Looking for Canadian experience with WIFI and satellite

[JLeising]

Recently visited Banff and Jasper. We bought a Telus SIM card and used it in my wife's GSM iPhone. Used the iPhone as a hot spot for Internet. Worked well for us.

[B and B]

Hello I will wade in on this,

Most of metropolitan Canada has gone Digital TV Transmission, most rural Canada either has nothing as CBC shut down Analogue or a few channels like CTV or Global. Most RV antennas are poor to slightly better than poor receiving signals with less than city grade signals.

We use Shawdirect. Our dish worked as far south as Nashville on some channels. In Goshen IN we get everything available. Always SD never HD and it runs the old LNB 2 satellite systems meaning some MPEG channels do not come in. Need no trees or find a hole in the trees. I use Freerange on the Macbook and feed the TV with a HDMI cable when Satellite doesn't work. We limit our viewing when on limited Data availability. Need 4 g for reliable connectivity. I have unlimited LTE 4 G available for part of the summer I get 30 down and 7 up which rivals most home connections. We stream full HD, can use Netflix etc.
We run a Wineguard carryout. If we spent time south in the winter I would be taking a large dish with me, Shaw does work in the south, I know people that use it in Mexico.

Internet, have not fund a CG in Canada that has Internet capable of streaming. Barrie North KOA has internet but it is limited to email and web browsing. We run iPhones with 6 g per month, This will do for everything we need. I have access to a LTE Hotspot for parts of campaign season and it works great with decent Cell service. Most parks in southern Ontario no issues, even Grundy Lake and Bon Echo were fine. I have a Tiger Direct special Wifi range extender I put in the bedroom, more used to have easy connectivity to WIFI at places like Goshen. Works for that purpose. As far a Wilson or Connect cell booster never tried one and if there is nothing there It won't create it without directional antenna to get gain pointed to the direction of the tower.

[itat]

Originally Posted by jeffrapp

Thanks so much.
I spoke to Bell. They want me to buy a receiver from them.
I won't now.
Do you think i can use my Dish (US) subscription, or do i have to use Bell?

I can't confirm that it will but I do know that Bell TV satellite service will work in Florida. Lots of Canadian snowbirds use a Bell TV dish and receiver in Florida, so I would expect you should be able to use your Dish equipment in Canada because they use the same Nimiq satellites at 91* and 82* and Echostar receivers.

Is Dish Network service available in Alaska? If it is, it will work anywhere in western Canada.

[B and B]

Originally Posted by jeffrapp

Hi
I am going to the Canadian Rockies for a couple of months starting in mid August. I am an American citizen, with an RV registered in California.
I have a Dish Network account, and a Tailgater antenna and Dish receiver. Is there any way I can arrange for service in Canada with this rig?
Also, some on this thread some have mentioned cell phone signal boosters. I;m interested in people's experience with them. Are they worth it, which system is recommended, etc.
Thanks!

Hello,

Bell and Dish use the same technology but they are bound to the provider. You can use Dish equipment in Canada as long as you are close enough to the satellite foot print. Not researching this 100% I would assume the local spot beam for the closest american city will not work in Canada, just too far away. National or West/East Beams should work. Now the Rockies. Depending on were you are the actual mountain may shadow the satellite view. My daughter had trouble in Golden and Yoho areas.



I use Satellite Pointer Pro on my iPhone.

[cobatoma]

itsallgood;

Where did you buy these products? I'm very interested but local RV shops are not of much help.

[jeffrapp]

Originally Posted by itat

I can't confirm that it will but I do know that Bell TV satellite service will work in Florida. Lots of Canadian snowbirds use a Bell TV dish and receiver in Florida, so I would expect you should be able to use your Dish equipment in Canada because they use the same Nimiq satellites at 91* and 82* and Echostar receivers.

Is Dish Network service available in Alaska? If it is, it will work anywhere in western Canada.

Do the Canadian snowbirds use their Bell equipment with a Bell subscription in Florida, or do they contract with an American provider while in the States? Bell told me I could buy a month by month Bell subscription while I'm in Canada, and use my Dish equipment.
If both options are available, am I likely to get better reception with a Bell subscription than my Dish subscription while in Canada?
Also, while in the States, I regularly notify Dish where I am in order to receive local stations. Would that be possible while I'm in Canada? As I understand it, it is "illegal" to use the US subscription in Canada (and visa-versa). I don't really care about the illegality, but it seems if I tell them where I am, they will cut off my signal.
Lastly, if I don't tell them (Dish) where I am, where will I be getting my signal from? Will it just automatically come from the best satellites available?
Sorry for the complicated question. Maybe I should just enjoy the beauty of
BC, and forget about TV for a while (but then I won't be able to watch the 49ers)

[B and B]

There are no Local Signals. All signals in Canada are available all across Canada. Depending on the package will dictate which channels you received based upon location. Any snowbirds use Canadian equipment in USA or even Mexico. They frown upon it but there is no way to track it unless you do PPV or hook up a phone lines for auto ordering. I even use my home Vonage in the US on WiFi where ever I might be.

