Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd wait and see. If you end up in a neighborhood where you can get Westel Fiber, use them. Cheaper, fast speeds, great service and locally owned. It's only available in limited neighborhoods, though - mostly newer and somewhat upper-end (the whole neighborhood will be wired with fiber optic lines). If you aren't sure, call them and ask.
If Westel isn't available, I'd probably just call CenturyLink - I think they're cheaper than Cable One.
I used to have Westel but moved out of that neighborhood and I have CenturyLink now. Both work fine, but Westel was cheaper and local. I think the CenturyLink plan we have is middle of the road in terms of speed level, and it's fast enough to stream HDTV without any hiccups and accommodate all the various devices we have tied into our home network.
To follow on this...our Centurylink speeds went in the crapper a couple of months ago. Like down to 1 or 2 mbps during peak times. This made streaming on TV essentially impossible. We looked into switching to Cableone and discovered our neighborhood doesn't have cable in it, so Centurylink is literally our only viable option (I don't view Clearwire as viable). Anyway, I complained to a Centurylink guy I found online and he referred us over to the "escalation desk." I don't know what they did but they did something as we're consistently getting 14-16 mbps now, even during peak times. We are on the 12 mbps plan. So I guess I have to give Centurylink some credit, even though I wish cable was an option for us - in no small part because I could bundle cable and internet for quite a bit less than I pay for Centurylink and Dish separately.
Centurylink offers up to a 40Mbps down/20Mbps up i-net service and ranges from $30-$80 with all taxes and fees included for a standalone line. It has a 250GB cap per month (even though they don't list it). Your speed will never be downgraded more than 15% and your overall speed is dependent on how far you are from the hub. You will likely experience service disruptions or get a nasty gram in the mail from Centurylink if you go over the cap.
CableOne offers up to a 70Mbps down/6Mbps up i-net service for $50-$100 a month for standalone service (no bundling or other services) although said prices do not include taxes and fees. CableOne has a 300-400GB cap per month depending on which speed you pick up. Speed is dependent on how many in your neighborhood or on the line at the same time in addition to how much downloading/streaming you do. If you hit 3GB or more during peak hours (mid morning to about 11PM), CableOne cuts your connection speed by 40-50% total if you hit that cap during peak hours. I'm not sure if CableOne ended the dirty practice of charging you if you go over the monthly cap or not, if they are still doing this and you are a download/stream hog you could end up with a freakishly high bill.
Sadly Cable overall is the superior system but due to all the red tape restrictions they place on you it can make it overall worse than DSL. Either way though it all depends on your needs and what speeds are available in your area (it can vary quite a bit from neighborhood to neighborhood so be sure you know exactly what is available before getting service).
To expand on this a little, here is a counterpoint from someone who prefers CL to Cableone:
Centurylink has a promo where the 40/20mb package is $29.99/yr. After the year promo expires as other members have pointed out you can lock in another promo (or just threaten to cancel and they'll keep it at $30). There is no 250gb Data cap, they have a "fair usage policy" where if you are constantly using 3-400gb monthly they will try to get you to move to a commercial package. I have CL and have used 800gb in a month (don't ask) and they've never bothered me about usage. My brother on the other hand has a wife and 4 children who are ALWAYS streaming netflix and month after month were hitting 5-600gb of usage, he DID get a "nastygram" saying he either needed to tone it back a little or discuss changing his plan. He kept his down around 400gb after that and never got contacted again.
So I have CL 40/20, after 3 years I'm still only paying $30/mo for my service (I have my own modem, leasing is silly), I consistently speed test 30+ mbps, can count on one hand how many times my service has been out on one hand in 3 years, never had to worry about data caps, and anytime I've had an issue I've just called into the retention team and had a decent to good experience.
In reality the best bet is going to be whoever has better service in your area. If CL doesn't have at least 12/20/40mb in an area I moved to I would use Cableone, even though I had a horrible experience with them it's still picking the lesser of two evils here in the valley.
If you're not sure: Start with CL, they have a 30 day opt out on their service so you can try it, if it works then be happy with your lower bill. If not then hop on cableone.
For those of you with Clear still: It's not going to get better Sprint is not going to be expanding on the wimax service. They've offered to keep existing Clear customers but they will not sign up anyone new under the clear umbrella. You can buy a sprint hotspot that is technically the exact same thing.
Other options in the valley: Westel (incredibly limited coverage, but decent price/speeds), Safelink/Speedyquick/Digis (all TLOS services which I would only consider if Cableone/Centurylink were not available where I was)
Source: I work for an independent retailer in Boise that sells just about everything.
