Best high speed internet provider in N. Idaho (Sandpoint/Bonners Ferry area)?

[Cnynrat]

Our house isn't in that area, so can't help you with specifics. You might ask the landlord, I would guess they have a pretty good idea what is available in that area.

If you have a direct line of sight to the top of Little Blacktail mountain you should be able to get the Intermax or Air Pipe microwave service. You are only a couple miles or so from the peak, so plenty close enough. The only question will be getting line of sight to the tower. Best thing to do is call them and give them the address.

In that general area there are some areas with Verizon 4G, and some other areas with Verizon 4G extended. That's pretty much what we have at our house in Sagle, and our experience is that we can't get our phones to connect on 4G when we're there. Whether Verizon 4G is a viable option will depend on the exact location.

Hughesnet 4 advertises 10Mbps down/2Mbps up with their higher end packages, but you can't run a VPN due to latency. May be an option if you don't need to run a VPN.

I've done a little exploration about running a T1 line to our house (3Mbps each direction). My wife will be working from home when we move up, so we need good reliable service that can support a VPN. I've found people that tell me they can run a T1 line anywhere in the country. Costs will vary based on where you are located relative to the phone company central office. This will probably be the most costly option, but perhaps also the most reliable, and VPNs are not a problem. If you are using it for work it may be worth the high cost. In our case it looks like it might be cheaper to rent her a small office in town AND have some other form of Internet at the house (probably satellite), but that comes with the hassle of having to commute to town every day. Our T1 would be very costly though because we are pretty far out on the east end of Sagle towards the lake.

I know we've talked about most of these options at various times in the thread, but hopefully that's of some help.

Dave

[hatin11r]

Thanx Dave......I called Intermax and what you said is correct. The issue is line of sight not the distance. I did find out who the neighbor uses but the numbers are not encouraging. The search continues....... Always looking for ideas however.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I just checked the Wilson website, and they're now WeBoost: Connect – weBoost. For those who might be interested.

[LionFamily]

Originally Posted by cmk3

This thread has been very educational and given me thoughts to think about and research. Does anyone know the options specifically in Selle Valley? We are moving into a rental there at the end of next month and I'm trying to figure out the best internet option - if there even are "options". Owner said internet would have to be satellite or Verizon - how does the Verizon internet work out there? Is there only one satellite company to choose from (I think my husband said it was a Hughesnet dish he saw there). I work from home now - everything is done online. I have to download LOTS of images, and occasionally videos, into dropbox. Am I going to be SOL on it? Honestly, I could happily ditch the job and go back to full time mommyhood, but the extra funds will get us towards our savings goals faster. Just want to mentally prepare myself to know if I'll have a sudden work issue when we get there or if we can facilitate a smooth transition. Also, I'm imagining the Sandpoint library has wifi? So if we come across issues when we first get there would I be able to go there and do some work?

Just saw your post, cmk3. In the Selle Valley, if your property has line of sight to Schweitzer, then you can likely get Intermax. Speeds are pretty good, but it is EXPENSIVE. Also, parts of Selle Valley do have DSL. It's really going to be location dependent. HTH.

[evielu]

We are looking into moving into the Sandpoint area in the next few months. It's August 2016. Any new improvements regarding fast internet in the area? We really need fast speed internet, because our livelihood depends on it. Thank you.

[Cnynrat]

Unfortunately, there haven't been any changes. If you are "in town" you can have cable or DSL. Outside town if you have line of sight to one of the microwave towers you can get good service at a price. 4G cellular is another option, also at a price, and only if you have good cell service. Otherwise you are looking at satellite, which is expensive and slow.

Another option is to run a T1 line to your home. We looked at that for my wife who is still working and determined it would be cheaper to rent her an office space in town. Monthly rent for small offices in Sandpoint starts at about $250.

In the end the final answer will very much depend on exactly where your property is located. I'm sure a real estate agent could help you filter properties based on a requirement to have good Internet service.

Dave