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Thread: Need wifi hotspot device/plan recommendations

  1. #1
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    Default Need wifi hotspot device/plan recommendations

    I'm at my wits end with Telus for US travel, always cutting me off or not renewing plans, and am sick of crappy hotel and cafe/hotel wifi for trying to stay productive. I spend a lot of time on the go and need a reliable quick to connect device. Here is what I need:

    -no contract...looking for pay as you go plan. Can I do this and use a Canada SIM for Canada and US one for US travel?
    -ability to use in Canada/US and maybe Europe
    -looking for basic use, nothing too heavy, just emails, web, GPS, file sending, etc.
    -I dont want to rent


    I know that I have 6GB plan with Telus on my phone but cannot share this with a hotspot device which is infuriating.

    Do any carriers offer pay as you go for Canada with ability to swap a US Sim card in? I've got a T Mobile pay as you go Iphone, but it's not very reliable for hot spots. I think Apple hot spots are programmed to turn off after lack of connectivity and this makes it frustrating to use.

    Thanks for any input here!
    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    -Thomas Jefferson 1802

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    Rogers just came out with a very good option for data in the USA and europe... (most likely need a month to month plan)

    $5/day
    unlimited calling, texting and use your existing data.
    when roaming in U.S.*
    Only pay up to a max of 10 days per monthly bill. So, if you're roaming in the U.S. for 17 days, you still only pay for 10 days.

    http://www.rogers.com/consumer/wireless/travel



    If that doesn't interest you what you need is an unlocked phone. You will need to grab a new sim card for every country you travel to and will need to get a new one every time you travel as they are only good for A one time use. Sometimes this can be a pain when traveling to less busy cities/countries.

    Then you need to activate your sim and pick a plan based on your needs while traveling. Make sure you check for plans in advance as the one country i was in it was impossible to get any information. I spent an hour or more in a cell phone store activating a sim card with little to no help. I was only given one crappy pay as you go plan option and because of the language barrier i probably over paid while i was there. I never bothered with changing a sim across while on vacation since.

    Keep in mind as well that GPS can be pretty heavy on the data.
    Last edited by gwill; 05-04-2015 at 05:29 PM.

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    Wind Mobile has a $15 add on that provides up to 1GB of US data and then throttles after that. May not work great for Canada but should do the trick for US. The Europe rates are also better than you will find with most of the other carriers.

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    In Europe, youre generally FAR better off getting a device there and pay-as-you-go. Purchase a 100$ unlocked smart phone that can use most of the AWS networks and you get kick ass speeds anywhere in the world. Just get a SIM card from the country youre in.

    For eg. FINLAND offers UNLIMTED 4Mbs data at 14Euro a month .... and this is in a rural country with only 5million people ...man we get the hose here in North America
    Last edited by revelations; 05-04-2015 at 06:06 PM.

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    I've got an unlocked Telus phone that has less than 5 months on contract, so I'm not too worried about switching carriers at this point. I saw the Rogers data plan a while ago and have noticed that Telus is becoming more competitive, but still it's outrageous what they are charging relative to Rogers.

    Also, I have heard that activating SIM cards in other countries where you don't have the native language can be a PITA.

    Does the Roger's plan or Wind plan work on the hotspot device, or just a phone? Telus has separate plans for their "hotspot device" that are totally different from voice. Also, you would be stuck on their network and would have to roam anyways while in the US.
    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    -Thomas Jefferson 1802

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    Originally posted by revelations
    In Europe, youre generally FAR better off getting a device there and pay-as-you-go.

    For eg. FINLAND offers UNLIMTED 4Mbs data at 14Euro a month .... and this is in a rural country with only 5million people ...man we get the hose here in North America
    It's ridiculous, my friend in Germany gets unlimited everything pretty much for like 25 Euros all over the Eurozone.

    The only problem there is that you have to piss around with forwarding while you are gone and replying from roaming overseas #, which is not end of world, but if you have business to stay connected with can be challenging.
    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    -Thomas Jefferson 1802

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    Look up a SIM WIKI for the specific country that youre heading into. It will have specific information about how to setup a phone/sim.

    http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.c...European_Union

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    A DUAL sim phone might be an option for you as well .... keep the voice and data separate.

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    ^I'm pretty linked into everything Apple, so that would take years of therapy to give up...I tried a Samsung android device for like a month and couldn't deal with it.
    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    -Thomas Jefferson 1802

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    Well then thats your own doing

    Keep the iphone and just pickup a 100$ unlocked, multi-band android phone (Sony xperias tend to be good at this) and stick a country simcard in, then tether via USB or WIFI.

