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  1. #1
    rskay
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    I've about given up on this but I thought I'd put it up here in case I've missed something. I am a US resident but am spending a good deal of time in Quebec from where I make calls home to the US -- as well as in Canada.

    I currently have a T-Mobile plan that charges me .49/min for all of these calls. I switched to T-Mobile because Cingular charged .79.

    I am looking for a less expensive solution. No US carrier seems to have a lower roaming rate. I don't see a Canadian plan -prepaid or otherwise-- that allows me to call the US for much less than the .49 (I think I can reduce it to .40 (Virgin) but then I have to buy a new phone- or a new SIM card).

    ATT (rip) used to have a deal that extended your no-roaming area to Canada for $10 a month but that has disappeared with Cingular's acquisition. Something like that would be ideal.

    Any help, commiseration, greatly appreciated.


    See More: American roaming in Canada




  2. #2
    roberts1953
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    Try a prepaid tracfone or Net10. The have been said to roam in Canada. Tracfone is probably better cause you can just add time for when you travel up there.



  3. #3
    rskay
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    Thanks. I recently bought a Fido Sim Card on ebay that's supposed to have $50 on it. With shipping I paid about $27. It looks like Fido US-Canada rate is 20 cents. So if it works it'll average out to about 11 cents a minute. That'll be great if it works. I'm going to Canada in a couple of weeks and will see what happens. Thereafter I can top i toff for the 20 cents still better than what I'm paying now.

    In the meantime I will check out your suggestions. I'll let you know what happens.



  4. #4
    rskay
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    The Tracphone website syas you can't use it from outside the US. The Net10 doesn't say it explicitly but only shows coverage in the US. Do you have any other information about using them in Canada?



  5. #5
    roberts1953
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    Quote Originally Posted by rskay
    The Tracphone website syas you can't use it from outside the US. The Net10 doesn't say it explicitly but only shows coverage in the US. Do you have any other information about using them in Canada?
    Tracfone and Net10 are owned by the same company. They operate differently than any other prepaid GSM. They use SIM cards, however the phones use special firmware that only allow the use of a SIM from that company in that specific phone. This is different than a locked phone and the firmware cannot be defeated or unlocked.
    The difference is that any other prepaid uses the sim or esn and tracks the usage through the system of the provider. Tracfone and Net10 store the minute usage and time remaining in the phone itself. Basically, this allows the account info to be subtracted from the phone minutes remaining timer in the phone instead of accounted at the system provider level. Because of this Net10 and tracfone can roam on many GSM networks, beyond just what is listed on their coverage maps, including GSM networks in Canada.

    I have read in other forums of people confirming the ability to roam outside of the coverage maps, including canada.



  6. #6
    rskay
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    Thanks for the help. I guess at this point. I'll check the Fido card before taking a chance on Tracphone. But it's an interesting possibility.



  7. #7
    xoip
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    One option for outgoing calls is to pick up a prepaid longdistance card from Bell Canada you dial into an 800 number then you're billed at 5c per minute.



  8. #8
    stitches_2007
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    Re: American roaming in Canada

    I have a Net10 because I do work in the US. It allows calls to Canada through a 1-800 number only. If you call from Canada to the phone in the US the only cities that you can do that from toll free is Edmonton, vancouver, calgary and Kitchener. Who knows why not Toronto or Montreal? If you make a call from a Net10 phone in Canada to anywhere they say they will terminate the contract! So beware using from Canada.



  9. #9
    scubapirate
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    Re: American roaming in Canada

    Hi all:

    This may have changed since you last posted. I have the opposite problem - I live in Canada but spend a good chunk of time in the U.S. I've picked up a Net10 phone for when I go down to the U.S. It's GREAT for this purpose - I can travel all over the U.S. without roaming, I can call to a number of different international destinations, and I can set up a local Canadian number for my friends/family to use to call my Net10 phone while I'm away without costing them long distance and only adding 5 cents a minute to my bill.

    Unfortunately, it definitely will NOT work for you coming up to Canada. As soon as it hits the border, it deactivates. I don't just mean it loses signal at my particular border crossing; I mean it cannot send or receive anything from anywhere in Canada. Net10's web site says:

    1.Can I make international calls on my NET10 cell phone when I am outside of the United States?

    No. NET10 cell phones don’t work outside of the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

    ...but I also know (from experimenting) that this applies to local calls while you're outside the U.S., too.

    Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I'd hate for you to go and specially buy a Net10 phone thinking you could use it in Canada when you can't.



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