Cell service during cruise

[kennzo]

We are fortunate  enough to be going to two cruises.

The 1st, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

The second, Vancouver to Alaska and back to Vancouver.

When taking US land vacations in the past, we have purchased the 'US talk and text bundle' and it has worked perfectly ----with no issues.

I now read the  note re: US 3G/HSPH network shutdown

Can someone provide us the  best solution for coverage on the above situation?

We plan NOT to buy wifi on the ships, as we only need voice and text ---to keep in touch with family.

We  plan to use wifi when we are on land at the ports we visit. 

3G is good.  No data required.

Any  suggestions/comments/ideas are welcome!

Thanks

[maximum_gato]

@dust2dust 

According to ting mobile they offer excellent coverage in Alaska as they use both Verizon and T-Mobile.  It seems to be a good option at $10/30 days for unlimited calling and texting.

@Nezgar 

I much prefer to use the cell mapper coverage maps as they give much more accurate info on cell tower zone coverage. The link is in the update post of this thread....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/US-Roaming-Add-ons-Decommissioning-of-US-...

[dust2dust]

@hycm53- I don't know. Can a prepaid service roam? I've never bothered to look it up. I'm here with Public. I have a US service that runs on T-Mobile. I've never been to Alaska.

[hycm53]

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@dust2dust wrote:

@hycm53- T-Mobile seems to not have infrastructure in Alaska. They allow their customers to roam on a service there. We aren't their customers. They don't allow roamers to roam on their roaming partners elsewhere. It's from customer observations and experience that we have gathered this and also some technical deductions.

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How about T mobile pre paid sim card? Does it work in Alaska?

[Nezgar]

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@softech wrote:

@Nezgar   T-Mobile does provide some coverage for its own subscribers, some kind of roaming agreement with GSI but free for its subscribers

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/tmobile-5g-in-alaska-through-gci-partnership

But that agreement does not extend to those who roam on T-Mobile's network.  So for us, there is no roaming in Alaska using T-Mobile, and roaming on AT&T still does not work  😞

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Yeah it appears the coverage map at the following link would probably be a better one for us to reference, which shows nothing for Alaska:

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/t-mobile-coverage-map

[Nezgar]

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@kennzo wrote:

We are fortunate  enough to be going to two cruises. The 1st, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

The second, Vancouver to Alaska and back to Vancouver

When taking US land vacations in the past, we have purchased the 'US talk and text bundle' and it has worked perfectly ----with no issues.

I now read the  note re: US 3G/HSPH network shutdown

Can someone provide us the  best solution for coverage on the above situation?

---

The only USA roaming options from Public Mobile are the $15 Talk+Text, and the $30 Talk+Text+3GB data. I just returned from a 14 day trip to California, and I can confirm that while LTE data, SMS, MMS service was solid, the voice service still drops down to 2G network to make an outgoing call since there is not even 3G network anymore. But the 2G network is sparse, and incoming calls didn't work at all while connected to LTE network - for that you have to force your phone to 2G network.

It appears that T-Mobile has coverage in the main/populated areas you might be visiting in Alaska according to this coverage map, but basically I would only expect SMS/MMS, and data if you choose the USA roaming add-on that includes data. Don't expect reliable calling service, or for it to even work at all at this time. Though you may have service in port between Los Angeles and Vancouver, it may be true that T-Mobile doesn't really have their own service in Alaska, so don't bank on that roaming coverage working...

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map

Even though my own phone has working VoLTE service not on the Public Mobile network in Canada, I did NOT have VoLTE service once I was roaming on the T-Mobile network in the USA. I again have VoLTE service now that I am back in Canada on the Public Mobile network...

You might want to sign-up for a free TextNow VoIP calling app account. You could use this to dial out to check your Public Mobile voicemail while you are connected to a Wi-Fi network occasionally, or call others in Canada or USA for free over Wi-Fi or mobile data...

