Hotspot for Canada

[Howler]

We are USA residents planning to spend some quality time on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes and are looking for suggestions for hotspot options. When I inquired to some carriers in the past (e.g. Rogers), I was told that you need to be a Canadian resident to obtain a hotspot with either a prepaid or subscription plan.

Has anybody found a good solution? Is there an American provider that offers a hotspot with roaming in Canada that doesn't require a second mortgage to pay the data charges? Or is there a way to source a hotspot in Canada without being a Canadian resident?

Thanks!

[rslifkin]

The data only plan I have from T-Mobile for the boat allows for up to 5GB of use in Canada per month after which you're throttled to a minimal 128kbps until the next cycle or you return to the US. So that won't cover a ton of use, but it's a start. Verizon and AT&T also offer decent data-only plans now, but I couldn't find a quick answer on where they stand for usage in Canada.

Another option might be to use an LTE or 5G router from Pepwave or similar, then you'd only need a suitable plan and SIM from a Canadian carrier, no hardware from them.

[GRIT]

We're in Canada now, and using Google Fi. 50gb of data, on both sides of the border, for $65. So far, it's working well.

We also have Tmobile, and purchased a 15gb plan for $50 that works internationally. When you run out of data, you can re-up for another $50, and it will take effect immediately. We bought the international plan for our hotspot, and it works well.

So far, while in Canada, T-mobile, and Google Fi, have both used Telus.

We initially used up our 5gb from T-mobile fairly quickly (on one of our phones). But even after that, with patience, we could watch Netflix. It takes longer to load, but plays without issue, or pauses. I believe the downgrade is to 256 mbps, which can still work if you're not asking for Hd, on Netflix.

We had the same problem getting a Canadian plan, since we don't have a Canadian address. Sure we could borrow an address from a friend, but for Tax reasons, that wouldn't be prudent for us; we are both Canadian expats.

Cheers, and good luck.
Paul.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by GRIT

We're in Canada now, and using Google Fi. 50gb of data, on both sides of the border, for $65. So far, it's working well.

We also have Tmobile, and purchased a 15gb plan for $50 that works internationally. When you run out of data, you can re-up for another $50, and it will take effect immediately. We bought the international plan for our hotspot, and it works well.

So far, while in Canada, T-mobile, and Google Fi, have both used Telus.

We initially used up our 5gb from T-mobile fairly quickly (on one of our phones). But even after that, with patience, we could watch Netflix. It takes longer to load, but plays without issue, or pauses. I believe the downgrade is to 256 mbps, which can still work if you're not asking for Hd, on Netflix.

We had the same problem getting a Canadian plan, since we don't have a Canadian address. Sure we could borrow an address from a friend, but for Tax reasons, that wouldn't be prudent for us; we are both Canadian expats.

Cheers, and good luck.
Paul.

For Google Fi, is that a data only SIM or are you using a standard voice SIM in a router? Or are you just using a hotspot from a phone? In the searching I've done, it looks like you can only get a data-only SIM from Fi if you already have a voice line from them.

[GRIT]

At the moment, we only have the phone and sim, which we're using as a hotspot. We have NOT tried the phone sim in our hotspot device. I heard somewhere that some companies frown on that, and may cut your service, so we haven't taken a chance with it. We just turn the phone into a hotspot, and use our t-mobile lines for text and phone service, with the international plan add-on.

We've ordered the data sim, but it's "en route" from our mail forwarding service.

Cheers.
Paul.