Cell phones in Canada

[timjet]

Going to AK this summer. I have Verizon's call text and 4gig of data plan, cost's about $40/mo. It does not include call or data in Canada.
However if I switch to Verizon's go-unlimited (also $40/mo)plan I get .5 gig of data per day in Canada at their prevailing speed (probably 3G) then it switches to 2G speed. Unlimited call and text, but if you use more than 50% of call data or text in any 60 day period in Canada, they may cut you off.

Checking Verizon's coverage map and comparing our caravan route going up thru Calgary, Edmonton, Dawson Creek, Ft Nelson, coverage is good. After Ft Nelson coverage is limited to only within the cities of Watson Lake, Whitehorse, Carmacks, & Dawson City.

I don't think the 60 day period will effect us as we will be almost a month in AK before returning into Canada.

Anybody have comments or a better plan?

[Lexx]

We have an unlimited AT&T plan. We were just up in Vancouver. No issues at all with data or phone calls. Speeds were good.

Only quirk is our my wife's Note IV would not show there were VM's waiting. My iphone did not have that issue.

The Canadian partner carrier is Rogers.

[mda]

Traveled all thru Canada and Alaska in 2017. I have unlimited Verizon, my wife has unlimited AT&T.
I had .5 mg LTE in Canada (after .5 mg it was slowed down), she had better service all around and unlimited data with AT&T never slowed down.

[jensenst]

We did the Alaska trip last summer. Verizon worked great we paid $30 extra for unlimited data in US and .5 gb data daily in Canada. I was able to make my Iphone a hotspot to use our laptop which is great in the US campgrounds. My wife flip phone would not work in Canada. We pretty much had cell service all along the Alaskan Hwy.

[almcc]

GordonThree wrote:
I used AT&T on my last visits to Canada. Voice and data worked great, no limits, no add on plans required.

I'm using At&t Unlimited and more (which includes basic direct TV service)

I received a text from AT&T indicating that data speeds in Canada "may" be reduced to 2G, probably by the carrier they use up here (Rogers).

I haven't checked the speed yet.

[obgraham]

I use my Verizon in Canada frequently. I have the TravelPass added, which lets me use all my regular Verizon plan, but adds $5 each day I actually use it in Canada. It used to be only $2, but, oh well.

I can live with that rate. We try to bunch up our usage to minimize the added charges.

[pigman1]

Make sure your phone will work in Canada. A few years ago Verizon told us our perfectly adequate tri-mode flip phones would no longer work in Canada. They recommended we go to the Samsung Core Prime phones, so we switched. Two years or so ago, we received notification that these phones would no longer work in Canada, and they would not.. We tried. DW had to further update to a Samsung 3, but Verizon swore to me that ALL THEIR PHONES would work. WRONG, Verizon lied or had idiots in their stores that didn't know anything. Go to a VERIZON STORE, not a reseller, and MAKE THEM SHOW YOU THE WEBPAGE that says if your phone will work up there or not. A large number of their employees don't have a clue, including their own store manager. Dover, DE is my case in point. Make them show you the web page. We use the added Canada coverage and don't pay anything unless we actually use voice, data, or internet service up there. This counts for incoming as well as outgoing service, so unwanted calls to you will still cost you.

[GordonThree]

I used AT&T on my last visits to Canada. Voice and data worked great, no limits, no add on plans required.

I'm using At&t Unlimited and more (which includes basic direct TV service)

[netjam]

Its been a few years but we had verizon north america and used it 6 months in canada and 6 months in the usa every year. It was about $60 month for calls and text...no data. Worked slick and never any extra charges. Problem was, we were canadian residents and about 3 years ago verizon dropped us as we did not have a US billing address.

[enblethen]

We got the North America add on to our Verizon. We only get charged when connected to Canadian towers. No charge the rest of the time!