Internet in the North Ch. and Georgia Bay

Greetings,
Next summer our cruising plans will take us from Lake Michigan, thru the North Channel, Georgian Bay, the Trent-Severn Canal and ending somewhere in New York. My question is, can we receive cell (Verizon) service along the route?
Would a cell booster be needed? If Verizon is not a good choice, which carrier would be a better choice?
We normally use a Verizon Jetpack MiFi unit and only occasionally did not receive any signal. Using the winter layup to do research.
Happy Turkey Day.
Gary

I'm a long time Verizon customer and frequently travel to Western Canada. I find Verizon works well technically. Verizon has a so-called international / Mx / Canada plan but they'll hit you with a daily data fee, I belive it is $2 / day. And you're still subject to your plan's data limits.

If you don't sign up for the international plan you may be subject to the local Canadain cell provider. Some of them must think their towers are gold plated for the prices they charge. Painful lesson learned, you may be in US waters but if the strongest signal is a Canadian cell tower.....

Of course that doesn't answer the question of cell towers being available the entire route. I've tried a few cell boosters over the years, none were worth the $$ and headache of installation. Sorry, I don't recall the brand names.

Consider T-mobile and Google's Project Fi. Both are a bit better for international travel but you have to look at the details to see if they will work for you.

We did TSW , Georgian Bay & North Channel this summer. Verizon works seamlessly. Instead of paying the daily data fee, buy the 16 Gb or unlimited data plans. Both provide extension of cell use, data & texting to Canada & Mexico. So you use your phones/ tablets just like u do in the US! Less expensive and painless.

Flatswing said:

We did TSW , Georgian Bay & North Channel this summer. Verizon works seamlessly. Instead of paying the daily data fee, buy the 16 Gb or unlimited data plans. Both provide extension of cell use, data & texting to Canada & Mexico. So you use your phones/ tablets just like u do in the US! Less expensive and painless.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily! Your phone must be compatible. An iPhone 4 IS NOT! Check with Verizon before you go! I called a week ahead to confirm my coverage/plan & was told "no problem" but the CSR was misinformed so our phones had NO SERVICE in Canada. Took hours via web chat (I could not call!) to finally get them working then hours on multiple calls on return to hash out the billing mess.

Verizon did step up, made it all right but what a hassle! So contact them, get confirmation in writing or transcript text or email.

Otherwise, the plan works great.

Thank you for the info. It looks like I don’t have to buy a booster and can save the money for the data charges.
Gary