Phone Use When Travelling to the USA

[Jim Bennett]

For our last 16 day trip south of the 49th, we found that the cost for roaming and data use on our two cell phones to be very pricey. I should have researched more before leaving. It cost us $220 CAD in costs (2@$20 for unlimited calls and texts, and 6@$30/500 gigs data).

Once we start doing longer trips, this cost is going to become prohibitive, so we need to figure something out. I found that it was very rare that we had WiFi, staying mostly in State Parks and a couple Walmart parking lots.

One though is shutting down data on our phones, and getting another US phone for data only. Maybe use it as a hotspot for our existing phones.

Another thought is to unlock one or both our phones and just buy a US sim card to use in it. The issue with this, is for friends, family and customers not being able to contact us, as it would be near impossible to let everyone know of this phone number change.

For now, I need to be able to do a modest amount of business with my existing phone, so need to be able to receive calls, though for the most part voice mail works fine. Maybe just add a sim card to Lisa's phone, and shut data down on mine?

Still on the confused side of things with what to do. I am sure I am still missing lots of concerns and options. Anyone else have ideas?

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

For our last 16 day trip south of the 49th, we found that the cost for roaming and data use on our two cell phones to be very pricey. I should have researched more before leaving. It cost us $220 CAD in costs (2@$20 for unlimited calls and texts, and 6@$30/500 gigs data).

Once we start doing longer trips, this cost is going to become prohibitive, so we need to figure something out. I found that it was very rare that we had WiFi, staying mostly in State Parks and a couple Walmart parking lots.

One though is shutting down data on our phones, and getting another US phone for data only. Maybe use it as a hotspot for our existing phones.

Another thought is to unlock one or both our phones and just buy a US sim card to use in it. The issue with this, is for friends, family and customers not being able to contact us, as it would be near impossible to let everyone know of this phone number change.

For now, I need to be able to do a modest amount of business with my existing phone, so need to be able to receive calls, though for the most part voice mail works fine. Maybe just add a sim card to Lisa's phone, and shut data down on mine?

Still on the confused side of things with what to do. I am sure I am still missing lots of concerns and options. Anyone else have ideas?

to clarify..6@$30/500 gigs data
you want 500 Gigabytes of data for 16 days?

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by freespirit

to clarify..6@$30/500 gigs data
you require 500 Gigabytes of data for 16 days?

Thanks for noticing that. It should megabytes. 6@300 for 1.8 megs. We were just short of that, but those are the packages we paid for.

[rbryan4]

Jim, have you checked out the prepaid SIM cards available at WalMart? Some of them use multiple networks and aren't the best, but a couple friends of mine have used the Straight Talk unlimited card for $45. There are others, and to be honest I've never had the need to check them out to find which one is the best deal.

In any case, roaming in the US on your Canadian carrier is likely to be cost prohibitive.

[Jim Bennett]

On longer trips I would like to do photo editing of shots from my dSLR's, and upload them to Smugmug, my photo hosting site. This will definitely use up lots of data.

[freespirit]

bought one of these ATT Unite Express (made by Netgear) for occasional hotspot use on the road and to have access to an alternate data provider than cell phone..purchased for less than $50 ...while the data cost is reasonable but not the least cost available..ATT network is pretty good and you can NOT USE IT for up to one year and still keep the same cell # that it uses ...just add some prepaid time $25 minimum (for 2 Gigabytes Data for 30 days use) to reset the start of the 1 year cycle again.
https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/go...e-hotspot.html

handy little critter , inexpensive,rugged and fits in a pocket or anything else easily...and if its lost or whatever ...not a big expense
also some of the prepaid ATT Gophone and MetroPCS (TMobile) cell phones support tethering data (use as a hotspot) as well as voice/text for about $40 to $50 for 30 day period (renewable)

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Jim, have you checked out the prepaid SIM cards available at WalMart? Some of them use multiple networks and aren't the best, but a couple friends of mine have used the Straight Talk unlimited card for $45. There are others, and to be honest I've never had the need to check them out to find which one is the best deal.

In any case, roaming in the US on your Canadian carrier is likely to be cost prohibitive.

possible downside of Straight Talk is per customer support, it does not support mobile tethering or hotspot on their plans or the prepaid cards available at Wally World.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Jim, have you checked out the prepaid SIM cards available at WalMart? Some of them use multiple networks and aren't the best, but a couple friends of mine have used the Straight Talk unlimited card for $45. There are others, and to be honest I've never had the need to check them out to find which one is the best deal.

