Cell Phones

Son studying in US needs local cell phone service... but what?

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  • Jun 30th, 2019 2:30 pm
Newbie
Aug 14, 2018
2 posts
2 upvotes

Son studying in US needs local cell phone service... but what?

Surprisingly little advice about this on the web.

My son will be starting studies in New York in about a month and will need a local cell phone service that is reliable, has at least 4GB of data, allows calls and texts to Canada, will allow him to roam while in Canada, and is realistically priced.

He will be there 9 months out of the year for the next four years with some visits back. Any recommendations?
22 replies
Deal Expert
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Feb 24, 2003
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Toronto
Look at some of the T-Mobile plans that allow roaming in Canada.
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Nov 14, 2003
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LaLaLand
Basically any US cellphone service will work. AT&T and T-Mobile will also work in Canada. There are cheaper options than these two, but they won't work in Canada and there might be some extra charges for calls/texts to Canada.

There is tons of competition in the US so it is pretty cheap compared to Canada.
Newbie
Aug 14, 2018
5 posts
2 upvotes
Also, depending on where you are located, Videotron is a Canadian carrier that is currently offering pretty decent deals for Canada-US. They currently only have kiosks in Ottawa and Quebec right now though.

It all depends I guess on whether you prefer him to have a Canada or US number and where the best deal is!
Member
Feb 13, 2015
227 posts
85 upvotes
Toronto
Canadian plans with US roaming are much more expensive than US plans (t-mobile has free prepaid plans with good international features) in general. US plans have very cheap Canadian roaming.

But the bigger deal will be are you going to add US calling to all your phones so you can call his US number?
Newbie
Aug 19, 2017
24 posts
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I just got on the AT&T Prepaid plan, 8GB/Unlimited text & talk North America for $36USD a month. The deal has been on Slickdeals, I signed up at the AT&T store in Niagara Falls,US & did autopay ($40/month) but topup the account from Callingmart with a 10% discount & no state taxes. You must do over 50% on AT&T towers, I live in Niagara Falls, Ontario & get AT&T signal at home. I was trying to get on the Freedom F&F with the border plan @$60/month, but no luck so I give my money to a US company instead.
Newbie
Aug 14, 2018
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Thanks so much for the the advice.

I was very excited about the Videotron idea but you have to be spending more than 50% of your time on their Canadian network to be able to get it.

It looks like AT & T and T-Mobile both have similar good plans for us. Again, thank you so much.

For the person who asked what we've decided to do about our calling him in the US. We've decided to turn his current Canadian number into a virtual Wi-Fi number so we can just keep calling him as usual. I thought about doing that for his entire service but it was going to be complicated.
Deal Fanatic
Jul 26, 2007
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If your son has project fi compatible phone, you can check that out. fi.google.com

$20 per month for north America calling and txt + $10 per gig for data. But while in Canada, txt is unlimited and same $10 per gig but $0.20/min to call. Best to sign up for free google voice in USA and use wifi/data to make free US/CAN calls using hangout app while visiting Canada.
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Nov 10, 2011
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Burnaby
PaulM70790 wrote: Thanks so much for the the advice.

I was very excited about the Videotron idea but you have to be spending more than 50% of your time on their Canadian network to be able to get it.

It looks like AT & T and T-Mobile both have similar good plans for us. Again, thank you so much.

For the person who asked what we've decided to do about our calling him in the US. We've decided to turn his current Canadian number into a virtual Wi-Fi number so we can just keep calling him as usual. I thought about doing that for his entire service but it was going to be complicated.
Maybe Roam Mobility’s snowbird plan https://roammobility.com/snowbird-plans will work for the time he is the USA. If you call him, hang up after a couple of rings and make him call you back. You can’t use Roam Mobility in Canada so that would be a draw back. Then go back to his Canadian number when he comes back.
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Aug 18, 2018
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peteryorkuca wrote: If your son has project fi compatible phone, you can check that out. fi.google.com

$20 per month for north America calling and txt + $10 per gig for data. But while in Canada, txt is unlimited and same $10 per gig but $0.20/min to call. Best to sign up for free google voice in USA and use wifi/data to make free US/CAN calls using hangout app while visiting Canada.
You don't necessarily need a Fi compatible phone, you just need one to activate the Fi SIM card, then you can use the activated SIM card into any phone. Granted there will be some issues but this is an option if you want to stick with your old phone.

OP how much roaming in Canada do you anticipate? Because if you don't expect to roam too much while in Canada, you can find MUCH cheaper plans with T-Mobile MVNO's instead of going T-Mobile direct. Mint Mobile (formerly Mintsim) sells 5GB/unlimited talk+text to Canada plans for only $20 a month -- the catch being you have to pay for the whole year in advance to get the lowest rate (otherwise it's $30/mo for 3 months and $24/mo for 6 months).
Newbie
Aug 12, 2018
56 posts
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Look into cricket wireless. Some of their higher plans ( >$40) includes roaming to Canada. They run on the ATT wireless
Newbie
Dec 2, 2007
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new brunswick
Reviving this thread as I’ll have a child studying in US this fall. Wondering what plan the OP went with in the end? And if any new options? The family is with Telus. We can add US-Canada option to her plan, which gives 6gb (3+3gb bonus) and lets her use her phone equally in US and Canada and keep her Cdn number. But $103/mo.
T-Mobile has an unlimited plan that ends up about $70USD, so only real benefit is having the US number.

