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ante posted:Plenty of phones use multiple carriers' frequencies and can be unlocked. Just do the research for the particular phone you want. Telus uses 850/1900 band, 2100 for LTE. The only major carrier would be AT&T running HSPA on 850/1900 and LTE on 2100. T-Mobile runs HSPA on 1700. Sprint/Verizon run CDMA on 850/1900 so it's not useful, even with LTE.
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Dec 31, 2013 09:03
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less than three posted:The only major carrier would be AT&T running HSPA on 850/1900 and LTE on 2100. I think what he's saying is that most phones these days work with more than one carrier. With the Moto X (specifically the AT&T, T-Mo and Developer Edition [GSM] versions), for example, all 3 GSM versions works with both AT&T and T-Mo, and thus the Canadian Big 3 as well as WIND and Mobilicity. I believe the iPhone 5S will work with all carriers regardless of where you get it from, even a CDMA carrier. My cousin got a Sprint 5S and it works just fine with Rogers.
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Dec 31, 2013 10:01
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There are actually five different iPhone 5S models, it just happens that 3 of them, including the CDMA models include a pentaband HSPA antenna which supports what all Canadian providers require. It is fairly common for CDMA devices to do this so that they can work outside of the USA, though usually they don't include the support for 1700MHz. There's also a million different LTE bands to be aware of as well. IIRC only one or two of the bands in the upcoming 700MHz auction are supported by the current iPhone.
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Dec 31, 2013 16:18
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An important point on the unlocking discussion: Yes, the carrier can unlock a device for a fee if purchased outright, but they can only unlock their own devices. So don't expect them to unlock an American device for you. Also, if you buy it from Rogers, you may need to be a Rogers customer for them to unlock it.
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Dec 31, 2013 16:19
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You can unlock your own phone for about $10 by buying a code from an eBay seller. Just search for your provider and your phone model (e.g. Wind LG P999) and someone will have it. Just tell the seller your model and IMEI number, you'll get a code by email within a few hours.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:32
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If you aren't tied to a specific model, NCIX has a selection of unlocked android phones that looks to not be horribly over priced. I'm not sure why you wouldn't just order a Nexus 5 from google though.
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Dec 31, 2013 20:29
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I currently pay 65$ a month after taxes for unlimated text, canada wide calling and 5 gigs of date as well as voicemail and call display. I also reside in Manitoba and I am on rogers. I was looking at plans in Ontario and they are something like twice as much for what I am getting, why is there such a large difference based on location?
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Dec 31, 2013 21:04
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Beautiful Princess posted:I currently pay 65$ a month after taxes for unlimated text, canada wide calling and 5 gigs of date as well as voicemail and call display. I also reside in Manitoba and I am on rogers. I was looking at plans in Ontario and they are something like twice as much for what I am getting, why is there such a large difference based on location? Doesn't Manitoba have a provincial carrier or something that drives down prices? Also if you got your plan sometime before the middle of last year the prices seem to have spiked since then. Or rather, the prices stayed the same but the amount of data they give you has fallen dramatically. I signed up to Koodo in August 2012 and got $60/month (before tax) for 6 gigs of data, voice mail, call display, etc. Now they have the same plans but with 1 gig or during specials they push it to the staggering heights of 2gigs. Edit: I'm in Vancouver.
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Dec 31, 2013 21:09
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We do have MTS which for 60$ gives you unlimted date, 400 weekday minutes, call displays, unlimted text etc. plus way better coverage compared to Rogers, but until recently they had a very poor selection of phones. Thank god for socialist Manitoba I suppose.
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Dec 31, 2013 21:23
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ah yeah, MTS, that's it. The big carriers for cable, internet and phone all have to lower their prices to compete there as far as I know.
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Dec 31, 2013 23:01
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Motorola just dropped the price of the Moto X. I'd like to order one directly from Google so I can get the 32 GB version. Is there any way to get them to ship to Canada? The dropdown menu for country is greyed out and when I put in my postal code, it tells me its invalid. Am I going to have to plan a road trip to Seattle or some poo poo?
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Jan 2, 2014 00:17
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Portfolio posted:Motorola just dropped the price of the Moto X. I'd like to order one directly from Google so I can get the 32 GB version. Is there any way to get them to ship to Canada? The dropdown menu for country is greyed out and when I put in my postal code, it tells me its invalid. I have 4 failed Moto X orders and 7 or so hours spent on the phone with their sales team as a result of the Cyber Monday deal, so I can answer this question. Nope, you can't ship to Canada, you can't ship to freight forwarders down in Washington, heck, you can't even buy one with a Canadian card (they'll let you order, and then their system will automatically cancel the order a few minutes later)! What I ended up doing was have my aunt in NYC order it for me, then my cousin brought it from NY to Toronto and shipped it to me. If you have family in the States, that may be the only way to go.
