Verizon users in BC

[goboatnow]

Hello everyone,

Headed to Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound in September. Thoughts on cell coverage and the best way to handle roaming for Verizon users? I was on hold for eternity at Verizon so thought I would ask this group.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Delfin]

Hello everyone,

Headed to Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound in September. Thoughts on cell coverage and the best way to handle roaming for Verizon users? I was on hold for eternity at Verizon so thought I would ask this group.

Thanks a bunch.

Stick it out with customer service and get your plan switched to include Canada. Saves a bunch of money.

 

[Robster_in_edmonds]

We just got back from a trip to Princess Louisa Inlet and back down through the Gulf Islands. Paid Verizon for a Canada voice package. Never found a cell signal in the ten days we were up there. Perhaps Verizon has towers in Victoria and Vancouver, but nothing I could find in more remote areas on the water. My friends with AT&T wireless had service almost all of the time.

 

[twistedtree]

We just got back from a trip to Princess Louisa Inlet and back down through the Gulf Islands. Paid Verizon for a Canada voice package. Never found a cell signal in the ten days we were up there. Perhaps Verizon has towers in Victoria and Vancouver, but nothing I could find in more remote areas on the water. My friends with AT&T wireless had service almost all of the time.

Thats very good to know - thanks.

 

[Nsail]

You will not have an AT&T, Verizon, nor any other U.S. company's signals in Canada. You will get a Rogers, Telus or Bell signal (those are the only ones I've seen). You can contact Verizon or AT&T and get their Canada roaming package which greatly reduces the cost of making calls, but it doesn't make them free as they still go through the Canadian companies.

And, I have found cell service to be excellent there (except PLI). You can look at Rogers, Telus and Bell coverage maps for BC on their web sites. It's pretty impressive.

 

[ghost]

There are a few spots in desolation where BBX in the past (WIFI not cellular) had service. When I was there I had mapped one spot and when I got there, I think it was Refuge, it was not working very well. I had 15 minutes of work that was critical. Took me 3 hours, at first walking around with my laptop in shorts flip-flops holding it at weird angles to the antennae to get a signal and transfer a particular file. The later said they had issues with the equipment and fixed. I can't even find BBX online anymore, so assume they went the way of the dodo bird. Point is, while I don't use wifi much now that decent cell broadband has increased so well, if you go North and really need a connection, be prepared to seek it out.

Others have bought a cheap used mifi for canada and gotten a local prepaid service plan. A little more work and sometimes you need a canadian address of some sort (even to prepay???), but they made it work.

 

[Northern Spy]

You can look at Rogers, Telus and Bell coverage maps for BC on their web sites. It's pretty impressive.

And somewhat optimistic...

Although there is a fairly new cell tower at Sarah Point which provides better coverage now.

 

[sunchaser]

We spend a lot of time in BC. For that reason we have Verizon's North American plan. Seems to work where every other Telus, Rogers Bell etc. cell phone works. Stop in at a Verizon store and they can sign you up for one month for about $30. We've some friends spending time in BC with us next month that have this same question.

 

[Nsail]

And somewhat optimistic...

Ha Ha! How true. But nevertheless, I'm always pleased with signal strength almost everywhere I go.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Friends of mine just got back from the inside passage and this year they installed a Wilson cell phone booster. He said it was the best investment he has ever made....

 

[QB]

Thoughts on cell coverage and the best way to handle roaming for Verizon users? .

We had Verizon North America plan in the past, giving free voice roaming in Canada using Telus's network, but expensive data. Not sure they even have that plan anymore; we ditched Verizon last year after some awful customer service issues. Now on T-Mobile, which gives us free uncapped (but slow) data in Canada on Rogers's network, with a reasonable per minute charge for voice calls. We find coverage is comparable around the Salish Sea.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

here is a cool way to communicate while up north!

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