Free Internet service is available in most Canadian communities. Several years back, the Canadian Federal government made sure all communities , no matter how small or remote, had Access to the Internet. In the small villages the hot spot may be the city office or library. Alaska has done much the same in recent years following the Canadian lead of providing needed services to their residents. Somewhat of a unique thought, eh?
On our last round trip to the north country, I believe, two days was the longest we went without Internet and that was because we were boondocking some nights. We tell friends and family to contact us by email if they wish. If they, especially the daughters, need to talk to us, they request a call. We buy some prepaid cards that allow us to use pay phones in Canada. Lots of pay phones up there, most don't take coins, so as long as they are working, the phone companies don't have to go to them to empty the coins.
Works well for us as we love to turn our cell phones off as we cross into Canada. The peace and quiet of no cell phone is nice.
We have AT&T service also and haven't found they have a practical plan that works for us. About a dollar a minute for a call to the lower 48 is about the best I have found. Very few of my conversations are worth that to me that I can't handle with an email for free.