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    Yah that sounds like it may be only option. I'm looking at Rogers now and it looks like they have a multi-device sharing plan here. $145 a month with phone, tablet, laptop/hot spot with 6 GB for $145 a month, and then in the US you are only paying $5/ day max 10 days to share all this. This may be the way to go here.
    "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    -Thomas Jefferson 1802

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    Originally posted by revelations
    Well then thats your own doing

    Keep the iphone and just pickup a 100$ unlocked, multi-band android phone (Sony xperias tend to be good at this) and stick a country simcard in, then tether via USB or WIFI.
    That's what I was going to suggest. A Nexus 5 should be cheap enough and with enough compatible bands for it to be a cheap wifi hotspot/phone.

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    Tmobile.

    http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-internet

    Scroll to the bottom and look at the "Data on the Fly on-demand passes"

    Go to a tmobile store, buy this outright. Call and have it unlocked.

    http://www.t-mobile.com/internet-dev...spot-z915.html

    In March, I went to LA and there were 3 of sharing the hotspot. You get to keep your Canadian number active so that you can screen calls. I let it ring and then call them back from my Gvoice number for free over wifi. The 4G LTE is fast enough for crystal clear phone calls. In fact, facetime works fine in times square.

    I've been using this setup for 3 years and have never had a problem. I also have a LTE iPad and get 200 MB / month free for life. Works awesome when the group separates. One person takes the hotspot, one takes the ipad. Can communicate. https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-9700 They support any unlocked tablet.

    Just put $100 on your account and it won't expire for a year.

    Also, if you burn through all your data, you get throttled data for the rest of your plan time (7 days for the $10 / 1GB and 30 days for the $30 / 3GB). throttled is fast enough for facebook, instagram and imessage.

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    I use the same as benyl. Unlocked T-Mobile hotspot device works with any sim with data. Used it in Mexico and EU without any problems.

    I used to swap sim into an unlocked phone but it's not worth missing messages and calls from your number. Having the hotspot allows me to buy cheap locked subsidized phones and have full data functionality anywhere in the world.

    Only problem is tweaking your devices to not suck down all the data in a day. Turn off Facebook auto play video and iCloud photo sync and you're good to go. Every time I share my hotspot with whomever I'm traveling with they always eat up a gig of data in a day because they don't turn that shit off.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

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    I just came back from Maui last Friday and used Roam Mobility (www.roammobility.com) while there, which taps off of the T-mobile network. You can pick up their SIM cards at any Petro Canada station for $10 (sounds sketchy I know, but it was the best plan for periodic US visits I found w/o contract), and you can update your plan online anytime. All you need is an unlocked phone.

    Unlimited Data/Talk/Text plans are just $4/day CAD and there is no min to purchase. I had no problems tethering with it either. Also, as long as you top your SIM card up once a year (cheapest plan they have is $1/day CAD), you keep your US number. You get 400MB/day on LTE but you get access to the full data your first day (eg. order for 10 days, you get 4GB available your first date). Any excess data drops down to Edge/2G and has no data cap. You also get voicemail and unlimited LD back to Canada (or any US #), which was great for calling home and updating the family on our trip. Just forward your CGY # to that number to receive your calls. Just be forewarned that you may be charged LD charges on your plan if you're forwarding to a US #. Best yet, I was able to start my plan at a specific time and have it end the incremental 24-hrs after the days I paid (ie. I arrived there at 7:30pm and the card was activated only beginning at that time, ending at 7:30pm the night we left).
    Last edited by mo_money2supe; 05-04-2015 at 07:17 PM.


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    Roam Mobility for U.S. They rock!
    I swap sims on the plane (gets some odd looks) and I'm good to go as soon as I land.

    They're in Mexico now, but the rates are not good yet.

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    http://www.mexicosimcard.com

    Use that every Mexico trip I've taken. Cheap.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

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    except if you're going to montana, where roam has zero coverage, lol...

    The EASIEST, is the roam like home with rogers... no swapping, no extra stuff, just $5/day straight up, only catch is you have to sacrifice yourself to rogers...

    I am actually very surprised that telus hasn't copied rogers on this... usually the big 3 are all identical.
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    Originally posted by Thaco
    except if you're going to montana, where roam has zero coverage, lol...
    That's because of the Cellular One shutdown last year. Overnight 90% of Montana went dark lol.
    Originally posted by SEANBANERJEE
    I have gone above and beyond what I should rightfully have to do to protect my good name

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    Originally posted by rage2

    That's because of the Cellular One shutdown last year. Overnight 90% of Montana went dark lol.
    Thats ok, Montana is pretty libertarian anyway

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