US Roaming - Do I have this right? Is there a better way?

[phzi]

Slightly off topic, but not really. http://www.roammobility.com/ ... why use your Canadian carrier to roam in the USA anymore?

[lmcjipo]

However, with WIFI hotspots especially with McDonalds and Starbucks and VOIP apps, roaming could almost be a thing of the past. For both Android and iPhone there are free apps and to use called Netalk and Heywire for sending SMS messages via WIFI.

Ideally, an unlocked device with a local SIM is the best option but the SIM has an expiry time from what I was told. There could also be an activation fee for the SIM as well. There is a newer company in Canada called Roammobility: http://www.roammobility.com/ that offers roaming from $3/day.

I think that the WiFi option depends on where in the US you plan on going. For example, many people think that Las Vegas has free WiFi almost everywhere. I've been to Las Vegas quite a few times and on the Strip, there are very few hotels or areas that offer free WiFi to non-guests. You go into a Starbucks in the hotel's food court and it isn't free WiFi... same thing with the McDonald's in the hotel's food court.

Yes, in places like Las Vegas, you can find free WiFi if you really look but it is more convenient sometimes to have a local SIM. In downtown Montreal for example, you can find more free WiFi than you can in Las Vegas for example so WiFi is not always a viable option.

Yes, SIM cards do have expiry dates for the balance as well as for the cards themselves. Local SIM cards don't work for everyone who travels but for me they work great.

[lmcjipo]

Why would you use roammobilty when its just as easy to pre order a t-mobile sim....

I don't have Roam Mobility but what makes them appealing is that they offer a flat rate for unlimited calling and texting to Canada & the US.

With T-Mobile, you can get unlimited calling/texting to the US but calling Canada requires paying long distance (unless you use a service like Google Voice).

Roam Mobile also has an attractive expiry date option immediately which T-Mobile only matches once the customer has achieved "Gold Rewards" status (i.e. put $100 into airtime purchase)

[lmcjipo]

Google Voice has free calling to Canada works great... I use it every time I go to the states
Have a look at those roam rates.. They are insane... I will stick with the T-mobile sim...

Roam's rates aren't really "insane" for someone who doesn't go to the US often and doesn't require data.

For me, I already have Gold Rewards on my T-Mobile SIM so for $10, I get a 1 year expiry date. For a new user, they would have to remember to top up every month or so until they reached $100 (or pay $100 initially) before they can benefit from putting only $10 and getting 1 year of expiry.

With Roam Mobile (which as I mentioned I don't have), it works with some people who might go to the US for the weekend maybe a few times a year. For $3 initially, you automatically benefit from unlimited calling/texting to the US/Canada for 1 day and you get a 1 year expiry date on the SIM card.

If you plan on using the SIM card repeatedly for multiple trips to the US and you will eventually spend ~$100 on airtime, T-Mobile is a better choice than Roam Mobile. If you don't plan on using the SIM card repeatedly for multiple trips to the US and won't be spending ~$100 on airtime, Roam Mobile is probably a good choice.

[lmcjipo]

You are still better to go with T-mobile as there rates are cheaper ..... http://www.roammobility.com/talk-text-data

As I mentioned in my post, I think it depends on usage (and if the person doesn't require data). I'm not affiliated with Roam Mobility nor am I affiliated with T-Mobile (I do have a T-Mobile prepaid SIM on Gold Rewards as my signature indicates so I do use them) but I do see some users who would benefit from using Roam Mobility over T-Mobile.

Let's say the user goes to the US only once a year and only on the weekend and doesn't require data with the majority of calls being to Canada. Roam Mobility would be a good option since it would cost them $9 to use the SIM card for the weekend each year (for voice & SMS only). With T-Mobile, they would have to either get a new SIM card or remember to keep renewing it monthly until they received gold rewards. The same weekend cost for the T-Mobile infrequent traveler to the US with the same type of usage (and with Google Voice) would be $6 for the weekend (they would get EDGE data included in this price) but they would have to top up the SIM card every so often so that they wouldn't lose their number or so that their SIM card won't deactivate.

If the user goes to the US more often, T-Mobile becomes more attractive especially if the user can get Gold Rewards.

[GVRD777]

I think that the WiFi option depends on where in the US you plan on going. For example, many people think that Las Vegas has free WiFi almost everywhere. I've been to Las Vegas quite a few times and on the Strip, there are very few hotels or areas that offer free WiFi to non-guests. You go into a Starbucks in the hotel's food court and it isn't free WiFi... same thing with the McDonald's in the hotel's food court.

Yes, in places like Las Vegas, you can find free WiFi if you really look but it is more convenient sometimes to have a local SIM. In downtown Montreal for example, you can find more free WiFi than you can in Las Vegas for example so WiFi is not always a viable option.

