Going to the U.S.

[JohnnyXI]

I'm going to the U.S. for 6 months.  Is there a reasonably priced plan available in the U.S. from Public Mobile or is there an equivalent priced company in the U.S. that i can just get another sim card from and use my current Galaxy 9 Phone? 

[JohnnyXI]

Thank you will13am for the 90 day heads up. 

[JohnnyXI]

Perfect. I've verified my IMEI # with USmobile and they say it's good to go.  All I need is to ensure that my phone is unlocked and order the $3 sim card kit. I'm pretty sure the boys in the store that hooked me up with PublicMobile in the first place unlocked it.  I just hope they didn't lock it their carrier. Again, many thanks for your help srlawren

[srlawren]

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@JohnnyXI wrote:

I don't quite understand the checking method. Do you mean that I should take the sim card from a borrowed phone and put it in my phone and see what happens?

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@JohnnyXI yeah that's right.  If your phone is locked to a network and you take a SIM card from another network and insert it, the phone will prompt you for the network unlock code in order to use the SIM.  If you get that prompt, your phone is locked--you can get an unlock code from Samsung Canada customer support via live chat.  If instead the phone just connects to the other network without any prompting or hassle, that means it's unlocked and you will be fine when you put in your US carrier SIM card when you arrive in the USA.

[JohnnyXI]

Thank you all for your suggestion links, it'll keep me busy for awhile checking them out.

Appreciated.

[JohnnyXI]

Thanks srlawren, I did the google search as you suggested and there sure is a sh..load of plans - usmobile.com seems to have the best. I believe the phone is unlocked as I have already replaced the original sim card.  I don't quite understand the checking method. Do you mean that I should take the sim card from a borrowed phone and put it in my phone and see what happens?

[sunflowershine]

@JohnnyXI I normally use Roam Mobility. Check the link below: https://roammobility.com/

[srlawren]

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@srlawren wrote:

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Google best pre-paid cellular plans in the USA for a bunch of comparisons and pick the one that will meet your needs best.  

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@JohnnyXI here's some good and recent roundups:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/utilities/prepaid-cell-phone-plans/

https://www.lifewire.com/best-prepaid-cell-phone-plans-4159386

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-phone-plans,review-2953-4.html

https://www.androidauthority.com/best-prepaid-plans-132352/

[will13am]

@JohnnyXI, Public Mobile offers short term roaming add-ons, nothing lasting in excess of 10 days.  Your best bet is to shop local.  Note that you will need to have a management plan for your account while in the US.  You can suspend the account but only for 90 days, after which it deactivates.  You would need to reactivate it once in the middle of your 6 month hiatus from Canada. 

[srlawren · Accepted solution]

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@JohnnyXI wrote:

or is there an equivalent priced company in the U.S. that i can just get another sim card from and use my current Galaxy 9 Phone? 

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@JohnnyXI yeah this is your best bet.  Google best pre-paid cellular plans in the USA for a bunch of comparisons and pick the one that will meet your needs best.  Make sure your phone is unlocked; if you bought it from Telus or Koodo and then moved to Public Mobile, it may still be locked to the Telus network.  Also: many Samsung phones lock themselves to the network of the first SIM card inserted.  EDIT: you might not even realize it.  Best way to check would be to borrow a friend's or family member's Rogers, Fido, Chatr, Bell, Virgin, Lucky Mobile, or Freedom Mobile (or Videotron/Fizz if you're in Quebec) and see if it prompts you for an unlock code.

[GinYVR]

@JohnnyXIThere used to be a $60 US/ Canada plan from Public Mobile but it is gone now. The only place in Canada that has a US / Canada plan is from Zoomer (which is a reseller of Rogers Network).

[Triguy]

There are various us roaming add-ons but they are only valid for ten days from date of purchase.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/plans