Canadian Cell Phone in USA

[Mama Bear Me2]

Hi Everyone!

Sorry in advance. Posting my question here and also on Canadian Planning Forum to increase chance of getting help AND sorry for the long post coming up!

EXTREMLY SORRY … super newbie when it comes to cell phones so please excuse the many questions … don’t even have my own cell in Canada so will be 1st time owner when I visit the USA!


Scenario:

Who: Canadian travelling to L.A. & Anaheim, CA area.

Time frame: about 3 weeks (since we’re also visiting family).

What: Will be bringing “unlocked” cell phones. Don’t know too much about cell phones (again one of those rare people who don’t own a cell phone) so have very limited knowledge of what’s best way to “avoid” roaming charges while in the USA.

Used For: Texting spouse when separated, checking wait times at Disneyland, odd phone call

USA Cell Phone Use: Based on my research, it appears that the following 2 options might be our “best” options for cell phone use while visiting the L.A. & Anaheim area:

1) T-Mobile Tourist Plan (once IN USA visit T-Mobile Store & pick up the SIM Card Kit)

2) Roam Mobility (get this BEFORE we leave Canada)


Questions:

1) Anyone have experience with either T-Mobile Tourist Plan OR Roam Mobility? Is one better than the other?

2) What was “coverage” like for either T-Mobile OR Roam Mobility? Did you require a lot of “roaming” while in the L.A. & Anaheim area? Does T-Mobile OR Roam Mobility charge "extra" for "roaming" OR does this come off from your "Data Allowance"?

3) What was the signal like? Strong signal? What about signal strength when in Disneyland?

4) “Think” that Roam Mobility “uses” T-Mobile network so coverage should be the similar to T-Mobile?

5) Is it even possible to get 4G LTE speed while in Disneyland? Heard that data service was “spotty” in Disneyland which made it “slow”.

6) Is 1 GB or 2 GB enough data room if our plan is mostly to text & to check wait times on Disneyland app? Again … about 3 weeks in USA but NOT all that time spent at Disneyland.

7) If I use up my allotted 4G LTE data speed AND am “throttled” back to “2G” speed is this speed still sufficient to send texts and to check wait times on the Disneyland app? Meaning: is 2G speed much too slow to be of any good while in Disneyland to check wait times or sent texts? How long should I expect the wait time app “page” to load? Minutes?

8) Hints to “reduce” data usage … what do I need to “turn off” OR “do” as I understand that cell phones will do “updates” and use data without my knowledge.

9) Any other suggestions for “other” cell phone options while in the USA?

Many thanks for your patience and for helping this cell phone newbie! Please answer what you can! Appreciate your time!!

 

[cdndisneymum]

I am with Virgin mobile; when we go on holiday I pay a flat rate of 40$ and it covers us for unlimited text and calling, and no long distance charges. We turn off the mobile data and just use the WiFi.

I hope this is helpful

 

[jadephoenixx]

I use Roam when in the US and have never had a problem - always had a good signal. Roam recently introduced monthly plans, which will be more cost effective than doing the daily plan for 3 weeks. You schedule the start date & time like the daily plan and will automatically expire at 30/60/90/etc days, which ever you choose. There are 2 plans: $39.95 for 1 GB data and $64.95 for 4GB data.

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• as both use TMobile coverage. Service should be identical for your travels.
• Roam Mobility means you can have a working phone the moment the plane lands. TMobile has you looking for a shop to sell you a SIM.
• Roam Mobility has been offering daily and monthly plans for several years. In fact, they offered monthly plans before they had daily plans. Over time, they called the monthly plans "snowbird plans".
  https://roammobility.com/snowbird-plans

 

[jadephoenixx]

Thoughts....

• as both use TMobile coverage. Service should be identical for your travels.
• Roam Mobility means you can have a working phone the moment the plane lands. TMobile has you looking for a shop to sell you a SIM.
• Roam Mobility has been offering daily and monthly plans for several years. In fact, they offered monthly plans before they had daily plans. Over time, they called the monthly plans "snowbird plans".
  https://roammobility.com/snowbird-plans

Just a note: the snowbird plan requires a 90 day minimum purchase whereas the new month plan, the minimum is 30 days

 

[xlxo]

Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering about the price difference.

