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Using US iPad in Canada

Apparently but I'm just a tourist in Canada

GVWR said:
So does Rogers require a Canadian credit card?
A Canadian billing address?
Click to expand...

I assume so from the other data I've seen. The Apple Store in Montreal seemed to know that THIS (Bell SIM) would work but they were wrong. They gave me a choice of either carrier and I picked Bell because my iPhone was roaming on Bell CA at that time. I'm at a loss for accurate information. I'm not a Canadian and I'd just like to spend tons of money here and enjoy my vacation.
 
Sounds like people are having similar problem as we Canadians trying to sign up with AT&T when visiting the US...

ie on-iPad signup failing with foreign address and/or credit card. Or even just a dumb form that doesn't accept a foreign style postal/zip code.

Search the forum for several recent threads on visitors to US.

The solution I've confirmed in my travels is to use a prepaid Visa gift card (it has no name or billing address associated which might fail authentication) and use your hotel for billing address. That worked for me visiting US - maybe same will work here in Canada. Also, apparently Amex cards don't suffer the authentication failure, that might be worth a try if you have one
 
Use the address of the place your staying in Canada. Oddly enough, the address younenter doesn't have to be the same as the address on your credit card.

When I was in the US, I used my Canadian American Express card with the address of the place I was staying in Florida. Worked no problem.

Give it a try.
 
Madmic23 said:
Use the address of the place your staying in Canada. Oddly enough, the address younenter doesn't have to be the same as the address on your credit card.

When I was in the US, I used my Canadian American Express card with the address of the place I was staying in Florida. Worked no problem.
Click to expand...

based on other users' reports visiting US, it seems like no problems using foreign Amex with a different address than your own during signup, whereas other cards e.g. Visa have a problem with the incorrect billing address. so it seems to be card dependent, but Amex is probably the way to go if you have one.
 
Now I have an account but can't select a data plan

Went to a Bell CA retail store in MTL today and signed up for an account with my US VISA and the address and voice phone number of the Bell Store. The result? I now have and account with Bell CA but I cannot select a data plan.

The Bell person at the store talked to their Tech people and they said that I was required to contact their support to complete the acquisition of a data plan. Yes, I know this makes no sense but wireless marketing makes no sense. I guess I'm going to give up on cellular data when I'm in Canada and use WiFi hotspots when available.

The politics of wireless data have turned me off and I just don't care anymore.

Thanks for all suggestions and input, but it's clearly not worth the hassle.
 
IvanHutchins said:
that makes no sense. In the US, on AT&T, I did not have to synch with my computer to activate 3G.
Click to expand...

As I understand, AT&T is one of the few pre-loaded APNs pre-loaded in the iPad. Hence, you do not need to activate an AT&T SIM.

We were in Vancouver BC last week, and the Apple Store (Pacific Center) provided me with a Rogers SIM. They took my iPhone from me and activated on their computer as a courtesy.


I found the same problem as others had reported in not being able to enter my credit card data because I could not enter a US address. The Rogers subscription page only lets you choose provinces, and hence you cannot enter a US address. I didn't bother signing up since I had WiFi available in our room.

We are going back up to Canada in a couple of weeks, but my daughter (a new grad student at UBC) should have a Canadian credit card by then, so I will be all set. Since I pay her bills... she can't complain about me making a charge on her credit card.

/Jim
 
I have a follow-on question. While at the Apple Store in Vancouver last week, I picked up a 2nd SIM card for a friend who also has an iPad 3G who will be with us on our next trip to Canada. As I said in the previous post... the Apple store initialized the SIM for me... so I am not 100% sure of the initialization procedure.

What exactly do I have my friend do to initialize her Rogers SIM on her iPad? She will be bringing her iPad to Canada... but not her computer. I *THINK* she just needs to insert the SIM card, connect the iPad to iTunes, and right click on the iPad name and check for updates. Is that it?

/Jim
 
Rogers? Rogers? Anyone?

I stopped at a Rogers mall kiosk in a city in Ontario and the inhabitants gave me a Rogers SIM card for my iPad. I never installed it because my AT&T service was in range again, once I was approaching the international border to Michigan.

I've got three SIM cards and here is the detailed status:

- AT&T: Have active account, works fine when in AT&T service areas
- Bell CA: Have active account (with the address of a Bell CA store in Montreal), can't choose a data service
- Rogers: SIM is still in its package but perhaps I will roll the magical, mystical, silly, fish-out-of-water-in-Canada, 3G iPad dice when I return to Montreal for my extended vacation in October.

I discovered that my employer-supplied Verizon Blackberry works fine in Canada, both for data and voice but the network on which its operating is unknown. I still have my old Verizon MiFi-like portable hotspot and I could possibly activate it somewhere in Canada and use that with my Macbook Pros and my iPad when I'm out and about. With all the surplus wireless communications junk I have, maybe something will work in Canada.

