My personal recommendation for mobile Internet in Canada, is to use a Prepaid 3G/LTE Data Sim Card:
Provider: www.rogers.com
APN: internet.com
Username: empty
Password: empty
Pricing per month: $10 for 100MB, $15 for 250MB, $25 for 500MB, $30 for 1GB or $50 for 2GB
The Prepaid Sim Card costs $10. Additionally you have to top up a minimum of $10 for voice calls, even if you don’t use it.
The Prepaid Sim Card is available in all Rogers stores and they will normally take care of the activation and everything for you. They usually charge another $25 for the activation, sometimes they waive this fee for tourists.
Unfortunately you cannot login to their LTE network – 3G is the maximum speed they offer to their Prepaid Customers. Also I got some feedback that the coverage of Rogers is only good within the big Canadian cities.
Mobile Internet in Canada – going online while travelling – using a USB-Stick / USB-Dongle or a mobile Wifi hotspot (Mifi) together with a local Prepaid 3G/LTE Data Sim is, thanks to decreasing prices, super popular like never before.
If you need access to the internet while on vacation or during a business trip in Canada, a Prepaid Data Sim Card from a local provider is a good choice. This way you are bypassing the super expensive International Roaming fees of your provider at home and you have access to much larger data packages at an extremely low price.
Using a Prepaid also known as, Pay as you go service, abroad you don’t have to pay a monthly fee. Normally you pay a fixed amount upfront and therefore get a certain volume of data (GB) that you can use for a specified period of time.
To speak from my own experience, I can absolutely recommend using a mobile Wifi hotspot, also known as Mifi. Using you Smartphone (Tethering) is also possible but, you will run out of battery very fast. Another advantage of the Mifi over your Smartphone is the fact that you can leave your domestic sim card in your phone, which enables you to also keep your cell phone number.
The Mifi devices are often pocket-size and smaller than a smartphone. The battery will last between 4 to 6 hours. How they work, they start a Wifi Network and all devices, like Smartphones, Laptops, Tablets, etc. can go online at the same time using this Wifi Network. Depending on the Mifi model and your mobile network connection, you will get 3G or even very fast LTE speed.
