Residential Service Help Topics

The fundamental difference between Dial-up and Broadband Internet connections is the manner in which the connection is made from your PC to the Internet. A dialup service connects to the Internet through your phone line. The modem in your PC "calls" an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and connects with a maximum speed of 56K speed connection. Dial-up is the least expensive way to connect to the Internet.

Broadband, or high-speed Internet, is always on and doesn’t stop you from using your telephone line to make calls or send faxes and allows you to share a single connection with more than one computer. Unlike dial-up connections, broadband services transfer data at speeds usually more than 200kbps and up to 6Mbps in some areas (4x and 100x faster than dialup, respectively).

These days you can find broadband plans at affordable prices, so cost isn’t as much of a consideration as it used to be. If you use the web for file sharing, online games or even your own website, the faster speeds of broadband might suit you more than a slower dial-up connection.

To change your Internet password, click here. Please enter your current Blackfoot.net username and password, then click on the Login button. If you have forgotten your password or have any problems using the tool, please contact Blackfoot.net Technical Support 24 hours a day at 1-877-881-1155.

To retrieve your Voice Mail messages from another touch-tone phone

1. Call the local Voice Mail number provided by Blackfoot.
2. You will be prompted for a mailbox number and password. Your voice mailbox will always be your seven-digit phone number followed by the # sign. Your password is originally set as your seven-digit phone number. You can change your password once logged into your voice mailbox.
   (To change your password, choose option 9 “mailbox setup” and then 2 “create/change password”.)

Yes, with fax software you can send faxes with a high-speed Internet connection.

Voice Mail answers your calls for you. Callers hear your personal voice greeting and can leave a message for you to listen to when convenient. Voice Mail informs you with a stuttered dial tone that there are messages waiting. Voice Mail is an efficient way to answer two or more calls at once, take messages when your line is busy and allow you to listen to your messages in a flexible way.

To retrieve your Voice Mail messages from home

1. Call the local Voice Mail number (provided by Blackfoot.
2. The Voice Mail system will recognize your Caller Identification and put you directly into your messages unless you have Caller ID Blocking on your line, if so, please follow instructions below.

Blackfoot offers two options for long-term disconnect services. The first option is a Vacation Plan that temporarily suspends a phone account. For a small activation fee, it reserves your phone line and phone number as well as your listing in the phone book, and can provides a referral message to another phone number. The advantage is a reduced rate on your residential phone line and services and the maximum vacation time is 6 months.

The second option is a Seasonal Disconnect Plan which completely removes your phone number from the line and incurs no monthly charges. You are only charged a reconnect fee upon your return. However, if you are gone for more than 6 months you may lose your phone number as well as your listing in the phone book. This option can provide a referral message to another phone number if requested.

To learn more about these disconnect service, reduced rates or to suspend or restore your phone service, please call Blackfoot Customer Sales & Service at 406-541-5000.

If you would like your phone to ring longer before Voice Mail picks up, please call Blackfoot Customer Sales & Service and we will program it in our system as requested. There is a free service so no fees are added to your bill.

Measuring your Internet line speed is not easy, there are a number of speed test applications on the web and you will receive different results from each one.  Although no single test is enough to determine the speed of your line here are some things to consider:

• Software interference- Software versions or software updates may be slowing you down, also ensure there is not any firewall, virus or spyware running in the background that could interfere with your speed.  If you are unsure Blackfoot does offer a suite of Security software to help keep your computer safe from Viruses and Spyware at www.blackfoot.net/security
  
  
  
• Physical obstacles- Your computer brand and model along with modem type and any necessary driver updates are a consideration.  Also things such as poor house wiring, long home phone cable runs, various home alarm systems or even cordless phones and fluorescent lights may be causing interference. By a process of elimination though, you can determine which if any of these possible problems is the cause of your persistent poor speed.