Is the internet in CDA really that bad?

[Dmmhc]

I just rechecked at home, in Hayden. 12 down, 11 up. It changes all the time.

[Cnynrat]

Originally Posted by Dmmhc

I just rechecked at home, in Hayden. 12 down, 11 up. It changes all the time.

That's the nature of a shared resource. The speed each user will experience is dependent on what others are doing at any given time.

This isn't unique to north Idaho.

Dave

[Shaner]

I consistently get 50 down 6 up downtown minimum. Looking at my server status, I average 91.38 down and 8.13 up.

[blockzilla]

3 years later, thought I'd follow up and see about the internet situation around CDA. Still pretty bad overall? I imagine Starlink and the like will be a solid option before too long now, but in general is access to high speed internet improved much over the last 3 years? We didn't end up moving back in 2018 but it's still something we're considering at some point.

[StarrySkiesAbove]

My brother lives in Spirit Lake, he has Starlink and he’s very happy with it.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by blockzilla

Thanks! One person I was talking to said that levels of service could depend on your location and look angle in relation to the local mountains. I had assumed they were referring to satellite availability, but I'm not sure how things are set up there, i suppose they could have been referring to having a wireless link to a tower up on a mountain which would then plug you into the terrestrial network.

What's the scoop on why the terrestrial service is subpar? Seems like almost everywhere, even much smaller and more remote areas than CDA nowadays have a lot of fiber run every which way into the big ISPs. Is is something unique to the terrain or location that is a limiting factor in getting a bigger pipe to an ISP?

Idaho's terrain can be so rugged that trying to run an old-fashioned telephone line on on 2-wire poles can be next to impossible in some places.

The thing is: those places aren't always far out in our most remote and least-visited places here. They can sometimes be only a few miles away from the nearest town, where internet reception is much better.

It's not only mountains that break up the reception. Narrow canyons, forested mountains, and many other natural factors can do it.
It's not just in NID where it's bad, either. There are spots all over the state where reception is just as bad as anywhere in NID.

NID stands out in people's minds because folks in other states take the presence of electricity and internet access for granted. Naturally so, as in most other states they are present everywhere.

But they aren't here, never were, and never will be. There are always going to be places here where if a person wants electric power, they will have to generate it themselves.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm using Spectrum Cable and it works just fine. I can't say the same about their cable TV, but the internet is good and reliable.

[DvrGrl]

We’ve got Starlink now in Sagle and we can finally watch streaming movies