Canada data recommendations

[jenny]

I'm going to be traveling to Canada, and was interested in mainly data while roaming around the Vancouver area and up to Banff on my GSM tablet. I'm traveling from the US, and have no US provider I could use to roam in Canada (I'm on Sprint and they can provide a roaming sim card, but it's pretty exorbitant).

Any recommendations on the best provider I could go with to get a sim?

abroadband seems pretty good, but I'm not going to be able to fly to Austria to pickup the sim.

I wish Tru worked, but they don't support Canada as a Tru country and are very expensive as a result.

Anyone I'm overlooking?

[Stu]

Buy a Virgin Mobile Canada prepaid iPad SIM. They have a full size SIM version for Android tablets. Note their data sticks are on CDMA, their iPad prepaid is on HSPA and uses the Bell Mobility 3G network.

[jenny]

Originally Posted by Stu

Buy a Virgin Mobile Canada prepaid iPad SIM. They have a full size SIM version for Android tablets. Note their data sticks are on CDMA, their iPad prepaid is on HSPA and uses the Bell Mobility 3G network.

Is this the plan you're talking about?

Tablet Data on the Go - Virgin Mobile Canada

Seems like it's actually post-paid, so would I run into difficulties buying this without a Canadian credit card?

[Stu]

I chatted with a guy at the Virgin Mobile Store in Windsor. He said the plan isn't prepaid, but month to month. I am not sure if this will create a problem for you or not. Rogers gave me a contract based on my US credit history, I'm not sure what Virgin will do. If that doesn't work, check out this Roger's offering:

iPad Prepaid Sim Cards USA, UK, Caribbean, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Thailand, UK..

[jenny]

Originally Posted by Stu

I chatted with a guy at the Virgin Mobile Store in Windsor. He said the plan isn't prepaid, but month to month. I am not sure if this will create a problem for you or not. Rogers gave me a contract based on my US credit history, I'm not sure what Virgin will do. If that doesn't work, check out this Roger's offering:

iPad Prepaid Sim Cards USA, UK, Caribbean, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Thailand, UK..

Thanks, this seems like a pretty attractive offering. So $10 for the sim and then $15 for 250MB of data.

I don't suppose you happen to know if a non-iPad tablet would be eligible for the $15 iPad plan, or would I need to get the $20 Flex Rate Data Plan for Tablets? Also, do you think this is something I could just walk into a Rogers store and buy?

[PhotoJim]

The Rogers iPad plan does not work on non-iPad devices. Well, it might work on some other tablets (I"ve not tried) but it doesn't work for tethering on phones and it doesn't work on data sticks.

If the plan will still work for you, you can buy a SIM at any Rogers shop or if you'd like, I've got a pre-activated SIM (that's never been used) that I'd be happy to send to you by mail for $10 US so you can have it when you arrive, if you have time.

Jim

[jenny]

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

The Rogers iPad plan does not work on non-iPad devices. Well, it might work on some other tablets (I"ve not tried) but it doesn't work for tethering on phones and it doesn't work on data sticks.

If the plan will still work for you, you can buy a SIM at any Rogers shop or if you'd like, I've got a pre-activated SIM (that's never been used) that I'd be happy to send to you by mail for $10 US so you can have it when you arrive, if you have time.

Jim

Thanks for the generous offer, but it's unlikely to make it to me in time I think, as I'm leaving in only a few days. I do think I'll drop by a Rogers store and see if I can't get on that iPad plan though.

[Stu]

They have the same plan foe the Galaxy Tab so possibly.

[canadian4evr]

Telus just started offering prepaid data plans in Canada. But they can't be used on blackberries, or non 3G GSM devices.

The three new options are:

$10/month: 100MB
$25/month: 500MB
$30/month: 1GB

[jenny]

Originally Posted by canadian4evr

Telus just started offering prepaid data plans in Canada. But they can't be used on blackberries, or non 3G GSM devices.

The three new options are:

$10/month: 100MB
$25/month: 500MB
$30/month: 1GB

That sounds pretty attractive, cheaper than Rogers. However, is this the plan you're talking about:
Messaging and Data | Prepaid | Plans | TELUS Mobility

Seems like that's 4G-only, which I don't think would work on my Android Galaxy Tab. If so, then the next cheapest plan would be $20 for 250MB of data, which is more expensive than Rogers' iPad $15 plan.

How does the coverage of Rogers compare with Telus in the Vancouver to Banff region?