Best way to get mobile data in Canada?
 

Hi All,

I am planning to travel to Vancouver and Toronto for vacation this summer. Anyone have good suggestions on how to get good mobile data in these cities? Are there pocket wifi rentals in Canada?

I have just found a company called "GoFi" on google. Looks promising. Anyone have experience with this company?

Thanks,

Rene

Hi - could you provide a bit more information? Are you American? Is your phone unlocked? Do you only want data or voice as well? How long is your trip?

I am from Hong Kong so my phone is unlocked.
I will only need data for my trip. Maybe about 2 weeks or so.

It seems expensive to me ($12-$15 per day?). If you can get away using your phone as a hotspot I'd recommend buying a prepaid SIM card from Virgin ($5) and a one month 1gig data package for $35. I did this earlier this year when I went to Newfoundland from Toronto. My mobile carrier has terrible coverage in Newfoundland but Virgin's coverage was very good (they are owned by a large mobile/landline carrier called Bell Canada so it's a robust network.)

I specify buying Virgin because they permit tethering for prepaid SIMs - not all carriers do and/or their staff are ignorant of the answer to the question so I don't trust them!

You will also find a lot of free internet in cafes/McDonald's/hotels/etc so you can flip between your mobile use and free.

Virgin has a store in Downtown Vancouver plus there are lots of mobile stores in shopping malls that sells multiple carrier SIMs.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for your reply.
I did a search and there are very little Virgin stores in Vancouver. I was thinking about the mobile wifi route because I am a heavy user and I can share the plan with my family so we don't have to each get a SIM.

You can use the hotspot via your phone for multiple devices. We had two ipads and a laptop running off the Virgin SIM!

There are many general mobile vendors that also sell Virgin (and all other carriers for that matter) - here's one example

http://www.tboothwireless.ca/find-a-...City=Vancouver

You could buy a mobile hotspot device from Fido and add a data plan and probably still spend less that renting

http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/F...eSKU=AC763SBLK