In any case, roaming in the US on your Canadian carrier is likely to be cost prohibitive.

I will look at this.

It seems that data is the killer, even with phone plans. We got unlimited text and phone for $20 CAD.

Still lots to figure out.

Originally Posted by freespirit

bought one of these ATT Unite Express (made by Netgear) for occasional hotspot use on the road and to have access to an alternate data provider than cell phone..purchased for less than $50 ...while the data cost is reasonable but not the least cost available..ATT network is pretty good and you can NOT USE IT for up to one year and still keep the same cell # that it uses ...just add some prepaid time $25 minimum (for 2 Gigabytes Data for 30 days use) to reset the start of the 1 year cycle again.
https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/go...e-hotspot.html

handy little critter , inexpensive,rugged and fits in a pocket or anything else easily...and if its lost or whatever ...not a big expense
also some of the prepaid ATT Gophone and MetroPCS (TMobile) cell phones support tethering data (use as a hotspot) as well as voice/text for about $40 to $50 for 30 day period (renewable)

Is this something like MiFi devices I have come across? I know Verizon has one.

This could be a good solution as opposed to the data packages I buy through Telus. How does this work with texting and phone, does it have it's own phone number?

Originally Posted by freespirit

possible downside of Straight Talk is per customer support, it does not support mobile tethering or hotspot on their plans or the prepaid cards available at Wally World.

Are you saying this is stand alone then, and we could not connect our devices through it as a hot spot or tethered at all?

[Rossue]

Jim- almost all of the U.S. MVNO's don't offer hotspot with their data plans. Honestly I would keep checking with Telus to see if they start to offer plans like U.S. carriers do that either let you pay a nominal per day fee to use your existing plan or better yet- has something even better like we have with Verizon now whereby we can use all of our plans features in Canada/Mexico and can call toll-free to there.

If that doesn't work then would look at a virtual phone number such as Google has and point your calls to a U.S. pre-paid #. And now the post-paid plans can be had with no early termination (can usually negotiate the activation fees) and that lets you potentially not be limited to only the cell sites the carrier owns as most pre -paid plans limit you to. Getting your phone unlocked would be on my to-do list now as that can take time. Interestingly, when we changed to Verizon their phones are unlocked from the get-go, unlike that other carrier with 3 letters.

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Is this something like MiFi devices I have come across? I know Verizon has one.

This could be a good solution as opposed to the data packages I buy through Telus. How does this work with texting and phone, does it have it's own phone number?

Are you saying this is stand alone then, and we could not connect our devices through it as a hot spot or tethered at all?

Yes Straight Talk per their customer support says their plans DO NOT SUPPORT data tethering..NO HOTSPOT functionality.

Yes the ATT UNITE Express is a mobile hotspot with its own 4gLTE (where available then 3g) cellular connection and phone number...turn it on and connect your devices using wifi (phones, tablets, computers) and using its wifi SSID (which you can change) and using a password (which you can change)....then browse the internet on your connected device...
no voice or text unless possibly your phone supports a phone Voice/text connection over wifi which it may or may not support having never used it for anything but internet access while mobile for tablets and laptop.
This is Prepaid..no contract.... buy data for 30 days or until its used up then repeat IF you want to...no contract..buy it online or at retailers in the USA..refill data plan online or buy prepaid cards at most retailers in USA too

[freespirit]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Interestingly, when we changed to Verizon their phones are unlocked from the get-go, unlike that other carrier with 3 letters.

was always under the impression that when unlocked
Some Verizon phones were only compatible with Sprint network.
Many Tmobile and ATT phones are network compatible.
Of course phone tech changes rapidly so perhaps they might all be compatible today with the ability to connect to most network bands when unlocked.
Easy to unlock at no charge an ATT Gophone online at ATT on day one.... then use device on either MetroPCS (Tmobile) or ATT network just by changing the sim which in many cases you can get free or for less than $10
also ATT prepaid Gophone in USA allows calls to and from Canada for no additional cost..Metropcs (Tmobile) may charge about $5 additionally for that.
ain't trying to sell anything...just ideas...had to look into this for the opposite reason..visiting Canada and assuming they let Texans across the border!