[softech]

@Nezgar   T-Mobile does provide some coverage for its own subscribers, some kind of roaming agreement with GSI but free for its subscribers

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/tmobile-5g-in-alaska-through-gci-partnership

But that agreement does not extend to those who roam on T-Mobile's network.  So for us, there is no roaming in Alaska using T-Mobile, and roaming on AT&T still does not work  😞

[Nezgar]

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@dust2dust wrote:

T-Mobile, our roaming partner, has no coverage in Alaska. Do you know if your phone has been enabled with volte? Do you know if your phone can manually choose 2G/GSM?

You could use voip apps like TextNow and those wifi sites to talk and text.

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According to T-Mobile's coverage, they have lots of coverage in populated areas of Alaska: https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map

From personal experience this month, a phone with working VoLTE service in Canada on the Public Mobile network, will still not have VoLTE service once roaming on T-Mobile. 2G-Voice only for calls if there is a 2G network available. Otherwise just data, SMS, MMS while connected to T-Mobile LTE network.

[dust2dust]

@hycm53- T-Mobile seems to not have infrastructure in Alaska. They allow their customers to roam on a service there. We aren't their customers. They don't allow roamers to roam on their roaming partners elsewhere. It's from customer observations and experience that we have gathered this and also some technical deductions.

[hycm53]

@kennzo How about T mobile pre paid sim card?

https://www.amazon.ca/%C3%89tats-UNIS-Unlimited-Illimit%C3%A9s-21-Days/dp/B09B6SQW4J/ref=asc_df_B09B...

[hycm53]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

HI @kennzo   As confirmed by many community members before, pretty much no coverage in Alaska.  It's not PM's fault but because T-Mobile has no coverage there

So, if you have couple points in US from LA to Vancouver, maybe it's ok to buy US roaming, but probably not worth the money if just 1 or 2 days in those US ports, (unless you have some days in LA before your first cruise starts)

it's expensive, but you might want to pay for cruise Wifi instead.  You can just pay-as-you-go I think.

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According Google search T mobile does have coverage in Alaska but I don't understand why PM US add on won't work in Alaska. 

"Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all provide strong 5G and 4G LTE network coverage in Alaska."

https://www.moneysavingpro.com/carriers/coverage/ak/#:~:text=Alaska%20phone%20carriers%20FAQs&text=T....

[maximum_gato]

@kennzo 

I'm not sure if purchasing US Roaming would do you much good? Especially if you do not have VoLTE capable phones or if pm will provision it for your phone? Dial *#*#INFO#*#* on your phone's dialpad and check for IMS registration under the phone info. If you don't have VoLTE enabled then your chances if connecting to the 2G network while on the move is unlikely. With the cruise from LA to Vancouver only 2 or 3 days(?) and a couple of more days of cruising in BC waters and no coverage in Alaska with pm or it's Roaming partner T-Mobile it doesn't seem good value to purchase US Roaming add ons.

Download textnow for use on wifi and you can consider a local Sim card. A cheaper MVNO in the US that roams on CGI in Alaska with mobile data will allow the use of your textnow phone number for voice calls and text when away from wifi. One of you could call forward their number to the textnow number before leaving Canada and remove the Sim card from the phone or keep it on airplane mode so that it doesn't connect to a US cell tower and default all forwarding back to voicemail. If for some reason it does then they can be forwarded again while in Vancouver.

One phone can Hotspot data off the other if it has a local Sim with data. Look into tello, red pocket or ting's flex plan at $10 for unlimited talk&text and $5/1gb pay as you go data may work for you.

[hTideGnow]

HI @kennzo   As confirmed by many community members before, pretty much no coverage in Alaska.  It's not PM's fault but because T-Mobile has no coverage there

So, if you have couple points in US from LA to Vancouver, maybe it's ok to buy US roaming, but probably not worth the money if just 1 or 2 days in those US ports, (unless you have some days in LA before your first cruise starts)

it's expensive, but you might want to pay for cruise Wifi instead.  You can just pay-as-you-go I think.

[dust2dust]

T-Mobile, our roaming partner, has no coverage in Alaska. Do you know if your phone has been enabled with volte? Do you know if your phone can manually choose 2G/GSM?

You could use voip apps like TextNow and those wifi sites to talk and text.