Topic: The Cell Phone Thread

[Great_Big_Abyss]

So, cell phone plans with the major carriers have gotten ridiculous.  We're currently with Rogers, and have 3 lines: Mine ($90), my wife's ($60), and my stepson's ($60), for a combined 14GB of data (which we NEVER come close to using).  That's $210+tax for 3 phones!!!! Ridiculous! 

My wife and I's phone contracts will be up at the end of December.  Both of our phones (my Galaxy S9+ and her iPhone 8 ) are still in great condition, and I don't see the need to upgrade anytime.  So I'm going to switch cellphone providers for the two of us after Christmas. 

I'm thinking of going with these guys: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/mb/plans

We would each get PublicMobile's $40/mo plan, with 4.5GB of data at 3G speeds.  Because I'll set it up for Autopay with my credit card, we'll each get an additional $2/mo off our plans, and I'll get $1/mo off for referring her.  In addition, for every year that you stay with them, they take $1 your monthly plan, up to 5 years.  So in the first year, my bill will be $37/mo, hers will be $38/mo.  In the second year, mine will be $36/mo, hers will be $37/mo, etc. 

The best part is PublicMobile is owned by Telus and uses the Telus network.  This is good for two reasons:  First, Telus' network has great nationwide coverage.  Second, the building I work in gets terrible service.  I don't get service with Rogers, and co-workers with Bell say the same.  Text messages don't come in or send, calls don't work, internet doesn't load, etc.  However, there is a Telus tower right outside our office, so the Telus signal is strong (all the work phones are telus).

With the two of us combined, we'll save $75/month compared to our current Rogers plan.  When my stepson's plan with Rogers expires in a year, I'll able to switch him over, and save an additional $25/mo. 

I'm so sick and tired of paying for overpriced cell phone plans!!!!

[tortoise]

The best part is PublicMobile is owned by Telus and uses the Telus network.  This is good for two reasons:  First, Telus' network has great nationwide coverage.  Second, the building I work in gets terrible service.  I don't get service with Rogers, and co-workers with Bell say the same. 

I am pretty sure that Telus and Bell share the same network.  So if they don't get Bell, they won't likely get Telus.

I was on PM for a while, but on an LTE plan.  I was migrated to Koodo and now get 6 GB LTE for $40.  Not leaving that plan any time soon.  My wife is now on Koodo as well. $55 for 4 GB of LTE.   

I am not sure I would enjoy being on a 3G network.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

The best part is PublicMobile is owned by Telus and uses the Telus network.  This is good for two reasons:  First, Telus' network has great nationwide coverage.  Second, the building I work in gets terrible service.  I don't get service with Rogers, and co-workers with Bell say the same. 

I am pretty sure that Telus and Bell share the same network.  So if they don't get Bell, they won't likely get Telus.

Telus definitely works in the office, Rogers doesn't.  I'm not sure about Bell, I guess I assumed it doesn't. 

[KD]

Bell and Telus definitely share the same radio access infrastructure.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I am paying $24 on Freedom 1.5 gigs , unlimited Canada calling , and world wide texting on their pay as you go plan
Using our iPhone 6

[Great_Big_Abyss]

I am paying $24 on Freedom 1.5 gigs , unlimited Canada calling , and world wide texting on their pay as you go plan
Using our iPhone 6

I love that price, however I actually do need a little more than 1.5GB. 

Also, Freedom doesn't have their own network in MB.  They piggyback off other providers, but it makes so I'm not sure about them in this province.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I am paying $24 on Freedom 1.5 gigs , unlimited Canada calling , and world wide texting on their pay as you go plan
Using our iPhone 6

I love that price, however I actually do need a little more than 1.5GB. 

Also, Freedom doesn't have their own network in MB.  They piggyback off other providers, but it makes so I'm not sure about them in this province.

They use Bell/Telus , when you are not on their network

[Ex-airbalancer]

I find once I am on 3G it takes forever for anything to open on my phone

[Bubba]

My contract with BellMTS expires on November 7th, so I visited a local store to see if I could get a cheaper rate if I continue to use my current phone. 
The employees response? "Unless you go talk and text only, we can't help you."   

Current plan: 200 minutes, 2.5G of data, unlimited text for $65/mo.

In the past six months, the most minutes I've used is 182, most data used is 2.15G.

Koodoo has a $55 plan that should work: 4 GB of data, Unlimited Canada-wide anytime minutes, Unlimited messaging.

Thankfully, I have a few days to shop around.

I'm sticking with BellMTS.  They dropped the price by $10 to $55/mo.

[dkaz]

Fido has a win back $50/15GB plan for former Fido customers.

[Ex-airbalancer]

This looks interesting
https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/11/21/worlds-first-global-carrier-fonus-launches/

[dirtyjeffer]

This looks interesting
https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/11/21/worlds-first-global-carrier-fonus-launches/

it does.

https://www.fonus.me/

[Seafoam]

I wonder who the carrier in Canada is?

[Ex-airbalancer]

This looks interesting
https://mobilesyrup.com/2019/11/21/worlds-first-global-carrier-fonus-launches/

it does.

https://www.fonus.me/

I look at the site, pretty crappy , not much info
I wonder if you can port your number over ?

[Scaerio]

Why is the website Montenegrin?  To get the cutesy .me domain?

www.vlada.me

[HeliDriver]

I’ll be replacing my iPhone 6s this fall: screen is cracked and battery life is abysmal, even after I changed it last year. But it’s four years old, so it’s about time anyway.

Figured I’d wait to see what Apple comes out with next month, but just saw now that Koodo is selling a current XR for $0 up front and $20/mo for 24 months. So $480 total for a phone that was over a grand 11 months ago.