[msweet]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

For our last 16 day trip south of the 49th, we found that the cost for roaming and data use on our two cell phones to be very pricey. I should have researched more before leaving. It cost us $220 CAD in costs (2@$20 for unlimited calls and texts, and 6@$30/500 gigs data).

Bell offers $5/day Roam Better plans:

This convenient roaming feature gives you unlimited talk and text within the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and back to Canada. Plus, you get 100 MB of data a day included. Available on all Share plans with unlimited local or nationwide calling.

The plus side is that only charge you for days that you use it. I am not sure if receiving a text message (which is free even when roaming) would activate the plan or if you would need to send a message first.

In your case if you used phone and data on everyday of your trip it would have cost you $160 instead of $220. That is still really expensive but more convenient than dealing with separate SIM cards and phone numbers for short trips.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Jim- almost all of the U.S. MVNO's don't offer hotspot with their data plans. Honestly I would keep checking with Telus to see if they start to offer plans like U.S. carriers do that either let you pay a nominal per day fee to use your existing plan or better yet- has something even better like we have with Verizon now whereby we can use all of our plans features in Canada/Mexico and can call toll-free to there.

If that doesn't work then would look at a virtual phone number such as Google has and point your calls to a U.S. pre-paid #. And now the post-paid plans can be had with no early termination (can usually negotiate the activation fees) and that lets you potentially not be limited to only the cell sites the carrier owns as most pre -paid plans limit you to. Getting your phone unlocked would be on my to-do list now as that can take time. Interestingly, when we changed to Verizon their phones are unlocked from the get-go, unlike that other carrier with 3 letters.

I will keep checking with Telus, as they did indicate there were plans in the works for developing better travel plans. In Canada cell phone costs have historically been WAY higher than in the US, but they are slowly getting closer.

Just looked at Google Voice, something to look further into.

Originally Posted by freespirit

Yes Straight Talk per their customer support says their plans DO NOT SUPPORT data tethering..NO HOTSPOT functionality.

Yes the ATT UNITE Express is a mobile hotspot with its own 4gLTE (where available then 3g) cellular connection and phone number...turn it on and connect your devices using wifi (phones, tablets, computers) and using its wifi SSID (which you can change) and using a password (which you can change)....then browse the internet on your connected device...
no voice or text unless possibly your phone supports a phone Voice/text connection over wifi which it may or may not support having never used it for anything but internet access while mobile for tablets and laptop.
This is Prepaid..no contract.... buy data for 30 days or until its used up then repeat IF you want to...no contract..buy it online or at retailers in the USA..refill data plan online or buy prepaid cards at most retailers in USA too

I definitely see this as a possibility.

Originally Posted by msweet

Bell offers $5/day Roam Better plans:

The plus side is that only charge you for days that you use it. I am not sure if receiving a text message (which is free even when roaming) would activate the plan or if you would need to send a message first.

In your case if you used phone and data on everyday of your trip it would have cost you $160 instead of $220. That is still really expensive but more convenient than dealing with separate SIM cards and phone numbers for short trips.

Telus and Rogers offer something similar. The drawback for us is that the data is inadequate at 100 MB per day, at least given our usage on this last trip, and this is where the costs go crazy. Definitely need to look further at these options.

There are a few other considerations to take into account. We likely used a lot more data on this past trip than we would should the weather be nicer. We had ran all but two days, and about 2/3 of the time on the other 14 days. This saw us stuck in the trailer a lot, in campgrounds with no Wifi.

We may have to just enjoy things away from the internet more, but we both do use it in various ways a fair bit.

[Rossue]

In the stores you could see coverage difference between AT&T's post-paid vs. pre-paid service and there were gaps. They don't seem to offer it online however in the terms & conditions they say "You must be in the GoPhone coverage area to place or receive calls".

