which US addon or combo do people recommend?

[mimmo]

heading to the USA for 20 days  the first 9  i will not have phone service. so i will add USA package on day 10. just tryng to figure out which combo will work the best.

planning to forward calls to fongo for first 10 days.

Renting a car so GPS will be needed.

i'm worried that the U.S. Talk ,Text, Data Bundle* fo $20 will not be enough data (250 mb)

so am considering:

$24 = 1gb data for 20$ and  texing with fongo $4 and hangouts dialer (free)  (but scared a little for call quality)

$36 = 1gb data for 20$ and U.S. Talk and Text Bundle ($15)

are there any other genious ways to save a little?  USA sim card? Spending a day in seattle so have some options...

thanks in advance for the feedback

[mattdxb]

Personally, I like Authenticator Plus. It allows me to store the tokens on whatever cloud service I want. I guess in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter but I guess I like a little bit more control.

[srlawren]

@mattdxb I could not agree more.  I love me some Authy!  Cases in point...  🙂

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Facebook-SMS-problem/m-p/137434/highlight...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Incoming-text-for-people-on-vacation-outs...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Is-it-possible-to-read-text-messages-onli...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Access-Messages-While-Roaming/m-p/77216/h...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Unable-to-receive-text-message-from-Twitt...

[mattdxb]

I thought I'd just point out that those who do use two factor authentication are better off using time based codes with an app like Authy or Google Authenticator instead of SMS. It's more secure and doesn't require data or internet access. 

Of course, that's assuming the service you're using two factor on even provides that as an option. 

[srlawren]

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@splendor903 wrote:

I got incoming texts in USA though I opted strictly for USA talk add on only. Hence, 2 factor authentication is not an issue. In my view, data might be sufficient if you use mostly messaging apps

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@splendor903 that's a good point that I totally failed to factor in.  With this in mind, I'd like to revise part my reply above as follows:

If you have contacts that you rely on SMS messaging with, then you should choose something that includes US roaming texting, provided you need to be able to respond to them.  You can still receive their messages without any roaming add-ons, but responding requires at least the US roaming text. 

You can't really piggyback SMS over data like you can by forwarding your calls to Fongo and using Hangouts Dialer for outbound calls. What you *could* do is transition all of your SMS contacts over to a data-based service instead, such as iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Line, BBM, WeChat, HipChat, Slack, Skype, etc.  (or most likely some combination of the above to cover all your contacts).  Then you can safely travel without SMS roaming.  Even if you depend on verification codes via SMS for two-factor authentication to any services you need to use while away, you should be able to recieve them just fine without any roaming add-on(s).

[splendor903]

I got incoming texts in USA though I opted strictly for USA talk add on only. Hence, 2 factor authentication is not an issue. In my view, data might be sufficient if you use mostly messaging apps

[srlawren · Accepted solution]

@mimmo I totally disagree with @will13am's statement, at least when it comes to texting.  If you have contacts that you rely on SMS messaging with, then you should choose something that includes US roaming texting.  You can't really piggyback SMS over data like you can by forwarding your calls to Fongo and using Hangouts Dialer for outbound calls. What you *could* do is transition all of your SMS contacts over to a data-based service instead, such as iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Line, BBM, WeChat, HipChat, Slack, Skype, etc.  (or most likely some combination of the above to cover all your contacts).  Then you can safely travel without SMS roaming....  UNLESS you also depend on verification codes via SMS for two-factor authentication to any services you need to use while away.

In the end, what you choose is really up to your and your needs and intended usage.  For a longer stay like that, I would personally (and have personally) choose the talk+text bundle for $15 and add on the 1GB data for $20 for a total of $35.  It ain't cheap, but it keeps me connected!  that said, I always seem to end up using less data than I think I will, so I may try going with the 500MB option instead next time.

[will13am]

Just buy data only.  Talk and text are just a different form of data.  This strategy will allow you to afford more data at the lowest overall cost.