Hey Canadians - Mobile Carrier Question

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

Hey Canadians,

 

I'm going on a 4 week trip in your hopefully beautifull country, this is what our trip will look like:

 

The question is: what mobile carrier / service provider (how are they called over there?) should I pick?

I got little to no use for phonecalls or sms/mms stuff and mainly need unlimited Data (if possible) with very good coverage along my route.

 

So: What should I pick? Rogers?

 

[Imabigmac]

Telus is generally the better carrier for remoter regions of BC. At least in my experience. Rogers would be my next choice. However once you get out to Tofino and in the mountains reception isn't going to be astounding regardless. Unlimited data is kinda like unheard of in Canada unless you pay $$$$$.(which still is not unlimited) 

 

Wave hello on your* way through Victoria headed to Tofino. 

[LienusLateTips]

No carriers have unlimited data. Except for Freedom which only has coverage in large cities.

[kirashi]

47 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

Hey Canadians,

 

I'm going on a 4 week trip in your hopefully beautifull country, this is what our trip will look like:

 

The question is: what mobile carrier / service provider (how are they called over there?) should I pick?

I got little to no use for phonecalls or sms/mms stuff and mainly need unlimited Data (if possible) with very good coverage along my route.

 

So: What should I pick? Rogers?

 

 

Telus or Bell. If you're already on T-Mobile in the USA, talk to them about roaming as Bell is partnered with them for us roaming in the USA.

DO NOT pick Rogers, at least not for on Vancouver Island. All carriers have dead zones, but Rogers on Vancouver Island plain sucks compared to Bell/Telus.

 

I can confirm that Bell/Virgin works very well on most major highways on Vancouver Island, with the exception of the middle of the highway between Port Alberni and Tofino / Ucluelet, and long stretches between cities on the East Coast of the island. Telus/Koodo is about the same, and Rogers is... spottier. Don't get me wrong - Rogers works here, but there are so many weird dead zones and random call quality problems whenever my dad or his coworkers have called me (their company uses Rogers) compares to friends on Bell or Telus.

Bell/Virgin and Telus/Koodo share about 95% of the same cellular towers on the westcoast, so you're good going with either of them. If you're looking for temporary pay-as-you go options, or Bring Your Own (unlocked) Device plans, go with VirginMobile or Koodo instead. They're the sister companies of Bell and Telus, respectively, and usually offer better month-to-month rates for BYOD plans.

http://www.virginmobile.ca/en/plans/postpaid.html?itcid=NAV:6#!/BYOP

https://www.koodomobile.com/rate-plans?INTCMP=KMNew_BodyMenu_Shop_Plans

 

 

I see you're going to my favorite place in all of BC - Tofino!!! Where abouts are you visiting from, and have you ever been in BC before? I'm a local Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC resident who's travelled around most of the island camping or making day trips, so I know quite a few of the local spots as well as the hidden ones too. I've also had the chance to drive through the interior along the Yellowhead 5 highway to Edmonton, and have been through Williams Lake and the 100 Mile House area as well. You're in for a real treat of scenery, so buckle up! (Sorry, I kind of have a passion for our province...)

 

If you have ANY questions what-so-ever about the province, when and where to visit, stay, or explore, or need anything please let me know @ItsTheDuckAgain as I'd be more than happy to answer things. One word of caution about Tofino: If you haven't booked a place to stay now, you're probably not going to find anywhere now. It's tourist season so things will be really busy there. If you have booked a place then AWESOME. Tofino is my speciality, so ask away if you want to know the good places to check out.

Oh, and be sure to be aware of the bits of our province that are ON FIRE right now too: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status

[LienusLateTips]

13 minutes ago, kirashi said:

 

Telus or Bell. If you're already on T-Mobile in the USA, talk to them about roaming as Bell is partnered with them for us roaming in the USA.

DO NOT pick Rogers, at least not for on Vancouver Island. All carriers have dead zones, but Rogers on Vancouver Island plain sucks compared to Bell/Telus.

 

I can confirm that Bell/Virgin works very well on most major highways on Vancouver Island, with the exception of the middle of the highway between Port Alberni and Tofino / Ucluelet, and long stretches between cities on the East Coast of the island. Telus/Koodo is about the same, and Rogers is... spottier. Don't get me wrong - Rogers works here, but there are so many weird dead zones and random call quality problems whenever my dad or his coworkers have called me (their company uses Rogers) compares to friends on Bell or Telus.

