Road Tripping in the USA!

Buy a US sim on ebay or at the airport. You can buy bundled data on a few networks.

Three is ok for light browsing and google maps but don't bother trying to stream anything, I also found that my phone was constantly being punted between T-Mobile and AT&T, both accross 2.5G, 3G and 4G so getting a reliable signal was not consistent.
 
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I’ve had good success turning automatic network selection off and forcing the phone to roam onto only one network, e.g T-mobile. I found the speed fine for everything apart from HD streaming.
 
Everything with phones costs a fortune over here. We get a 20% discount and we’re still paying $185/month.

My parents usually buy a sim when they come to visit and top it up when they need to use it. Just about everywhere has free public WiFi so you can probably get by without data on your phone, I did a month road trip without data n was fine.

Three’s service is pretty terrible over here, might as well not bother
 
Good timing - I'm just looking into exactly the same thing... I saw this and thought it sounded relatively okay?

https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-international-tourist-plan

3 weeks would pretty much cover us. We're not really massive phone-users in general but don't want to get hit with massive charges (we're on o2 here which from reading around seems like an absolute no-go in terms of roaming to the US)... would likely make good use of wifi at the hotels etc. but would still be good to have it for using phone GPS and possibly spotify or podcasts while driving
 
uncle_rufus said:
Good timing - I'm just looking into exactly the same thing... I saw this and thought it sounded relatively okay?

https://prepaid.t-mobile.com/prepaid-international-tourist-plan

3 weeks would pretty much cover us. We're not really massive phone-users in general but don't want to get hit with massive charges (we're on o2 here which from reading around seems like an absolute no-go in terms of roaming to the US)... would likely make good use of wifi at the hotels etc. but would still be good to have it for using phone GPS and possibly spotify or podcasts while driving
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$50 for an AT&T sim with 8GB data (if you're streaming music and using gmaps etc...) although I assume this is actually requires you to be a resident, I'm not too sure, couldn't be bothered to read the small print. :p

https://www.att.com/prepaid/plans.html
 
Gaygle said:
How long ago did you use Three in the USA? I saw that in Nov 2018 they struck a deal with AT&T to allow 4G roaming. I wonder if this changes the speeds?
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Something like 4 years. The Three website states you only get 3G in America when roaming though still so there may be a deal but that doesn't mean it's come into play.

E: Saying that, their 'coverage map' shows it to be 4G in most of the country. I'm sure I read last night elsewhere on their site that it's 3G only.

http://www.three.co.uk/support/roaming/united-states#payg
 
timmeh said:
Everything with phones costs a fortune over here. We get a 20% discount and we’re still paying $185/month.
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Yehhh I went on AT&T and T-Mobile's website and they're going on about 8GB of data like that'll last you forever and they're charging you like $70pm for it. Whereas here you can get a 8GB SIM only for £10pm!
 
InvaderGIR said:
Something like 4 years. The Three website states you only get 3G in America when roaming though still so there may be a deal but that doesn't mean it's come into play.
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I had a look last night and when you look into coverage on Three in the USA, it lists 4G. Saw another post about someone talking to Three on live chat and they confirmed it too. Wonder if the speeds are any better or if they're throttled to hell.
 
Gaygle said:
I had a look last night and when you look into coverage on Three in the USA, it lists 4G. Saw another post about someone talking to Three on live chat and they confirmed it too. Wonder if the speeds are any better or if they're throttled to hell.
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See sneaky edit. :p

I have a spare phone with a Three PAYG sim so I'm not too fussed on that front really especially as I tend to only use data for maps/nav, else I stick with WiFi...but I want to have Canadian coverage too and no UK providers have that for any sensible cost, so the next best option is a pre-paid sim from someone like AT&T that allows data roaming in both countries (but at a fairly large cost).
 
[TW]Fox said:
Included in Vodafone global roaming plus isn't it?
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To be honest, Voda isn't one I looked at abr briefly seeing a mention of it on monthly contracts. I'll have a look though, if it's available on PAYG then that's going to be the better option I suspect. I currently have my main phone on EE with the spare on Three, EE's costs are ludicrous when aboard which is a shame.

Voda looks ideal: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/best-sim-only-deals

E: Ah, no, it's sim only pay monthly that can get full roaming under the Red Entertainment plans, PAYG plans can only roam in the usual 48 countries.
 
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Gaygle said:
Yehhh I went on AT&T and T-Mobile's website and they're going on about 8GB of data like that'll last you forever and they're charging you like $70pm for it. Whereas here you can get a 8GB SIM only for £10pm!
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Yeah we only get 10GB to share over 2 lines for that. I paid £12/month for unlimited data on Three back in the UK, I sure miss those days
 
I just use Vodafone in Canada but without an existing Vodafone corporate or contract SIM i think that i would just pick up a PAYG rogers sim? The stores are everywhere in the cities and the rates are OK by North American standards, cad$10 for the sim i think then top up in blocks of cad$10.
 
InvaderGIR said:
See sneaky edit. :p

I have a spare phone with a Three PAYG sim so I'm not too fussed on that front really especially as I tend to only use data for maps/nav, else I stick with WiFi...but I want to have Canadian coverage too and no UK providers have that for any sensible cost, so the next best option is a pre-paid sim from someone like AT&T that allows data roaming in both countries (but at a fairly large cost).
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If you want Canadian coverage too have a look at Koodo prepaid. They have some decent rates for data. Depends where you’re starting though I guess.
 
Amp34 said:
If you want Canadian coverage too have a look at Koodo prepaid. They have some decent rates for data. Depends where you’re starting though I guess.
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It's a US-Cad-US trip I've decided on this time (PCH etc. can wait for another trip when it's a bit cheaper). I'll have the least time in Canada at just under a week so in realistically I can get by without mobile coverage and stick to WiFi hotspots, it's just being so used to the UK and full coverage here and in Europe makes me want it for this trip too.

How did we manage in the past etc. :D
 
when we went last year i was on EE and i could use my data freely in the us/canada it was great and pretty speedy. My Wife is on Three and could use her data in us but no canada, and didnt really complain about it being slow.
 
mohawk said:
when we went last year i was on EE and i could use my data freely in the us/canada it was great and pretty speedy. My Wife is on Three and could use her data in us but no canada, and didnt really complain about it being slow.
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You must be on a MAX plan "From 10 May 2017 Max plans include roaming in USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.", regular plans don't have that and it's £5 per day for 500MB. https://ee.co.uk/help/add-ons-benefits-and-plans/call-or-going-abroad/roaming-costs/countries
 
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