wizaird

Hi Folks i am just wondering if anyone can recommend an all round sim card or mobile operator for New brunswick to use in an unlocked mobile phone currently on TMobile web n walk here in the Uk.

calls / texts / mobile internet access to and from UK and within Canada at reasonable rates

ive heard of the rogers network but i have also heard of global sim

I want to get the best package that in effect allows pretty much what i get here .

Is there a pay as you go sim card suitable ?

anyone any ideas ?

thanks Dave

Biiiiink

You can't

I don't think Fido (which is Rogers anyway) covers NB, so that leaves you with only Rogers to choose from...

wizaird

More info aside from " you cant "

would be good ; I have been on the rogers site a sister company of tmobile and it covers New Brunswick.

Im just rying to work out the best method in which to use my mobile phone as it will currently cost me 50 p a min incoming from UK and 55 p a minute outgoing .

thanks Dave

lof

hm, have you tried a search? then you might see why "you can't".



to cut it short and keep it general and simple:

a) rogers / fido is the only national gsm provider in canada. that means if you want to use your uk phone you have to go with them.

b) every other of the big carriers uses cdma technology. you have to get one of their phones and your number will be locked to that phone. no sim-card to insert into another phone of your choice.


c) you get a number with an area code - moving to another town means changing your cell number as well, unless you want to pay long distance rate on top of the already high rates.

d) you pay for your airtime - incoming calls as well.

e) if you go for a pay as you go: your top-up has an expiry date - depending on the carrier starting at 10 days...

f) i have yet to see a plan - regardless of provider - which hasn't a separate system access fee of at least cad 6.95 on top of your monthly flat rate.

g) "special" features like caller id, voice-box often require an extra bundle - for which you pay extra of course. (note: i might be on the wrong page but some providers have them included in their pay as you go version.)

h) there is no cure it all. instead there are a lot of different plans around, like a certain amount of "free" every time minutes or unlimited incoming calls or a variety of evening and weekend-minutes included or features like messaging / data transfer... then there is the coverage...
so my suggestion: before you dive into that stuff - figure out what you need your cell for, and once you are shopping around read the fine print carefully.
oh, and a word of caution: if you want to use it extensively for international text-messaging make sure that that service is provided to your country of destination (as a general rule: plans have more countries on their list than pay as you go)

iaink

Arent Rogers the only serious player using SIM card technology anyway? If you want a SIM, effectively they are the only choice.

You know me, I'd just buy a virgin mobile pay as you go phone, its more cost effective.

Piff Poff

We're just the whole cell phone thing and I have been looking on the net and into the shops - we currently have one cell phone. Daughter is now 13 and wants me to show her how to use the buses havn't been on a bus in years

Also a woman was attacked the other day where we walk the dog - OK he's a big dog so I haven't any real worries there but y'know?

So far I have found out that Rogers is the only SIM card people and the pay as you go phones are ancient or mega bucks. Seriousley considering Virgin now. Everyone is trying to get us on a plan but hey I don't want a $500 bill at the end of the 1st month because moody teen has been texting all over the world. I had a whinge in the Rogers shop at the new trainee employee but we just have to suck it up. Hubby is dead against daughter getting a phone.........

wizaird

Hi , i may have found a solution .Apparently in the 7-11 store they sell pay as you go phones , with a 7-11 sim card in it .These pay as you go work on the rogers network , they only have text an talk facility.They also carry credit over to the next month upto 12 months max from adding credit to your phone .So no lost credit as with some i have seen .

Now if you register on line with Jajah - www.jajah.com they allow even cheaper calls to be made from your mobile to other mobile users who are registered and even landlines throughout the world ,text messaging as well and even free , yes i said free calls from your mobile in Canada to UK land Lines .Straight Up .

You Just have to get the person in the UK to register with them .If they dont then its 1.7p , per minute , yes thats right 1.7p per minute from your mobile to the UK landline , free for registered users.

But ark i hear you say , you need a computer - yes you do , however if you register with Jajah it allows you to schedule a call for a certain time and date .When that time / date comes that you have set , bingo your phone rings and so does theres and providing both of you are in , you will be connected.if not then no worries , just make sure you set another schedule for a 2 minutes later with each call , that way if you are out it will call again .You have the choice of whether or not you answer and yes caller id comes up so you know who it is your calling / ringing you .

voila - you can schedule as many calls as you wish , so you can arrange them before hand on the PC and then while your out and about with your mobile the calls will be automatically dealt with.

PC stays at home and your a happy bunny

the only thing needed to be confirmed is whether or not i can get 7-11 pay as you go phones in Fredericton , i know they have a store there.


Also this will work with any phone or mobile regardless of provider .You dont get charged by your network or provider separately unless you are roaming .


Also if you have gprs connection to the net you can activate the calls to your phone of your choice by the webpage .


I think this about covers everything ,

wizaird

Oh No It Doesnt , i forgot to add conference calling is available as well , so you can link up with a number of your friends in the UK all at once and have a right good chinwag .

All for free if you are all registered.

What about that then ?

The net is full of wonderful things , you just need to look and take notice.

thankyou all

Dave

garvard

Can you clarify: if I have a phone in Fredericton with (506) area code of New Brunswick and make a call to Moncton which is the same (506) area code: is this call local or lond distance?

Biiiiink

That's over 100 miles, I don't think that will be a local call. Whole provinces can have the same area code, only geography tells you what's going to be a local call, not the area code You'll know when you dial long distance from your mobile - you should get a warning. And if you're dialling from a landline and don't use the area code, you'll be told it's long distance and you need to dial again with 1 506 xxx xxxx.

lof

leaving the first three digit block for local calls doesn't work here anymore - this month bc changed to 11-digit dialing for all calls due to running out of 1-250-xxx-xxxx numbers.
on this edge of the country the second three digit block is a main indicator for local calls. example: at least 1-250-218-xxxx, 1-250-334-xxxx, 1-250-338-xxxx, 1-250-702-xxxx, 1-250-704-xxxx, 1-250-897-xxxx, 1-250-898-xxxx are comox valley numbers. but after two and a half years i still haven't figured out the exact "local area boundaries"...

if you know the prefix you can look up the geographical area (town): http://thedirectory.org/pref/ but i haven't found a perfect solution yet which works the other way round (you want to know which prefixes belong to area xy). a look into your local phone book might get you closer...

Purley

I doubt this will come as "news" to anyone here but on the CBC news last night they said that Canadians pay the highest cell phone charges anywhere in the world!!

I bought my granddaughter a phone on the Sasktel network which is CDMA. I pay $20 a month. She gets unlimited texting for $10 and she pays a small amount for call display and some other charge and gets left with just over $8 a month of talk time. Last month was her birthday and she got money so she added another $50 of talk time herself. But usually she just texts because its obviously a lot cheaper than talking. Also, all her friends are in the same boat so unlimited texting works out just fine.

Mind you, I also had to add another $10 a month to my phone so I get unlimited texting to answer her!

Almost Canadian

I can't see that working but, I'll take your word for it. The proof in the pudding is in the eating so let us all know once you are over here. It sounds great, but I just can't see it. I'll be happy to be proved wrong