# Wind Mobile - new $15 unlimited US roaming plan



## OurBigFatWallet (Jan 20, 2014)

I heard earlier today that Wind Mobile is now offering an add on of $15 monthly that gives unlimited talk, text and data while in the US. This could save us a ton as we travel to the US a few times per year. Does anyone use Wind Mobile? How is their service and reception?


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

I've been using wind for a few years, service is fine in the GTA.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

I'm with Wind. I like to support our non-oligopoly telecoms wherever possible. I find their service in the GTA to be adequate, and they have decent coverage in smaller Ontario cities. This is new offering is a real statement by Wind because it makes it easier and cheaper to roam in the US than in Canada outside Wind's network. Supposedly the government will be looking at regulating what the incumbent carriers can charge third parties for roaming.

What's really great about this add-on is that you can pay for it only in the months you want to use it. If you're just popping over for a day or two and don't need data, it's probably cheaper to roam (their regular rates are quite reasonable) and if you are going for longer you can get this $15 add-on, which blows anything the other carriers offer out of the water.


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

At that price I assume they must be using the T-Mobile network for roaming in the US, which is fairly sparse. If you're going to major US cities you shouldn't have a problem, but coverage is spotty elsewhere.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

OurBigFatWallet said:


> I heard earlier today that Wind Mobile is now offering an add on of $15 monthly that gives unlimited talk, text and data while in the US. This could save us a ton as we travel to the US a few times per year. Does anyone use Wind Mobile? How is their service and reception?


Wind is definitely a good deal for me. I was on the monthly plan for about 3 or 4 years, last year I went to a pay-as-you-go service with them and find that very economical for me, since they have a deal that if you use at least $2 in calling, any additional local calls are free after that for the duration of the 24hr period. Haven't used it that much, but when my Tekksavvy VOIP home phone stopped working on me in January, (it took more than 24hrs for them to admit it was THEIR problem), I was sure glad I was able to call out on my WIND mobile!

I'm in Ottawa and have a cheap $50 cell phone (chinese name) that I bought years ago from them, (since I do not believe in being locked into service plans like the other 3 incumbents want you to). Local reception in Ottawa is good, but once I leave the Ottawa area (just before Carleton Place on Hwy7) there the reception is poor or non-existent and in rural areas their coverage is not there. So if you want to answer or make call while on route to major population centers, the reception
is going to be very weak(or non-existent) here in Canada. Not sure about the US but as soon as you are out of Wind's Home network, the cell phone will say
"AWAY" and that means roaming charges apply..UNLESS..



> AWAY coverage is service provided by our roaming partners in Canada and the US where we the WIND network hasn’t developed yet. You are charged low flat pay per use rates while in AWAY coverage. Our current rates are $0.20/min, $0.15/text and $1/MB. Your rates are good across Canada and the US so you can call San Diego from St. John’s or vice versa and you pay the same with no extra long distance charges.
> 
> Your phone will keep you posted when you are AWAY. When you’re AWAY, the word “AWAY” will appear on your phone's screen.




This is the add-on scheme they are using for roaming in the US, they probably have a deal with one of the US carriers.

These features are included with the add-on. 



> Feature Included While Travelling in the USA
> Talk	Unlimited calling to the USA & back home to Canada
> Text	Unlimited Global Text
> Picture/
> ...


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

brad said:


> At that price I assume they must be using the T-Mobile network for roaming in the US, which is fairly sparse. If you're going to major US cities you shouldn't have a problem, but coverage is spotty elsewhere.


I'm not sure that's really true. They aren't as good as the big three in the US, but they have at least decent coverage.


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## RBull (Jan 20, 2013)

No wind in this neck of the woods.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

RBull said:


> No wind in this neck of the woods.


Wind only serves major urban areas...Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, I believe. 

The rest of the coverage in orange (on the coverage map below) , they use other networks and that can involve long distance/roaming charges,
unless you set up your plan with Wind. IE: If your Wind Cell is saying "AWAY" instead of "Home" extra charges would normally apply.but
you can certainly call anybody in the Wind metropolitan serving network without roaming charges. 

http://www.windmobile.ca/network-and-coverage/coverage


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## brad (May 22, 2009)

andrewf said:


> I'm not sure that's really true. They aren't as good as the big three in the US, but they have at least decent coverage.


I'm basing this on all the complaints I've seen about lack of coverage from people who use Roam Mobility (which uses T-Mobile in the US), plus my own experience being in groups of people in not-so-remote locations in the US where I'm the only one who has a cell signal (my plan is with Fido, which uses AT&T for roaming in the US). In most cases the people with no signal have been T-Mobile subscribers. They're getting better, and are certainly a better deal than the others, but you do sacrifice some coverage.

For verification see the coverage maps here: http://opensignal.com/network-coverage-maps/t-mobile-coverage-map.php You can click on any provider and compare coverage. T-Mobile is missing big chunks of Vermont and New Hampshire, and lots of areas in the western states where AT&T and Verizon provide significantly more coverage.


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

In Calgary my son used Wind. he no longer does-the reception was very poor. We looked r it but actually got a better package at the time from Kodo, a Telus SUV.


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