I have been on Roam from nearly the beginning and they started with monthly plans. When Roam went to daily and weekly plans, their customers surged until the Canadian carriers started to offer daily travel plans.

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I'm not sure if this will be at all helpful but here is how we role while in the US:

I avoid any additional charges by:

Turning on airplane mode as soon as my butt hits the seat of the plane to ensure no cellular roaming.

Using IMessage for texting - of course this only works with fellow iphone users. Although there are many texting apps that run via wifi.

Using FaceTime to call friends/family.

Using the phone associated with the message feature in Facebook.

After that, if you can't reach me or I can't reach you - too bad. I'm on vacation! It can wait.

Short version: if I can't run it via wifi I go without.

 

[bankr63]

One factor not mentioned is what particular unlocked phones are you bringing?

Different models of cell phones support different operating frequencies for different carriers. For most phones, there are different models each supporting a different set of frequencies. Looking at my own Samsung Galaxy S7, there are 15 different models numbers made by Samsung, each with a different tweak on the frequencies supported. Now the good news is that there is a fair bit of overlap of frequencies between regional carriers, so my unlocked Rogers phone supports a bit more than half of the T-Mobile operating frequencies. So when in T-Mobile territory, using a ROAM Mobility SIM I would get acceptable reception in many locations, but probably not as good as someone using the T-Mobile native phone that would have all the T-Mobile frequencies. If your phone started out as a Bell model phone (totally different frequencies from Rogers) you would still probably get some overlap, but your reception experience would be different. If you bought an unlocked phone off eBay, and it was say a European or Asian model, you probably won't get any reception at all.

One tip to reduce your call and data usage is to turn on wi-fi calling if your handset supports it. This allows you to complete calls off the carrier network fairly seamlessly if supported. It's a new feature on many newer handsets (like the S7/S8).

 

[michelb]

If all you care about is voice and maybe texting then you might want to look at getting a cheap pre-paid phone in the US. We've had a TracFone for about 10 years now. We really don't use it much since at the time it was for occasional calls and now we tend to just use roaming and our Canadian cells (we use our Canadian cells because both my wife and I use our cell number for work so we need to be able to receive calls / texts at those numbers even when in the US). I've never been to DL but there is WiFi available at DW and when we go, I don't have data on my phone and just rely on the the WiFi.

Prices for pre-paid depend on the amount of minutes you buy. I spend $20US every 4 months which gives me 180 minutes (which I never end up using during the time span but the minutes do carry-over (I'm now over 6000 minutes I think)). Since I don't want to lose my minutes, I'm stuck having to refill 3 times / year so spend $60. If I didn't care, I believe I could just spend $20 / year which would give me the phone for 90 days (the $20 activates the phone for 90 days but you have another 30 days after that to top-up before you lose your minutes. It's possible you can do even more than that but I've never tried. They told me I had 30 days so I do it in those 30 days).

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

THANKS everyone for your advice!! Much appreciated!

To clarify:

1) Don't actually own a phone at this time BUT intend to purchase one for my trip.

2) Mostly want to use it for texting spouse (when separated), odd phone call to spouse (when separated), data to check Disneyland Wait Time App (since there's NO Wifi in Disneyland).

3) Don't need a fancy phone because once we return to Canada, I plan to use phone for mostly texting and phoning (not sure about the data usage). ... might just end up with a prepaid plan in Canada as I'm not sure I'll use it enough to warrant cost of a monthly plan.

4) Therefore, a low end phone would probably fit my needs. There's a current sale on the Samsung Galaxy J3 and I thought this might make a good entry level phone. Anyone have other suggestions?

5) Also, as BANKR63 pointed out, I have to ensure that my phone's frequencies works with the carrier's frequencies. Does anyone know if the Samsung Galaxy J3 works with T-Mobile frequencies? Works with Roam Mobiity frequencies?

