OK, here's the bad news.....
From Rogers website, there's a data add-on for US roaming - price appears to be $10C/mo. and then
you appear to pay on top of that.
" US Data Roaming Add-On | $10.00/month
The perfect solution for travelers to the U.S to reduce data costs for email, IM, browsing and more.
Instead of paying a standard rate for each KB of usage while roaming, you pay a fee in advance and then save up to 80% off the standard rate! For most customers with a domestic data plan you'll save money after just 2MB to 5MB of data usage.
Buy the $10/month U.S Data Roaming Add-On and then pay only $1/MB ($0.001 per KB) while roaming in the U.S1. Plan is available for use with iPhones, Smartphones, consumer phones or Rocket Mobile Internet Sticks.
Note: 1 The monthly service fee is not pro-rated. The minimum chargeable amount in the U.S. is $0.01. Minimum usage is rounded up to 6 KB in order to have the minimum charge of $0.01 appear on the invoice. Further rounding is to the next higher multiple of 1 KB. "
I'm no MBA, but from my research a while back, it's pricey to roam in the States on any Canadian carrier's "plan".
If the stick acts as a wireless antenna, you'd be better off getting a Starbucks Card (like we did) and
just surf/check email when you stop for coffee. Just keep the card in good standing (buy a coffee once a month or so
and reload it with $5 when needed) and you get cheap (almost free?) internet in the USA at most Starbucks stores.
Just make sure the stick isn't accessing a US network, or be prepared for a shock when you open your next invoice
back home.
However, it does sound like a decent option for someone who is fairly often mobile in Canada. If you use less than
1 GB/month it's almost cost effective compared to dsl/cable. I believe I pay over $30/mo+tax, but I get 10GB/mo usage,
and quite often use most of it.
So, it really depends on how much you use, or if you can control your usage and keep it under the 1 GB cap.
As you say, it seems to be getting more common for people to get "mobile" access now, so maybe it will
come down in price over time.
Starbucks Cards also work in Canada, so we use it if we're on the road here and have the netbook with us.
Mike.