Will my unlocked phone work in the us

[westleyyates]

Will my unlocked nexus 5 with a data messaging 20 prepaid service work in the united states? Specifically Rochester NY. What will happen when I go to the US?

[Nighthawk]

Normally once you switch over to a US network, you'll likely get a  text message confirming the roaming rates. If you have data roaming turned off on the phone itself, data will not work in the US but talk and text will. That can get pretty expensive without one of Telus' roaming plans which are a ripoff compared to US carrier rates.

See: http://www.telus.com/en/ab/mobility/travel/index.jsp?zone=us&country=USA&cc=us#travel-passes

Telus partners with AT&T and when I was in the US last, I found AT&T's service to be flaky and I was in a major US city too with full signal strength. Data was almost unusable. 

If I was going to the States with an unlocked phone, I'd get a cheap pay as you go plan / SIM card from T-Mobile or other carrier. Only downside is you'll have a US number until you swap the SIM card back to the Telus one. It is usually cheaper but it depends how long you're in the US for (T-Mobile has a $3/day unlimited US talk/text with 200MB of data included - u just have to get the SIM card from a store down there). 

[Dark_Knight · Accepted solution]

Hey there,

You won't be able to use your TELUS service while in the US (see clip below from their site).

As @Nighthawk suggested, it's super cheap to use a US carrier's prepaid option while you are down there. I often use AT&T, but T-Mobile is also an option. I'd suggest checking their coverage maps in that area to see who's better.

 US and international travel is not available to TELUS Prepaid subscribers at this time.