Cell phone coverage for U.S. travelors while in Canada

[breadman]

Was wondering what carriers and coverage plans hobbiest use when traveling to Canada from the States...which plans offer the best coverage at the best rate?

I have the old at&t cell coverage but once that contract runs out i'll be forced to either join cingular or look for another carrier with another plan. What i like about the at&t feature is for 9.99 a month (or 2.50 a week if your only in town for a week) you can add on canadian coverage that allows you to make and receive calls based on your calling plan without any extra roaming charges.

What's the best deal going on right now that I should look into?

 

[Minnesotah]

Usually, cell coverage is pretty good in Canada. You should have no problem to use it in Montreal area (except for Nextel, but not sure). As everywhere else, the island got some black holes as any city, but overall it is very well covered. From time to time, I used U.S. cell phones in smaller canadian towns and I never had problems. I don't know all the plan details, but Sprint and Verizon seem to offer good stuff.
Also, if you want to have a Canadian cell, the telco suck. The least worst is Rogers Wireless, but it is very far from perfection. Telus bought Microcell Fido (similar to Nextel technology), but their network are limited and rates are average. The last guy is Bell Mobility and I recommend you to avoid them at any price. They're magnet for problems. I had a cell and a pager with them and I only had issues of any kinds with them. I switched over Rogers and it solved almost all my concerns and their billing is accurately charged.

 

[ck_nj]

I have Verizon Wireless and never had a problem with signal strength in Montreal. In Toronto, the signal strength was fine, but I had issues with voicemail. It worked, but the voicemail notification did not work. The voicemail notification worked fine in Montreal.

I have the America's Choice plan and was paying 69 cents a minute while in Canada. They used to have a North America's Choice plan where you could roam all over the US and Canada, but I think they discontinued it.

I believe Verizon Wireless has plans if you do go to Canada frequently. Check with them if they are your carrier. I do not travel there enough to warrant looking into it, so I just bear the 69 cents a minute...

CK

 

[Minnesotah]

I am just thinking to something else. It is sort of pain in the ass, but what do you think about using prepaid card to roam for cheap on the Cdn networks?

 

[Montreal Moose]

Verizon Wireless along with a Trimode phone seems to work well for me. I made several calls while in Montreal for NYE on my Americas choice plan and never saw an extra charge on my bill. I upgraded my phone and changed my plan to another Americas choice plan before my last trip around Memorial day and never saw an extra charge on my bill that I received recently.

I was surprised by this as I have paid the .69 charge per minute in the past and was expecting it the past two times. I do not have a special plan for Canada. Maybe Montreal is included in the Americas choice plan?

I received voice mail prompts right away whereas in the past they would show up as I was crossing the boarder back to the states.

MM

 

[ck_nj]

Thanks Montreal Moose! I'll look into getting one of those trimode phones. What model phone do you have? I think Verizon Wireless only has 1 model that supports trimode, the Qualcomm/Kyocera 2035.

CK

 

[Uncle Kracker]

My buddy has Verizon and has no problem when we travel up... I have Sprint and the signal dies somewhere in Vermont...

 

[EagerBeaver]

Vermont

The signal always dies in Vermont, because of those mountains...............

 

[Montreal Moose]

My trimode phone is the LG VX6100. There are more advanced phones out there but I am not much into the extras(unless in a sc or mp )

I chose the trimode because it can be used in both digital and analog network areas. I believe that is what trimode is supposed to do..someone can jump in if I have my info mixed up.

MM

 

[ck_nj]

OK thanks. I misunderstood what trimode meant. Now I know it means analog and digital combined. My phone (Motorola T730) has that as well.

I thought it originally had to do with combining CDMA and GSM, which AT&T Wireless did (with TDMA and GSM America). Must be a different term for that.

CK