Internet Options for Expats Living in Vancouver
Getting set up with an internet connection is as simple as a quick phone call. Sometimes your new home may be pre-wired for the provider you select, or you may opt to go with the newer mobile internet, which works anywhere you take your computer. If your home is not pre-wired, your selected provider will send a technician out to set up the connection in your home. It usually takes no more than one week to ten days from the time you schedule the appointment (you may need the permission of your landlord if you are renting your home). For mobile internet, you’ll be sent a kit in the mail with the USB internet stick, which you can easily install on your computer yourself. The two main internet providers are Shaw and TELUS, while Rogers, Bell, and Fido provide mobile internet.
Shaw
Tel: 604-629-8888
Website: http://www.shaw.ca
High-speed/Broadband plans from $29.95/month
TELUS
Tel: 1-877-310-4638
Website: http://www.telus.com
Optik High Speed from $25/month
High Speed from $25/month
Mobile Internet from $30/month
Rogers
Tel: 1-888-764-3771
Website: http://www.rogers.com
Mobile Internet from $36.93/month
Bell Canada
Tel: 1-800-611-6500
Website: http://www.bell.ca
Mobile Internet Hub $45/month
Turbo Stick from $30/month
Fido
Tel: 1-888-945-3436 weekdays 9 am to 9 pm/weekends 9 am to 6 pm
Website: http://www.fido.ca
Mobile Internet from $32/month
Internet Cafes
There are plenty of internet cafes in the Vancouver area where you can go and use a computer for an hourly rate, with the average rate being around $2/hour. There are typically many young people/gamers who take advantage of this inexpensive rate to play online games with groups of friends at such cafes. Most coffee bars in Vancouver offer free wireless internet, and many people take their laptops or netbooks and work or study while enjoying a cup of coffee. Definable coffee culture has grown up out of the combination of wireless internet and java. Entire coffee bars/cafes are often-times filled with people hunched over their laptops while savouring a freshly-made cup of coffee.
- Nicola Internet Café—1565 Robson Street (Westend), Tel: 604-408-1559
- Robson Internet Café—1690 Robson Street (Westend), Tel: 604-685-4645
- ICafe—616 Seymour Street (Downtown), Email: someplace.special@hotmail.com
- Cyber Madness Internet Café—779 Denman Street (Westend), Tel: 604-633-9389
Noteworthy Coffee Bars with Free Wi-Fi:
- Gene—2404 Main Street (Mount Pleasant), Tel: 604-568-5501
- Caffe Artigiano—763 Hornby Street (Downtown), Tel: 604-694-7737, http://www.caffeartigiano.com
- Continental Coffee—1806 Commercial Drive, Tel: 604-255-0712
- Turks Coffee Exchange—1276 Commercial Drive, Tel: 604-255-5805
- Agro Café—1363 Railspur Alley (Granville Island), Tel: 604-669-0724, http://www.agrocafe.org
- Trees Organic Coffee—450 Granville Street (Downtown), Tel: 604-684-5060, http://www.treescoffee.com
- Coo Coo Coffee—477 Davie Street (Westend), Tel: 604-605-0938
- Calhoun’s Bakery Café—3035 West Broadway, Tel: 604-731-7062 (24/7)