I have been reading all of the posts and still can't decide because I am relocating and don't know how to find out which areas have "old" phone service or best coverage by which company. I was just there last week and signed a lease so I know I will be on the bench in an area on the line between 'depot bench' and 'vista bench'. The house was built in the 50's leading me to thing older infrastructure and therefore I should go with cable one. The thing is, I don't know if maybe certain older neighborhoods have been upgraded recently or not or by who.
Btw, I will only need internet but I stream content and will want the speed/data limits that will accommodate. I don't need phone service as I use cell for everything. I have my own modem and router.
Can anyone tell me if that seems logical? Opinions? Thoughts?
Thanks for any help, I need to make my appt in the next week!
Internet in Meridian has gotten so much better in previous years. CenturyLink and Cable One are the best that offer the best speed for your dollar. Century Link has plans starting at $19.95 for 12Mbps while Cable One has much higher speeds, all the way up to 75 Mbps. [MOD CUT]
Last edited by Sage of Sagle; 07-15-2015 at 11:15 AM..
Reason: Low count poster linking
Things have changed dramatically since my last post in the Boise area. But here is some detailed information for anybody who is interested:
The only real options in the Boise metro anymore are CenturyLink and Cable One. Everything else is generally subpar and unreliable with a few outliers, depending on where you live. Check whats available in your neighborhood here: http://www.broadbandmap.gov/ Put in your address and hit 'Find Broadband', then hit 'Show Wired'.
Both CenturyLink and Cable One are in the process of upgrading their networks to 1Gbps throughout the country. Cable One has not yet announced what areas will be getting their Gbit service first, while CenturyLink has already deployed Gbit in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, and some Business customers in Boise/Meridian. More than likely, CenturyLink will be providing residential customers access to the new packages sometime in the near future.
Sources: https://www.centurylink.com/fiber/http://news.centurylink.com/news/cen...tions-in-idaho http://www.cableone.net/AAU/pressrel...netSpeeds.aspx
Detailed CenturyLink Information:
The Boise metro has not yet been fully upgraded, and only the areas near their fiber backbones have access to CenturyLink's fiber network. Depending on your distance from their backbone you will either have GPON (FTTP), VDSL2 (FTTN), or ADSL/ADSL2+. The only way to figure out what is available in your area is to check on their website (or call 866-541-3322): http://www.centurylink.com/#CTAM Click 'Check For Services In My Area' and enter your address.
If highest package is 20 Mbps = ADSL only
If highest package is 40 Mbps = VDSL2
If highest package is anything higher = GPON
If you do not have VDSL2 or GPON in your area, do not even bother with CenturyLink. Their ADSL service is terrible and Cable One will generally be a superior option across the board.
Detailed Cable One Information:
Cable One just recently upgraded most of the Boise metro (including Meridian and Nampa/Caldwell). Depending on your distance from their backbone you should be getting pretty stellar speeds now. Their packages have been bumped to 100 Mbps, 150 Mbps, and 200 Mbps. There is no way to predict what kind of speeds you will actually get, but it's very likely you will be seeing 50-70 Mbit minimum on their base 100mbit package. YMMV.
Check to see if the upgraded network is available to you by putting in your zip code on their website here: https://www.cableone.net/residential/internet
HOWEVER, unlike CenturyLink, their residential plans have 'data plans' that if you go over regularly, they will force you to upgrade to a more expensive plan. If you are paying for a higher plan, and you get too close to the cap they will not let you downgrade either. If you are on their highest plan and you go over, you have to upgrade to their business tier service (which has no caps, but is a lot more expensive). If you don't want to deal with this or use a lot of data, I would suggest you just go with their Business tier service out the gate here: https://business.cableone.net/internet
Last edited by ChaoticHolon; 10-18-2015 at 08:31 PM..
We recently moved to Meridian, ID (family of 3)..After trying Cable One's (aka CO) residential plan 100Mb down /3Mb up (with 300GB/month cap) we come to realize all data caps CO offers (except 1000GB) won't work for our family. We use about 15-25GB daily so our monthly usage can run up to 750GB and a bit over. Our choice was to go either with their residential "Roommate plan", 200/10 with 750GB cap ($130) or one of two business plans: "100/10" for $128.45 or "50/5" for $92.95 with no data caps for either plan. At the end we chose "50/5" (which BTW measures 57/5.2 on Speed Test) and offers enough speed for all we need to do and watch.
One more thing, instead of trying to use wireless connection for everything we use Ethernet over power: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
which works perfectly for our big house. I run 4 of these adapters. We get about 80-98% of the router speed in every room. Hope it helps.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sprint is not going to be expanding on the wimax service. They've offered to keep existing Clear customers but they will not sign up anyone new under the clear umbrella. You can buy a sprint hotspot that is technically the exact same thing.
