Roaming charges are the result of a nasty oversight that could have been prevented.
They are often exorbitant fees that creep up like last months cold and, if not taken care of, can ruin what could have been an otherwise wonderful getaway.
You see many of us, in the rush of vacation preparation; forget to call our respective carriers to add that insurance policy.
We then proceed to scream to the high heavens when we use our devices as if we’re home and then proceed to receive a bill with charges that could likely equal the average mortgage payment.
I feel your pain.
However, despite popular belief, I do not get free roaming as a media personality. On the contrary I actually pay more (I kid). No for real, I don’t pay more, but I don’t get it free despite what many think and this was a cause for concern for my recent trip to Florida over Easter.
As a freelance writer and business owner, I knew I would need access to my inbox, despite trying my best to enjoy my vacation.
I was also fully aware that roaming without a proper package is just silly (My personal line is with Rogers and pay-per-use roaming is about $1.45/min for a voice call, $.75 per sent text message, and $8 for 50MB of data per 24-hour time period).
I approached the social team at Rogers about my situation and they happily hooked me up with the newest talk, text & data-roaming package to try out.
For $80 the plan offers: 100 minutes, Unlimited sent and received texts, and 500MB of data usage. For a week this seemed like a decent amount, considering my current plan allows for 6GB of usage and I easily go through 2GB a month without thinking about it.
So, with a warm smile and charger in tow, I thanked them and took off to Florida.
Within seconds of landing and seeing a connection, I immediately popped open the Speedtest app and tested out AT&T 3G roaming; the results above show that roaming data speeds via AT&T are nothing to write home about.
Note: this is not a fault of Rogers at all, so don’t point fingers at them, this is solely AT&T.
For basic BBM, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram use, the difference in speed is unnoticeable. The lag is only apparent when attempting to use Google Maps to navigate anywhere – AT&T was almost unusable. In fact, I found myself mid-way through my vacation switching over to T-Mobile’s network. Because I was first at the mercy of AT&T, my 100 minutes were used sparingly because the network only notified me of calls half the time. Once I switched over to T-Mobile, calls and texts were an absolute breeze, same for data usage. However, going back AT&T (and sort of in their defense) lag or not, mobile data speeds don’t really matter; you’d be surprised to know how much of Florida is a solid WiFi hotspot - I mean everywhere.
All the big department stores, malls, restaurants and other tourist-y areas are lit-up. This meant I was able to browse, cost-free, without worry.
Because of this, and using the “My account” companion app from Rogers, I was able to follow my usage in real-time and realize that even I, the heaviest-of-heavy users, couldn’t blow passed 500MB of roaming data in a week.
Something that both shocked and impressed me at this same time; I could use my phone as needed, in the United States, without worry of an over-the-top phone bill waiting for me next month. This put control solely into my hands and that’s exactly what Rogers is going for.
Learn more about their roaming packages here