Bell/Virgin and Telus/Koodo share about 95% of the same cellular towers on the westcoast, so you're good going with either of them. If you're looking for temporary pay-as-you go options, or Bring Your Own (unlocked) Device plans, go with VirginMobile or Koodo instead. They're the sister companies of Bell and Telus, respectively, and usually offer better month-to-month rates for BYOD plans.

http://www.virginmobile.ca/en/plans/postpaid.html?itcid=NAV:6#!/BYOP

https://www.koodomobile.com/rate-plans?INTCMP=KMNew_BodyMenu_Shop_Plans

 

 

I see you're going to my favorite place in all of BC - Tofino!!! Where abouts are you visiting from, and have you ever been in BC before? I'm a local Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC resident who's travelled around most of the island camping or making day trips, so I know quite a few of the local spots as well as the hidden ones too. I've also had the chance to drive through the interior along the Yellowhead 5 highway to Edmonton, and have been through Williams Lake and the 100 Mile House area as well. You're in for a real treat of scenery, so buckle up! (Sorry, I kind of have a passion for our province...)

 

If you have ANY questions what-so-ever about the province, when and where to visit, stay, or explore, or need anything please let me know @ItsTheDuckAgain as I'd be more than happy to answer things. One word of caution about Tofino: If you haven't booked a place to stay now, you're probably not going to find anywhere now. It's tourist season so things will be really busy there. If you have booked a place then AWESOME. Tofino is my speciality, so ask away if you want to know the good places to check out.

Oh, and be sure to be aware of the bits of our province that are ON FIRE right now too: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status

I would agree with most of these. BTW for people who don't know Telus and Bell use the same network.

 

 

And you can also ask me as I'm a local BC resident.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

10 hours ago, kirashi said:

snip

 

10 hours ago, Imabigmac said:

snip

 

10 hours ago, JDE said:

snip

awsome guys - thx for the replies!

Will do some research in the carriers you mentioned and report back here.

 

Loads of helpfull info especially from @kirashi

[LienusLateTips]

35 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

 

 

awsome guys - thx for the replies!

Will do some research in the carriers you mentioned and report back here.

 

Loads of helpfull info especially from @kirashi

Also you will end up paying a lot.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

Just now, JDE said:

Also you will end up paying a lot.

yep - from what I see so far it's LTE-stone-age-over-there ..... :-)

 

for mobile data I think I will use this one:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B015JF6GGM/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_IKhMzb223N1Y6

Its 20GB within 30 days and costs "only" ~115 CAD. It uses T-Mobile which should use Rogers in Canada. Hopefully someone can confirm this since all I found so far was a bit shady and a few years old?

 

 

besides - will these guys work with your sockets?:

https://www.amazon.de/Neuftech-Reiseadapter-Netzstecker-Euro-Buchse-US-Stecker/dp/B0118PYDJY/ref=pd_bxgy_107_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MBRD2V0V6SWW8ZBA30S1

[LienusLateTips]

10 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

yep - from what I see so far it's LTE-stone-age-over-there ..... :-)

 

for mobile data I think I will use this one:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B015JF6GGM/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_IKhMzb223N1Y6

Its 20GB within 30 days and costs "only" ~115 CAD. It uses T-Mobile which should use Rogers in Canada. Hopefully someone can confirm this since all I found so far was a bit shady and a few years old?

 

 

besides - will these guys work with your sockets?:

https://www.amazon.de/Neuftech-Reiseadapter-Netzstecker-Euro-Buchse-US-Stecker/dp/B0118PYDJY/ref=pd_bxgy_107_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MBRD2V0V6SWW8ZBA30S1

Don't use Rogers. They have absolutely horrible reception in BC. And those plugs should work.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

18 minutes ago, JDE said:

Don't use Rogers. They have absolutely horrible reception in BC. And those plugs should work.

Seems like I got that wrong, T-Mobile seems to use "Telus".

That a better option for the trip?

[LienusLateTips]

Just now, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

Seems like I got that wrong, T-Mobile seems to use "Telus".

That a better option for the trip?

Telus is the best carrier you can use in BC, along with Bell, because they share the same network in Western Canada.

[kirashi]

12 minutes ago, ItsTheDuckAgain said:

Seems like I got that wrong, T-Mobile seems to use "Telus".

That a better option for the trip?

T mobile offers roaming to bell customers in the states so it makes sense they're using the bell telus shared network here. Definitely a good choice.

[ItsTheDuckAgain]

2 minutes ago, kirashi said:

T mobile offers roaming to bell customers in the states so it makes sense they're using the bell telus shared network here. Definitely a good choice.

 

14 minutes ago, JDE said:

Telus is the best carrier you can use in BC, along with Bell, because they share the same network in Western Canada.

Thx Guys!