Am kind of tempted to just jump on it. From what I’ve read, the XR’s replacement won’t be much of an upgrade: new chip, second lens, and maybe better facial recognition. That’s all great, but hardly $600-extra great.

Well, I guess it was worth it to wait: just picked up that iPhone XR for $0 up front and $15/mo for 24 months. Had to call them up, though. The Black Friday deal on the website was the same deal as back in August.

The XR is only 64 GB, but I'm not too concerned. Right now I'm only using 35 GB on my 6S, and that's with zero effort put into it. I could easily save a good 10 GB by putting photos into iCloud and deleting a bunch of apps I never use. Having said that, I would have gone with a 128 GB phone if it was a hundred bucks or so more, but the only way was to get an 11 instead, for $665 up front and $15/mo. No, thanks. 

[Railton]

I’ll be replacing my iPhone 6s this fall: screen is cracked and battery life is abysmal, even after I changed it last year. But it’s four years old, so it’s about time anyway.

Figured I’d wait to see what Apple comes out with next month, but just saw now that Koodo is selling a current XR for $0 up front and $20/mo for 24 months. So $480 total for a phone that was over a grand 11 months ago.

Am kind of tempted to just jump on it. From what I’ve read, the XR’s replacement won’t be much of an upgrade: new chip, second lens, and maybe better facial recognition. That’s all great, but hardly $600-extra great.

Well, I guess it was worth it to wait: just picked up that iPhone XR for $0 up front and $15/mo for 24 months. Had to call them up, though. The Black Friday deal on the website was the same deal as back in August.

The XR is only 64 GB, but I'm not too concerned. Right now I'm only using 35 GB on my 6S, and that's with zero effort put into it. I could easily save a good 10 GB by putting photos into iCloud and deleting a bunch of apps I never use. Having said that, I would have gone with a 128 GB phone if it was a hundred bucks or so more, but the only way was to get an 11 instead, for $665 up front and $15/mo. No, thanks. 

Last month I purchased three XS/64GB units - $14 a month with $0 upfront on each - this through Rogers..sort of. I went through BB instead of Rogers direct. I was really impressed by the BB guy I dealt with. They through in $600 worth of cards, decent cases for each and waterproof travel boxes for each. I had a iphone 7, 6S Plus and 6S to sell, which I unloaded last week on Kijiji.
Railton

[HeliDriver]

^^ Was that for new activations, or were you with Rogers before?

I looked online at BB, but it seemed everything was for new activations. If you just wanted a phone, they were all pre-owned. Guess I could have gone into a store to ask, but I’d rather not.

[Railton]

^^ Was that for new activations, or were you with Rogers before?

I looked online at BB, but it seemed everything was for new activations. If you just wanted a phone, they were all pre-owned. Guess I could have gone into a store to ask, but I’d rather not.

No, not a new activation. they had some deal on with the iphone XS where if you traded in an old phone you got a the $200 gift cards. I didn't want to trade in a cell phone so the salesman went out to his car and picked up three old phones he picked up somewhere and put the deal in with them. He didn't have to do that but he did.
He also had the Rogers $35 (a line) one-time activation fee waived.
With this new plan we have a total of 30GB (who needs 30GB???) shared across three phones. This, up from the 10GB that we had. Unlimited everything else (which we already had). I end up paying $10 more per month total for all three phones and lines. No brainer.
Railton

[Great_Big_Abyss]

I switched over to Public Mobile today.  Ported my number over from Rogers.  $40 for 4.5GB with unlimited talk/text.  I get an extra .5GB (so 5GB total) and $2/mo off by signing up for Autopay (they charge my credit card each month).  I'm going to refer my wife (extra $1/mo off) and sign her up this evening. 

Their Black Friday deal is if you sign up between today and Dec 2, then you get an additional one-time 5GB, and your second month free.  That 5GB stays in your account and acts sort of like Rollover insurance.  So let's say I use 5.5GB of data one month, then the .5GB that I'm over will eat into the 5GB that is just sitting there.  It doesn't expire until it's all used up, which is why it's pretty good insurance.  Also, the person referring you gets an additional $20 onetime bonus.  So, by referring my wife, I'll get my $20 bonus, $1/mo, and she'll get an initial $10 bonus.

They operate on the Telus network, which is great for me, because it means I actually get service at work, unlike Rogers, for which work was effectively a dead zone.

The downside?  They're a lean company.  They don't have a customer service department, or even any number to call.  Everything is done online.  If you have a problem, you post a question on their community forum, and people answer and suggest solutions.  If you're somebody who answers a lot of questions, you can earn additional bonuses off your bill, up to $20/mo if that's something you're in to.  That being said, because there's no easy way to solve problems, this probably isn't the best phone plan for seniors who aren't at least somewhat tech saavy. 

They also don't subsidize phones.  If you're looking to get a brand new phone for $0, this is not the phone plan for you.  You need to own your phone outright to be with these guys. 

Anyway, switching over was easy.  Like I said, everything is online.  I went to the mobile kiosk at Superstore to purchase two SIM cards (one for me, one for wifey), then filled out the online activation form, including porting over my number from Rogers.  My SIM, number, and data was functional and working on my phone within minutes. 

Anyway, highly recommend.  I was sick of overpaying with Rogers (my wife and I were paying $150 to share 10GB).  Rogers offered me an unlimited plan for $75 for me, and $65 for my wife, but seeing as we would never use more than a few GB's each, I didn't see the point.  I was more interested in lower priced plans.  They best Rogers could do was 4GB for $55/month, ea.  Yeah nah, thanks but no thanks. 

If anybody's interested in subscribing, let me know, and I'll shoot my referral code to you.  I'll get my $1/mo off, and you'll get an initial $10/mo off (basically offsets the cost of the simcard).