The last thing to do is call them unless you use a US zip code closest to where you are. I understand this is only for locals which when you are in Canada might be 200 miles away.

As far a 49ers the game may very well be on one of the Canadian Sports Channels. We have TSN affiliated with ESPN, CTV CTV 2 all owned by Bell Media that carries NFL every Sunday so you might be in luck. I believe every game is on more or less.

As far as USA Satellite footprint they may very well be using spot beams for Alaska, they have coverage maps of which satellite covers were based upon which provider you are with.

[jeffrapp]

Thanks for all the info!
I'm still a little confused, probably because I don't exactly understand how the system works.
I'm not full timer. I travel with my RV about 4 months a year. I have a pay-as- you go subscription with Dish. I notify them when I want to activate it.
I'm assuming that to get any signal, wherever I am, I have to pay someone for the service.
So my questions are, when I'm in Canada,
1) Should I activate my pay-as-you go Dish subscription, or
2) Buy a pay-as-you go Bell subscription?
Since part of the trip will be in the US, should I have a Dish subscription during the US part, and a Bell subscription during the Canada part?
If I did that, I would have 2 subscriptions for part of the time. What would I receive, Bell or Dish, or both? Or would having 2 subscriptions confuse the receiver, and make it impossible to have any signal?
If I just use my Dish subscription, and want to get local channels, should I just tell Dish that I am located in the nearest US city to where I am in Canada at any given time? We will only be going as far north as Banff, so we will be pretty close to the border all the time.

[itat]

I could be wrong but don't think Bell TV or any of the other satellite TV providers in Canada offer a pay-as-you-go plan that allows you to activate for a short term and then deactivate it. Canadian providers are famous for demanding 2 year contracts and they don't sanction taking your receiver on the road so don't mention it. You'd have to look into it but if I were you I'd stick with Dish and use the RV's over-the-air TV antenna for local news for wherever you are in Canada.

To get Bell TV satellite service, you'd have use their receiver (buy it at CAD$200 or rent it at CAD$7.00/month). Just get the receiver and tell them you already have a dish (you can use your DISH Network dish) and set it up yourself.

[jeffrapp]

Originally Posted by itat

I could be wrong but don't think Bell TV or any of the other satellite TV providers in Canada offer a pay-as-you-go plan that allows you to activate for a short term and then deactivate it. Canadian providers are famous for demanding 2 year contracts and they don't sanction taking your receiver on the road so don't mention it. You'd have to look into it but if I were you I'd stick with Dish and use the RV's over-the-air TV antenna for local news for wherever you are in Canada.

To get Bell TV satellite service, you'd have use their receiver (buy it at CAD$200 or rent it at CAD$7.00/month). Just get the receiver and tell them you already have a dish (you can use your DISH Network dish) and set it up yourself.

OK, last 3 questions:
1) What would be the point of buying/renting the receiver unless I was willing to pay for a 2 year Bell subscription, which I'm not?
2) Even if I were willing to pay for 2 years, wouldn't I have to have a Canadian address to set it up?
3) I've saved the dumbest question for last: what is CAD? I assume it's some sort of store like Costco, but I can't find it on line by googling CAD (all I get is something about the Canadian dollar).
Thanks again for the effort you put in.

[jgourlie]

Originally Posted by jeffrapp

OK, last 3 questions:
1) What would be the point of buying/renting the receiver unless I was willing to pay for a 2 year Bell subscription, which I'm not?
2) Even if I were willing to pay for 2 years, wouldn't I have to have a Canadian address to set it up?
3) I've saved the dumbest question for last: what is CAD? I assume it's some sort of store like Costco, but I can't find it on line by googling CAD (all I get is something about the Canadian dollar).
Thanks again for the effort you put in.

I will skip some of your questions as my answer will cover them. Don't bother with bell. Bring your dish with you. Most of my family has Dish and use it here in Canada all the time. I wouldn't worry about calling dish to get the local channels, but if you want to, give Dish the zip code to the closest US town on the BC border.

As for CAD that means Canadian dollars.

Come and enjoy all that Canada has to offer and get your Niners games too!

[B and B]

I have to say I am Detroit Lions fan...Go 49ers!! Enjoy!

[jeffrapp]

Thanks to everyone.
Sorry for being so tedious.

[itat]

The only thing a Bell subscription will give you is Canadian tv networks like CBC, CTV, Global and City. Our satellite providers don't offer local programming. Only cable does that. Canadian news will give you an entirely different perspective on the news than you get from US networks but if you can pickup local stations with your over the air antenna you'll get that for free.

Enjoy your stay in the great white north, although there's no white this time of year except at the top of the mountains!

[selkirk awards]

Was going to stay out of this BUT just use your dish in Canada it will work and as for your phone I us AT&T it works they changeover to ROGERS cost a lot more but you can buy a Canadian plan before you leave as for the DISH i used it for years and if it quits just use your antenna for local Canadian stations.

[B and B]

You might receive 2 stations in Banff OTA. This search is based on AGL of 12 Ft. Trees kill signal and in Banff there are a lot of trees.

CH 7 CTV
CH 13 Global.

Source TV Fool dot com.