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Jan 2, 2014 10:37
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I'm in Ontario and am looking for a plan that does unlimited Canada wide calling & texting, voicemail, call waiting, and call display. I only need 1 - 2 GB of data a month. From what I've seen looking around $65 - $70 seems to be the going rate for a plan like that. Does that sound right? I just want to make sure I'm not missing an obvious promotion or something.
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Jan 3, 2014 18:54
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Mr. Apollo posted:I'm in Ontario and am looking for a plan that does unlimited Canada wide calling & texting, voicemail, call waiting, and call display. I only need 1 - 2 GB of data a month. From what I've seen looking around $65 - $70 seems to be the going rate for a plan like that. Does that sound right? I just want to make sure I'm not missing an obvious promotion or something. Near Quebec? If so, you could pop over the border and get that for $45 from Koodo.
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Jan 3, 2014 20:21
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Lexicon posted:Near Quebec? If so, you could pop over the border and get that for $45 from Koodo.
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Jan 3, 2014 20:44
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If you're in a Wind service area and have a compatible phone, their holiday promotion is $39 and is available until February.
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Jan 3, 2014 21:00
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I'm in downtown Toronto, but everyone I know on WIND constantly complains about their reception (or lack of it).
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Jan 3, 2014 21:10
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I left telus for like nine months for koodo and now that I'm back I've got to say that I'm super impressed with their customer service. I've had some weird requests for increasing and reversing data changes and charges and their reps have totally understood and implemented my requests perfectly, which is insane compared to the snark I got from koodo for really simple requests. They even call me back when they say they will and follow notes on my account. Also I've barely had to wait on hold, like max of three minutes on Christmas Day when they must have been swamped.
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Jan 3, 2014 22:58
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Lexicon posted:Near Quebec? If so, you could pop over the border and get that for $45 from Koodo. I don't see how this makes any sense. Even if it's possible to get a Quebec specific price plan with an Ontario billing address, you would most certainly need to have a Quebec based number (area code) which means no one in Ontario will want to call you because it's long distance. In answer to the original question, yes. $60-$70 / month is the going rate to get a smartphone subsidised in Ontario with voice and data on a 2 year term.
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Jan 4, 2014 02:19
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WienerDog posted:I don't see how this makes any sense. Even if it's possible to get a Quebec specific price plan with an Ontario billing address, you would most certainly need to have a Quebec based number (area code) which means no one in Ontario will want to call you because it's long distance.
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Jan 4, 2014 04:20
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tuyop posted:Stuff
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Jan 4, 2014 04:25
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WienerDog posted:I don't see how this makes any sense. Even if it's possible to get a Quebec specific price plan with an Ontario billing address, you would most certainly need to have a Quebec based number (area code) which means no one in Ontario will want to call you because it's long distance. I agree it's complicated, but I've heard of people pulling it off. Given the enshrinement of number portability, I don't think they can easily prevent you bringing your [non-Quebec] number along. My girlfriend will be doing this very manoeuvre this weekend.... I shall be reporting back to the thread on it.
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Jan 4, 2014 04:33
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Mr. Apollo posted:You're lucky. I've been with them for almost 15 years (back when they were still Clearnet) and I always get crappy customer service they never offer me anything and don't care. I called today asking about the Koodo plans and I was told just to go ahead and switch because they weren't going to even try and lower my monthly cost. You do know that Telus and Koodo are the same company right? You basically just threatened to continue your service with them.
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Jan 4, 2014 04:37
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ZShakespeare posted:You do know that Telus and Koodo are the same company right? You basically just threatened to continue your service with them.
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Jan 4, 2014 05:36
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Lexicon posted:I agree it's complicated, but I've heard of people pulling it off. Given the enshrinement of number portability, I don't think they can easily prevent you bringing your [non-Quebec] number along. I didn't notice he had an existing Toronto number so I hadn't considered porting, that would get you out of being stuck with an out of province phone number. You're actually going to Quebec? I'm not sure you're going to be able to get it set up without a Quebec ID / address, but let us know how it goes.
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Jan 4, 2014 05:59
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WienerDog posted:I didn't notice he had an existing Toronto number so I hadn't considered porting, that would get you out of being stuck with an out of province phone number. For what it's worth, when I was going to school in Montreal, I was able to set up a new account with a Montreal number using my home address in Vancouver. Although I'm pretty sure I wasn't taking advantage of some Quebec-only plan so not sure if that changes things.