6) Here are the specs for Samsung Galaxy J3 (NO IDEA WHAT ALL THE FOLLOWING MEANS ... just copying & pasting here):

Network/Bearer (S/W Enabled):

• 2G GSM
  GSM850, GSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900
• 
  
• 3G UMTS
  B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850)
• 
  
• 4G FDD LTE
  B1(2100), B2(1900), B4(AWS), B5(850), B7(2600), B12(700), B17(700)

Connectivity

• ANT+
  No
• 
  
• USB Version
  USB 2.0
• 
  
• Location Technology
  GPS, Glonass
• 
  
• Earjack
  3.5mm Stereo
• 
  
• MHL
  No
• 
  
• Wi-Fi
  802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz
• 
  
• Wi-Fi Direct
  Yes
• 
  
• Bluetooth Version
  Bluetooth v4.1
• 
  
• NFC
  No
• 
  
• Bluetooth Profiles
  A2DP, AVRCP, DI, HFP, HID, HOGP, HSP, MAP, OPP, PAN, PBAP
• 
  
• PC Sync.
  Smart Switch (PC version)

I've checked the carrier's website and tried comparing specs and this is me: what???

Any enlightenment you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Donald - my hero]

Ahhhh! A cell phone user after my own heart!! I too am a very low-tech, light usage person. Before our most recent trip i had only just upgraded from a flip-phone to a slightly more advanced phone. I had a ROAM Sim card that i had intended to use but the phone battery died, couldn't be charged and we were leaving in less than 24 hours so the mad dash to solve that problem involved trying to find an unlocked phone that would work on our network when we got home AND wouldn't break the bank. We found this website extremely useful for figuring out which phones might work on which network

Will my phone work ??
...BTW there are multiple version of the Samsung Galaxy J3 or i would simply cut & paste the answer -- gave up, i suggest having that website handy when looking at the phones, my hubby used his phone while we were out shopping!!

Once we realized buying a phone here would be too $$$ we decided to buy what *might* become a throw away phone once we landed. We ended up finding a T-Mobile store shortly after we arrived and I ended up with a nice phone (perhaps more than you'll need) that will work on our network here and we will add me to hubby's plan when he renews in August. It came with a SIM loaded with a month of unlimited international talk-text & data which was great since we were also gone for close to 3 weeks, and once we crossed the border the phone automatically switched to the Bell Network. I liked the fact that i didn't need to sign a contract or leave a credit card on file.
This is the phone i ended up with --- not sure how much you're planning on spending but it's currently on sale! "Free" if you add a $100.00 top up card .. you can use your hotel address to have it shipped OR find a store close to where you're staying

Samsung Galaxy ON5 Pre-paid Phone

If you end up finding a phone you like while you're still on this side of the border T-Mobile has SIM cards for $10.00 and then you can add time with Top-Up card, or ROAM as others have suggested.

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

Ahhhh! A cell phone user after my own heart!! I too am a very low-tech, light usage person. Before our most recent trip i had only just upgraded from a flip-phone to a slightly more advanced phone. I had a ROAM Sim card that i had intended to use but the phone battery died, couldn't be charged and we were leaving in less than 24 hours so the mad dash to solve that problem involved trying to find an unlocked phone that would work on our network when we got home AND wouldn't break the bank. We found this website extremely useful for figuring out which phones might work on which network

Will my phone work ??
...BTW there are multiple version of the Samsung Galaxy J3 or i would simply cut & paste the answer -- gave up, i suggest having that website handy when looking at the phones, my hubby used his phone while we were out shopping!!

Once we realized buying a phone here would be too $$$ we decided to buy what *might* become a throw away phone once we landed. We ended up finding a T-Mobile store shortly after we arrived and I ended up with a nice phone (perhaps more than you'll need) that will work on our network here and we will add me to hubby's plan when he renews in August. It came with a SIM loaded with a month of unlimited international talk-text & data which was great since we were also gone for close to 3 weeks, and once we crossed the border the phone automatically switched to the Bell Network. I liked the fact that i didn't need to sign a contract or leave a credit card on file.
This is the phone i ended up with --- not sure how much you're planning on spending but it's currently on sale! "Free" if you add a $100.00 top up card .. you can use your hotel address to have it shipped OR find a store close to where you're staying

Samsung Galaxy ON5 Pre-paid Phone

If you end up finding a phone you like while you're still on this side of the border T-Mobile has SIM cards for $10.00 and then you can add time with Top-Up card, or ROAM as others have suggested.

Thanks for the info! Appreciate it! You are much more sophisticated than I am ... you at least owned a flip ... this will be the 1st phone that I will actually "own" (just in case you're wondering ... I know how to use a cell but I've always "borrowed" my husband's work cell) LOL!

