Cell Phone Services in Idaho Falls Area (Boise: travel, work)

[norcalmom101]

I will be moving to IF area from SF area, where I have grown accustomed to my flat rate unlimited minutes contract free cell phone service (MetroPCS).

I have two phones which cost roughly 100 dollars each, and I pay under 100 dollars per month for both, with unlimited texting and voice mail as well as anywhere anytime minutes.

Is there any service at all like Metro PCS in Idaho? Which service providers are as hassle free as Metro, or at least the most hassle free?

Thank you!!!!

[cleosmom]

I'm with Sprint and quite happy with that in comparison to others around here. Their coverage area is great and we're on a share pla that has 1400 minutes for two phones, does the mobile to mobile etc etc. Send me a direct message for more info.

Other carriers in the area are At&T, Verizon, Alltell and a few others whose names aren't surfacing at the moment.

[Hayduke777]

I'm with AT&T (Edge Wireless) and they're barely adequate. The customer service is nearly non-existent. The old analog service was excellent but the digital has been really sporadic. I have two phones and a data plan. Voice quality / lag is terrible and the data rate is among the slowest available anywhere. As for texting, sometimes I won't get missed call messages or text messages for several hours after they were sent. This is not acceptable and I plan on ditching AT&T as soon as my contract is up if they don't get their act together and improve the system.

Does anyone remember back in the "good old days" of say 2003 when your analog Nokia brick phones had crystal clear voice quality with ZERO lag and you could travel to the boonies and still have a signal? State coverage was nearly everywhere. Compare those old maps the the new coverage areas. Pathetic! We pay more and more for less and less services. Soon we'll just mail in the check for $100 a month and just carry around a plastic toy phone and pretend we're actually making calls.

[khurley]

That surprises me, Hayduke777. We've had five lines with Edge Wireless for over six years and have been very happy with them. In this area they have double the cell towers of any other provider. I always have people asking me who I have my service with when I'm taking calls while riding the ski lift at Targhee.

We've had really good experiences with customer service as well.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Hayduke777

I'm with AT&T (Edge Wireless) and they're barely adequate. The customer service is nearly non-existent. The old analog service was excellent but the digital has been really sporadic. I have two phones and a data plan. Voice quality / lag is terrible and the data rate is among the slowest available anywhere. As for texting, sometimes I won't get missed call messages or text messages for several hours after they were sent. This is not acceptable and I plan on ditching AT&T as soon as my contract is up if they don't get their act together and improve the system.

Does anyone remember back in the "good old days" of say 2003 when your analog Nokia brick phones had crystal clear voice quality with ZERO lag and you could travel to the boonies and still have a signal? State coverage was nearly everywhere. Compare those old maps the the new coverage areas. Pathetic! We pay more and more for less and less services. Soon we'll just mail in the check for $100 a month and just carry around a plastic toy phone and pretend we're actually making calls.

If you're having trouble and khurley is not, perhaps it's your phone and not the service? Just a thought.

[Missus A]

When we moved from Phoenix, We also moved from Cingular to Edgewireless. Yuck is all I can say as well! I rarely get text messages on time and I have to pay extra for internet capabilities which means sending photos. I hated my phone so I am using the one I had with Cingular. I can't wait until my contract is up but I am stuck for another year. I do not think it is the phone. I might go over to Tmobile.

[norcalmom101]

Wow I'm worried now!

Back when I had Sprint a Service Agent actually told me that I could remedy poor reception I was experiencing when in my automobile by sticking the phone out the window while driving and trying to use it.....

Edge was ok in California but only available in the remotish area I got it in, not in SF area, Cust. Svc was great but still coverage was spotty at best...

And nothing so far compares to unlimited calls and texts and 411 and vm for two phones for under 100 bucks a month with no contract....

Help?

[Hayduke777]

No it isn't my phone (it works fine elsewhere) it's the digital service. It just doesn't have the range or noise tolerance of analog. I'm not sure what causes the time lag but it's extremely annoying to have to pause after each sentence to wait for the reply. I never had that trouble with any analog phone. Sometimes it's like talking to someone on the moon. It's worse during the day so I assume it's related to the amount of traffic on the system. And not getting missed call notices until the next DAY from callers who are on the same network is ridiculous. Voice mail is also late. Again - I NEVER experienced this with their analog service. It happened immediately after I switched contracts and went to a full digital phone.

I don't think ANY cell provider in this part of the state is going to be all that great. This is a very small market and they just don't care about improving the service. We're a low priority. Boise is the only area in Idaho I've found that has really good service. My phone works great there. It also works great in any major metro area.

As for Edge customer service, I found that if I avoid dealing with the local reps as much as possible and go straight to the regional office I usually get things done faster. The local reps have a tendency to not know what they're talking about. But it still takes several months to get my bill fixed whenever they screw it up.

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by norcalmom101

Wow I'm worried now!

Back when I had Sprint a Service Agent actually told me that I could remedy poor reception I was experiencing when in my automobile by sticking the phone out the window while driving and trying to use it.....

Edge was ok in California but only available in the remotish area I got it in, not in SF area, Cust. Svc was great but still coverage was spotty at best...

And nothing so far compares to unlimited calls and texts and 411 and vm for two phones for under 100 bucks a month with no contract....

Help?

I highly doubt you'll find anything with no contract. In fact most switched up from only a year to having two year contracts.

Sprint has a new plan where for $100 a line you get unlimited everything; text messaging, calls, LD, no roaming, Internet capabilty etc. etc. Yes, therre's a two year contract.

[norcalmom101]

The delay you describe would drive me mad. Sounds like what I experienced talking to someone in another country through an internet connection. Never had that happen on a cell phone.