Cable/internet service in Idaho Falls (Pocatello, Rexburg: rent, coop, how much)

[sav]

Hi,

We will be moving to IF soon and I was thinking about our services. I notice that our old standby Comcast is not in the phonebook. Who are the best providers of these services? What features do people like?

Thanks,
Sarah

[cleosmom]

If you want high speed your choices are; Qwest, Cableone, Microserv and most likely a few others.

Qwest does a bundle package with their phone (landline) service and sattelite tv. Cableone also does a bundle package with their phone service and digital tv. Not sure what all Microserv handles.

I know I'm with Cableone and have had no issues with outages.

[CafeDelSol]

Depending on the neighborhood, Cable one has reliable service. If you have problems though be prepared to battle with them to get it fixed. Especially anything internet related. I ad to file a BBB complaint recently to get my internet issues resolved. They finally got on it and fixed it. Watch out for their sucker deals though. They will bait you with low "introductory" prices then slap you with a massive increase in a few months or a year depending on what promotion you have.
Microserve is a small provider. I have no experience with their service. Quest customer support is normally routed overseas unless you know the secret code to talk to a local person. For that reason alone I'd stay away from them.

[busone]

It depends on where you live. Here in the Magic Valley we have PMT which is a local phone/DSL/cable COOP so the prices are nice and the service is great.

Qwest has the best price for DSL though, however they are Qwest and if you have a problem you will have to deal with some call center far away. Also be very very careful if you want to get DirecTV. They don't have local channels available in many parts of Idaho. If you get the Qwest bundle with DirecTV and try to cancle because you cannot get local channels they will try to charge you a contract fee.

If they tell you that you can get your local channels with an antenna you better try it first. In Burley you need a 15' pole to get any over the air channels.

That leaves you with Dish Network for satellite or Cable One and PMT for cable.

[sav]

Thanks for all the insight.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Dear SAV,

I haven't been able to log on this site for some reason. Tried via various computers. Anyway, I wanted to tell you from what I know, yours is a commonly asked question of those who depend on Internet and want the ability to have it with Cable too. That seems like an appropriate place to start given the Cable/Internet question you pose.

It may be interesting for those who have moved into the Idaho Falls area (and long-time residents as well) - to contact providers such as Comcast to ask what their plans are for eastern ID.

Comcast has a strong presence in UT. It seems natural to expand to the Idaho Falls area, as the cell phone towers etc. all seem to make those leaps from the SLC/Ogden area to Idaho Falls.

I'd be interested to hear what others who have moved to the area from other areas and what they would suggest as possible companies to contact about providing service. It seems like some of the original Internet smaller companies have been bought by others and services became limited. Let me check on one and might be able to give you a website about it.

Honestly, I don't think enough residential/business owners have complained or encouraged additional service providers for someone else to come in. I know Cable may not be a big issue to many businesses;however, given options of new Internet packages, some may be surprised how many businesses use which providers elsewhere. Due to mergers or a predominant family in Idaho Falls having a lot of media control. This probably includes Internet access, if I remember correctly.

While this is different, it still reminds me of another service many wanted in Idaho Falls but had resistance getting it: United Airlines. Idaho Falls "courted" the airline for 7 years before they entered the market. United started on a trial basis 2 direct flights to Denver/day, less than 2 years ago. They became so busy somehow a third flight got added in that no one ever "announced," within months. Now, United is working to have everything ready for a direct flight from Chicago to Idaho Falls daily, while keeping the 3 daily Denver flights unchanged, from what I understand.

My point is sometimes certain businesses just don't know how much business could available in a particular area like Idaho Falls, if only offered by certain providers. The interesting thing about the Internet is if local residents are use to fast service either through the city system, INL etc., they are going to want it at home.

Seems to me more providers would wnt to offer more core home services in a growing area, like Idaho Falls (or from Pocatello through Rexburg, and also including Driggs) New businesses could emerge - Look at Night Hawk - let alone people who are just use to previous providers in other ares..

The city has a major Internet system, but I believe it is for businesses only. I'm fuzzy on my details about that particular infrastructure, but will see if I can get you some info if it is for your work. Home is still a different situation. Perhaps someone else may clarify that for you, if I can't get some links or info to you soon.

Glad you'll be in 8B (Bonneville County) soon. Idaho natives, while in elementary school use to have to learn the counties and subsequently how to tell where "home" was for every licensed vehicle. Probably saved a lot of fights among sibs in cars as parents had them look for different license plates from the 10B or 2T or 7C etc. counties. But a lifetime skill!
Nonetheless, for adults this info has actually be useful for marketing and planning etc.

More importantly, just so you know, many familiar with the area with compare counties by their abbreviations vs. trying to describe where some place really rural is. (Jefferson County, outside of Rigby, is a perfect example). BTW - it is 1J and all cars licensed in Jefferson Co. will have a license plates that start with a 1J.XXX. So when someone says you can buy or see X, Y, Z about 25 miles from Rigby, it's good to know if you'll be going into Madison County, maybe Clark County, Bingham or staying in Jefferson or Bonneville.

Back to your specific subject, Cable/Internet service, how about asking Comcast prior to you leaving if Comcast from the NW plans to expand into Idaho?

One interesting fact about Idaho Falls, is it falls into different regions based on the product or service. For example, Quest Labs, serves UT and right up to the southern part of ID from Denver. But, then once in the Idaho Falls, all service is managed out of Seattle.

If possible, please try to learn which regional office has responsibility for eastern ID for Comcast. I'll try to contact them as well elsewhere and see if they have plans of expanding to ID, or at least where to direct others. If Comcast isn't quite ready to make this move yet, maybe another company is.
It always seems to help to remind people of the 300,000 people and include Jackson, Yellowstone and all the new resorts at Driggs when asking these questions. (And the price of those homes).

I hope this has helped somehow!

MSR

[Mapper]

I personally DO NOT recommend Microserv. I am an IT Consultant and have had many run-ins with them over the years. I personally have had the most luck going through Qwest. Just make sure that when you get here you live in an area that the phone lines can handle the high speed connections.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by Mapper

I personally DO NOT recommend Microserv. I am an IT Consultant and have had many run-ins with them over the years. I personally have had the most luck going through Qwest. Just make sure that when you get here you live in an area that the phone lines can handle the high speed connections.

Mapper,

Just so those who don't live in the area, and even those of us who do, or have businesses in the area etc., can you give us some rough geographical borders?

Such as streets, roads, away from the river, by the river, away from the south end of I-15 etc.?

I've been asked this question soooooooooo many times and I fankly do not know the best answer.

Also, do you realistically see Comcast entering the eastern ID market?

Thanks.

MSR

[jeanie missouri]

What kinda of prices are you paying for the bundle?
I currently pay
$20.00 for local phone service
$4.99 a month for 5 cents a minute long distance
$54.99 for high speed DSL
I then put in a router for my lap top and so my daughter could have wireless in her room and all of a sudden I'm getting a add on bill for $18.99 month wireless...

[twinprism]

I payed approx this much with Qwest.

$30.00 for local phone with extras.
$ 26.99 for 1.5Mbit down /768 up DSL w/ 2 year agreement and $10 discount for bundling with local phone. (faster speeds available depending on where you are for more money)
about $6-8/month for taxes and such.

You can rent a router for about $5/month or buy one for about $60-$100

No extra charge for wireless, you just need to buy or rent a wireless router.

With DSL, some areas can get it and some can't. Typically have to be within 3-5 miles of a phone company switch. There are 2 in Pocatello, and I'm not sure what there is in Idaho Falls.

Didn't use long distance on my local phone.