Hurlabrick

Will shortly want a Canadian cell contract. Planning to use my own UK unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7 - so looking at Bring Your Own Device plans and providers.

Already got Rogers cable and internet so will call them to see what deal I can get. Looked at a Canadian comparion site for ON and PC Mobile comes out cheapest with decent airtime and 1Gb data at $39 a month.

Airtime not important and not a huge data user, I have 2Gb in the UK and rarely hit it.

Are PC Mobile related to Loblaws / Independent? If so can I get PC points and of course are they any good. As long as reception is OK in centres of population, not worried about the boonies.....

Engineer_abroad

I use a byod plan form Fido, have them them to be good although tend to lose reception when travelling in northern BC when outside the main towns.

Hurlabrick

Thanks. Ill check Fido out, they didn't seem to appear on that comparison site I looked at.

Partially discharged

In Ottawa you can also use Videotron which I believe can be quite competitive

Bring your own device | Mobile | Videotron | Videotron

They are primarily a quebec company but have a booth at St Laurent Shopping Centre

Aviator

Fido and Rogers are one and the same. Fido is the budget side of Rogers, as Kodoo is of Telus.

Out of all the cell phone companies, Fido I have found to be satisfactory as a cell phone company can be.

Saw some bad stuff about bell on Marketplace and since then would never consider Bell for anything.

Siouxie

https://www.freedommobile.ca/plans-a...rywhere-50-8gb

You get a $5 credit (against overages) if you BYOP.

ChrisBan

+1 for Fido here. Not had any issues with them, and have always found it very easy to change plans if they launch a better plan than the one I'm on. To be honest, all of the "virtual" carriers like Koodo, Virgin Mobile, Fido etc are probably near enough the same.

As for the main carriers, I suspect you'll likely get a better rate with the more phones you have on the plan. To get the same BYOD plan on Rogers tht I have with Fido, even with a corporate discount was still more expensive than Fido.

Collie

We swear by Koodo prepay, as we're light data users and don't talk very much either! $15 a month for unlimited texts, then top up data as you need it (it doesn't expire) for $30 per Gb. 500 minutes of talk (nationwide in Canada) is $25 - again, it never expires, so just top it up when you need to. Koodo is a subsidiary of Telus, so uses their network - good coverage.

scrubbedexpat091

You can also check Telus virtual provider Public Mobile, they run on the Telus network. I say virtual as they don't have stores, and they have very limited customer service options that are not self help.

We currently use Freedom as we rarely leave Vancouver and they typically work well in the larger city's.

We pay $50/month which includes:

8gb data

Unlimited talk to US/Canada

Unlimited texting to anywhere in the world, and photos to US/Canada.

When outside of a Freedom service area:

1gb of data when roaming

2500 mins talk when roaming

Unlimited text when roaming

Roaming only works in Canada and the US.

So far as long as an area has cell service we have not had issues, works in Squamish and Chilliwack as well as in Bellingham, WA without issues, and other then limited service when underground no issues with signal.

SchnookoLoly

+1 for Koodo, have a look at prepay vs postpay. I was on prepaid for ages on the same plan that Collie talked about. That worked great. I then got a promo text after a year or so offering me $10 off a pay monthly plan for 12 months. Koodo regularly does double-data promotions, and they had one going, so I signed up for the $40/mo plan which gave me 500+500MB of data (so 1GB), 500 minutes (unlimited from 5pm to 9am and on weekends), and unlimited texting including international (standard on all their plans). So I had that plan for $30/mo for a year, then up to $40/mo after the promo expired.

And just this past month, after regularly exceeding my 1GB, they added an extra 1.5GB for $10/mo, so now I'm at $50/mo for 2.5GB, 500 minutes, and unlimited texting.

But start with the prepaid and see how you get on, and wait for Koodo's promotions. They use Telus's network, so great coverage, and no limits on LTE.

Beware of Freedom Mobile. Their plans are excellent, but people constantly have issues with coverage and reception. LTE is limited, and Rogers does not give them priority on the network. I would not recommend going with Freedom unless you are a really, really light user, and do not sign up for a contract.

Absolutely recommend Koodo.

Siouxie

Sorry but I must disagree with you.

I've had absolutely no issues with Freedom - I had perfect reception and coverage even in the depths of the North Bruce Peninsula. The only place (so far) that I haven't been able to use it is Turkey Point.

Shaw are their network providers, from what I understand, not Rogers. Freedom Mobile uses Rogers and Telus for Western Canada and then Rogers and Bell for Ontario and Eastern Canada for roaming purposes.

