Cell phone Newfoundland

[dcason]

We will spending 6 weeks in Newfoundland this spring/summer. We have been there before but never seemed to get the phone right. We have Verizon phone but and old AT&T phone we could use. Tell me if you got good service with which phone...which is better AT&T or Verizon. We are retired but have old parents that we need to keep track of....
Donna

[MDKMDK]

Since we're on the subject of poor communications coverage out in the boonies, anywhere northwest of Dawson Creek in BC and anywhere in the Yukon is either Telus (sparse) or Bell (better) and Rogers(nothing) all the way to the Alcan border. We learned that in 2016 on our way to Alaska. We stopped in Whitehorse and bought a Virgin Mobile (Bell) SIM card to give us a phone number from a Telus shop in the same parking lot that houses the Starbucks and CTC and Walmart. Never used it, but it was better than nothing if we needed to. Not that there were a plethora of cell towers along the route, mind, but again, better than nothing. A CB radio would have been more useful to ask for help from passing trucks, if any of them still had them.
Also, back then, "free wifi" in Whitehorse at the usual suspects was limited by their individual wifi plans. The McDonald's, Starbucks, etc. did NOT have unlimited plans, and so when their monthly limited plans ran out, they were severely throttled back and their customers were SOL. Also learned that in 2016, same trip. Apparently, there were no "unlimited full throttle commercial internet plans" available to any businesses in the Yukon back then, so we were told.
If any Admins want to cut this post out into a separate thread, by all means. Perhaps things have changed up there, since?

[Yeti_plus]

We use one of Rogers spin off little guys. We were in roaming mode almost all the time we were in Newfoundland and Labrador. They have some kind of an agreement with Bell to provide "extended" coverage. There are still parts that are not covered by any cell service, but the locals said there was a push on to extend coverage.
Having said that our hot spot on Bell had better reception than our phones at times.
Brian

[trailerbikecamp]

bguy wrote:
Stay away from Rogers unless you're staying mainly on the Avalon.
Our provider offers monthly rate for unlimited talk and text outside of Canada. Cell service is generally pretty good island wide but you will find dead areas and shadows even along the TCH.

Bell and Telus provide the best Island wide coverage. Rogers seems to be mainly on the Avalon Peninsula.

[harley4275]

If I am remembering correctly ,back in 2015, Bell was all over the province and Roger's was only in St John's and a couple other big cities.

[MDKMDK]

dcason wrote:
REGARDING the passport, yes. We have a pet with us so I think we are not going there...have thought about it though.

No Eiffel Tower there I think, but you would be visiting France, if you did go. It just seems weird to me. Some might argue that Quebec is part of France, as well. :h

[dcason]

REGARDING the passport, yes. We have a pet with us so I think we are not going there...have thought about it though.

[MDKMDK]

bguy wrote:
Stay away from Rogers unless you're staying mainly on the Avalon.
Our provider offers monthly rate for unlimited talk and text outside of Canada. Cell service is generally pretty good island wide but you will find dead areas and shadows even along the TCH.

I stand corrected. :B

[bguy]

Stay away from Rogers unless you're staying mainly on the Avalon.
Our provider offers monthly rate for unlimited talk and text outside of Canada. Cell service is generally pretty good island wide but you will find dead areas and shadows even along the TCH.

[MDKMDK]

dcason wrote:
Thanks to all.
DOES ANYONE know how good Rogers coverage is in Newfoundland?
Donna

It looks decent, although I've never used it out there. It should cover most of the major highways and towns.

https://www.rogers.com/business/products-and-solutions/wireless/network-coverage?tab=dca-tab-1_grp9d...

Did you know that you need a passport to visit the St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands? They belong to France.

[Grit_dog]

In my experience, when the phone (Verizon) switches over In Canada, it uses whatever provider is available. I see our phones switch from Rogers to Telus to maybe another one.
All our phones have Canadian plan on them. Idk how much $ but it’s cheap. Nowhere near $5 a day. Want to say more like $10-20 a month. Wife does the bills lol ...
Hope that helps.
Easy button, call your provider or go to a store and ask. You’re in NY, this is a common thing.

[Lwiddis]

All this is such baloney. Why can't we use our cell phones anywhere in North America without an issue? Politics?

[dcason]

Thanks to all.
DOES ANYONE know how good Rogers coverage is in Newfoundland?
Donna

[almcc]

We are Canadians who spend our winters in the US, we have an AT&T pay as you go monthly plan in the US which we use. The phone also works in Canada at no additional cost, AT&T pairs with Rogers in Canada. Not sure about the Rogers coverage in Newfoundland, maybe someone can comment on how good it is. With Verizon I understand that you have to have their "right" International phone, one that isn't the CDMA type, all Canadian services use the international standard, GMS, except for some CDMA "left overs" in some areas. AT&T uses GMS.

[enblethen]

We added Canada to our Verizon plan. No charge until it is used via Canadian towers.
"Mexico, Canada talk text and data"
Looks like it is now called
Verizon "Travel Pass"
$5 a day when used.
We simply turned phone off for part of the time