Headed to Alaska - Need cell and internet!

[aknavy]

We're headed to Alaska shortly, and we both telecommute. I want to minimize the amount of downtime that we have while traveling. With that in mind, what route will give us the best ability to get from service area to service area in a 5-6 hour drive? We plan on working our normal workday, then hitting the road to the next area that we can work.

Secondary question - LTE service provider....We currently use ATT and Verizon. Suggestions for while in Canada?

[Loggenrock]

Tall order...! Most established CGs have WiFi, but it will be limited bandwidth - typical CG WiFi. Your biggest challenge will obviously be the trip thru Canada in BC and Yukon. When we went, we spent many nights boondocking, so that means no WiFi. Don't count on cell service - it gets pretty spotty. Hopefully others can shed additional insight. Maybe you should consider the trip a vacation??? ST

[Skip426]

Telus is the biggest provider in BC & AB , you could visit their web site for a coverage map for cell service , but it gets pretty skimpy the further north you go.You'll have to check with your US provider for shared plans and coverage.

Northern BC coverage is limited to the populated areas, AB does better due to coverage in the oil patch, and easier to cover the area because it's flat; comparatively.

www.telus.com

[RockyMtnRide]

Most Tim Hortons have decent wifi. There are two Starbucks stores in Whitehorse. The visitor centers in Watson Lake, Fort Nelson, and Whitehorse all have wifi. Most RV parks we stayed at limit your wifi connection to one hour unless you pay extra and it's very limited in bandwidth. Staying connected may be tough. Not sure what kind of success you will have with cell phone connectivity. I know both AT&T and Verizon partner with the Canadian providers. Telus and Rogers are the biggest networks

[Skip426]

Recent wildfire outbreak has a lot of major highways in BC shut down .
#1 , 97 , 5A and 20 . Check the web sites for updates.

DriveBC
Alberta road conditions, road reports and traffic cams | 511 Alberta
http://511yukon.ca/

[ssrentals]

We took 3 different service providers Verizon,Att,T-Mobile

Att and T-mobile work the best

However T-Mobile will bounce off of different towers

picking up service more of the time then the others
and it's free

to use in Canada vs $10 a day for the others

[Arch Hoagland]

How much would satellite service cost? I'd guess it would work anywhere.

[ssrentals]

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

How much would satellite service cost? I'd guess it would work anywhere.

This is what we use and have been using

for the last 4 years
but we only use it for text messages it runs $70-$80 a month

https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/

i'm sure they may have one that you could use cell service with

[Mike and Susan]

We use att and have an unlimited international plan works great only an extra $10 per month. Works good in Canada also.

[slabman]

I just returned from Alaska. Used the unlimited plan with VZ and it really worked well. Service is provided from Telus in AB and BC and Bell in the Yukon...Bell being the worst. Best bet is to stay on the Alcan Hwy, although I had good coverage taking the route to Dawson City and Top of the World Hwy too. But most cities have good internet via your cell phone. I remember boondocking at
shiprock Pass outside of Fort Nelson and still had cell coverage.

You'll get 0.5 GB/day, then they throttle you to almost nothing. I used up all my data most days, so I think they play games here. New day kicks in at midnight EDT, although I'm not sure this was always the case.wiFi in parks is typically slow, just like in US. I stayed in a number of Walmarts, reaching out to their WiFi signal with my Pepwave SOHO router.

Overall, I was able to carry on my business quite well while up there. You are in for a memorable trip! Wish I could go back up there and see it again.😩