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Best Smartphone Plan Covering US and Canada?
j00bhaka writes "I am a US citizen attending university in Nova Scotia, Canada. I currently have the Verizon America and Canada plan (also known as the North American plan). My bill is currently around $80-$100 per month. I chose this for a couple reasons. One, I have had my number for about 7 years. Two, I do not permanently live in Canada. I live in Canada for 8 months out of the year at school, then travel home for the summer months. Either way, I would be dealing with international roaming without having both countries in my plan. Currently, I obviously don't have a smartphone. Through Verizon, I could purchase one, and add their international unlimited data plan on top of my (already) hefty phone bill. I have looked into Telus and Rogers here in Canada and cannot find anything better. As a student, my budget is obviously limited. Is there any way to reasonably have (and utilize) a smartphone while I am living in both countries? If so, what do you suggest I do?"
For your internet on the go, you would rely on wifi and your notebook/netbook.
I guess the biggest question would be - why a smartphone specifically?
Assuming you have some sort of decent Internet access at school, at something available at home, why not just get a VoIP line (a' la Vonage, MagicJack, etc)? You'd have a single number that would cross borders with you easily, and it would be one heck of a lot cheaper.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
You're a student? Here's some advice that you did not solicit: Consider whether this is an opportunity to save yourself some longterm pain by keeping your expenses low. Consider the actual cost of the plan...as it affects the level of debt you'll carry (if any) as a result of tuition loans.
Maybe a smartphone and data plan is a must have....for a student... ...don't think it is though. I know, it'd be a tough living, wouldn't it?
Get this. Up until 15-20 years ago (practically) no college students had cell phones. They all managed to survive and get through school despite that handicap. You may have to endure being a social pariah for a few years but it isn't necessary to have a smartphone.
I don't know if it's still available but you can use the Verizon WirelessWeb feature on a smartphone without getting a data plane. Whether they'll let you upgrade to a smartphone without upgrading to data is another thing. They allowed this for the first time with the Centro.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
Wow, you managed to give a solution that does not address a single requirement of the problem... Bravo.
I travel to Canada from the US often for work and have tried this as I also have a Rogers plan. Google voice will not forward the calls to international numbers, even if it's our neighbor, Canada.
International roaming will always be expensive, be it for calls or data.
1- do you really need it ? I'd expect Wifi to be available most anywhere you are (though not while you're actually on the move), so VOIP, maybe with both a Canadian and a US provider, should be OK for you most of the time.
2- for when you DO need voice or data on the move or out of Wifi coverage, it's you choice between a single number w/ expensive international roaming, or 2 numbers, swapping SIMs.
I don't know what your situation is, but lotsa students have managed to survive without mobile phones, or without $100 monthly bills. Might require a little planning and temperance.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
You may have to endure being a social pariah for a few years but it isn't necessary to have a smartphone.
Being a social pariah in college is a good way to graduate without a job offer.
Except it does cost them more... a lot more. They don't have a network in canada so they have to pay rogers or whoever the CDMA carrier is in canada to let them use their network
Get a GSM phone, then you can remove the SIM card. Get 2 phone plans, one in Canada and one in the US. It'll be more expensive to have 2 plans, but it will also be cheaper than paying international rates.
As logistically goofy as it sounds, one can actually get multiple SIM cards, and just do a seasonal suspension on the account depending on where and how long they will be out of the country. You'll want to go GSM for this one, though. Also, if Verizon can suspend the service, you should be able to get the CDMA carrier up in Canada to register the ESN of the device, since you're currently running Verizon. Check up there to find out the details. Again, look forward to seasonal suspensions. Above all, TALK TO VERIZON and check your options.
This sig no verb.
Excuse me, but did you know that engineers make pretty good pay right out of school?
* GPS navigation only works if you have a gps enabled device and a constant data connection. Wi-Fi is useless for this.
So you mean those GPSes cars that just plug into lighter sockets are magic? Or the ones on ships hundreds of miles out out to sea have a constant data connection?
Pulling out a laptop to check twitter to see where your friends are while walking down the street does not make sense.
Just text your friends - "Hey dude, where are you?"
I only have experience with the canadian cell companies, so I don't know if this is true more generally. Pretty much every cell company here has secret hidden plans only available if you phone customer service and say the magic words 'cancel service'. Some of the bonuses available might include roaming plans. You don't get to know the real pricing unless you do the song and dance. Also, you could look for group discount plans... maybe your student union, or school has some deals available. Those should be somewhat comparable to the types of discounts you can get from a retention department.
Reasonable pre-paid data plan in Canada...? Surely you jest. With our perverse telecom/wireless telecom situation most third world countries have better speeds and dollar/byte rates than up here.
I was as "social pariah" as the next guy at my school, and I graduated with 3 years ago with a ~$74,000 job offer. I won't tell you what I'm making now; you'd gawk.
Now, I'm not saying that you should go out of your way to be "a social pariah" or anything, but I don't think that entry-level software-engineering jobs are particularly related to your professional networking efforts inside college itself. I'd recommend seeking internships at tech companies like IBM as a more effective early-career boost.
The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
CDMA carrierS are Bell Canada and Telus, who also operate HSPA+ networks, Rogers is a pure GSM carrier who completely owns fido.
:S
Roaming Data is fucking expensive, I speak from experience as someone who travels to the US very frequently. My solution to avoid these costs was to buy a US cell phone, on Pay as you go.
NOW, to answer this poor guy's question...
There is no easy way, all these solutions recommending google voice are phenomenal, until you realize that google voice doesn't work properly with most Canadian numbers. What I would recommend is a dual radio device, something like the BlackBerry Tour, or 8800. That way you can have a CDMA carrier, and a GSM carrier, both numbers are associated to the device, so both numbers will work. You could get a Rogers/Fido SIM with a monthly BB data plan and a sprint/vzw/whoever CDMA phone plan. When you go home to the states, cancel the data on the GSM carrier, pick it up on the CDMA carrier. This is probably your most affordable and easiest method, however its still is needlessly complex.
I wish you luck with whatever you do, as I'd love to figure it out for myself cause its painful to be without my BB when I'm in the states for more than a few days
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