It would be <sigh> really nice if I could just use my iPad on any 3G service in Canada...after all, it does have the GSM radio in it and that would be a very elegant solution.

Current score:

Politics 1
Technology 0

Now, if I could only enroll my dog at McGill and get him a Canadian VISA card. :rolleyes:
 
By George, I think Jim's got it...

flynz4 said:
I have a follow-on question. While at the Apple Store in Vancouver last week, I picked up a 2nd SIM card for a friend who also has an iPad 3G who will be with us on our next trip to Canada. As I said in the previous post... the Apple store initialized the SIM for me... so I am not 100% sure of the initialization procedure.

What exactly do I have my friend do to initialize her Rogers SIM on her iPad? She will be bringing her iPad to Canada... but not her computer. I *THINK* she just needs to insert the SIM card, connect the iPad to iTunes, and right click on the iPad name and check for updates. Is that it?

/Jim
Click to expand...

That even worked :D for me with my Bell CA card. I just don't have any data service under my account at the purloined Montreal address. :eek:
 
SarahCatt said:
I stopped at a Rogers mall kiosk in a city in Ontario and the inhabitants gave me a Rogers SIM card for my iPad. I never installed it because my AT&T service was in range again, once I was approaching the international border to Michigan.

I've got three SIM cards and here is the detailed status:

- AT&T: Have active account, works fine when in AT&T service areas
- Bell CA: Have active account (with the address of a Bell CA store in Montreal), can't choose a data service
- Rogers: SIM is still in its package but perhaps I will roll the magical, mystical, silly, fish-out-of-water-in-Canada, 3G iPad dice when I return to Montreal for my extended vacation in October.

I discovered that my employer-supplied Verizon Blackberry works fine in Canada, both for data and voice but the network on which its operating is unknown. I still have my old Verizon MiFi-like portable hotspot and I could possibly activate it somewhere in Canada and use that with my Macbook Pros and my iPad when I'm out and about. With all the surplus wireless communications junk I have, maybe something will work in Canada.

It would be <sigh> really nice if I could just use my iPad on any 3G service in Canada...after all, it does have the GSM radio in it and that would be a very elegant solution.

Current score:

Politics 1
Technology 0

Now, if I could only enroll my dog at McGill and get him a Canadian VISA card. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

SarahCatt,

Regarding the sections in bold above:

1) Your Bell SIM: I suspect that the only reason you cannot get a dataplan on the card is because you do not have a Canadian address? Do you have any friends in Canada who will let you charge service to their card/address? Alternately, I wonder if buying a pre-paid canadian visa gift card will work. This is a trick that seems to work for people visiting the US and need a local credit card to enroll in data.

2) Blackberry data/voice plans: Be careful as you may find out that you are paying outrageous rates when roaming out of the US. I had an employee who used his Sprint phone with his PC as a tethered modem during a trip to France... just to check his email. He came home to find a $4000 phone bill. Blackberry users generally use much less data than iPhones... but still... you want to be careful.

3) Verizon MiFi: I called Verizion to see if I could get international roaming added to my MiFi. I was told that I could add it for $129/month, but that it would be prorated for partial month usage. So, according to the rep I talked with, If I went on a 1 week trip and enabled Canadian roaming just during just the week, that the approximate extra cost would be $35 for the week. Of course, you would need to remember to turn it off on your return... and secondly... information from the phone clerks is often sketchy and wrong. Anyway... this is something that you may want to pursue.

/Jim
 
flynz4 said:
SarahCatt,

Regarding the sections in bold above:

1) Your Bell SIM: I suspect that the only reason you cannot get a dataplan on the card is because you do not have a Canadian address? Do you have any friends in Canada who will let you charge service to their card/address? Alternately, I wonder if buying a pre-paid canadian visa gift card will work. This is a trick that seems to work for people visiting the US and need a local credit card to enroll in data.

Oh, if you read carefully, you will see that I 'have' a Canadian address (the Bell CA store) and that's the only reason I have an account. The clerk had their Technical Services on the phone while I was there signing up for an account on line at the store. I don't have much faith in the people in the store or their tech people, but since I don't work there, I have little choice.

2) Blackberry data/voice plans: Be careful as you may find out that you are paying outrageous rates when roaming out of the US. I had an employee who used his Sprint phone with his PC as a tethered modem during a trip to France... just to check his email. He came home to find a $4000 phone bill. Blackberry users generally use much less data than iPhones... but still... you want to be careful.

