[jacksonjohn83]

Hi,

We will be visiting the Burlington area from Toronto for 10 days. My wife would like to keep in touch with her family back home. I would like to explorer possibilities of using a pay as you go or some other sort of phone plan which we could use while in Burlington call home with.

Who are (which companies) major providers of cell phone services. Can we simply sign up for a short term plan? We have our cell phone, and can simply replace the sim card.

Anyone can help with any sort of ideas would be great.

Our provider in Toronto wants to charge $1.00 per minute plus roaming charge.



Thanks.

[vter]

Verizon Wireless and AT&T are the major cell providers here.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by jacksonjohn83

Hi,

We will be visiting the Burlington area from Toronto for 10 days. My wife would like to keep in touch with her family back home. I would like to explorer possibilities of using a pay as you go or some other sort of phone plan which we could use while in Burlington call home with.

Who are (which companies) major providers of cell phone services. Can we simply sign up for a short term plan? We have our cell phone, and can simply replace the sim card.

Anyone can help with any sort of ideas would be great.

Our provider in Toronto wants to charge $1.00 per minute plus roaming charge.



Thanks.

I'd just use a phone card if you have access to a phone. I used to use
Onesuite

Cheap Prepaid International Calling Cards and Discount Long Distance Phone Service - OneSuite

You don't need a card, you can go to their website and buy minutes. Canada seems to be 2.5 cents a minute from US. I think you can buy as little as five or ten dollars worth.They give you a long number which is kind of a pain, but part of the sequence is your home number so it's not that confusing.

I'm guessing you can't use your cel without getting charged for access. You can use a regular phone in a hotel or someone's home. You can use a payphone as well, but they're getting harder and harder to find. But they're out there.

[Sherylcatmom]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

I'd just use a phone card if you have access to a phone. I used to use
Onesuite

Cheap Prepaid International Calling Cards and Discount Long Distance Phone Service - OneSuite

We've used OneSuite for years and years. It was our only long distance service, at home or away, until work demands led to my getting a BlackBerry with unlimited coast-to-coast calling.

OneSuite has worked great for me from homes, business phones, and pay phones. Once in a great while the service would be sketchy for a few minutes. The connection has a slight delay and isn't always the highest quality, but it's certainly no worse than a cell phone.

[quickdraw]

I see onesuite has a canadian option

Cheap Prepaid International Calling Cards and Discount Long Distance Phone Service - OneSuite

[vinrej]

Actually Onesuite rate from US to Canada is only 1.9 cents per minute. It's cheaper to call Canada than US itself. Aside from using Onesuite as a "calling card" you can also use it via VoIP if you have internet access in the area. You don't pay any extra, just the actual minutes whether you use it as a calling card or voip. Just check their Onesuite.com website for more details

[jacksonjohn83]

Thank you all, I really appreciate it.

Late last night I was playing around with my iPhone and found an application for Skype. It allows me to make calls over the WiFi network anywhere in the US and Canada using my data plan. However, when outside of Canada, I can use this application to make long distances phone calls using the air for a minmal charge of only $2.95. Of cource, this will use my data, but data roaming is much cheaper then voice roaming. I wonder if anyone on this fourm has an iPhone and has used this Skype app and can provide some feedback.

I'll try both options and see which one works better.

In addition, I will create a new post to find things to do while we are in the area.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Kenpal]

I am planning a road trip thru Nevada from Las Vegas to Reno this month (July) What is the cell phone service quality between these two cities? I have AT&T service. Primarily curious if I were to break down if I could get help.

Thanks

[BillRadio]

Originally Posted by Kenpal

I am planning a road trip thru Nevada from Las Vegas to Reno this month (July) What is the cell phone service quality between these two cities?

To get more responses you should make this a new post, not in the Vermont discussion.

If you will be traveling in NV through Tonopah, your AT&T phone will have service most of the way by roaming on Alltel. However, Alltel's GSM network is not that good, so a useful additon would be an external cellular car antenna. Alltel's coverage map is not accurate for GSM. CDMA coverage along that route is excellent, so if you're traveling during the day and you break down in a dead spot (Murphy's Law says that if it happens, that's where it will happen), it's likely the next motorist can make a call for you.

[KoZmiC NinJa]

We lived in Rutland/Proctor area and Verizon was too spotty to use.
More importantly, we needed to get the VT. Attorney General involved
for them to stop billing us after our contract expired. I cant recommend
Verizon on any level