My wife dragged the Gadgeteer Kid and I up to Vancouver BC for an extended weekend / mini vacation to see some of the sights. I was aware of T-Mobile’s Mobile without Borders plan but had never tried it or even knew if it was part of our family’s unlimited everything plan. For some of you this might be old news but for those of you not in the know, T-Mobile’s Mobile without Borders plan enables you to travel thru Canada and Mexico with zero roaming fees, allowing you to use whatever plan you happen to have throughout most of North America.
Just to confirm, I called Tmo several days before leaving and they said we had Mobile without Borders as part of our plan. T-Mobile even went so far as to text each of us as we crossed the border letting us know we were good to go.
I have to say T-Mobile’s Mobile without Border plan lives up to the hype without a doubt. Our phones showed Bell as the network carrier and that we were roaming. But other than that there was no difference in our smartphones.
Overall we had great coverage throughout our travels across BC. We were able to receive calls, texts, emails, etc plus use our unlimited data, 14gb of hotspot tethering and most importantly navigation. From Seattle to Vancouver and all the way up to Whistler we had excellent coverage of more than solid 4G LTE service. The speed test you see above was taken in the middle of nowhere halfway between Vancouver and Whistler. Not downtown Seattle throughput but respectable nonetheless.
My day job still freaks when folks take their work-provided Verizon devices across the border due to Big Red’s high roaming fees. In this day and age, I do not see how the other carriers get away with it. I love the fact John Legere and T-Mobile continue to press the envelope. They have even gone so far as to give those T-Mobile customers traveling in Europe this summer unlimited data throughout their journey. Technology is definitely making the world a smaller, more connected place…shame the other carriers aren’t giving their customers the same cost savings perks.
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Now, if only Canadians have T-mobile up here!! So envious!
John LeGere is my hero on a much higher level then the R&D people at the fancy-fone company.
He’s enabling people to actually >use< the devices they spent so much money for, in the ways they were designed to be used, without killing you financially.
You can quibble about issues in more rural areas, and everyone can find some place some phone doesn't work, but on the whole, where humans live, T-Mobile is great, and getting better every day.
I love imagining the red eyes of the Verizon guys to match their logo (heck even the "can you hear me dude" jumped ship.
The ever-present "Wait…you pay extra for that?" with my friends who don't see though Magenta-colored glasses is awesome, too.
This has been the "summer of awesome" for my kids, so far we're only three weeks into T-Mob Tuesdays and have clocked about 8 pizzas, 15 Frostys, and today, two different free movies for them and their friends!
I so agree, it’s amazing how T-Mobile makes the other carries look like they’re standing still.
Yeah, T-Mobile works real well as long as your not in the US. This must be why they are giving the world away for free.
Only if they can get free pizza delivery right, they may win me back. But they constantly reset my expectations and lower the bar.
Sprint has a very similar service and I’ve used it in Canada and Mexico with the the same lack of hassle you had.
I do find that I had better speed in Mexico than Canada but it was completely usable. I would not use it for streaming since there is a one gig per month cap on data but for casual trips that is plenty.