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-   -   SIM only Phone Contract (https://britishexpats.com/forum/canada-56/sim-only-phone-contract-931324/)

shaunc89 Feb 26th 2020 9:06 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by Gozit (Post 12812434)
Tip - try to go to the bank and get a credit card before signing up, then that way you will have an open line of credit on your report as opposed to nothing. There are banking packages out there designed for newcomers - will give you a $500-1000 credit limit to start. Something to start building credit with.

Thanks! I actually had been approved for two credit cards already (one with Amex global transfer and Scotiabank gave me one with a 5k limit) - sort of hilarious to be refused a $65 mobile phone contract.

i ended up going with koodo prepaid because they had the exact same offer as Fido and with auto top up I can’t forget to pay it.

I think I’ll try and switch to a post-paid ahead of any international travel but it should do me for a few months

pawxpaw Feb 27th 2020 7:07 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by shaunc89 (Post 12812524)
Thanks! I actually had been approved for two credit cards already (one with Amex global transfer and Scotiabank gave me one with a 5k limit) - sort of hilarious to be refused a $65 mobile phone contract.

i ended up going with koodo prepaid because they had the exact same offer as Fido and with auto top up I can’t forget to pay it.

I think I’ll try and switch to a post-paid ahead of any international travel but it should do me for a few months

You should be paying about half of that for that much data without a phone included.

For instance on koodo I'm paying a net price of $43 and change for 8gb. Unlimited calls and that includes a pixel 4 phone with no upfront cost. Even at full price my plan would have only been $60 including the phone.

If you're going sim only you might as well be on public mobile or similar and save a lot.

adrianj Feb 28th 2020 5:20 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 
CHATR $25 or is it $20 a month 50 texts province wide


Originally Posted by shaunc89 (Post 12811269)
Hey folks,

I just arrived on an IEC WP at the weekend, and working through my list of IDs to apply for etc. I popped into Fido today to pick up a sim only month to month thing and was flat out refused. I was expecting them to ask for a silly amount of money for a deposit in the worst case, but the computer flat out refused me. I have a job to start etc so I can provide that info if they ask but they didn’t even give me the opportunity. They told me to come back in 6 months. Luckily my UK SIM will keep roaming for a bit so I have the time to sort something out.

Anyone had any luck getting a month to month SIM just after landing? Or another operator that might be a bit more lenient (e.g. let me provide proof that I can afford to pay) I’m loathed to go prepaid as the offerings are pretty bad and it doesn’t help me in any way for building credit etc.

Shaun


pawxpaw Feb 28th 2020 5:54 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by adrianj (Post 12813414)
CHATR $25 or is it $20 a month 50 texts province wide

Piblic mobile is $13 with unlimited worldwide texts and 100 mins of Canada wide calls and some data.

adrianj Feb 29th 2020 4:44 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 
sorry my gramma,

$25 province wide
50 texts worldwide

that's all I need

pawxpaw Feb 29th 2020 5:10 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by adrianj (Post 12813835)
sorry my gramma,

$25 province wide
50 texts worldwide

that's all I need

So why not pay half that and even if you don't use it you still have more?

i_Seeker Feb 29th 2020 6:24 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by TheAwesomeMatt (Post 12811401)
I use Public Mobile and they're pretty decent, I think my 5gig plan with unlimited calls and text is around $38/month

I looked up their prepaid plans and the prices are cheaper than postpaid. The one thing I can't wrap my head around is the 8GB at '3G speeds'. Since most of the time (in Toronto especially) 4G is an option, would I go through the 4G quickly or would it equate to less than 8GB if using 4G?

Does Koodos offer 4G in their prepaid plan? So when they advertise 10GB, is that 10GB of 4G?

pawxpaw Feb 29th 2020 6:36 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by i_Seeker (Post 12813868)
I looked up their prepaid plans and the prices are cheaper than postpaid. The one thing I can't wrap my head around is the 8GB at '3G speeds'. Since most of the time (in Toronto especially) 4G is an option, would I go through the 4G quickly or would it equate to less than 8GB if using 4G?

