Canadian moving to US for school-what cell phone plan to get?!

[alohamom]

HELP! (please, eh?)

Seriously though, my daughter is moving to Amherst, Mass in Sept to go to school there and she isn't sure which USA cell phone company is the best, cheapest, most dependable etc.
All of our experience has been here in Canada.
She thought about extending her plan here to have coverage in the US as well but was just advised that isn't always the best option, especially with dropped calls.
So where do we start?

She looked at Mint Mobile and it seemed ok price wise but there are so many options for carriers and prices compared to Canada!

Any help is greatly appreciated-tia!

 

[JessicaW1234]

HELP! (please, eh?)

Seriously though, my daughter is moving to Amherst, Mass in Sept to go to school there and she isn't sure which USA cell phone company is the best, cheapest, most dependable etc.
All of our experience has been here in Canada.
She thought about extending her plan here to have coverage in the US as well but was just advised that isn't always the best option, especially with dropped calls.
So where do we start?

She looked at Mint Mobile and it seemed ok price wise but there are so many options for carriers and prices compared to Canada!

Any help is greatly appreciated-tia!

We live in MA & use Verizon. I used to have TMobile but had connection issues so I switched. Not the cheapest, but better quality

 

[barkley]

i have a pretty basic plan with at&t that includes all of north america. when we were traveling to canada a few years ago i didn't realize i had it until i called and was told it's pretty much standard with all their plans. i don't pay a great deal but we get lots of data and minutes with unlimited calls between family plan members so it might be worth it to compare prices of 2 phones vs 1 b/c then you would have an unlimited means of communication (they have phones as low as a $150 and for a family of 4 i pay less than $150 per month including taxes). make sure to tell her to ask if they have any kind of student discounts.

 

[Best Aunt]

Where I live (not Amherst MA) the quality of cell service varies depending on the company you choose. For example, at one family member's house, you get no service with Verizon but AT&T works fine. My normal advice is to ask people who live and work in the location where you will be relocating, in case service is better with one company.

Is there a Facebook Group for your daughter's school which includes current students (not just incoming students)? If yes, she could try asking on there.

 

[alohamom]

make sure to tell her to ask if they have any kind of student discounts.

Great idea-thanks!

Where I live (not Amherst MA) the quality of cell service varies depending on the company you choose. For example, at one family member's house, you get no service with Verizon but AT&T works fine. My normal advice is to ask people who live and work in the location where you will be relocating, in case service is better with one company.

Good idea to ask people at the school. She has a virtual orientation session coming up so I am sure she could ask then-thanks!

 

[momtwoboys]

we live near Amherst and our son went to Umass amherst and we have Verizon.

 

[Miffy]

I have PureTalk, which runs off the AT&T network. You have to supply your own phone--or you can buy one from them--there's no contract. It's a month-to-month deal. For about $23/month I have unlimited talk and text and 2 gb of data, which is enough for me.

Great customer service.

But you'll have to find out which carrier works best in your daughter's area. There's no need to get AT&T or Verizon when you can get a discount service that uses their network.

 

[alohamom]

we live near Amherst and our son went to Umass amherst and we have Verizon.

Are you happy with Verizon?
She will not have a land line so we want to make sure we choose wisely

 

[alohamom]

But you'll have to find out which carrier works best in your daughter's area. There's no need to get AT&T or Verizon when you can get a discount service that uses their network.

Good to know, thank you!

 

[loves to dive]

I don't live in the area but we have Verizon and love it. Hubby has actually used Verizon on a dive boat in the middle of the ocean off Florida. I have actual Verizon, Hubby has a discount phone that you aren't supposed to know who they use but he has figured out they use Verizon. He used to use AT&T for a while but we found a lot of the time if we were travelling around he would end up having to use my phone because he wasn't getting service.

 

[starry_solo]

Tracfone is a discounted service that runs on the Verizon network. They used to also have AT&T and other carriers, but apparently Verizon bought them out a year or two ago.

You can get a discounted phone with minutes/texts on hsn.com or qvc.com (home shopping network or QVC). It comes with minutes and lasts a year.

Or you can buy the phones direct from them or other discounted sellers.

There is a plan for unlimited minutes and texts with only 12 GB of data (not sure if she uses data or not) for $200/year.

 

[amylevan]

So I’m not sure how much you know about US cellular coverage, but the big three (Verizon, AT&T, & T-Mobile) plus US cellular are the only companies that have their own network. All of the other discount companies just rent use of the other companies’ networks. I have always been a fan of Verizon (and discount companies that use Verizon’s network) but I hear that since the merger of T-Mobile and sprint, that their network is just as good, and better when it comes to 5G.

In any case, check out some coverage maps and determine what network you think would be best, and then you can compare all the choices that use that network.

This may help: https://www.toptenreviews.com/cell-phone-coverage-maps-north-america

 

[momtwoboys]

Are you happy with Verizon?
She will not have a land line so we want to make sure we choose wisely

yes we have a family plan all 4 of us on it, and service is good. Our son who was at UMASS never had a landline and his verizon service was excellent. we also dont have landline here at home.

 

[Lewisc]

Even the relatively inexpensive pre-paid plans sometimes include service TO Canada and Mexico. Some of the slightly more expensive plans also include cell service FROM Canada to the United States. Phone calls to/from Canada will add up to $$$ if not included. Either pay a premium for a plan which includes data while at home in Canada or make sure data roaming is turned off.

Cricket offers prepaid service. It's owned by AT&T. Visible is owned by Verizon.

 

[dsanner106]

This can be very subjective depending on where you live. Service with Verizon in my area puts them way ahead of the competition so check that with the maps they offer. Also many schools have a deal with a provider so check with student services at your new school for any discount program they may have a contract for.

 

[jbrinkm]

We're also moderately happy with Verizon. The coverage is great! The cost can be a little higher than some of the others, and I haven't been a huge fan of their customer service - especially if you are adding or switching something on your phone or plan. We switched after doing a cross-country drive using T-Mobile and having so many dead spots - we had trouble even booking our hotels some nights. We had little kids, so felt like we needed something more reliable. We enjoyed T-Mobile for years before that, however, and that would have been before the Sprint merger/buyout so the coverage might be better now. Consumer Reports usually has good info about phones & plans that is kept pretty well up to date, if you have access to their website.