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

[Mountain Rose]

Hi again, everyone--

Just wondering which high speed internet provider has the best reliability in the area. Cost is less of an issue than speed and consistency, since DH will be using the connection for his work. We'd be willing to pay for the fastest upload and download speeds as long as the service is reliable enough.

Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[snowbored]

I you are close enough to town to get Northland cable it has been the best for me. Verizon DSL was horrible with the bonus of horrible service. My DSL would go out all the time and Verizon didn't seem to care to try and figure out why. They came out and said 'We don't know' and left. Needless to say I canceled and went to cable. Now that it is Frontier it might be better, but in the past it was not reliable enough for me to work from home.

[Sage of Sagle]

For ALMOST every part of Bonner County, you'll have a tough time getting DSL. And cable is not possible for an awful lot of locations.

When I moved here in 2007, I did two satellite systems (buildings to far for cat-5 or repeaters back then). Wild Blue: Nice folks, good customer service, but service went out in the slightest inclement weather, and I thought it was seriously substandard (really bad latency, a lot of packet loss). HughesNet business service was strong, good even in bad North Idaho snowstorms. Latency was still bad (but not as bad as Wild Blue), but packet loss wasn't as bad. Their customer service was ALL India-based, and they were horrible. I hated them with a passion reserved for snotty level 1 tech support flunkies.

There is a wireless broadband service that works quite well if you're in line of sight coverage from Baldy Mtn or other broadcast locations. But if you're not right in Sandpoint or "coastal" north Sagle, you're out of luck to some degree, but it's worth checking into.

I broke down at had Verizon do a T1 line to my house. TOTALLY worth the money. $422.50/month for rock steady reliable 1.5Mpbs up and down with network packet priority.

[easy71]

Sage,

Sorry to bump an old thread, but one quick question for you:

What sort of additional cost and logistics did you encounter with getting the T1 run? Is it safe to assume that right of way can be a gotcha?

I'm looking at relocating to the area in ~2 years, so I'm trying to get a sense of how much I'm going to have to give in the way of property selection in order to get 'fast,' reliable connectivity (I'll be working from home via VPN.) Judging by Intermax's current tower map, I may well have to go the expensive trenched route.

[Sage of Sagle]

We were a new construction with the phone company putting in robust service just outside our property. So it wasn't a big deal to get T1...they only had to trench from the front part of our property where the main phone lines were coming across the area. I think as long as their local box has the right number of lines, it's real simple. So as you property shop, you may have to have Verizon verify that they can get T1 to that property without a bunch of extra work across easements or rights of way.

[AnnieGetURGun]

Has there been any improvement in internet reliability since the last post on this thread in October 2011? Are there any known or suspected plans in the works for internet improvement in the Bonners Ferry area? We are considering a several places north of town, actually north of the Hwy 2. We don't use internet for business but want to be able to use Skype.
Thanks for any updates.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Verizon has 4G in Sandpoint now!

[Sage of Sagle]

I've heard about plans for more high speed stuff around town, but not around BF. But then again, I haven't really been paying a ton of attention to Bonners Ferry news...

[flatlander dave]

Frontier Communications had a meeting with Boundary County commissioners to let them know about there plans for improved service in DSL in county. Almost all of the county will have DSL. Up to 10mg speed. Check commissioners minutes for details. I can't wait. We were on wild blue until EL internet came out with new service. I have 1 MG service for $65/month and its very reliable but DSL would be much better for me.

[NwCoast]

I have been keeping tabs on this thread for a few months, any progress on high speed internet in Sagle?

Our family has been eyeing a piece of property there for a year or so.

Thanks for your time.