Does Koodos offer 4G in their prepaid plan? So when they advertise 10GB, is that 10GB of 4G?

The way public mobile works is you are on the 4g LTE network, but it throttled your speed a little to similar to 3g speeds.

For normal use you will notice zero difference. YouTube etc load just as quick. I have public on a phone as our "home" phone for the kids/babysitter etc. I can tell zero difference between that and my other phone on Koodo or my business phone on Telus.

All the others, unless specifically stated like public, will be full 4g speed. But as data limits are low in Canada in general I see the slight speed reduction as a bonus.
No point having the ability to download 4k movies in 2 seconds if that means you burn up your month's worth of data in 5 seconds.

Unless you have one of the 20gb unlimited plans you might as well not worry about the theoretical speed restriction.
The only time I guess it could be an issue is if you use your phone as a wifi hotspot for a laptop. But then in that case you'll need a bigger data plan anyway so it's an irrelevant issue.

Public mobile is great. And I've used them as my main phone plenty of times when I'm between good deals on my main phone. I only left them recently as I got a free phone and even cheaper plan from Koodo.

adrianj Feb 29th 2020 6:43 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 
no reason, I got this plan maybe 5 years ago ? IDK
at the time it was the best one that worked for me, no outtages, no billing issues no nothing, or QOS
think there part of Rogers


Originally Posted by pawxpaw (Post 12813846)
So why not pay half that and even if you don't use it you still have more?


i_Seeker Feb 29th 2020 7:25 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by pawxpaw (Post 12813872)
The way public mobile works is you are on the 4g LTE network, but it throttled your speed a little to similar to 3g speeds.

For normal use you will notice zero difference. YouTube etc load just as quick. I have public on a phone as our "home" phone for the kids/babysitter etc. I can tell zero difference between that and my other phone on Koodo or my business phone on Telus.

All the others, unless specifically stated like public, will be full 4g speed. But as data limits are low in Canada in general I see the slight speed reduction as a bonus.
No point having the ability to download 4k movies in 2 seconds if that means you burn up your month's worth of data in 5 seconds.

Unless you have one of the 20gb unlimited plans you might as well not worry about the theoretical speed restriction.
The only time I guess it could be an issue is if you use your phone as a wifi hotspot for a laptop. But then in that case you'll need a bigger data plan anyway so it's an irrelevant issue.

Public mobile is great. And I've used them as my main phone plenty of times when I'm between good deals on my main phone. I only left them recently as I got a free phone and even cheaper plan from Koodo.


"No point having the ability to download 4k movies in 2 seconds if that means you burn up your month's worth of data in 5 seconds."

Very very true! Thanks for that. I may go with Public Mobile in that case. At $100 for my wife and me, getting 8GB each and free international texting, you can't go wrong with that!

sharkus Feb 29th 2020 11:44 am

Re: SIM only Phone Contract
 

Originally Posted by i_Seeker (Post 12813868)
I looked up their prepaid plans and the prices are cheaper than postpaid. The one thing I can't wrap my head around is the 8GB at '3G speeds'. Since most of the time (in Toronto especially) 4G is an option, would I go through the 4G quickly or would it equate to less than 8GB if using 4G?

Does Koodos offer 4G in their prepaid plan? So when they advertise 10GB, is that 10GB of 4G?

I believe that Koodo is 4G/LTE, I think they'd have to say otherwise. Not sure if it has been mentioned but they are part of Telus. You have the primary tier, which is Telus, and as to be expected, has the more expensive plans, with all the bells and whistles, and are 4G/LTE speeds. The next tier down is Kodoo, which is more affordable, again offering 4G/LTE speeds, then the final tier is Public Mobile, with the very affordable plans, with the exception that all but the data only one, are running on a 4G/LTE network, but are speed throttled to 3G speed.

I've been with Public Mobile since 2016 and they're great. I've had a couple of issues, and getting hold of support via their forum was simple and quick. I signed up when they had a very good promo of $120 90-day Province-Wide Talk + Text + 12GB 4G/LTE Data.


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