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Jan 4, 2014 06:46
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WienerDog posted:I didn't notice he had an existing Toronto number so I hadn't considered porting, that would get you out of being stuck with an out of province phone number. We're in Quebec for a few months (school stuff). Perfect circumstances to get this all squared away, assuming it's possible 
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Jan 4, 2014 07:32
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According to everyone who's done it on Howard Forums you give your current Ontario address and tell them you're moving there for a job or school and that you'll update the address later.
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Jan 4, 2014 07:34
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I can give them an actual QC address right now, so that ought to grease the wheels further. Once the online billing is set up, and the number ported, it's all but irrelevant what they have on file.
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Jan 4, 2014 07:45
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I'm looking for a prepaid service in BC for my mom. Fido used to be $0.30/minute but it looks like they jumped up to $0.40... She just wants something that she can put $10 into and not worry about it. Any suggestions?
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Jan 4, 2014 08:01
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KNITS MY FEEDS posted:I'm looking for a prepaid service in BC for my mom. http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/ 25c/min no frills service. Good for 1 year.
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Jan 4, 2014 08:04
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less than three posted:http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/ Any ideas on how their service is like? And apparently Superstore has their own service... PC Mobile? Looks like it's Bell and $0.20 a minute.
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Jan 4, 2014 08:14
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KNITS MY FEEDS posted:Any ideas on how their service is like? Seven eleven is Rogers. It's the best for low usage folk because of the 365 day expiry on all balances. My mom has like $800 tied up in Telus prepaid because she's paying in monthly and doesn't want to expire, but has no use for a cell phone. All that money is wasted.
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Jan 4, 2014 08:18
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That's a good point. I'm pretty sure she'd just call me and my Dad. Possibly just receive our calls honestly. Thanks guys. Additional feedback/suggestion welcome!
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Jan 4, 2014 08:26
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KNITS MY FEEDS posted:That's a good point. I'm pretty sure she'd just call me and my Dad. Possibly just receive our calls honestly. PC Mobile will give better coverage in BC outside the GVRD (as you get to roam on TELUS) versus Rogers. However you need to top up in increments of $100 to get the 365 day expiry which can kill it depending on how low her usage is.
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Jan 4, 2014 08:29
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Wow, so it actually worked by signing up for the plan with a Montreal number, and then porting in online as the Howard Forums page suggests. It turns out it's even possible to do it remotely - you don't need to be physically present in Quebec or Saskatchewan or what have you. Yesterday my girlfriend and I visited Koodo in Montreal (here temporarily for school). She announced that she wanted to port away from Rogers as her contract was finished, and start month-to-month service with the 10% own-device discount. The intent was to sign up for the extremely-good-deal $45 unlimited plan with 1GB data (and $10 per GB thereafter). The employee was totally on board with our plan here, and in particular the porting - said it wouldn't be a problem. Credit check went totally fine with the out-of-province IDs. Everything was ticking along perfectly... until the store employee got to a particular part of the setup screen. And we got shutdown. The system prevented her from going any further, because the ported number is from outside Quebec. The employee was astonished that this happened, and had to run it by some colleagues and the manager - all of whom seemed to believe it should make no difference where the ported number originated from. In the end, the only way to proceed was to continue with one of the non-Quebec plans - at Koodo, anyway, it was impossible to proceed. We then visited Fido, who has the same plan on offer. The same anecdote played out precisely as it did at Koodo - down to the last minute system blocking, and the astonishment of the employees who saw no reason why this should be a problem. So, in short, it looks like the carriers are wise to this cellular plan arbitrage trick, and moreover, it sounds like a recent development. In a way, I actually admire their commitment to preserving their high-ARPU in other regions of the country, and using the high-switching-cost and inconvenience of a new PSTN area code/number and a loophole/disregard of the number portability rules, to do so. loving bastards. Lexicon fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Jan 6, 2014 |
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Jan 5, 2014 17:06
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My friend just signed up for the Koodo Quebec plan online. He selected Toronto, Ontario as his service area and successfully ported over his 416 Telus number. Maybe you have to select the same service area as the number you're trying to port?
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Jan 5, 2014 23:06
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Do Rogers stores just let you buy phones outright? I'm already with Rogers, but the corporate plan I'm on can't be modified by Rogers stores. It has to be done through the plan's assigned agent. I'd rather buy in store because then I can just pay there instead of having to go through invoices and accounting (since they would put it on my monthly bill if the agent did it.)
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Jan 6, 2014 03:25
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Mr. Apollo posted:My friend just signed up for the Koodo Quebec plan online. He selected Toronto, Ontario as his service area and successfully ported over his 416 Telus number. Yeah, this worked beautifully! It's rather odd, because this means the customer dashboard has a superset of the capabilities of the folks in-store, but so be it!
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Jan 6, 2014 03:35
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Aphrodite posted:Do Rogers stores just let you buy phones outright? Telus and Koodoo wouldn't let me just buy a phone 
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