Traveling two weeks in Washington/Oregon

[Chen]

Hi all, I'd appreciate some help with this - I'm traveling in a couple of weeks to Washington and Oregon, doing ~10 days in the car hopping between the natural parks of the two states.
I have Xperia U and Galaxy S II smartphones and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. Would like to purchase a prepaid SIM mainly for data usage on either one of the phones or the tab. To call home with Skype, send some mails, check the maps, etc.
Which carrier would you suggest both in terms of price and coverage in those areas?

Thanks!!

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by Chen

Hi all, I'd appreciate some help with this - I'm traveling in a couple of weeks to Washington and Oregon, doing ~10 days in the car hopping between the natural parks [National Parks]of the two states.

Hello. Having lived in Oregon from 1981-2004 I can say the Northwest is very beautiful. But having just checked the coverage maps, I don't think you will be able to do as much data as you will want in the non-Urban areas. Perhaps there will be some WiFi, but try to make your plans when you do have internet access.

I will defer to others to suggest an AT&T MVNO or AT&T itself for a data choice.
You will want to get one of those.

But I will also suggest you get a Piranha SIM card in addition. It uses the T-Mobile
network and also has reasonable [for US] calls back to Italy. And it does do data at $0.38 Data Per MB. I would use it as a secondary SIM and for calls to Italy.

My warning is that data will not be as readily available as you will hope and assume----so be ready for no data.
The natives are pretty friendly and you can actually talk to them rather than use data! [And no per unit charges!]
And being from outside of the country will make them really, really try to be helpful.
Also, meeting some americans will be good for both you and them.

[DRNewcomb]

Originally Posted by Chen

Which carrier would you suggest both in terms of price and coverage in those areas?

Some of the park areas of Washington and Oregon are very remote and have little to no cellular service. One of the ATT MVNOs will probably give you better coverage that T-Mobile or a T-Mobile MVNO.

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by Chen

Hi all, I'd appreciate some help with this - I'm traveling in a couple of weeks to Washington and Oregon, doing ~10 days in the car hopping between the natural parks of the two states.
I have Xperia U and Galaxy S II smartphones and a Galaxy Tab 7.7. Would like to purchase a prepaid SIM mainly for data usage on either one of the phones or the tab. To call home with Skype, send some mails, check the maps, etc.
Which carrier would you suggest both in terms of price and coverage in those areas?

Thanks!!

Your only choice for SIMs are AT&T and T-Mobile.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by Telekom

Your only choice for SIMs are AT&T and T-Mobile.

And not any MVNOs? Why? not?

[Reticent]

The only GSM networks in the area are AT&T and T-mobile ... is that what Telekom meant?

[Bossman]

Originally Posted by Reticent

The only GSM networks in the area are AT&T and T-mobile ... is that what Telekom meant?

Plus any of the mvno carriers that provide service using at&t snd T-Mobile 's netwotk.