I have no interest in tethering because the costs are usually horrid due to the abuse that people streaming audio and video engage in. Bandwidth is expensive and I have always used a dedicated data device when I've done this in the past. The new video over Internet devices don't make much sense to me because they depend upon most people not using them much. There just isn't enough capacity for very many simultaneous video users. It's just playing the odds for the companies. With regard to the BB, my company has an enterprise agreement with Verizon (and we have outlets in Canada) and we get very low bulk rates. We also pay nothing for phones or Blackberries, so the cost for that is negligible since I will be available to work while in Canada.

3) Verizon MiFi: I called Verizion to see if I could get international roaming added to my MiFi. I was told that I could add it for $129/month, but that it would be prorated for partial month usage. So, according to the rep I talked with, If I went on a 1 week trip and enabled Canadian roaming just during just the week, that the approximate extra cost would be $35 for the week. Of course, you would need to remember to turn it off on your return... and secondly... information from the phone clerks is often sketchy and wrong. Anyway... this is something that you may want to pursue.

I don't use my MiFi anymore. It's just sitting around unactivated. I was considering 'borrowing' the address of my rental in Montreal and activating it in Canada (assuming it would be supported by one of the carriers there, which is probably not the case).

What a mess!

/Jim
Click to expand...

Oh well.
 
US chargers will overheat in the UK, they use 110v & the UK power supply is 240v - you will need a UK charger..
 
SarahCatt said:
Oh, if you read carefully, you will see that I 'have' a Canadian address (the Bell CA store) and that's the only reason I have an account. The clerk had their Technical Services on the phone while I was there signing up for an account on line at the store. I don't have much faith in the people in the store or their tech people, but since I don't work there, I have little choice.
Click to expand...

When I picked up my Canadian SIM at the Apple store in Vancouver, I asked which carrier they recommended for the area in which I would be traveling. I was told that Rogers and Bell were both good, but that Bell required a call to their offices in order to activate the plan. Possibly that is the issue you are having? In any case, I choose Rogers, largely because they said service can be completely set up from the device.

I never tried using a local address with my US credit card. I now have a suspicion that it would work OK. I would love to hear a report of someone activating their account and data plan on Rogers using a US credit card, and a local address that differs from their billing address.

/Jim
 
Rogers...definitely...Rogers

flynz4 said:
When I picked up my Canadian SIM at the Apple store in Vancouver, I asked which carrier they recommended for the area in which I would be traveling. I was told that Rogers and Bell were both good, but that Bell required a call to their offices in order to activate the plan. Possibly that is the issue you are having? In any case, I choose Rogers, largely because they said service can be completely set up from the device.

I never tried using a local address with my US credit card. I now have a suspicion that it would work OK. I would love to hear a report of someone activating their account and data plan on Rogers using a US credit card, and a local address that differs from their billing address.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks, Jim. When I am back in Montreal next month, I'm going to try registering for an account with my Rogers SIM card, my U.S. credit card, my Laval, QC temporary address, and I'll post the results to this thread. :D
 
SarahCatt said:
Wow, thanks, Jim. When I am back in Montreal next month, I'm going to try registering for an account with my Rogers SIM card, my U.S. credit card, my Laval, QC temporary address, and I'll post the results to this thread. :D
Click to expand...

SarahCatt,

You will need to attach the iPad w/Rogers SIM to your computer to update the settings on the iPad. They did this for me at the Apple store in Vancouver. I am told that you only need to do this once... and thereafter, you can switch between your ATT and Rogers SIM cards without re-attaching to the computer.

/Jim
 
flynz4 said:
SarahCatt,

You will need to attach the iPad w/Rogers SIM to your computer to update the settings on the iPad. They did this for me at the Apple store in Vancouver. I am told that you only need to do this once... and thereafter, you can switch between your ATT and Rogers SIM cards without re-attaching to the computer.

/Jim
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm aware of the need to sync with iTunes the first time the new carrier's SIM is used. It was required when I installed the Bell CA SIM card and when I re-installed the AT&T SIM, it was not necessary. I believe the info is stored In the SIM card's memory.
 
Rogers and Bell both require Canadian VISA

I have spent literally hours on this issue. For two months I actually was getting service from Bell paid for by my US VISA card.

Now they both require a VISA card with a matching Canadian billing address. Bell will no longer allow me to continue with their service because I cannot renew it. The only way to renew is now on line (before it was done over the phone) and on line they do not permit US VISA cards.

As I say, I have spent hours on this because it is very important to me. I spent 2-3 hours in the Vancouver BC Apple store with a VERY helpful employee trying to deal with Rogers to no avail. He finally set me up with Bell but that solution was short-lived.
 
Apple seems really to have botched this up with the 3G cell carriers

Wow...what a mess! There now appears little to no hope for an iPad user from outside Canada being able to use their iPad IN Canada!

