Might a well get as much info as i can! What company gives the best phone coverage for USA and Canada and can you get unlimited data packages?
f you’re venturing into the USA then Verizon is the way to go, Canadian roaming charges for the US are a rip off, a Canada plan with Verizon gets you 4GB of data in the US, free Verizon to Verion in the US and 2000 anytime minutes to use in Canada for $159 a month 
This months bill, what a quality waste of time 
just over 143 hrs
That’s 143hrs on the phone in a month, seeing as you don’t use the mobile when you’re at home, that works out to twenty one days on the road, that’s 294hrs on duty, allowing for ten hours in bed each night, which means you’ve been on the phone for nearly 7 hours a day while you’ve been at work
newmercman:
which means you’ve been on the phone for nearly 7 hours a day while you’ve been at work
Bet they don`t do that much working in call center’s when you take into account there breaks
I bet yours still put mine to shame
I went over my minutes, don’t know how much by yet, ain’t bothered either, bill ain’t due until the day after the world ends in December, ■■■■ em, they’re knocked
In the maritimes we just use the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) offered by Bell for $50 per month, unlimited in Canada and the USA. I can be in Texas and my mate can be in Nova Scotia and we can talk for 15 hours a day, every day and its never more than $50 per month.
robinhood_1984:
In the maritimes we just use the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) offered by Bell for $50 per month, unlimited in Canada and the USA. I can be in Texas and my mate can be in Nova Scotia and we can talk for 15 hours a day, every day and its never more than $50 per month.
I can just imagine myself walking into the Bell phone shop and in my strong Geordie/Northumbrian accent asking for the 10-4 good buddy … “dur yu sell th tyen fower gyuud buddi furrne like yknahh?”… 
I was in the States about 25 years ago and everyone thought i was German… some even spoke to me in german! 
and i thought i was talking posh.
I remember i had to revert to a ■■■■ Van Dyke, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang meets John Wayne accent to be understood.
contractdriver:
robinhood_1984:
In the maritimes we just use the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) offered by Bell for $50 per month, unlimited in Canada and the USA. I can be in Texas and my mate can be in Nova Scotia and we can talk for 15 hours a day, every day and its never more than $50 per month.I can just imagine myself walking into the Bell phone shop and in my strong Geordie/Northumbrian accent asking for the 10-4 good buddy … “dur yu sell th tyen fower gyuud buddi furrne like yknahh?”…
I was in the States about 25 years ago and everyone thought i was German… some even spoke to me in german!
I remember i had to revert to a ■■■■ Van Dyke, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang meets John Wayne accent to be understood.
pmsl Wye Aye Gunther 
russjp:
pmsl
Thanks for your kind words of sympathy russjp… 
I’ve tried to look online at other service providers but its all too confusing with tarrifs all over the place without any clear explanation.
The company im gonna be working for says many of their drivers have 2 phones, 1 for Canada and 1 for USA… So why would that possibly be? if i could get a tarif like Bell or Verizon which does both Countries.
If you just get the Verizon pay as you go it doesn’t work in Canada. They do pre pay which is like a contract buy you pay in advance and get a deal with minutes texts and web use which you can tailor to your needs.
No credit check needed either which is good as you obviously have no credit history.
Just bought a verizon prepaid smartphone. The phone was $100 and you pay $80 monthly for unlimited talk (within the US) and unlimited text (US & Canada) and 2GB internet. Verizon prepaid phones do work in Canada but it costs about $0.69 a minute so it’s cheaper to get a Canadian contract phone to use there.
robinhood_1984:
In the maritimes we just use the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) offered by Bell for $50 per month, unlimited in Canada and the USA. I can be in Texas and my mate can be in Nova Scotia and we can talk for 15 hours a day, every day and its never more than $50 per month.
I’ve tried to find more info about the 10-4 service on the Bell website, but can’t find much about it (£50 seems like a good deal if i can also use it as a basic cellphone in Canada), is the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) system part of your companies phone system or is it your own robinhood?
From all your replies it looks like the Verizon prepaid deal is the one to go for to use in the USA and the Bell one seems good for use in Canada.
I have just bought a new phone here, the latest Samsung Galaxy S3 (It’s a great phone and easy to use as a browser) I bought it unlocked & Sim free, it’s quad band so should work ok in North America.
So, how do i go about getting a Verizon one?.. just wander into a Verizon shop in the US and buy one outright? do I need I.D?
could i get one in Canada?, also… can i buy just a sim-card with the same package?
thanks for all the info everyone, I’m just trying to save some time by asking ‘the experts’ , because you’re already there (or have been there) and already know all about this stuff…
You won’t get a Verizon contract phone unless you know someone in a friendly Verizon shop, the ones near the border crossings are usually good for this, they’ll fix you up with a moody address and set it all up through there, but you can buy a pre pay for $10 in Walmart, if you do this and carry on with it for 6months Verizon will give you a contract with a Canadian address, you just have to go into a store or call up customer services
contractdriver:
robinhood_1984:
In the maritimes we just use the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) offered by Bell for $50 per month, unlimited in Canada and the USA. I can be in Texas and my mate can be in Nova Scotia and we can talk for 15 hours a day, every day and its never more than $50 per month.I’ve tried to find more info about the 10-4 service on the Bell website, but can’t find much about it (£50 seems like a good deal if i can also use it as a basic cellphone in Canada), is the 10-4 two way radio type thing (push to talk) system part of your companies phone system or is it your own robinhood?
They keep talking about finishing the service but they’ve been saying that for years so we’ll see. Its also a normal mobile phone that you can call on, text on etc and then use as a two way radio as it has a button on the side like a CB mike, obviously when used as a two way radio the call is private, its not public as on a CB for example. Many of the trucking companies in the Maritimes use them instead of satellite computers so they do have a huge customer base.
newmercman:
You won’t get a Verizon contract phone unless you know someone in a friendly Verizon shop, the ones near the border crossings are usually good for this, they’ll fix you up with a moody address and set it all up through there, but you can buy a pre pay for $10 in Walmart, if you do this and carry on with it for 6months Verizon will give you a contract with a Canadian address, you just have to go into a store or call up customer services
The Verizon store next to the FJ in Billings,MT will give you a contract phone without credit history or credit card and using your Canadian address but they do require a $400 (cash) deposit per phone on the contract which you’ll get back after 1 year.
the best phone service i found was Straight Talk available at walmart its $45 a month unlimited minutes and data
it uses a sim card so you can use your phone
I bought a cheap Verizon from wallmart $15 but $10 of credit when you top up. They do that silly amount of minutes plus free Verizon to Verizon if you top up $ 50 a month. Only thing is dont work in Canada
tonka:
the best phone service i found was Straight Talk available at walmart its $45 a month unlimited minutes and data
it uses a sim card so you can use your phone
That ‘Straight Talk’ from Walmart looks like a good deal at $45 per month and the coverage looks okay…
https://www.straighttalk.com/
I would like unlimited data because I tether my mobile phone to my laptop wirelesly… has anyone else do this or tried with any other network?
The tethering switch on my old Samsung Galaxy S was called ‘Mobile AP’ but my new one (Galaxy S3) is called ‘Tethering and Portable Hotspot’… and it works great in the UK on 3G and HDSPA (i guess its the same as a ‘dongle’ but its wireless and seems to be built into most Samsung phones that iv’e had even my £65 Galaxy Y has it!)
Anyone do wireless tethering there?
P.S: I’m just scraping the right side of 50 … hence the non technical jargon!!