What phones do Canadians use in U.S.

[Canada]

What phones are fellow Canadians using in U.S? We would like to get Verizon and then you can take your portable phones from home, then any calls come directly to the rv, but of course not available in Canada and you need a U.S. land line in the States. Considering a Trac phone but have read about a lot of problems for Canadians using them. Any suggestions, Thanks. Our cell phone plan does not include U.S. and roaming charges are ridiculous.

[Truth B Towed]

maybe look at metroPC, no contract , pay for the month [usually 40-45 dollars] buy a cheap phone ..first time buyers get pretty good deals.

[Sgt. Schultz]

A number of friends have US provider pay as you go cells and just switch as they head down -- i.e. https://www.verizonwireless.com/wcms...p/prepaid.html

[riversedge]

We used the trac phone this spring, would give it a 7 out of 10, had no problem with calls within the US however on some calls to Canada we had difficulty hearing. If the party we called then called us back everything was great. Calls cost about 10 cents a minute and a phone can be purchased for as little as $10.00

[VTX Al]

Originally Posted by Canada

What phones are fellow Canadians using in U.S? We would like to get Verizon and then you can take your portable phones from home, then any calls come directly to the rv, but of course not available in Canada and you need a U.S. land line in the States. Considering a Trac phone but have read about a lot of problems for Canadians using them. Any suggestions, Thanks. Our cell phone plan does not include U.S. and roaming charges are ridiculous.

If you are on Telus , you can purchase a 30 day U.S. roaming plan. We leave this week for a two-week trip and the 50 minute, voice only plan was a $20.00 add-on (good for 30 days). Other plans which include more minutes, voice and data are also available at an increased cost. I would assume that competing providers also offer similar services.

...VTX-Al

[WestCoastRV'er]

MagicJack

I installed the mobile version on my Canadian Android phone and when I leave Canada I forward all calls to my MagicJack number. All I need is a Wifi connection and I can make/receive free calls to any USA or Canadian number. Works well for me.

I use a USA Wifi hotspot for internet.

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[SaskCampers]

Just a word to the wise, if you have CAA and are in the US and try to call the 1-800 number CAA provides using a Canadian cell phone from any canadian cell company the call will not go through as it reroutes to AAA based on where the call originated and yhere you are broke or in need of help and cannot get any. (yes this happened to us last summer at the Goshen Rally) I now own a Verizon flip phone which cost me 52 bux with a bunch of time on it and all I do now is add $15.00 to it every 3 months to keep time on it and have the phone active. If I know we are not going to the US for a long time I just reregiser it when we go back ands get a new number. Verizon seems to have the best coverage in the the northern US (the dakotas etc).

BTW don't need a US address to get one either as you do everything right from the phone and only need to put in a ZIP code for it to decide what area to assign a number from. We currently have a Tennessee based number.

My wife has Telus which we set her up with the unlimited texting option prior to leaving and I have a Bell phone and neither will work with the CAA numbers.

[ridersfan]

T Mobile has a daily plan... pop in their sim card into my unlocked phone and I spend $5 a day for unlimited everything except long distance (data included, that's what kills us Canadians to use our home plans there)

[DualSport]

We used to buy 2 Verizon phones at Wal-Mart for $20 ea and they include $10 airtime and unlimited calls between other Verizon phones. This year I wanted internet access so I unlocked our Bell HTC phones and put AT&T sim cards in each and used a pre-paid plan. The Verizon salesman incorrectly said my HTC would work on the internet but we found it wouldn't and needed to get a T-Mobile sim card and a $30 unlimited data plan. It could then be used as a wi-fi hotspot to run my notebook on the internet, and this worked way better than the typical RV park wi-fi.

Bob

[PhotoDj]

We use Roam Mobility! The best solution that I have found! Unlimited calling and text in US and back to Canada. They have voice/text plans and voice/text/data plans. This is a pay as you plan and you need an unlocked phone to use their SIM card. I travel a lot for work and this fits the bill perfectly.

[bakken]

We just use our regular phone and pay the charges. We have no need to sit on the phone for hours, nor use the internet on a screen I can't even see.
So for us, a much cheaper and simpler plan.

[Dabmeb]

We have always bought trac phones and a prepaid air card. Way cheaper than telus.. Doesn't take long to burn
thru their minimal coverage

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by PhotoDj

We use Roam Mobility! The best solution that I have found! Unlimited calling and text in US and back to Canada. They have voice/text plans and voice/text/data plans. This is a pay as you plan and you need an unlocked phone to use their SIM card. I travel a lot for work and this fits the bill perfectly.

As a cross border commuter, I've been looking into options for a good US/Canada deal. Currently, I just use my Rogers phone with some roaming packages that are no longer offered (1 GB Data Can/US, 60 minutes talk).

Currently Rogers offers their roaming in 'buckets' that are good for 30 days from purchase instead of the monthly package like I have. They're not great, but still cheaper to buy up front then to pay roaming without.

Roam Mobility is targeted to cross border commuters, but essentially all they're doing is getting you a US based cell phone. Cheaper than a Canadian phone, but you can get cheaper options just getting a pre-paid cell with a normal carrier. Most of my co-workers who are also cross border have gone with Verizon. They had (may still have) roaming packages for crossing into Canada similar to the ones I have on Rogers, only cheaper.

I opted to stick with Rogers to keep a local number since my work covers my roaming into the US, but doesn't cover my family calling long distance to reach me. By keeping a local number the people who need to reach me aren't affected.

Ok, this is starting to veer off topic. Back to original question:

Options for keeping in touch cross border:

1) Use your existing cell, add roaming options.
2) Get an American cell.
3) Use a VOIP option, like Skype, Vonage, MagicJack, etc...

I use a combination of 1 and 3, I receive calls on my Canadian cell, I return calls using a SkypeOut subscription ($25/Year for any number in US or Canada).

Mike