What exactly is considered the tri-cites area? (Johnson City, Kingsport: house, promotional)

[vacation bound]

Okay, dumb question of the day. Since I am not from TN- What exactly is considered the tri-cites area?

[pineywoods]

Tri-Cities is the region that includes three major cities: Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City, and several smaller towns contiguous to those three, including Jonesborough, Bluff City, Blountville, Elizabethton, Telford, Limestone, Piney Flats, Rogersville, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. Within a half an hour you can pretty much drive from one town on this list to any of the others.Correct me if I'm wrong, MB. I'm chiming in as someone who has been to most of these cities, but not nearly as much as others on this list, as I'm a newbie to the region myself.

Oh, and Tri-cities is one of the prettiest, friendliest areas of Tennessee, with a small town feel and bigger city amenities. We sure do love it here.

[VirginiaB]

Hi Pineywoods,
Been browsing the forum for a while and just joined. My husband and I are planning to visit the Tri-city area next fall. I've gotten a fairly good idea of what the area is like, thanks to the forum and the members. Can you tell me what to expect, digital wise? Our area is served by Comcast and we have a digital package which provides cable TV, phone and really high speed Internet. What are the options for TV, phone and internet in the areas that comprise the Tri-city area? Any information you, or others, could provide, would be appreciated.

[jabogitlu]

Comcast's Triple Play isn't available here (at least in Johnson City) because their digital voice hasn't come to the area, yet. Otherwise the services are the same, I have their basic cable and high speed internet package for ~$90. There are two different cable/net providers, depending on where you live - Comcast and Charter - and it can change quite rapidly, as I was thinking about living 2-3 minutes from where I currently live and was going to have to switch to Charter.

Not sure about phone, I've never had a landline. I'd hazard a guess that it's Sprint.

This is all JC. Not sure about Kingsport or Bristol.

[ljay42]

Charter is horrible. For some reason they just can't seem to get the details worked out on some programming that is important to me.

Last year we couldn't get MLB so I had to order online and watch the redsox games on my computer. They don't have the NFL network and except for the SuperBowl, they haven't even worked out an agreement yet for FOX HD.

I pay them $300 a month for cable, phone, and internet. I don't mind the $300 - but I do mind the $300 AND I can't get the Redsox on my tv.

As soon as my youngest gets off to knoxville in the fall for college, I'm moving out of Charters area.

[GrannyLois]

I thought I would miss Charter Cable when I moved to Stoney Creek, but I *love* my Satellite dish through Dish network/Embarq. I never had trouble with Charter in Blountville, though.

[mbmouse]

I have Dish network/Embarq here in Gray too, no problems here either $87 for Dish, that includes some Premium channels (HBO, Stars, etc) and Embarq is DSL and phone for $96 a month.

[williboy]

We have DirectTV for television and Embarq for phone and computer service and we are very satisfied with both. We switched from cable to satellite years ago; it's so much better.

[ComicalMoodyDan]

Charter offers triple play services in Kingsport. They currently are offering Digital TV, Digital phone, and 5 Mbps cable modem for $99.97 a month for 12 months. Be warned though while Charter has excellent promotional plans their rates after the promotional period are high and they have horrible customer service.

Embarq is the local landline provider in this area and they have many different options. They have triple bundles that include a landline, DSL internet, and Dish Network. Embarq tends to be more expensive than Charter's promotional prices but they have much better customer service and the prices are locked in.

[pineywoods]

VirginiaB we have Dish network/Embarq since there is no cable access on our road yet. I'm hoping that one day there will be, as I prefer cable to satellite any day. Either my daughter's computer is slow or the Dish Network is, because it takes a long time for pages and websites to come up on her computer. Once our house is built and I have my computer there, I'll be able to compare. I have a newer Mac. Really hoping it's her computer, not the satellite Dish, because I am one impatient puppy when it comes to waiting for a page to come up. Very spoiled by cable!