How To Get Unlimited Mobile Internet in Canada (On Any Carrier)

UPDATE AUG 24, 2020 = This plan is no longer available and this article is no longer current. It was nice while it lasted though!

Canada hasn't caught up to the rest of the world when it comes to offering unthrottled unlimited data on cell phone plans - and relying on one network is extremely limiting. This has essentially conditioned us to accept incredibly high rates, sign on to multi-year contracts with the best provider at the time and seek WiFi as much as possible.

As of today, there is no truly unlimited mobile data plan offered in Canada (without speed degradation after a certain amount).

While operating a fully remote company isn't anything new, LiveCA (our Canadian CPA firm) does encourage travel and meeting up as much possible. This can put us in some sticky situations if we need to rely on a good connection for customer video calls, more secure networks and generally not being slowed down with low speeds.

If you're a heavy data user (50GB+ per month) - this article is for you.

There's a promo code for $20 the solution I purchased (exclusive to friends of LiveCA) in this article should you choose to sign up.

This plan provides unlimited internet in over 200 countries (see list here), including Canada, USA, UK, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand with no change in download speed the more you use. It's also a prepaid, month-to-month offering - so no contract is required!

WHAT I HAD BEFORE:

• Bell ZTE MF275R Turbo Hub - $145 for 100gb + $5/ overage
• Bell ZTE MF288 Turbo Hub - $150 for 50gb + $3/ overage
• Bell Cell Phone Plan - 20GB - $115 CAD added to a current contracted plan
• Verizon Prepaid Unlimited (USA Only) - $70 USD
• TOTAL = $500 CAD + overages

I thought I was pretty clever by buying multiple Bell hotspots, maxing out the data for each plan and then paying the cheapest per GB price ($3/) for any usage over the max allowed on the (150GB in total). I watched data usage every day, didn't stream video if I wasn't on WiFi and cringed every month paying those bills.

While that worked, it got quite expensive - with some months costing well over $1,000.

WHAT I HAVE NOW:

• Month-to-month plan with Mobile Must Have - $190 CAD/ ($140 USD) - Unlimited GB, no speed degradation and can work on any network.
• [BACKUP] Bell Hotspot - ZTE - $145 for 100gb + $5/ overage
• TOTAL = $335 CAD

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The Mobile Must Have plan is a prepaid, month-to-month arrangement with AT&T administered through a USA based third party reseller.

When you buy a SIM from them, they ship it to you (and an AT&T device you can purchase if you don't have one) and you'll be able to use it right away.

Because shipping is limited to the USA, you'll need to set up a mail forwarding account with a US shipping provider for them to send it onto you. Please don't ask them to ship to Canada, it's not in the cards right now. You'll also pay duties and freight to bring this into Canada (approximately $20-$50 depending on how fast you'd like to receive it).

Once in Canada, set the router to allow roaming, select your carrier (Bell, Rogers, Telus, and start using unlimited, uncapped data!

No matter where you are in Canada, you'll be able to use whatever carrier has the best signal.

DOES IT REALLY WORK?

I feel like this section is necessary because if you were like me - you'd be incredibly skeptical. I had a friend refer this plan to me, so I had initially trusted them when making the decision.

They offer a 15 day satisfaction guarantee with a 100% refund policy. That, combined with a friend who vouched for them, was enough for me.

We used well over 600gb last month and even switched carriers from Bell to Rogers once when the signal dropped out for a few days.

Please remember this is for a HOTSPOT plan and not a cell phone plan!

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Set up a USA based shipping address (MyUS.com or similar)
2. Go to this page on Mobile Must Have (to purchase the first month of the Unlimited AT&T International Plan)
3. Select the 'no ' option and add to cart
4. Add an AT&T device to your cart (Netgear Unite Explore $129 or Netgear Nighthawk Advanced 4G LTE-Advanced Mobile Hotspot $189)
5. Select the option Existing Data Plan (Existing Customer or Plan in Cart)
6. Checkout using the Promo Code liveca20 for $20 off your purchase (if this code isn't valid, please email [email protected] and ask for them to reinstate it!)
7. To pay with a Canadian credit card, use your real billing address, select the same state as your shipping address and use the numbers in your postal code + 00 (. M5G1E6 = 51600). You can also pay with Google Pay if you have an account.
8. Ship to your USA based address ("use a different shipping address")
9. Referral Source - Select 'A Friend' and then add "LiveCA" in the comments to receive $20 one-time off the International Data Plan.
10. Complete Purchase
11. Once the package has been received into your USA address, forward that onto Canada (I really enjoyed my experience with MyUS.com - they shipped out the package same day and the experience was flawless).
12. Set up your router; remember to enable roaming (in the Nighthawk, go to settings, advanced settings, cellular and enable roaming - restart the device).
13. If you want a stronger cellular signal, consider purchasing an external antenna (Amazon link) or a signal booster (Amazon link)
14. Let us know and share this link if it worked for you.

For reference, here's what your cart should look like before you checkout with the lower priced Netgear Unite Explore hotspot:

WHY NOT BUY A NEW UNLIMITED PLAN ON A CONTRACT?

The problem with a lot of the new 2019 'unlimited' data plans in Canada with Bell, Rogers, SaskTel, Telus and Freedom Mobile, is that they slow down speeds after 12-50GB. This means that once you hit those caps, you're limited to 256 kbps to 512 kbps (enough to listen to music, but not video). That means that if you're working from the road, or need to be on video calls, this isn't going to fly. However, if you typically use less than 50GB/ when working, you may be completely okay with these new cell phone plan options (by turning your phone into a hotspot).

WHAT ABOUT THE 'ROAM BETTER' OPTIONS

Bell, Rogers and other major carriers allow you to spend $5-$10 per day to use your own data plan while travelling outside of Canada. This is a great option if you don't need to use a lot of data, but if you find yourself needing more than what your current plan allows, you'll quickly run out!

SUMMARY

This reseller provides access to an older, discontinued to the public, AT&T plan that works. Mobile Must Have has been great to deal with as an intermediary and offers protection in the form of a 15 day money back guarantee. I've been working on the road for the last year and have had nothing but a great experience with the Mobile Must Have team and hope that everyone who sees this now has the ability to avoid incredibly large hotspot or cell phone bills when usage is greater than 12-50GB per month.

This is also a great option for rural internet when cell signals are stronger (15-20 Mbps) than available internet plans (2-5 Mbps)

If you know of any other options available to Canadians that don't incur data throttling, usage caps or long term contracts, please let us know in the comments below!

Here's a 7 minute overview of the above as well:

Thinking about a new remote job? Check out LiveCA's open listings here.

Has your Canadian company outgrown your existing CPA firm, reach out here.