I've been at this research literally all day since there's so many terms I don't know the meaning of which requires "further research" before I can understand the article I'm reading ... quite a vicious circle!

After much reading, I think I'm just going to go ahead and buy the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016 version I "think"). Reasons: although it's probably not the best choice of entry level phones, it's an affordable one that I can just buy outright. I wish it had better camera capabilities since I will take photos but the main use will be talk & text so I "think" the phone should be sufficient for my needs. I plan to buy it from Costco which allows 90 days refund (which I consider a huge plus in case I experience buyer's remorse or buyer's dislike). Also, since I plan to use the same phone after my trip, I think I should buy the phone in Canada (in case of warranty issues ... knock on wood!).

Again, after much reading, I'm thinking of "Freedom Mobile" for the Canadian carrier ... they have a $25 Talk & Text plan which sounds pretty good for my basic talk & text needs (I'd rather use WIFI when I can instead of paying for Data which I may or may not use)
AND I can add on $15/mo Ready to Go: USA for my USA trip ... cheaper than going the T-Mobile OR Roam Mobility Route.

NOW ... here's my "next round" of Questions:

1) Anyone use "Freedom Mobile" for their Canadian carrier? (Previously: Wind Mobile & name change since Shaw bought out Wind)

2) How's the connectivity in "Canada"? I'm reading mixed reviews ... some say OK others say terrible.

3) What about Freedom Mobile's customer service?

4) Anyone use the $15/mo Ready to Go: USA add on when they travelled to Disneyland? Also, how was the connectivity in Disneyland (understand that amount of traffic affects connectivity but there's always going to be a lot people trying to connect to data in the parks).

Note: USA partner is AT&T (used to be T-Mobile but now switched to AT & T)

5) Funny question ... if I purchased a SIM for Freedom Mobile and decided I wanted to try another Canadian carrier and THEN decided that I like Freedom Mobile will I need to buy a "new" SIM OR can I just use the "original" SIM that I purchased for Freedom Mobile? Basically, are SIM cards "one time use"?? I'm guessing "no" because all my data would be on the "original" SIM which I would like to retain?

Anyway ... Many Thanks again for helping me (total newbie) on my journey to owning my 1st cell phone!

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• SIM's can be reused.... but they do expire if they are unused for several weeks. Roam Mobility is one year. I think Freedom/Wind is one month. Speak to vendor to get the exact time limit.
• I used to be a Wind customer and found coverage/reliability a huge issue.
  • I hate roaming charges..... Wind has roaming charges in Canada. Once you leave the downtown core, you get hit with roaming charges 30 minutes out of town.
  • because coverage/reliability was an issue, my Wind phone ran hotter and had shorter battery life to use those weak signals
  • indoor coverage was an issue for me when I walked into a building. You need to be near a window to get reception. The other carriers are putting repeaters inside buildings for better coverage.
  • I recommend talking to family members, neighbors, co-workers, or basically where you spend a lot of time. They can tell you whether local coverage is good for you or not.
  • Freedom/Wind uses a different frequency compared to Telus and Rogers. You phone may not support the fastest LTE speeds with a different frequency.
  • Shaw recently purchased struggling Wind and injected new cash into it for more towers. I moved on.
  • Wind also had a large number of complaints for a smaller carrier. http://mobilesyrup.com/2016/03/30/c...s-report-reveals-drop-in-consumer-complaints/
    
    
    

 

[Donald - my hero]

A second huge voice for AVOID Wind .. our daughter had her phone with them for 24 hours (YES 1 day) before she returned to the store and cancelled the plan (you have 15 days to do this) it was the middle of winter and she could only get service if she stood in the middle of the street

SIM cards can be transferred from phone to phone and service to service now. So long as your phone is unlocked and it is supported on the network the carrier uses (use the webpage i previously linked to) you just let the service provider know you want to keep your current phone number.

Good luck and happy cell-phoning!

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

XLXO & DONALD - MY HERO:

Thanks for the WARNING! Roaming charges once you leave the downtown core? Standing the middle of the street to get cell service? I will definitely avoid Freedom (previously: Wind).

Also DONALD - MY HERO:

Thanks again for your link on how to check cell phone compatibility ... I posted your suggested link on the Disneyland Forum so others could take advantage of your wisdom (recall I posted on Canadian & Disneyland forum).


