Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)
I'm in Calgary, but potentially moving to Winnipeg in the future. I'm
currently a TELUS Mike user, and looking to switch away from Mike (which
is on a proprietary iDEN platform)
I want a SIM card as I tend to swap handsets frequently and I don't like
TELUS and Bell's "No foreign handset" rules, nor do I like paying my
carrier money to change handsets whenever I pick up a new phone, so I'm
thinking GSM is the way to go. That means either Rogers or Fido.
From what I understand at this point in the merger the signal
strength/reception should be virtually identical at this point, so is
any strong preference on way or the other? Other then rate plans are
there any significant differences?
I'm a fairly low volume user right now, 100-200 minutes a month. Free
incoming calls would be useful, I'd use a lot more minutes that way, but
it's not a big deal.
Looking at my current phone calls, a whole ton of my calls are between
1:00 and 1:30, so per-second billing would be nice, but again, not a big
deal.
I rarely call customer care, and I have a good speaker phone, so I don't
mind longer hold times (although I do tend to rant about hold times
sometimes
I don't roam outside of Calgary much, but when I do, it's typically to
the US (Texas for work), but roaming isn't a big deal, if it costs more
then $0.25/minute daytime and $0.12/minute E&W then I'll just use a
prepaid cell when I'm in the US (I already have the phone and it's only
$20/3months to keep it active, and the airtime accumulates), so roaming
in the US isn't a big deal.
Ideally I don't want to pay extra when I'm roaming in the US, my g/f is
moving from the US to Winnipeg, I don't want to get raped on airtime
when I'm in Winnipeg, but I take my Vonage phone adapter with me so it's
not a big deal.
-- "I think women and sea men don't mix"
-- Smithers, Simpsons
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)
Rogers recently bough the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
the same, but with different names.
Rogers has a great Plan on right now, where you get:
-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
-100 Anytime minutes
-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
-100 Long distance minutes
-First 6 months unlimted local calling
-Activation fee is waived
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)
Rogers recently bought the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
the same, but with different names.
Rogers has a great plan on right now, where you get:
-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
-100 Anytime minutes
-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
-100 Long distance minutes
-First 6 months unlimted local calling
-Activation fee is waived
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt (More info?)
In message <1123685993.455445.133080@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>
"scotA" <scot.mcalpine@gmail.com> wrote:
>Rogers recently bought the Fido network - so the companies are sort of
>the same, but with different names.
>
>Rogers has a great plan on right now, where you get:
>
>-Free Incoming Calls for life of term
>-100 Anytime minutes
>-1000 Eve and Weeknd mins
>-100 Long distance minutes
>-First 6 months unlimted local calling
>-Activation fee is waived
>
>Cost - $25 / month
Per-minute or per-second billing? That looks identical to the Fido
"Unlimited Incoming Calls package", except that Fido is per-second.
Fido also includes "Unlimited incoming instant, picture and text
messages"
FWIW, I couldn't find that plan on Rogers' site
-- I spend a lot of my money on drinks, babes and fast cars.
The rest, I just squander.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
One other consideration is phone selection. As far as I can tell, none
of Fido's phones appeal to me.
My needs for a phone, roughly in order...
-Reception
-Sound quality without a headset
-850is required.
-T9 is almost a requirement, although for the right phone I might be
willing to make an exception, but I'd likely be angry at the phone for
not having something so basic.
-Bluetooth (data and headset required, the ability to load ring tones
and games and whatever would be a nice bonus)
-Wired headset comes in handy, but it's not critical
-Clamshell preferred
I'd use a camera occasionally but I carry a Palm with a camera and a 4MP
digital camera with me most of the time, so the camera isn't critical.
With that in mind, I don't think any of Fido's phones appeal to me. I
picked up a Nokia 6670, but the keypad is way too tiny to be useful.
Part of me is leaning towards eating the cost of a Razr, but I'm curious
if anybody else can suggest any phones that meet my needs.
I'm debating the merits of purchasing a phone from a carrier, vs
purchasing one outright and using it on my carrier of choice, but since
both of the GSM carriers in my area (Fido and Rogers) seem to have plans
I can live with, I think that getting a discount from the carrier is the
way to go.
-- Ah, the miracle mile, where value wears a neon sombrero and there's
not a single church or library to offend the eye.
