Internet in the USA: A Traveller's Guide

Updated: October 2026

Short answer: the US is a day-pass destination for most UK, Australian and Gulf carriers, and local prepaid SIMs are surprisingly expensive for a visitor. The USA eSIM uses the same networks for a few dollars.

Your options

Roaming on your home SIM: Most carriers sell the US as a daily pass, roughly five to ten pounds or dollars a day depending on your carrier; on a two-week trip the passes alone add up to a serious sum, and pay-as-you-go rates are worse. Canadian readers often have a US add-on or a Canada-US plan; check what yours actually covers before you assume.

A local prepaid SIM: The tourist and prepaid plans from Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile generally sit in the $30 to $50 a month band and need a visit to a store. There is no "cheap tourist SIM" culture in America; the market is built around monthly contracts.

eSIM: Runs on the same big networks, starts at a few dollars, and is installed before you land at JFK.

The coverage reality: excellent in cities, gaps in between

• New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago: strong 5G, you will have no trouble.
• On the road between cities it changes: dead zones in national parks, desert stretches and mountain passes are normal. Even the romance of Route 66 has its signal-free hours; download the map before you set off.
• In the national parks (Grand Canyon, Yosemite) signal is limited; treat it as a feature.

How much data do you need in America?

More than you expect: getting around a city without Uber or Lyft is hard, restaurants run on booking and waitlist apps, and a hire car without maps is a chore. For a one- to two-week trip, 5 to 10 GB is the realistic band; café and hotel Wi-Fi is everywhere, so if you leave video to Wi-Fi the lower end is enough.

Practical tips

• Hiring a car? Set up a phone mount and the "offline maps plus mobile data" pair before you leave the lot.
• Free Wi-Fi is plentiful in the US, but use mobile data for banking rather than an open network.
• Adding Canada to the trip? The North America eSIM covers both countries in one plan.
• Our roaming vs eSIM guide shows how day passes and pay-as-you-go rates add up over a trip.

Ready? See the USA eSIM plans.