I'd pay for a year of service in advance just to use it when I am in Canada during that year. However, if your experience is the norm, then even if I were to buy another iPad 3G in Canada, I wouldn't be able to use ANY 3G cellular data service in Canada. Well, unless I essentially become a permanent resident of Canada and have a credit card there.

Did I say "wow"?

I'll just go to the ministry in charge of Canadian immigration and ask for permanent residence due to the hardship of not being able to acquire cellular data service for my iPad. I'm sure that will work...right.
 
SarahCatt said:
Wow...what a mess! There now appears little to no hope for an iPad user from outside Canada being able to use their iPad IN Canada!
Click to expand...

Q to those of you still having problems signing up for data:
have you tried using a prepaid Visa gift card issued in Canada?

that was the solution I used successfully for the inverse case (Canadian iPad used in US: Cdn Visa card - no good / prepaid US Visa + hotel address - OK)
 
PrePaid Card VISA: Canadian service for American

We are now in Vancouver BC. We bought a prepaid card and put $100 on it. We went to the Apple store and got a Rogers SIM. We were able to enter all the data. It said we will notify you when activation occurs.

Then after 30 minutes it said failed. We are still trying with the aid of the Apple employees who unbelievably helpful.

The saga continues
 
Some progress. It reported that everything OK

One thing to think about is that if this works it makes sense to get a refillable pre-paid VISA card. We got one that we cannot refill so after a couple months if this works we will have to do something to "change" our VISA card because our card will run out of money. I hope that that is not too hard. But if you go to Canada frequently you might get a prePaid REFILLABLE VISA card.

We are still waiting to actually see if we can get data over the cell tower to the iPad. That has not yet occurred.

Now getting a message that your credit card financial institution has not approved this purchase...

Now we are working on that.
 
Success with Bell

Bought a prepaid VISA gift card. Needed cash and two pieces of ID. Went to Royal Bank of Canada for this. Got a non reload able card but since we go to Canada often probably should have gotten a reload able one.

Then went to Vancouver Apple store and spent three hours with the incredibly helpful Apple people. Great store.

First actually tried the Bell store. They did not even know they supported the iPad.

Went to the Apple store and first "registered" the VISA card using the Canadian address of a summer house.

So in the Apple store first tried Rogers. This ultimately unsuccessful. We would wait for a long time and then the message would come back Activation failed. Did this repeatedly. Finally a message came up saying that financial institution had rejected our purchase.

Then tried Bell. Put another SIM card in and filled out all the forms. We used the same Canadian address. This time success.

1. We succeeded with a prepaid VISA card
2. We had success with Bell and not Rogers
3. The Apple store provides the best retail experience I have ever had.
 
Changing credit card for cellular data service

At the risk of seeming prematurely optimistic, that does seem hopeful. I have my Montreal address and even land line phone now, so if the prepaid thing works, I should be able to duplicate your experience.

I don't see why the carrier would care if the card is a prepaid VISA or not. Many people overrun their credit limits on conventional credit cards or run low on funds for a debit card. The debit card that I use for my AT&T 3G cellular data account did not go through because the checking account balance was too low and since it was on Labor Day, the bank wasn't open and I couldn't transfer the funds into that account. I just changed the credit card to another one through the online signup in "Settings", so that presumably would not be a problem if you switch cards.

Also, it might be worth wondering why the carriers would care about the credit/debit card details since they charge each month in full in advance. They really can't lose since if the card ever fails then they can cut off the service. You can't 'run up a bill' because either the account is 'unlimited' or they can also cut you off if you exceed your 250 MB, 2 GB, or 5 GB data usage (depending upon the terms of your plan).

Let's keep the dialogue going until we have a solution or we run out of options. If we find that there is no way to use cellular data in a country in which you are not resident, the :apple: iPad doesn't make as much sense as an :apple: iPhone for the international traveler. At least with a 'locked' :apple: iPhone, you can roam in many countries at a somewhat reasonable rate.

BREAKING NEWS: So, Bell really works? Great, I have a Bell SIM card, too, so when I go to Montreal in three weeks, I'll get a prepaid CDN VISA card and use my Montreal apartment address and I guess that should work. I have a Bell account from my experience two weeks ago, but I never was able to select a data plan. I hope I can revise my Bell account data. Based upon your success, I will probably go back to the :apple: Store in Montreal (which is where I got the Bell SIM) and seek their help.
 
Success!!!

We just arrived in BC yesterday. On two iPads, we inserted the Rogers SIM cards I got from The Apple store last month. We had already attached them to iTunes to initialize them. Once we arrived into Canada, we entered a Canadian mailing address of a friend, and we both used different US credit cards. We activated OK and I am posting this from my iPad while in Canada.

/Jim
 
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