Cell phone coverage in USA.

[Spragueman]

I am leaving shortly for 3 months in the US. Canadian plans for phone text and data are stupid expensive. Any suggestions for a month to month plan in the US that will provide coverage and the costs involved
Thanks

[5picker]

There is a current thread about this very subject.
I can search for it if you are not sure how to do so.

[Spragueman]

Thanks for the reply. I'm new on the forum so if you can tell me how to do it I would appreciate.

[Okie Dokie 2]

We used Verizon while we was up there. Our plan was unlimited talk and data. Welcome

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Okie Dokie 2

We used Verizon while we was up there. Our plan was unlimited talk and data. Welcome

Where is “up there” to you, Canada or the USA? You may have the question backwards. The thread originator is from Canada and wants to know what service to use temporarily while visiting the United States.

[Spragueman]

[emoji847]

[Campingnut]

I have used roam mobility and it worked fine but I believe with the new Telus plans it is only an extra $10 a month for the same plan as you have in Canada. So I would believe that rest have the same sort of thing

[WFD]

Most of the Canadian cell phone providers now have plans that will cover you while in the US. From what I have seen they are more expensive plans but in the end it will be cheaper than arranging a separate US plan... Telus comes to mind as a previous poster stated. That is a cheaper option than any of their "Roam like home" options.

[Okie Dokie 2]

Originally Posted by BehindBars

Where is “up there” to you, Canada or the USA? You may have the question backwards. The thread originator is from Canada and wants to know what service to use temporarily while visiting the United States.

Thank you for clearing that up. I did read the question wrong but at least I was willing to help instead of saying
“ look it up yourself”

[primo20]

I added a us plan to my Rogers plan. I compared lots of options, but I already have Rogers infinite plan. So I think it was 20 per month to add the ya call and text unlimited plus no daily fees to use my unlimited data.

[Ramblin Paul]

In Canada I don't use my cell phone much and have pay as you go minutes plan so in the USA I have bought a cheap phone at Walmart and purchase a 365 day phone card which provides a lot of minutes for calling back to Canada or use in USA, texting and some limited data. The card is still valid when I return the next year and just add another annual plan when it expires. I believe the annual card is a little over hundred dollars but is reasonable if there for 2 or 3 months or more.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Okie Dokie 2

Thank you for clearing that up. I did read the question wrong but at least I was willing to help instead of saying
“ look it up yourself”

Nothing wrong with suggesting new forum users learn to use the search function. Many folks don't know what they don't know. Mentioning searching IS helping but really, you knew that!

May as well learn how to get the most out of a forum.

OP... are you using a computer or an app?

[Nomore9-5]

If you have an unlocked phone you might want to consider going with a US carrier while in US and then switch back to your Canadian one. I used to have Virgin in Canada. When we went to US I'd change out sim for AT &T one They have monthly as well as other prepaid plans . When I got home I'd switch sim cards again ,put a bit of $ on my ATT account and switch plan to pay by call / text to keep it open so I'd be good to go for next US trip .You might even be able to suspend Canadian cell service with whoever you deal with for the time you're gone to save having to pay for 2 cell services while in the US

[DouglasReid]

I dont' know about plans that originate in Canada.

I do know about using my US based plan in Canada..................It costs me NOTHING extra............T Mobile. I can use it in Canada, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico all for the basic service fee of $43 us per line.

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/cov...ithout-borders

If you are going to be here a month or two, get a T Mobile burner phone and give those you want to stay in touch with the number. Easy Peasy.

If this advice helps you and you decide to switch kindly PM me.

[stervin]

We traveled all through Canada last summer
We have Verizon it worked great. 90% through our visit

[Flatlander49]

As has been said previously existing cell plans in Canada typically have add ons available for roaming in the USA and elsewhere and they can be cancelled when you return. We’ve done that a couple of times in the past and while it wasn’t inexpensive and had a few limitations that you had to allow for it was still much cheaper than anything we could find with various US companies. It worked well for our purposes. If you’re only there for a few months I suggest checking to see what your existing provider offers.

[BehindBars]

If you buy a temporary plan in the USA, and you’re given a new phone number, consider whether that is an inconvenience or not. If you use the temporary phone for data or outgoing calls, that’s ok. But if you want others to be able to reach you, informing those others of the new number and exactly what dates the new number is active can be inconvenient. For that reason, adding USA coverage on to your existing Canadian plan, even if more expensive, could be the way to go so you can keep your number.

Also, the temporary USA phone number given could be a recycled phone number. In that case you may get annoying calls or texts because the number is still being mistakenly used by the old parties, or the number is on telemarketing or robocall lists.

[ve6kjm]

We use our Bell plan that we upgrade to which covers both Canada and US with Unlimited Text / Voice as well as 5 GB data that we never use all of.
It Cost about $ 100 / month. Comparing it to the same plans in US, there was no great savings as it was going to be over $ 70 US when I checked back about two months ago. There is lots of re sellers but from research, the coverage is in the major centers only, but that could change.

On Roam it is fine if your only needing it for a week but service is Expensive and coverage is VERY poor. We used it for an month trip from Alberta to California a few years ago and the only time we had coverage was when in the bigger centers in Nevada & California.

We currently use are phone as a Hot spots, Video chat and calls in both Canada & US with no extra charges.

Just my two Cents with only one coffee consumed in New Mexico

[DKe]

The best I have found is a trac phone for aprox. $10.00 with 10 min. time & for $20.00 you can buy a card that gives you 60 min & usually doubled to 160 & 3 months coverage. They can be bought at Walmart or any box store in the US. We have used t=one for 14 years

[Franklins Mom]

We live in Langley BC Canada and only RV in the US - our Rogers Plan was not sufficient enough and the coverage was horrible in the US so we purchased another Iphone and signed up for Mint Mobile - $15 a month unlimited calling/texting/international with 5MB of data that we can use also as a hotspot for our WIFI. The coverage is great and customer service is excellent to deal with !!