-- Homer
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
In message <6tRKe.10398$pX4.151081@weber.videotron.net> "Harry Eugene
Ly" <consumers-get-bad-service@big-f*-companies.com> wrote:
>I'm not sure what you mean by T9 but a Treo 650 satisfies all your
>requirements except for the clamshell design. You can also get rid of your
>Palm with camera.
T9 Predictive Text. If I wanted to type "Hello" without it, I'd type
4433555R555666 (Where the "R" is typically the "right" button). With T9
enabled, you'd type 43556.
With a Treo it's less important.
However, I'm not a fan of combining cell phones and PDAs for a couple
reasons:
First, these are the two things I carry with me that I'm likely to need
to use at the same time. I often need to write down an address, or
write down a phone number while I'm on the phone.
Second, if my cell runs out of battery power, I absolutely need my Palm
working so that I can look up a phone number (and use a payphone or
borrow someone's cell), or conversely, if my Palm runs out of power, I
need my phone working (since I can access all of my contacts over the
net from my cell) -- I don't want both to die together.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
Check out the webpage www.cellphones.ca - It has very indepth
information about cellular products in Canada. For $399 you could get
Moto RAZR, which comes with a $100 bluetooth headset.
The plan I mentioning is unadvertised. You must specifically ask for
the "Unlimited Incoming Promotional Plan" at a rogers store, or
customer service.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
In message <j3dLe.57642$pX4.650229@weber.videotron.net> "Harry Eugene
Ly" <consumers-get-bad-service@big-f*-companies.com> wrote:
>Personally, I have a Treo 600 and I'm very happy not having to carry around
>both a cellphone and a PalmOS PDA. The only thing is that I need to charge
>my Treo 600 at least once a day since between the phone calls, the GPRS
>usage, listening to MP3's, and using my PDA, I only have around 50% battery
>strength once I get home after work.While on a phone call, I use my PDA to
>enter dates in the calender, etc. so having it as an all in one device
>doesn't affect me. If I had a Treo650, using my PDA would be easier while on
>a call especially since I would be able to use a bluetooth headset and use
>my PDA more easily.
I don't want to be required to bother with a headset though -- For a
longer call they're definitely worth it, but for a quick "Where do you
want to meet? / The Pickle? / Do you have the address?" type call, it's
too much hassle.
GPRS usage sounds like fun, but that's why god invented Bluetooth (And
why I plan on getting a phone with Bluetooth)
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
In message <1123868672.139518.103620@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
"scotA" <scot.mcalpine@gmail.com> wrote:
>Check out the webpage www.cellphones.ca - It has very indepth
>information about cellular products in Canada. For $399 you could get
>Moto RAZR, which comes with a $100 bluetooth headset.
Any idea where I can get that? $399USD or CDN? Are unlocked RAZR
phones available anywhere "legitimately"? -- I roam in the US, and
wouldn't mind being able to pick up a prepaid GSM SIM while I'm there
rather then paying extortionist roaming rates.
>The plan I mentioning is unadvertised. You must specifically ask for
>the "Unlimited Incoming Promotional Plan" at a rogers store, or
>customer service.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
THe $399 price tag is on a 3-year term price only. CDN dollars. To buy
it outright it would be $469.99 CDN. This phones features are it's
coolness factor and that it comes with decent accessories (Bluetooth
headset, case, I believe a car charger)
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
DevilsPGD wrote:
>>
> > > That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>
I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is slight. Look for the other features you require first.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
In message <n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no> Brendan McCullough
<bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote:
>DevilsPGD wrote:
>
>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>> >
>I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any >Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band >handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is >slight. Look for the other features you require first.
Perhaps, but at least some of the time when I'm in the US visiting my
employer I'll be on a 850-only network (or so I've been told by one of
the cell junkies that I work with -- I trust his ability to read his
phone's diagnostic screens)
That, plus the whole reason I'm switching is that I'm sick and tired of
network issues, and I don't want to call Rogers in 2 months after moving
to a new apartment only to be told that if I had a 850 phone, I would
have coverage.
All that being said, the two Rogers phones that interest me are both
Quad-band anyway (and that's not why I was looking at them)
I've settled on the Razr, unless anything about it annoys me once it
arrives.
-- Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
"Brendan McCullough" <bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote in message news:n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no...
> DevilsPGD wrote:
>
>>>
>>
>>
>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>>
>
> I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any Rogers > coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band handset will > work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is slight. Look for > the other features you require first.
>
> Brendan
You haven't gone up north have you? I went up to Halliburton a couple of weeks ago and I had no signal at the cottage with my Euro tri-band Z600 but my buddy on Rogers with a Nokia with 850Mhz had good coverage. When I came back I was able to get the Fido CSR ,after he did a lengthy consultation with the techs, to admit that Rogers used 850 only in rural areas. He did say something about them looking into a solution for the problem Fido users without 850 faced but YMMV.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
I concur with you about the Haliburton area being 850 friendly...
(The other area that I need 850 for is my house; in a valley near Merrickville; the only 2 signals that reach there are 850 mhz and analog bell... go figure...)
"Brian G" <br1anNO@SPAMmail.com> wrote in message newsMmdneL4rrBq4JzeRVn-iA@rogers.com...
>
>
> "Brendan McCullough" <bmccull.nospam@shaw.ca> wrote in message > news:n7aMe.26806$vj.13747@pd7tw1no...
>> DevilsPGD wrote:
>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> That's the phone I was planning on buying when I got up this morning,
>>> but it only does 900/1800/1900MHz, it doesn't do 850MHz which is what
>>> Rogers is apparently using in some/many areas.
>>>
>>
>> I think this 850 stuff is way overblown. I haven't experienced any >> Rogers coverage area yet that is 850 only. Occasionally a dual-band >> handset will work better than a 1900 only one, but the difference is >> slight. Look for the other features you require first.
>>
>> Brendan
>
> You haven't gone up north have you? I went up to Halliburton a couple of > weeks ago and I had no signal at the cottage with my Euro tri-band Z600 > but my buddy on Rogers with a Nokia with 850Mhz had good coverage. When I > came back I was able to get the Fido CSR ,after he did a lengthy > consultation with the techs, to admit that Rogers used 850 only in rural > areas. He did say something about them looking into a solution for the > problem Fido users without 850 faced but YMMV.
>
> Brian
>
>
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
My mistake, the RAZR is $299 is store as well. There is also a sweet
new RAZR BLK coming out. I'm not sure on details. For $200 on a 3 year
you could get a Moto 635i, which is a much more feature rich phone. It
doesn't come with the accesories that the RAZR does, but is a MP3
player (comes with 512MB memory stick!), and has bluetooth, a better
camera than the RAZR, RF is almost as good as the NOKIA 3595 was,
excellent email client, and you can connect to your computer via usb,
and view the data just like an external hard drive.
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido,alt.cellular.rogersatt,alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)
In message <1124289755.542712.200520@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>
"scotA" <scot.mcalpine@gmail.com> wrote:
>My mistake, the RAZR is $299 is store as well. There is also a sweet
>new RAZR BLK coming out. I'm not sure on details. For $200 on a 3 year
>you could get a Moto 635i, which is a much more feature rich phone. It
>doesn't come with the accesories that the RAZR does, but is a MP3
>player (comes with 512MB memory stick!), and has bluetooth, a better
>camera than the RAZR, RF is almost as good as the NOKIA 3595 was,
>excellent email client, and you can connect to your computer via usb,
>and view the data just like an external hard drive.
Still $399 in the stores I checked (I called around Calgary a little). I
debated watching for the black Razr, but honestly, I'm not confident it
would stay looking good, black tends to show scuffs more then silver.
I looked at the 635i, but by the time I buy the accessories it's the
same price as the Razr. I already have more then enough MP3 players,
and I carry at least two digital cameras with me most of the time, so I
can't see the investment being worth it at this point.
-- 'Outlook not so good.'
That magic 8-ball knows everything!
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)
Note: one has to look beyond the published plans.
You need to look at whether the advertised price is real or fake (eg: is
there a hidden fee such as Fido charging a $6.95 fee on top of most
packages ?
You need to look at voice mail costs. For instance, does accessing voice
mail from landline incur air time fees or not.
Roaming. You need to compare roaming costs when in canada (Fido is $0.25
when outside its original footprint, not drawn from you monthly plan
minutes, Rogers is included at no cost), and then look at Roaming in
the USA.
