Canadian looking for a US pre-paid provider for weekend trips to the US

[legojenn]

Hi. I'm a new member of the site. This forum has come up frequently in search engine searches and I've read quite a bit. It's time to unlurk.

Because of this camping addiction that I have, I spend quite a bit of time in the Adirondacks in New York. I leave my Canadian cell phone at home, because my Canadian phone is just too expensive at $1.50/min, $1.50/MB and $0.75/text when roaming (at least that's what Rogers charged).

That being said, I have a Net 10 phone which costs me $30.00 every two months. Because I travel alone a lot and probably spend a 20-30 days, plus a few same-day shopping trips a year down in the US, I like having a phone with me. A US number is a bonus. To call home, I have to call an 800 number, then dial the Canadian number, so the address book is useless to me. I can't text home, the web browser on the phone is crap compared to what one gets with an Android or iPhone and I can't tether, like I can with my Canadian phone.

Ideally, I would like to just get a SIM card and stick it in my phone when I come down. My current phone is AWS, which limits me to T-Mobile (I think). Getting a new phone is no big deal if I can use it for what I'm paying now if it had a more usable browser, no need for dialing an 800 number for calls to Canada, and be able to text. Tethering is a bonus.

Any suggestions to make my Net-10 phone more useful or a find a better phone & provider would be appreciated

[cmstlist]

According to the T-Mo coverage map, it looks like they only have EDGE in the Adirondacks, no 3G at all. I looked at AT&T and it's the same story, EDGE only. I used zip code 12847 to look it up. So no matter how you upgrade your phone, any US SIM will only give you EDGE there.

Verizon appears to have a mix of 1x and 3G around there. If you got a VZW mobile hotspot it would potentially give you a better way to use data on your phone and computers than through any GSM provider. These can be found used on eBay for $20-40 and activated on a prepaid data bucket.

Sprint has partner-only coverage there, so probably piggybacking on Verizon, and not a good choice because they frown on customers who use mainly roaming.

[Frontierjustice]

1. ... I spend quite a bit of time in the Adirondacks in New York. I leave my Canadian cell phone at home.
2. ... I have a Net 10 phone which costs me $30.00 every two months.
3. ...I would like to just get a SIM card and stick it in my phone when I come down. My current phone is AWS, which limits me to T-Mobile (I think).
4. ...a new phone is no big deal Any suggestions to make my Net-10 phone more useful or a find a better phone & provider would be appreciated

Okeh...

1. Good.
2. The test is how much airtime you use .... a low useage implies one kind of carrier ; a high useage another. You can get US cell coverage for $2.50 or $3.34 a month if you like instead of $15 a month for Net10.
3. That would be good ... if your Net10 is T-Mobile based there would be few surprizes with a T-Mobile SIM.
4. I suggest Red Pocket ... which lets you direct dial Canada at their base rate. $8.34 a month instead of $15 a month for Net10. Another post sez there is no 3G in the Adirondacks so no AWS is not a showstopper.
Regards, FJ

[SnowyWhite]

T~Mobile has an Android called the Comet and on T Mobile's prepaid site it is $99.99.
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/Phones/...id-Refurbished
I have this one and can highly recommend it.
You can tether with it, I have tethered my laptop using the built in WiFi hot spot.

If you buy a $100 card, you will get a year of service and you can switch your account to a $2 a day plan on days you use it, you get unlimited talk, text and web with that $2 and it's 2G which is not bad at all when tethering, you probably won't be able to watch YouTube videos or use sites with a high Flash content but the 2G speeds are really not bad at all.

Also if you get a phone like this, and are using the web on the $2 plan days, you can use Google Voice to send texts for free. I know with Google Voice on your computer you can call Canada for free so i would think you could text to Canadian cell phones for free as well.

Since you said you come down here often, having a year of service for $100, or less from CallingMart.com with discounts would be ideal.

On days you are not using your phone for calling and web on the $2 plan, switch back to the pay as you go plan so you won't get charged the daily fee which can happen if you have the phone on and it uses background data like a weather or news widget.

If you are only going to use a few minutes of talk time it would only cost you 10 cents a minute or 10 cents per text in and out on the pay as you go plan.

With the $100 card, after you have that on your account, you only need to add as little as $10 to have your account and balance roll over for another year.

EDIT:: I direct dialed Perth Australia with my T~Mobile phone last week, no extra numbers needed. Only cost me $2 for the call to a friends cell phone.

Hi. I'm a new member of the site. This forum has come up frequently in search engine searches and I've read quite a bit. It's time to unlurk.

Because of this camping addiction that I have, I spend quite a bit of time in the Adirondacks in New York. I leave my Canadian cell phone at home, because my Canadian phone is just too expensive at $1.50/min, $1.50/MB and $0.75/text when roaming (at least that's what Rogers charged).

That being said, I have a Net 10 phone which costs me $30.00 every two months. Because I travel alone a lot and probably spend a 20-30 days, plus a few same-day shopping trips a year down in the US, I like having a phone with me. A US number is a bonus. To call home, I have to call an 800 number, then dial the Canadian number, so the address book is useless to me. I can't text home, the web browser on the phone is crap compared to what one gets with an Android or iPhone and I can't tether, like I can with my Canadian phone.

Ideally, I would like to just get a SIM card and stick it in my phone when I come down. My current phone is AWS, which limits me to T-Mobile (I think). Getting a new phone is no big deal if I can use it for what I'm paying now if it had a more usable browser, no need for dialing an 800 number for calls to Canada, and be able to text. Tethering is a bonus.

Any suggestions to make my Net-10 phone more useful or a find a better phone & provider would be appreciated