Mobile Data for Short Trip to Toronto, Canada
I am an American planning a short trip (a long weekend) to Canada. I want to allow for using 2 Gig of data in the few days I am there (if you imagine that I am a photographer who wants to access maps and upload photos in real time you will be close to understanding my needs though I will be using a very different set of apps.)
I will be solely in the Greater Toronto Area, and do not need to worry about rural connectivity.
While free talk or text would be a bonus I am not willing to pay even $10 more for that. I just want data. When I want to communicate with people I have text chat apps for that.
My US carrier (AT&T) would charge an outrageous amount of money ($120 for just 750 Mb) and does not appear to be a viable option. My phone and my tablet can both be unlocked, and I could tether the tablet off the phone if I had to.
It would be incredibly inconvenient for me to take time out of my short and overscheduled trip to visit a mobile store or kiosk, especially as I expect to rely on mobile data to navigate, pay for transit fares, etc. Ideally I want to buy a Sim or two online, pop it into my phone and/or tablet, and have it just work as soon as my plane lands. (If I can set up at a kiosk at the airport that might be an option but I would much rather know that everything is taken care of before I arrive.)
I see both Bell and Virgin Sims for sale on Amazon.com but neither company's Web site seems to allow me to purchase a tablet only plan. (The 5 GB and 2 GB plans from Virgin would be very appealing if they were actually available to purchase.)
I have since been told that if I call one of the carriers and talk to a human operator a few times I will eventually get one who knows the full range of available plans and might be able to help me. (This seems like a rather inefficient way to do business, but I understand that I will not be a highly profitable customer for them...)
What are my options?
Update: after doing what I thought was sufficient research I bought a virgin Mobile sim off Amazon.Com when I tried to activate it I learned that the tablet plans I had seen on their Web site were not available; the best the agent could offer me was $35 for 1 GB, with an overage charge of "20 cents per Web page." The agent didn't understand why I didn't think that was a meaningful number.
I am running short of time to set something up before my trip and am feeling rather desperate.
Best Answer
Theres a service that lets you rent mobile hot spots in Canada, RoamMobile might be up your alley if thats the case. Its not crazy cheap but you could get 200MB of data per day for $6 per day you use it or 500Mb for $10 per day.
If that doesn't work for you, as long as you're in one of the major cities check out the coverage of Wind Mobile might work for you. You should check if your phone/tablet will work on their network as they use the AWS frequencies that T-mobile uses.
Your last option would be to get T-mobile state side and use it in Canada as they allow roaming in Canada at no extra cost. Data isn't 4G speedy but its usable.
Pictures about "Mobile Data for Short Trip to Toronto, Canada"
Which prepaid sim is best in Canada?
After reviewing all the pay as you go deals and the network coverage it is an easy conclusion that Telus Mobility is the best prepaid Canada sim card.Can I buy prepaid SIM card in Canada?
Where Can You Buy a SIM Card in Canada? You can purchase a Canadian in the official stores of the Main Operators (Rogers, Telus, Bell & Freedom Mobile), the flanker brands (such as Fido & Virgin Mobile Canada), or third-party resellers, such as grocery stores, electronic shops, and convenience stores.Can I use my data across Canada?
International data roaming When you use the Internet on your wireless device while you are abroad, your connection is established through a local wireless network, which then transmits your data through an intermediary international transit service to your Canadian network.Can tourists get SIM card in Canada?
You can either buy a Canada prepaid SIM card in person in some international airports, in mobile provider stores, in a convenience store, or on Amazon. What is this? Usually, you can expect higher costs and low data offers at the airport, so we don't recommend buying a SIM card at the airport.Nationwide Rogers outage impacting internet, cellphones and debit payments
More answers regarding mobile Data for Short Trip to Toronto, Canada
Answer 2
For one other US option, suitable if you were going to be doing this regularly in other countries too, I'll suggest Google Project Fi. Data is $10/GB (or, actually, $0.01/MB) in the US and 135+ other countries, and in addition to the primary data+voice SIM you can have up to 10 data-service-only SIMs at no extra cost.. The service outside the US is often 4G/LTE at a substantial fraction of the speed a local SIM would get (there are no speed caps, unlike T-Mobile) and it works in a lot of places, including Canada. Regular voice calls are $0.20/minute when roaming, though you can instead make them for free over data.
The downsides are that there is a $20/month charge for the account (that pays for unlimited voice and text service in the US) and you need to use a recent Google Nexus phone to activate the service. This doesn't make sense for one short trip to Canada, but is pretty good if you travel regularly.
Answer 3
When I went to Canada on holiday in 2015 (to watch a couple Women's World Cup games), I used Similicious.
Similicious sent me a SIM card for Rogers™, and I was able to successfully use it. Similicious has now switched carriers to chatr , but 2 GB of data costs $41.99 USD, and it is valid for up to 28 days.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ryutaro Tsukata, Maarten van den Heuvel, Maarten van den Heuvel, Nataliya Vaitkevich