Connecting to Canadian cell tower from US

[cohoman]

I was visiting Whidbey Island in the State of Washington and while on the North end of the island at Deception Pass Park my Galaxy S7 locked into a Canadian cell tower and I got the text message, "Welcome to Canada. Roaming charges now apply for data" (something to that effect). Looking on a map I was still well within the US borders by maybe 35 miles or so, with several other smaller US islands (San Juans) between me and Victoria, BC.

So, why was my phone connecting to the Canadian cell tower? Is there a way to force my phone to only connect to US towers in this instance? I'd like to know in case I'm near the Canadian border in the future. Thanks.

 

[Nostromo79]

I was visiting Whidbey Island in the State of Washington and while on the North end of the island at Deception Pass Park my Galaxy S7 locked into a Canadian cell tower and I got the text message, "Welcome to Canada. Roaming charges now apply for data" (something to that effect). Looking on a map I was still well within the US borders by maybe 35 miles or so, with several other smaller US islands (San Juans) between me and Victoria, BC.

So, why was my phone connecting to the Canadian cell tower? Is there a way to force my phone to only connect to US towers in this instance? I'd like to know in case I'm near the Canadian border in the future. Thanks.

Just as long as you do not precipitate an international incident. What you state is fairly novel though my cousin reported something similar when traveling in upstate New York last summer.

 

[ManiacJoe]

Your phone will connect to the tower that is giving the strongest signal.
When you are near an international border with compatible tech, like Canada, the strongest tower can often be on the "wrong" side of the border. This is a common problem.

 

[ATTKevin]

I was visiting Whidbey Island in the State of Washington and while on the North end of the island at Deception Pass Park my Galaxy S7 locked into a Canadian cell tower and I got the text message, "Welcome to Canada. Roaming charges now apply for data" (something to that effect). Looking on a map I was still well within the US borders by maybe 35 miles or so, with several other smaller US islands (San Juans) between me and Victoria, BC.

So, why was my phone connecting to the Canadian cell tower? Is there a way to force my phone to only connect to US towers in this instance? I'd like to know in case I'm near the Canadian border in the future. Thanks.

Hey @cohoman!

I live on the outskirts of Seattle here in Washington and I'm very familiar with Deception Pass Park! I'm glad you made the journey up there when you visited!

Like @ManiacJoe mentioned, your phone is constantly searching for the strongest signal. That being said, I've never experienced this personally while visiting that park.

Did you get any extra charges for roaming? Or were you able to turn off roaming right after you saw that text message? Typically, turning off roaming should have prevented this.

When you get a chance, review your account for me and let me know if you were charged anything extra for it. If you were, I'd be more than willing to take a look at your account and see what I can do to help.

Post back here and let me know!

 

[cohoman]

We were sitting at a picnic table by the small parking lot at the trail head to the Deception Pass Bridge where my son and wife got the "welcome to Canada" text message on their iPhones. I got a similar text about 5 mins later on my Samsung S7. We all immediately made sure we had data roaming turned off on our phones. I just checked our charges on that date and I don't see anything unusual indicating an international charge, so I think we're good.

I just thought it was strange connecting to a Canadian tower while still well within​ the US and being about 35 miles from the border. Thanks.