Long distance. Fido used to be very compatitive at 0.10 per minute, but
they just doubled long distance fees at a time where nobody ever expects
such fees to go up. How much does Rogers charge for long distance ?
Remember that billing by the minute results in roughly a 40% increase in
costs on average. (unless you end up making few but very long calls). So
you need to factor this in for both airtime and long distance.
And there are also subtle differences. Fido used to be answer-to-end,
AT&T (at the time) was send-to-end which means a few more seconds per
call. Now, Fido is also send-to-end, so there is no difference. With
Rogers, if you talk for 59 seconds, you are still billed for 2 minutes
because it dings you for the time to establish the call and the person
at the other end to pick up. With Fido, the impact is less because it is
billed by the second.
Fido has show it can and has changed add-ons at will with litle or no
warning. I have yet to receive any litterature from Fido which explains
the removal of analogue and change in roaming on the Rogers network, and
that went into effect Aug 3.
So little by little, Rogers is reducing the difference between Fido and
Rogers with all those add-ons and I suspect that this si where the
profits are made (icing on the cake).
Archived from groups: alt.cellular.fido (More info?)
In message <42FB905C.A4B6812A@teksavvy.com> JF Mezei
<jfmezei.spamnot@teksavvy.com> wrote:
>Note: one has to look beyond the published plans.
That's why I'm here -- I can work out the plan details myself
>You need to look at whether the advertised price is real or fake (eg: is
>there a hidden fee such as Fido charging a $6.95 fee on top of most
>packages ?
Doesn't Rogers do the same?
>You need to look at voice mail costs. For instance, does accessing voice
>mail from landline incur air time fees or not.
Potentially an issue. I'm 50/50 about voicemail though, I don't even
advertise my cell phone, all I give out is my home phone (Vonage), it
rings my cell phone simultaneously.
Point taken though.
>Roaming. You need to compare roaming costs when in canada (Fido is $0.25
>when outside its original footprint, not drawn from you monthly plan
>minutes, Rogers is included at no cost), and then look at Roaming in
>the USA.
Roaming in Canada isn't a big deal, I'm a city guy myself and I'll eat
the charges when I'm not (Although the $5/month isn't bad) -- Roaming in
the US is a bigger deal, but I can just pick up a prepaid cell when I'm
traveling (I tend to travel for anywhere from a week to over a month at
a time, so it's worth the $10 activation charge)
>Long distance. Fido used to be very compatitive at 0.10 per minute, but
>they just doubled long distance fees at a time where nobody ever expects
>such fees to go up. How much does Rogers charge for long distance ?
Rogers is $0.25 per minute for long distance calls from Canada to
anywhere in North America (except Mexico). I assume that's plus
airtime?
>Remember that billing by the minute results in roughly a 40% increase in
>costs on average. (unless you end up making few but very long calls). So
>you need to factor this in for both airtime and long distance.
Agreed -- This is why I'm looking at Fido at all.
>And there are also subtle differences. Fido used to be answer-to-end,
>AT&T (at the time) was send-to-end which means a few more seconds per
>call. Now, Fido is also send-to-end, so there is no difference. With
>Rogers, if you talk for 59 seconds, you are still billed for 2 minutes
>because it dings you for the time to establish the call and the person
>at the other end to pick up. With Fido, the impact is less because it is
>billed by the second.
Yup. Double-whammy. I don't mind send-to-end (since that's the airtime
I'm actually using), but I mind it combined with per-minute.
>Fido has show it can and has changed add-ons at will with litle or no
>warning. I have yet to receive any litterature from Fido which explains
>the removal of analogue and change in roaming on the Rogers network, and
>that went into effect Aug 3.
Yeah, this annoys me. Rogers seems to be less annoying in this respect,
although I can't really tell for sure.
>So little by little, Rogers is reducing the difference between Fido and
>Rogers with all those add-ons and I suspect that this si where the
>profits are made (icing on the cake).
Yup, and this is why I'm considering Rogers at all -- If they're taking
away the Fido "perks", I may as well just go for Rogers, get something
"stable" and get something I'm happy with.
-- When you're arguing with a fool, make sure he isn't doing the same thing.
MmdneL4rrBq4JzeRVn-iA@rogers.com...