Looked at Cricket, still trying to figure out benefit and limitation of their plans. Zoomer Wireless not much of a savings over Telus. Roam Mobility she can’t use her phone regularly in Canada.

Any other suggestions?
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Nov 14, 2003
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LaLaLand
4family wrote: T-Mobile has an unlimited plan that ends up about $70USD, so only real benefit is having the US number.

Any other suggestions?
T-mobile prepaid is better value, 10gb for $40. Five dollars more, it can roam in Canada,

https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid/ma ... ly-prepaid

If she doesn't need roaming, mint mobile (MVNO on t-mobile) is $20 for 8gb or $25 for 12gb,

https://www.mintmobile.com/plans/

AT&T prepaid is similar,

https://www.att.com/prepaid/
Deal Fanatic
Nov 11, 2008
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Everyone is going crazy over the ATT prepaid 40$ 16gb plan that allows roaming in Canada in the hot deals section
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Jun 12, 2007
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4family wrote: Reviving this thread as I’ll have a child studying in US this fall. Wondering what plan the OP went with in the end? And if any new options? The family is with Telus. We can add US-Canada option to her plan, which gives 6gb (3+3gb bonus) and lets her use her phone equally in US and Canada and keep her Cdn number. But $103/mo.
T-Mobile has an unlimited plan that ends up about $70USD, so only real benefit is having the US number.

Looked at Cricket, still trying to figure out benefit and limitation of their plans. Zoomer Wireless not much of a savings over Telus. Roam Mobility she can’t use her phone regularly in Canada.

Any other suggestions?
Check the coverage for the campus/ locations where the kid is going to school. Don’t forget that unlike robellus in Canada that run a homogenised networks (where bell/Telus/ Rogers own all the cell sites) , some brands like TM has other regional carriers (i.e. cellular one, etc) provide cell coverage for some states like Iowa,( NE, MT, WY, ME). Zoom into the location to check if it's "partner" coverage (example Grand Island NE looks like TM until you zoom right in and it shows "partner"). Some locations need VoLTE using a TM acceptable phone ( LTE bands 700MHz band 12 and 600 Mhz band 71). See "device compatibility" for the location selected on the coverage map

Also, some tier2 MVNO don't have roaming on partner networks = 0 coverage

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map
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Mar 4, 2007
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4family wrote: Reviving this thread as I’ll have a child studying in US this fall. Wondering what plan the OP went with in the end? And if any new options? The family is with Telus. We can add US-Canada option to her plan, which gives 6gb (3+3gb bonus) and lets her use her phone equally in US and Canada and keep her Cdn number. But $103/mo.
T-Mobile has an unlimited plan that ends up about $70USD, so only real benefit is having the US number.

Looked at Cricket, still trying to figure out benefit and limitation of their plans. Zoomer Wireless not much of a savings over Telus. Roam Mobility she can’t use her phone regularly in Canada.

Any other suggestions?
Hi,

You can't go wrong with AT&T $50($40 autopay) double the data monthly prepaid plan. If you can't get to a AT&T store to set up the plan, you can call 1-800-901-9878 customer service for more information.
https://www.att.com/buy/wireless/prepaid/plandetails
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Dec 2, 2007
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new brunswick
Really helpful, thanks everybody
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Aug 11, 2003
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C-53
PaulM70790 wrote: Surprisingly little advice about this on the web.

My son will be starting studies in New York in about a month and will need a local cell phone service that is reliable, has at least 4GB of data, allows calls and texts to Canada, will allow him to roam while in Canada, and is realistically priced.

He will be there 9 months out of the year for the next four years with some visits back. Any recommendations?
Cricket wireless.

Best plan!

No competition.

-Hal
Please thank me if you find this helpful
Member
Jun 18, 2018
310 posts
375 upvotes
I use Red Pocket when I go to USA for more than a few days. Just 1-3 days I use Roam Mobility.
But for longer periods, Red Pocket is amazing. They use AT&T network like Cricket. Calls to Canada are included in "local calling"

https://www.redpocket.com/plans
Deal Addict
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May 31, 2003
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Toronto, ON
4family wrote: Reviving this thread as I’ll have a child studying in US this fall. Wondering what plan the OP went with in the end? And if any new options? The family is with Telus. We can add US-Canada option to her plan, which gives 6gb (3+3gb bonus) and lets her use her phone equally in US and Canada and keep her Cdn number. But $103/mo.
T-Mobile has an unlimited plan that ends up about $70USD, so only real benefit is having the US number.

Looked at Cricket, still trying to figure out benefit and limitation of their plans. Zoomer Wireless not much of a savings over Telus. Roam Mobility she can’t use her phone regularly in Canada.

Any other suggestions?
Definitely go with one of the US-based options. Your child would be at a disadvantage amongst friends, etc...in the US if they have a Canadian number so it's more a headache than anything. Probably couldn't even order a pizza lol
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