Cell service outside of Boise? (Idaho Falls, Mountain Home: home, price, pine)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After 5 years, my Motorola V360 is finally starting to have reception problems, so I'm thinking of switching phones. Right now I have T-Mobile service, an unlimited minute plan for $50 a month with no contract. Reception around Boise is fine, but once you get out to more rural areas it starts to fail.
I'd be open to switching carriers, but I want to keep an unlimited plan for about the same price. Any companies around that have better coverage on the outskirts and don't charge an arm and a leg for unlimited minutes?
Bonus if I can use the phone for tethering a laptop at broadband speed.
After 5 years, my Motorola V360 is finally starting to have reception problems, so I'm thinking of switching phones. Right now I have T-Mobile service, an unlimited minute plan for $50 a month with no contract. Reception around Boise is fine, but once you get out to more rural areas it starts to fail.
I'd be open to switching carriers, but I want to keep an unlimited plan for about the same price. Any companies around that have better coverage on the outskirts and don't charge an arm and a leg for unlimited minutes?
Bonus if I can use the phone for tethering a laptop at broadband speed.
well it could be your phone.... Find another phone for cheap and see if reception gets better. Most carriers dont put too much into rural areas.
Yes, it very well could be my phone. It's having reception problems, as I mentioned. The problem is, T-Mobile has gone for Smartphones in a big way, and with those you have to have a data plan, which is more expensive. They only have a few regular phones, and with them either I don't like the phone, or it's missing a specific feature I have to have. So I'm just not happy with what they're currently offering. I could get a used T-Mobile phone, but before I do that, I want to see what else is out there.
I use Verizon and have had good luck with them. From Las Vegas to Boise I had coverage the whole way except on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Going up to Sun Valley I have coverage for most of the trip except when climbing out of Mountain Home to Hill City. When I go to Idaho Falls I have coverage for 95% of the drive.
I know that up in the Boise National Forest you get Verizon at least as far as Lowman. It seemed common knowledge up there that Verizon worked but not ATT. Can't speak for any other carriers and it may have changed since summer.
I have ATT and lost signal once I went over the pass toward Horseshoe Bend then it was hit and miss for a while. By the time I turned off in Banks, the signal was long gone.
I did hear ATT was coming out with a new phone that would go from GSM Cell to satellite using a Windows Mobile based phone, so it would work in most places (Sat phone and GPS both need a view of the sky and many buildings and canyons block it, not to mention pine trees block the signals too.) It's called the TerreStar Genus. It's pricey though, but you only have the one phone number to worry about. If I spent a lot of time up in the mountains, I'd look into it. If it's just for in between town coverage I'd compare the different carriers' coverage areas for a normal cell phone.
In the past couple years Verizon added a tower in the Sawtooths. I get great reception up there now. Satellite service is probably different, because of the mountains, you still get a lot of dead areas, i.e. betweeen towns. I think that will be the case for most/all carriers.
Verizon is definitely the best for rural areas in Idaho. Service is still pretty spotty outside of bigger towns but I can say from experience that the Fairfield/Camas Prairie area, ID-78 in Owyhee County, Horseshoe Bend, Hailey/Sun Valley area, Cascade/McCall, Stanley, Arco, and Mackay all have cell service with Verizon. Most notable in not having service is Idaho City and pretty much all of Boise county.
When I climbed Mt. Borah over the summer I had coverage for most of the climb with Verizon. Everyone else in my party had other carriers and their phones did not work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
