US sim cards with roaming data

[LetsTryThisPlace]

So our local carrier sucks and we don't have any real roaming plans. Does anyone know of any good options for someone like me? I travel often to the US so a sim car would be handy in either case. My goal is to be able to use the data before and after the cruise and if I need to do anything at the ports it would be nice to have the backup. Is there any good option? I wish I had a Google Fi compatible phone as they seem awesome but not yet.

[Matt]

I use Cricket Wireless, which is AT&T's cheaper and pre-paid service.  Some plans allow for roaming in Canada & Mexico without extra cost and high speed data.

Since it's pre-paid, you only pay for it when you need it. And it's AT&T's network, which I find to be quite good.

[LetsTryThisPlace]

6 minutes ago, Matt said:

Some plans allow for roaming in Canada & Mexico without extra cost and high speed data.

What about the rest of the Caribbean? My stops include St. Kitts, St. Marten, San Juan (guessing this one is fine), and Laberdee. Do they just have a different rate for these places or no service at all?

[Rose City Cruiser]

I use Roammobility SIM card. It's a pay per day SIM. I believe they use mainly T-Mobile towers in the USA. They have a coverage map on their website to see if they meet your needs. 

[Matt]

1 hour ago, LetsTryThisTech said:

What about the rest of the Caribbean? My stops include St. Kitts, St. Marten, San Juan (guessing this one is fine), and Laberdee. Do they just have a different rate for these places or no service at all?

Ah, that's a whole different issue.  Cricket does not provide a reasonable cost for that kind of coverage.

In my experience, other islands do not have great roaming choices that are provided by US carriers.  T-Mobile provides free roaming, but data speeds are brutally slow.  Fine for texting/calling, but not data use.

I've mostly relied on buying individual sim cards for each island and using that.  It's a pain, but most reliable option to provide useable data speeds.

[LetsTryThisPlace]

2 minutes ago, Matt said:

T-Mobile provides free roaming, but data speeds are brutally slow.  Fine for texting/calling, but not data use.

That might be good. I will have voom on board so it would be more of getting a text or checking emails between things and if I need to rush back to the ship to do work then I can always do that. I'll check it all out though. Thank you all.

[twangster]

For use in the US there is FreedomPop.  You buy the device and it comes with a basic plan for free each month with options to buy more or faster data in months you need it.  It's a portable hotspot, although I think they have a SIM only option.  No Caribbean coverage though.

I used to have Project Fi which is how I ended up with a Nexus5X.  No Caribbean coverage.

TMobile works well for me.  Verizon sucks out west and TMobile has better coverage.  I get free wifi when flying and 256kbps data in the Caribbean.  256k isn't enough to scope but it does fine for using maps, searching for places and staying in touch.   It's included so free is good.

Walmart's StraightTalk service is another option to consider.  They now have a $35 per month plan that gives 2G of LTE data, slows down after that.  You just buy for the months you need it.  StraightTalk uses different carriers.  The SIM based options use AT&T or TMobile.  Like most pre-paid services no Caribbean coverage. 

[Marc Van Niekerk]

There is a sim provider called GigSky where you can buy a global roaming sim or mobile hotspot and user their app to load prepaid data.

 

Check out https://www.gigsky.com/

[LetsTryThisPlace]

2 minutes ago, mvannie said:

There is a sim provider called GigSky where you can buy a global roaming sim or mobile hotspot and user their app to load prepaid data.

 

Check out https://www.gigsky.com/

Have you ever tried this? If so did it work well?

[Marc Van Niekerk]

Just now, LetsTryThisTech said:

Have you ever tried this? If so did it work well?

I haven't tried it yet personally bit I I have spoken with people who have and they swear by it.  The primary feature they like is that if you are travelling in a zone like Latin America / Caribbean you can pay one price and use in any country in that zone on one purchase.

[LetsTryThisPlace]

seems interesting will deffinetly look into it thanks :)

[Matt]

I'd be interested to see the speeds it provides.  It's one thing to have data, it's another to have fast data.