Help choosing a plan and network for 2 days in Seattle?
I’m visiting Seattle from Canada for 2 days. For 2 days I initially thought of simply roaming with my local carrier (rogers) at $13 cad per day. However I’ve quickly realized that roaming customers are usually deprioritized heavily, and local US prepaid plans or trials can be had cheaper.
My first choice is which network— at&t, t-mobile, or Verizon? I have experience with AT&T and T-Mobile LTE travelling all over SoCal in 2018 and 2019 (also running speed tests on the way). AT&T coverage sucked inside Los Angeles city limits big time (even worse than t-mobile), but blazing “5Ge” speeds at the time. T-mobile had extremely congested <1mbps spots and no service inside hospitals, but that was 2018.
With the Verizon and US Mobile 5G trial thing, I was thinking of going with Verizon until I realized its 5g coverage is the worst in Seattle. According to the coveragemap.com fcc map from here at least, tons of red zones. My Canadian iPhone 14 Pro Max has no mmWave 5g which makes it even more pointless for Verizon.
So it might have to be on the AT&T or t-mobile network, but which plan? AFAIK AT&T does not offer a free trial except Cricket Wireless, which might be deprioritized data. With the T-Mobile free trial I’ve been constantly hearing reports from Canadians that it detects you’re from out of USA somehow and doesn’t let you.
To summarize, for Seattle is there a <$19 USD prepaid (esim) plan with 5G priority data? If not, my absolute last choice is to use Roam Like Home with my Canadian carrier.
Posted Apr 5, 2023, 5:54 AM UTC
Visible Free Trial, Verizon Free Trial.
https://www.visible.com/free-trial/
T-Mobile Network Pass (have a US App Store ID). T-Mobile is much improved since 2018.
https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/free-trial
EDIT: FYI you only need the US App Store ID for App Store purposes. It doesn’t affect the ID you use for iMessage, iCloud, etc. Install it over a U.S. WiFi Connection.
If you really just want to pay for T-Mo service. But it’s not necessary. Verizon will work, coverage maps don’t mean too much. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/t-mobile-prepaid-esim/id1437014693
Thanks, I did know about the US App Store secondary account. I always hear about how t-mobile 5G is the best in the US compared to AT&T and Verizon nowadays. Makes me wonder what happened to AT&T since after their 5Ge days. 🤷♂️
T-Mobile USA HQ is only a few miles outside Seattle, so they are very good in Seattle metro.
With the big three US carriers, coverage and speed are very highly dependent on the exact spot you're using the device. Even in a heavily populated metro area. If you can get it, just sign up for the T-Mobile trial eSIM. It should work well for you.