Also, checking here: GoPhone Review 2016 | No-Contract Cell Phones this reviewer states on 10/3/16 that you have to be on AT&T's primary network. If you look at the only coverage map I can find online- presumably their postpaid, they show 3rd Party provided coverage in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, New Mexico & NW California. Granted, these are mostly out west and in rural areas, however there is a lot of great camping there. https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html

So again, if you bring your own device in you can get a post-paid plan(with any carrier)- which when needing a data component is better anyway as you have priority and probably better data connection. However, your off-network data roaming is the lesser of 24 mb or 20% of an AT&T data plan. I used to get notices that I had exceeded my monthly allotment- a whopping 100MB- so I switched and haven't one such notice from Verizon in over two years and a lot of travelling.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Rossue

In the stores you could see coverage difference between AT&T's post-paid vs. pre-paid service and there were gaps. They don't seem to offer it online however in the terms & conditions they say "You must be in the GoPhone coverage area to place or receive calls".

Also, checking here: GoPhone Review 2016 | No-Contract Cell Phones this reviewer states on 10/3/16 that you have to be on AT&T's primary network. If you look at the only coverage map I can find online- presumably their postpaid, they show 3rd Party provided coverage in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, New Mexico & NW California. Granted, these are mostly out west and in rural areas, however there is a lot of great camping there. https://www.att.com/maps/wireless-coverage.html

So again, if you bring your own device in you can get a post-paid plan(with any carrier)- which when needing a data component is better anyway as you have priority and probably better data connection. However, your off-network data roaming is the lesser of 24 mb or 20% of an AT&T data plan. I used to get notices that I had exceeded my monthly allotment- a whopping 100MB- so I switched and haven't one such notice from Verizon in over two years and a lot of travelling.

That doesn't sound so good with GoPhone. Full coverage would sure be nice. With my Telus device, I had very little issue with connectivity on our trip, and know a couple Americans we ran into did. I know one was on AT&T.

Verizon's Jetpack MiFi 6620L seems to get better reviews, and it seems Verizon's coverage is a lot better too.
https://www.verizonwireless.com/inte...sku=sku1200695

It is kinda looking like maybe a third unlocked phone with a US sim card might do the trick. If we could set it that something like Google Voice would direct our calls and text to this phone, it could solve any roaming costs for them too. Couple that with a good data plan..... am I missing something here?

[rbryan4]

Jim, I think Verizon will give you the best overall coverage, and the fastest data speeds. I've had Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, and have used all 3 across the US. Overall, Verizon is best IMHO.

Now, as to what's the best value with them, perhaps a prepaid Verizon sim, but their data plans are usually steep.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Now, as to what's the best value with them, perhaps a prepaid Verizon sim, but their data plans are usually steep.

I have heard this in my researching regarding the cost of their plans, but I think we need to just get used to using less data. My preference is to camp off the grid, but maybe a part of those cost savings could be transferred to offset the increased data costs.

[Chapitre]

Jim,
We have been going to the U.S. For the past 4 years - although we have been going longer than 16 days...we use ROAM mobility out of Vancouver - they are monthly plans and the prices are really good. You need an unlocked phone and you get their SIM card at Staples.
This coming winter we will have unlimited data, unlimited texts and unlimited calls to Canada.
It really works great - I think we are paying $49 Canadian dollars a month.... If you renew within a year you get to keep the same U.S. Number. Check it out.....I also called them before and they were great to deal with, although once you get everything going with them you can do everything on line.
Melinda

[barry]

We've used Roam in the past but found service very poor in outlying areas, it's great if you are in a city but on the road or at State parks we found we had no service.

We just got back from 3 1/2 weeks in Oregon and tried Roam again but bought the add on which gets you "partner" providers where the provider Roam used didn't have service, (costing us over $100 cdn for our trip), again it was useless unless you were in town so my son phoned up Roam and negotiated a full refund from them on our behalf while we were still in the states.

What we did next was to walk into AT&T in Bend. We told them we were from Canada and the problem we were running into re phone service. They supplied a free sim card for our unlocked i-phone 5 then sold us a pay as you go card for for $60 US, they set everything up and we walked out the door 10 mins later with phone service. 6 gigs of data, unlimited phone calling and texting anywhere in North America for a month and when we got back to Canada we could still use the 1 gig of data we left until the card expired. We had service virtually everywhere we went even when up at Crater Lake and Diamond Lake in central Oregon. Will defiantly go this route in the future.

One note though, if you don't refill your card after it expires then you loose your US phone number but all you have to do is to drop into an AT&T store next time you are down in the States and they will set you up with a new number and you are on your way again.
Barry

[Chapitre]

We've had no problem at all with service but again we're on the East coast not the West so I guess it's different.