Canadians using U.S. SIM cards

kyrkea333

Luckiest Mom!
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Sep 26, 2007
Messages
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After my last trip not being able to use MaxPass due to not having a U.S. data plan and the wifi being so unreliable, I’m planning ahead for my next trip in January. I’ve discovered that I can buy a specific SIM card from Staples through Roam Mobility and purchase data for as many days as I need it in Anaheim. Has anyone from Canada used this or anything similar, and how well did MP work with it? Thanks for any info anyone can provide.
 
Which Carrier are you with? Bell and Rogers both do a roam like home which is like $5 a day.
 
Before Fido/Rogers began offering the 5$/day plan, I used Roam on a couple of trips. It gets pricier than the Canadian roam packages if your trip is more than a few days. My main problem was not coverage - they use the usual cell networks - but battery life. It drained my phone at a terrible rate, much more rapidly than on my local carrier. If you are used to it, changing the SIM card or programming the settings are not difficult to do.
 
Who's your carrier? I'm with Telus and I just use their easy roam add on for $7 a day or $45/month for longer trips. My kids are with Bell and I believe they offer a similar travel plan. I wasn't even aware we could purchase US SIM cards here but I'm not very technologically savvy!
 

We have used the ROAM SIM cards for a few years now. The only thing you need to make sure of is that your phone is unlocked. Other than that, it is pretty easy to use. (That reminds me, I need to top up our plans for our weekend at Great Wolf Lodge next week)

We didn’t find that our batteries were drained any more than normal but for Disney trips I always make sure I toss a small phone battery charger in my backpack.
 
I have used our ROAM card in Disneyland without trouble, Get the $4.95 a day package as you get 4G service. The cheap package ($2.95 a day) is way to slow for any type of decent cell data connection.

Once you activate the card you will get a US phone number to use. You can reuse this number again and again, although it has to be topped up once a year.
 
Which Carrier are you with? Bell and Rogers both do a roam like home which is like $5 a day.
I'm using Rogers through Cityfone/Searsconnect. I don't have data with them, so I don't know if I would be able to get a data package for the U.S. I will have to check.
 
Who's your carrier? I'm with Telus and I just use their easy roam add on for $7 a day or $45/month for longer trips. My kids are with Bell and I believe they offer a similar travel plan. I wasn't even aware we could purchase US SIM cards here but I'm not very technologically savvy!
Someone just told me about this, too. I didn't know how it worked and realize I have to have an unlocked phone, so I'm digging through my drawer finding an older phone that I can use.
 
I have used our ROAM card in Disneyland without trouble, Get the $4.95 a day package as you get 4G service. The cheap package ($2.95 a day) is way to slow for any type of decent cell data connection.

Once you activate the card you will get a US phone number to use. You can reuse this number again and again, although it has to be topped up once a year.
Wow, that looks like a really good plan. I'm definitely going to have to check this out further. If I don't use the plan for more than a year, I would then have to buy a new SIM card?
 
Someone just told me about this, too. I didn't know how it worked and realize I have to have an unlocked phone, so I'm digging through my drawer finding an older phone that I can use.
Ah I don’t have an unlocked phone. I guess I’ll just stick with Telus.
 
Someone just told me about this, too. I didn't know how it worked and realize I have to have an unlocked phone, so I'm digging through my drawer finding an older phone that I can use.

Ah I don’t have an unlocked phone. I guess I’ll just stick with Telus.

As of December 1st, they're not allowed to charge unlocking fees. So if your trip is after that, you may be in luck.
 
Wow, that looks like a really good plan. I'm definitely going to have to check this out further. If I don't use the plan for more than a year, I would then have to buy a new SIM card?

No need to buy a new sim card, you can activate the card on the $2.95 plan for 1 day and it re-starts the 1 year time limit. I am on Bell, and i would their US plan, but it only comes with 100 meg of data per day, and i would use that up just using the app for a couple of hours.
 
Thank you all so much for the information. My husband is constantly amazed when I have a question about Disneyland and I say “I’ll just ask my Disboards” then come back later with so much helpful info!
:thanks: :disrocks:
 
We used ROAM mobility was awesome. ..the calls home to Canada were great and got way more data than adding on US roaming. .highly recomend
 
If you don't need a phone number, a WiFi Hotspot is another option.
These have been available for many years, but several companies are marketing them specifically for short term international usage. GigSky and SkyRoam are a couple examples.
 
Ive used both ROAM and Telaway without issue in Disneyland and WDW. So nice to just plug in and go and the unlimited data is way better than any of the current plans offered here to “roam like Home”
 
I'm probably terribly naive about all this, but do you get a different phone number when you go with ROAM? I was looking at it and it does look like it would be much less worry than roam like home... I might try it.
 
I'm probably terribly naive about all this, but do you get a different phone number when you go with ROAM? I was looking at it and it does look like it would be much less worry than roam like home... I might try it.

You do get a different number. I just sent an email to my friends & family with our US numbers and they just use those when we go to the States.
 
I am on Bell, and i would their US plan, but it only comes with 100 meg of data per day, and i would use that up just using the app for a couple of hours.

Did you use that much data with the app? On another thread people were telling me they used more like 100 MB for three days.
 


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