I'm now looking into FIDO as my Canadian carrier. Anyone who can comment/suggest/warn against FIDO?


I'm hoping that Fido has better cell service connectivity since they're owned by Rogers (don't know if you get full Rogers connectivity but assuming it'll probably be better than Freedom (previously known as Wind).

Appreciate your warnings! I think I just avoided a huge mistake because I was wise enough to consult the experts on Disboards! Who wants to pay for something that they can't use? Whew! Dodged that bullet!

I'll be also be checking with my friends tonight but since they all use data (I don't want to pay for it and will stick to WIFI) I'm pretty sure they're with the bigger providers which will cost more for my talk & text needs.

Sorry to keep going on and on about this topic but everyone on Disboards is always so generous and friendly about sharing their knowledge.
Asking you experts allows me access to people's experiences outside my usual limited social circle. Appreciate your patience and input!

Thanks again!

 

[xlxo]

Thoughts....

• In general... there are two networks... Telus & Bell is one and Rogers is the second. Talk to neighbors and co-workers who they use and where they have found deadzones (coverage issues). I like the Telus/Bell network as there are repeaters in my office building. Friends like Rogers because the subway tunnel has repeaters.
• Fido used to be a third competitor until they were bought out by Rogers and used as a lower cost product.
• Telus/Bell also have reseller partnerships which offer a lower cost product with same coverage.... Koodo, Virgin, and Public Mobile
• Rogers too has lower cost network resellers like Chatter, 7Eleven Speakeasy, Zoomer Wireless.
• Telus/Bell offer more coverage in small towns.
• Look closely at the voice and data packages to see which one is attractive. Like Freedom/Wind.... some of those low cost network resellers charge roaming once you go into rural locations. Prepaid vs plan?
• Look closely at what phone models at offered.... the newest phones may be limited to the full time carriers.

 

[elaine amj]

For your Canadian phone plan, check out 7eleven speakout. If u just want a handful of mins for talk/text, that is the cheapest. My DD got the prepaid SIM - for $50/yr, she can talk/text a little bit - about 6 texts/mo on average. Good for semi-emergency use only.

Also check out PC Mobile (at the Superstore) and PetroCanada's mobile plan. All can be good for lower-usage customers.

For her regular use, she has Freetone, a free app that gives her a local Canadian phone number and is wifi/data-based only.

For the US, I like Truphone - but that is best for regular visitors to the US who want limited semi-emergency use. I like that it never expires and I don't ever need to purchase topups to keep my number/minutes unlike other providers. Cost per min/text/Data is slightly higher than others but because of the no expiry, my out of pocket costs end up being less.

For heavier usage in the US (like my 2.5 week Cali trip a couple of years ago where I wanted to use data heavily), I chose Pure Talk, which gave me a 1month prepaid SIM with talk, text, and data. Its typically $30 for the month but I think I got a discount code which made it much cheaper. Alternatively, I have heard good things about Tmobile's plan.

 

[Mama Bear Me2]

THANKS again everyone for your thoughts & suggestions!

 

[Donald - my hero]

This is the plan i have with Rogers and i love it -- basic, nothing more than i ever need. It is just a step up from the emergency use only since my hubby & kids text exclusively I like the freedom to not be counting the # I've sent & received and the number of calls I've made. Service has never been a problem.

 

[squirrel]

I was forced to upgrade my old flip phone that I had as pay as you go with Virgin since they were upgrading the system and the phone has to have a SIM to work with it.

I decided if I had to buy a new phone, it might as well be a smartphone. I checked for months and decided on a Zenfone3. I almost went with the Zenfone3 Laser but I had some gift cards for Best Buy and figured the extra ram, Megapixels for the camera and the extra GB for storage was worth the upgrade. I really didn't think I would use the smartphone much other than for photos. I am loving it. It also has a glove touch which is perfect for me since I wear gloves in the house in winter (Raynaud's Syndrome). I was also able to zoom in on my pants and see cat hair. My BIL was impressed although I barely let him look at it.

The best part is I keep everything on Wi-fi and don't use the minutes unless there is an emergency. $112 for the year, unused $ stays as long as you add another year on before expiry. I haven't taken it down to the US yet. I bought a case from Amazon, and I have another one coming from eBay. I had Best Buy install the screen protector and they will replace if damaged, peeling happens.