Public Mobile working in Seattle w/o a US add on?

[JK8]

Hello, has anyone ever gone to Seattle and had their PM phone working seamlessly without a US add on?

Below is the text from the Victoria to Seattle Fast ferry site. I am wondering if PM will work in Seattle because it is so close to the Canadian border? 

Most cell phones work just fine in Victoria, but some cell phone carriers charge additional fees for roaming and data without a Canadian or international phone plan. Before leaving for your trip, contact your local carrier for information on call pricing, text messaging and internet usage.

[RCO]

Fair Enough 

Cheer

[hairbag1]

@RCO....

"avoiding UNWANTED Roam Charges".

To be clear, with PM there are no unwanted roaming charges. As a prepaid service, unless you actually buy an add-on, you'll not have any traditional roam charges. You can start your phone while in US and rest assured you won't get any of those old surprise dings on your bill. You hafta buy a 240 hour, roaming add-on for talk / data and sending texts to work whilst in USofA. (As we all know...talk is tres unreliable in US now)

Without the roaming add-on, you'll be able to receive texts while in US...you just can't respond to those texts.

You won't have data or talk.

You can take advantage of free wifi in many spots in US though. Most motels, resorts, diners and librarys have free wifi...you might just hafta ask for their password.

[RCO]

How far is Victoria to Seattle as the crow flies ?

The total straight line flight distance from Victoria, Canada to Seattle, WA is 74 miles. This is equivalent to 119 kilometers or 64 nautical miles.

I would ad that its over water

Nevertheless I would not fool around with Roaming

it is not PM that is Billing it is the Carriers

in the area you Roam

Be Safe and Buy a little Roaming Top Up

Also there is so much free WiFI that using 

Skypes, Messengers etc etc. would be my way of 

avoiding UNWANTED Roam Charges

Cheer

[dust2dust]

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@JK8 wrote:

I am wondering if PM will work in Seattle because it is so close to the Canadian border? 

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"So close" is only like upwards to 20 miles or 30 klicks and that would line of sight. Seattle is most definitely not "so close".

[darlicious]

@JK8 

How long are traveling in the US ( Washington state only?) for? Seattle is about a 3 hour drive from Vancouver proper so not that close to the Canadian border vs the area surrounding the bottom of Vancouver Island, the Olympic Penisula, the San Juan Islands and the North Western corner of Washington State.

[JK8]

Thank you everyone for your quick replies. I will look into purchasing some local sims from Amazon.

[softech]

@JK8   and I think Seattle TMobile 2G does not work very well.  We have some bad reports about that.  LTE is ok but I remember some saying it didn't work either

Here is one report on his Seattle trip back in Sept

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Vacationing-in-Seattle-WA-early-September...

but most important thing, Enjoy your trip  🙂

[hairbag1 · Accepted solution]

@JK8...

I've made a couple of road trips to Renton and Tukwilla this year...PM does not work in US.

You'd need one of the 10 Day US Roaming add-ons...even then, talk is unreliable in rural settings.

Never been on the ferry (The Coho) for many a year. If you did manage for your PM call to complete while on the ferry, you won't be charged anything extra.

[RCO]

fwiw , I live in the Middle of 2 Towers on Van Islands area

I would not take it for granted 

I will leave it to you as I rarely travel to Washington but 

personally I think you may be runnubg a risk

Remind of CBC/other media Stories about Roaming 

Hope this Helps

Cheer

[softech]

@JK8   I don't have first hand experience but I doubt it

Candian wireless signal are weaker than US and usually when you are close to the border, the phone will choose the US signal instead of Canadian one if you leave it on Automatic

So, there is bigger chance you can still use a US network while you on Canadian soil than the other way around