WI-FI in Canada

[Kayteg1]

Planning to drive to Alaska in just few days and I know that my cellphone will become a brick in Canada, but how is WI-FI ?
Will my Sprint Mia-Fi work? If not, will other places like Starbucks or McD have free WI-FI?

[Kayteg1]

5 minutes on good-speed WI-FI can save you $30 if not more on next fuel-fill up, not to mention you can make campground research and reservation when you go to popular destination.
I found good WI-FI at motel with fuel pumps. Since I bought fuel, they gave me 1 hr for free, but more would be $5/hr.
Now I made it to Alaska, to find out my Sprint Mi-Fia has no coverage in this state. Phones are choppy as well. DARN!

[Grit_dog]

Dang snowflakes! Put away your Ipad and phone and enjoy the back country! Lol

[garyhaupt]

For those chasing wifi..every McDonalds has it. Every BC Gov't office has it..it shows up as Dogwwod. Every Safeway has it..except Quesnel. Every BC Liquor store has it. Not the private ones. Every library has ..but it might mean you have to actually go inside.

Now..it may not always be super high speed like you get at home with your card/phone, but it's there and it is free for you to use.


Gary Haupt

[Kayteg1]

I made it to Price Rupert so far and Internet is not that easy in Canada.
Tried Library, but GPS stops me in the center of busy intersection, where no library is in site. After finally finding it, parking RV in underground garage was quite an adventure.
Than library was closed and even I got WI-FI outside, it was pretty choppy.
Stop at campground with WI-FI. Specifically requested site with good coverage.
Still having full WI-FI signal, there was not much internet in it. Email eventually opened after a minute, while 12 tries to upload a picture brought no success.
Finally using friend's home WI-FI in Price Rupert and speed is really amazing.

[fanrgs]

Subway shops in BC and Yukon generally have free WiFi and so does the Safeway in Smithers (ask me how I know!). As others have mentioned, nearly every visitor/tourist info center we stopped in also had at least very slow WiFi. But we were in no provincial parks in either BC or Yukon that had WiFi or good cell service, including Liard Hot Springs.

Expect spotty cell service along any of the highways. Only in proximity to towns will you have fairly good service--in Canada or Alaska.

[sam22]

Lol yes there is wifi in Canada

[Kayteg1]

C-172-AV8R wrote:
Most public buildings have free Wi-Fi. Libraries, Community centres, Visiter centres etc:

My 2017 truck has impressive GPS with live traffic supply by Sirus.
It can find public buildings like above, but I wonder if the data is on my truck card, is it using Sirus for updates?
I assume I will not have too many public buildings on my route, but thanks for info.
Anybody knows a site where I could download detailed Canada maps?
EDIT. I check my 2015 Delorme SA USA Plus and it does have decent coverage for Canada.
I tried search of Library in Prince Rupert and it shows it with phone number.
Looks like I'll be mostly covered.

[C-172-AV8R]

Most public buildings have free Wi-Fi. Libraries, Community centres, Visiter centres etc:

[Community Alumni]

I recently completed a 7,900 mile road trip that included traveling through New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Most, if not all, Canadian RV parks had decent wifi.

I have Verizon and I signed up for the $5/day Canada/Mexico plan that allowed me to use all the phone features, including data, while traveling in Canada without incurring outrageous international charges.

[garyhaupt]

But...at least on our phones, to access a wifi hotspot on the phone, one needs to get it up and running..and hey PRESTO...your provider is now connecting you...$$$ Yes, you can access your phone without the provider as long as you are looking up a phone number or playing solitaire. We do that by having the phone in Airplane Mode and data usage off as well as Bluetooth BEFORE crossing into the US. Like..a mile before. You then have the brick...but can get into your information. Even off-line maps. But, to use your phone for free wifi, US phone in Canada? Maybe...but I would check.


Gary Haupt

[MDKMDK]

Notice the lack of coverage on the Bell map along the Cassiar. Topography probably affects cell coverage the same as satellite aiming, pretty much line of sight access.
I have a towers map that might also give a clue as to what to expect up that way. It's last update was a few months ago. https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

To the OP, good luck with it.

[almcc]

I thought that I would look at Bell Canada's coverage map, I've attached the link. We were fortunate to have satellite internet (Hughes) when we traveled the Alaska Highway in the past, we had coverage everywhere unless the terrain prevented aiming the dish (the dish angle is very low up there, under 20 degrees sometimes). Trees and hills blocked the sat some times.

Coverage link

[MDKMDK]

Kayteg1 wrote:

Lwiddis wrote:
Have you consulted with Sprint?

If I can use public WI-FI once a day, that is all I need, so thanks for the answers. Now being in Canada in the past, I don't expect McD every 20 miles, but anybody can tell me what to expect on Vancouver- Alaska route? :@

What route are you taking?
Cassiar Hwy 37 through central BC - limited resources until Watson Lake.
Alaska Highway 97 route from Dawson Creek to Watson Lake - the same, but slightly better - Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Teslin, Haines Junction, all have limited resources. Not sure about free wifi.

Someone suggested Tim Horton's for free wifi, and that might be more likely along either route. Larger towns and villages may have a Tim Horton's as opposed to the rest of it. Whitehorse, YT has most of the places mentioned, then not much from there to Tok, AK. Even the Starbucks in Whitehorse had "run out" of free wifi - apparently they can't get an unlimited plan for their business, so it was hit and miss for even getting connected. The McDonald's in Whitehorse was the same, no business unlimited plan, so it was almost impossible to get wifi. At least that was their story.....I think you may need to get a roaming deal w/Sprint set up prior to leaving, if you really need wifi that badly, to use your phone as a hot spot or something similar.

[Kayteg1]

I found some info about Sprint service in Canada, but info applies to phones and no info available about Mia-Fi modems.
So Sprint has international roaming that can be activated from the phone while there. They say free texting.
Will it work with my modem? Will tell you in a month 😉
Their coverage looks impressive on the map, but I live on the end of Las Vegas, where map indicate good coverage, when in reality it is hit or miss. Miss most of the time.
SPRINT COVERAGE