Using a hotspot on a roaming plan while traveling in the States

[RoniSue]

I am traveling in the United States and my husband has a plan that includes the United States . Can I hotspot his phone with no charges to either of our devices?

[WelshTerrier]

It depends on his plan & how much data, etc. etc. You can Hotspot his plan. Bell Ultimate Plans include Hotspot capabilities. You can also Hotspot Roaming Better.

Where you may encounter issues & additional charges would be related to cell calls, data usage, that is not using his Hotspot. E.g. calls, texts, messaging, videos, etc. That in itself can be very expensive.

[newbie27]

If I had a Canada/US plan & my spouse didn’t Canada only) can he access my shared data via a hot spot without roaming charges when we are in the US. 

[WelshTerrier]

It depends on your plan & how much data, etc. etc. Your spouse can Hotspot your plan if your Bell Ultimate Plan includes Hotspot capabilities. You can also Hotspot with Roaming Better.

Where you may encounter issues & additional charges would be related to cell calls, data usage, that is not using your Hotspot. E.g. calls, texts, messaging, videos, social media, iOS / OS & App updates, etc. This in itself can be very, very expensive & may cost you more than you anticipate & expecting to save.

Thank you for your question.

Take care.

[Canadian]

I have unlimited shared data, with Roam Better enabled on my cellphone. My wife doesn’t have Roam better or a USA roaming package. Can my wife use my shared data plan while we are in USA? Last post was a year ago, anything change regarding sharing my data with wife via hot spot? I do not want either of us incurring additional charges over the Roam Better plan of $13 with my cellphone.

[WelshTerrier · Accepted solution]

Good Day.

It depends on her plan & how much data, etc. She can Hotspot your plan. Bell Ultimate Plans include Hotspot capabilities. You can also Hotspot Roaming Better.

Where you will encounter issues & additional charges will be related to cell calls, data usage, that is not using Hotspot. E.g. calls, texts, messaging, videos, etc. That in itself can be very expensive.

While outside of Canada, making and receiving calls, sending text messages, checking your voicemail, and using data (including Instagram, Whatsapp, or TikTok, etc., and sharing or receiving a picture via text) all count as Roaming usage and / or Pay Per Use usage rates.

Unbeknown to you, keeping your device data turned on may also trigger roaming usage, as most applications on your device refresh content in the background, resulting in data usage & roaming charges. 

If you want to avoid any & all charges while travelling outside of Canada, you can choose to:

1. Turn off your data & roaming in settings on your device. Turn on Airplane mode.
2. Power your device completely off.
3. As an alternative, you can also choose to remove your Bell SIM before leaving Canada instead or powering your device completely off. Just do not power your device on before removing your Bell SIM. If you do so, this will result in a roaming charge.

Airplane mode setting when turned on, will eliminate all potential roaming charges when travelling. You won't be able to send or receive text messages or phone calls, or use data services, but you can connect to a Wi-Fi network to check your email or browse the internet. This by far is the safest method of avoiding all roaming charges. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can also be enabled separately while the device is in Airplane mode.

Take care.

[Canadian]

Just to make sure I understand. My data is 100GB unlimited and using Roam Better as a hotspot for my wife, my wife having only 6GB Canada data plan with no international plan, she will incur regular rate fees once she goes over her monthly 6GB when hotspoting from me? I thought hotspot was just like using wi-fi at home, no fees for data usage?