There is no contract with Freedom, unless you want to sign up for a new phone. They offer excellent deals.

For $45 a month, I get

Data (5GB full speed allotment)*
Canada and US Long Distance Calling (unlimited from home zone)
Canada and US Picture / Video Messaging (unlimited from home zone)
Global Texting (unlimited from home zone)
Extended Talk Coverage (2400 Canada / US roaming min)
Extended Text Coverage (unlimited Canada / US roaming texts)
$0.05 / MB Extended Data Coverage (Canada / US roaming) (1Gb 'away' Data included)
Voicemail+
World Saver (reduced international long distance rates)
World Traveler (reduced international roaming rates)
Call Control (Caller ID, Missed Call Alerts, Conference Calling, Call Forwarding, Call Waiting)
International Roaming
International Calling
US Roaming
National Roaming

$5 credit per month against overages for BYOP

* - after you have used your full speed allotment, you still have access to lower speed data or you can pay per Mb

I had a $10 reduction for the first 10 months of the plan, bringing it down to $35 a month up until next month. Their LTE network is expanding https://www.freedommobile.ca/network...erage/coverage

I found this interesting Rogers and Telus step up wireless promotions to counter serious threat from Freedom Mobile | Financial Post

SchnookoLoly

My coworker had to leave Freedom as she could never get a signal. She lives in Kitchener/Waterloo, in a condo downtown, and we work in Mississauga just off the highway, so hardly the middle of nowhere. She NEVER got reception in and around the office, even if she went outside, and had unreliable reception at home. Both locations are shown as "full coverage" on their site.

At the time they also had very limited LTE coverage, but she said even if she was in an LTE zone she never actually got LTE speed, it was more often 2G or 3G. She switched to Koodo about a year ago.

It would not surprise me in the slightest if in the past year they have upped their game (especially after rebranding from Wind to Freedom) but I'm just sharing the experience that my coworker had.

Koodo has the same setup with contracts - it's just a month-to-month deal, unless you sign up for a new phone, and even that you see explicitly how much you have remaining on your phone, and once you pay off the phone, the charge drops off your bill. And if you want to leave early or upgrade your phone early, you just pay off the outstanding balance. (I just went through this -- had $145 remaining on a phone I bought last year. My Dad needs a new phone, so I offered him my existing one, and got myself a new one. Paid off my $145 outstanding, and added the new phone to my account, I'll receive it in a week. Super simple process.)

Siouxie

I had the same issue with Rogers, where I used to live I couldn't get a signal in the house anywhere - and I've had a signal when friends Rogers phone haven't ... who knows why!

I agree, in the past year they have stepped up their game and have made vast improvements all around... they are certainly a competitor to the 'big 3' now!

I appreciate you giving your thoughts due to your co-workers experience, but perhaps it would have been better not to have made the bold statement of 'Beware of Freedom Mobile' and a generalisation about 'people constantly have issues with (their) coverage and network ...' - let's face it, the same could be said for all the cell phone companies.

My personal experience is that Freedom are reliable and have great customer service - and are considerably cheaper than others.



Edited to add, I believe you may need to have one of the specific LTE phones listed on their website to receive LTE speed https://www.freedommobile.ca/network-and-coverage/lte / https://www.freedommobile.ca/my-acco...hone-and-plan? although they do state that 'some other' phones will work, and the new LTE service for Kingston/Peterborough/Ottawa will work with any LTE phone. https://www.freedommobile.ca/my-account/support/lte

Paul_Shepherd

+1 Fido BYOD plan on a rolling monthly contract. I have been with them for as long as I have been in Canada (8 years) and have got a great deal with them now, as I call them up every 12-18months and ask what they can do for me (or compare it to another deal)

The deal I have got with them now is that good, even they cant beat it, so it seems loyalty does still count in some cases....you just have to remind them!

I find their coverage good enough for my needs.

scrubbedexpat091

While some areas can be spotty with Freedom it's pretty easy to figure out if the service will work by getting a sim card and the most basic pre-paid to give it a test for a couple weeks.

Here in Vancouver the service has been good, no real dead spots other then underground and it even works at the airport, in fact works better then the Bell phones we use for company stuff.

Simply put, I could not find any other company that offered the data Freedom offers for the price point. Bored at work, I easily go through 3-4 gb a month.

Certainly won't work for everyone, but then no phone company can or will.

No idea what LTE does, but whatever speed the data is, it's certainly acceptable to me, certainly not slow.