Yes, SIM cards do have expiry dates for the balance as well as for the cards themselves. Local SIM cards don't work for everyone who travels but for me they work great.

True, but speaking of Vegas, Vegas has more places than you might think. krisykreme at the Imperial Palace has free wifi, Sephora in the Miracle Mile Shops has free wifi, Palazzo also has free wifi near the back elevators, Orleans has free wifi in the lobby. Then of course the Fashion Show mall has the Apple Store as well with free wifi. Wifi limitations in Vegas are quite unique but the free spots are strategically located along the strip where in most cases you dont need to make any cellular calls.

[lmcjipo]

True, but speaking of Vegas, Vegas has more places than you might think. krisykreme at the Imperial Palace has free wifi, Sephora in the Miracle Mile Shops has free wifi, Palazzo also has free wifi near the back elevators, Orleans has free wifi in the lobby. Then of course the Fashion Show mall has the Apple Store as well with free wifi. Wifi limitations in Vegas are quite unique but the free spots are strategically located along the strip where in most cases you dont need to make any cellular calls.

Thanks. I was aware of the Palazzo since I was there in January and managed to use it near the casino area. I also knew about the Apple Store (in the Fashion Mall as well as in Cesar's Shoppe) but not the KrispyKreme at the Imperial Palace or the Sephora in the Miracle Mile Shops.

[abundantc]

I found this web page that says Roam is offering a free SIM to any Canadian who already has a prepaid US SIM. I guess this would include T-Mobile as well. It works like a trade-in program where you send them your US SIM and they send you back one of theirs.

http://www.roammobility.com/sim-swap

They claim their service is better for several reasons. The standouts for me are free calls to Canada and keeping your number for a year, instead of 90 days. I bought a T-Mobile SIM last year for a Vegas trip and it didn't include unlimited Canadian calling.

Has anybody here tried Roam? Thinking of sending them that T-Mobile SIM and using one of theirs for my next trip.

[lmcjipo]

I found this web page that says Roam is offering a free SIM to any Canadian who already has a prepaid US SIM. I guess this would include T-Mobile as well. It works like a trade-in program where you send them your US SIM and they send you back one of theirs.

http://www.roammobility.com/sim-swap

They claim their service is better for several reasons. The standouts for me are free calls to Canada and keeping your number for a year, instead of 90 days. I bought a T-Mobile SIM last year for a Vegas trip and it didn't include unlimited Canadian calling.

Has anybody here tried Roam? Thinking of sending them that T-Mobile SIM and using one of theirs for my next trip.

I haven't tried Roam but they use the T-Mobile network so in theory you will get the same coverage from both.

However, if you go to the US a few times a year, it might be better to keep your T-Mobile SIM especially if you have Gold Rewards. Once you have Gold Rewards, T-Mobile is better than Roam (in my opinion).

Even though T-Mobile doesn't allow for free calls back to Canada, by just using Google Voice (which currently allows for free calling to Canada) and your T-Mobile SIM, you can call back to Canada for free and you get EDGE data included in the price of what you would pay Roam without getting any data.

When I was in Las Vegas in January 2012, I used T-Mobile & Google Voice, paid the $2/day, and received unlimited calls/text to Canada/US (using Google Voice which worked transparently on my Android phone), and I received EDGE data (perfect for getting my e-mail pushed to me).

If you only go to the US once per year and only for a short period, then Roam Mobile might be the better option since trying to get Gold Rewards might be difficult.

[some-gei]

I found this web page that says Roam is offering a free SIM to any Canadian who already has a prepaid US SIM. I guess this would include T-Mobile as well. It works like a trade-in program where you send them your US SIM and they send you back one of theirs.

http://www.roammobility.com/sim-swap

They claim their service is better for several reasons. The standouts for me are free calls to Canada and keeping your number for a year, instead of 90 days. I bought a T-Mobile SIM last year for a Vegas trip and it didn't include unlimited Canadian calling.

Has anybody here tried Roam? Thinking of sending them that T-Mobile SIM and using one of theirs for my next trip.

Seriously? This has been discussed ad nauseum.

For a week long trip:

Roam Mobility: $5.71 per day. unlimited voice/text. 500 MB data
T-Mobile: $2 per day. unlimited voice/text/data

And those rates get even higher for roam mobility for shorter trips. Yes roam mobility gives you free calls to canada, but there are soooo many ways to do this with t-mobile (ie google voice being one of the easiest). Yes roam mobility gives you 1 year expiry, but top up ONCE with $100 on t-mobile and from then on you can keep adding $10 per year and it will never expire.

There is really NO reason to go with roam mobility.