com is baseball from the source. Gameday Audio broadcasts every game, every day. MLB.com Radio is an all-baseball interactive radio station, with live interviews and breaking news. Condensed Games and Highlight Reels offer key plays, some posted shortly after the game concludes. Searchable Video lets you see your selected players. All this, plus fantasy, individual team sites, and all the stats, schedules and standings you desire. It's a home run.
9. What is NHL® Premium Videos and Game Notes™?
NHL® Premium Videos and Game Notes™ is a two-piece premium subscription service. Video includes 20-minute condensed NHL game videos, online and commercial free. Select games are available within hours after the game has been played, and all are archived for 30 days. NHL Game Notes™ include summaries, profiles, lineups, and player bios. It's a rich online hockey experience, for every fan: from the casual to the die-hard.
10. What is Shockwave.com® Unlimited?
Shockwave Unlimited is an advertising free, premium games service, with access to hundreds of online and downloadable games, including many exclusive premium titles. Shockwave Unlimited lets you play with no time or level limitations. Shockwave Unlimited offers genres for every age and interest, from moms looking to relax after a long day, to kids who want some gaming action.
11. What is weather.com®?
weather.com® is a premium service that provides everything you could ever want, weather-wise. Exclusive local and regional videos; and The Weather Channel programs like "Stories of the Week" and "It Could Happen Tomorrow." Also has an in-depth Vacation Planner, and Weather Links, which take you to a wealth of weather-related content, like Wedding Planner, Golf Outlook, Pollen and Traffic Reports, Flight Delays and lots more. It's for everyone–from the person who simply wants to know what the temperature is, to the weather-obsessed.
12. What are the system requirements to access BendBroadband Variety Pack?
Due to the high resolution and use of video with our premium content providers, we recommend that your computer meet the following minimum hardware and software requirements.
* BendBroadband Variety Pack premiums may not be optimized for MAC users, and browsers other than Internet Explorer.
13. Can anyone else access my BendBroadband premium subscriptions?
Unless you share your login information with others, only you will be able to access your premium online subscriptions. To prevent others from accessing your premium content, please keep your login information confidential.
14. I sometimes see pop-up advertisements while viewing my BendBroadband premium online content. Can I stop the ads?
BendBroadband cannot turn off pop-up ads that are part of the premium service or content providers' offerings. These ads are a service of content providers to promote special offers.
15. I can't view my BendBroadband premium online content when the video window appears. What is wrong and how do I fix it?
If you can't view the my.bendbroadband.com homepage or a premium content video stream:
a. Certain content providers may require that you enable Javascript and ActiveX Controls to properly view their pages. For Internet Explorer, click on Tools, Internet Options, Security. Make sure that Java and ActiveX are enabled for your browser, and then save the system changes. Alternatively, you can enable Cookies at this time in the Privacy settings. The "Default" security setting will switch on all three features at once. Click to "Apply" the changes.
b. You may have outdated or incompatible versions of video playing programs on your computer. To check for the latest version of RealPlayer, Flash Player, Shockwave or Windows Media Player, click on 'Get Plug-Ins' located in the footer of my.bendbroadband.com. This link allows customers to simply click and have their desktop scanned for available Plug-ins and those needed for optimal use of the services available through the portal. Clicking on this link will result in a window advising of any Plug-ins needed with links to download the software. RealPlayer is the only plug-in required to view the portal content. The rest may be required to access premium content.
c. Finally, you may be experiencing Internet congestion that is causing slow download and streaming speeds. If the video player tries to re-buffer the stream more than three times during the video, close the video pop-up window and select a smaller stream. Internet congestion is common at peak usage hours, and unless it persists for more than an hour you do not need to contact BendBroadband Customer Service.
16. Can I leave my email, messaging, and other programs running while viewing my BendBroadband Variety Pack premium online content?
Depending on the speed and RAM of your computer, you can keep several programs running at the same time, including your premium content subscriptions. However, certain programs that require a lot of virtual memory, such as graphics programs or a Web camera, may impede your system's ability to process a video stream from your premium online content. If you have consistent problems with system resources, or crash the browser more than once, you should close such programs when viewing premium video streams at the same time.
17. Why can't I log in to my BendBroadband Variety Pack services (for example, Shockwave® Unlimited or American Greetings) directly from their websites?
BendBroadband Variety Pack provides a unique bundle and substantial discount for our customers accessing the premium content through the my.bendbroadband.com portal. So, in order to use your premium services, you must access them through your BendBroadband portal page located at my.bendbroadband.com.
18. What's happening if I have to log in repeatedly for access to my subscription services or to set my preferences on my.bendbroadband.com?
You may have "Cookies" turned off for your Web browser. Cookies allow the BendBroadband system to recognize you and "find" your log-in and credentials as you navigate throughout the many content partners in your subscription. To switch Cookies on, click on Tools, Internet Options, and Privacy. Select a Privacy setting of "Medium" or lower, which will enable Cookies and provide a seamless subscription content viewing experience.
19. How do I know if my system has the latest Plug-Ins, or Media Players?
Please find the link to our Downloads and Plug-Ins page located within the left column navigation on my.bendbroadband.com. This link allows you to simply click to have your desktop scanned for available Plug-ins and those needed for optimal use of the services available through the portal. Clicking on this link will result in a window advising you of any Plug-ins needed–as well as the links to download the software. RealPlayer is the only plug-in required to view the portal content. The rest may be required to access premium content.
20. Why don't some of the player controls or plug-ins work for me when using Netscape?
If you already had RealPlayer installed before you downloaded Netscape you will have to re-install RealPlayer in order to make the controls work properly. A free download is available here.
