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2:56 pm
Assuming you already have a compatible cell phone the following is a summary of the most cost effective Cell Plans.
1. If your usage is < 95 min/month Speak Out is definitely the the best plan.
2. If your usage is > 95 and < 220 min/month then Virgin Mobile's $20 for 200 anytime minutes is your best best bet.
3. If your usage is > 220 and < 300 min/month then Virgin Mobile's $10 /month plus 10 cent per anytime minute plan is very good.
4. If your usage is > 300 min/month you are better off with one of the monthly plans by the larger Carriers is probably best.
I recently contacted all available in the Toronto area and found TELUS to be by far the best to deal with. I found them to be much more up front with their complete costs, and more important were very willing to offer their popular plans on a month to month basis (Not pressuring you to sign up for a 3 year plan).
FYI our family used to have 3 phones with Virgin Mobile and have just changed two of these, - One to Speak Out, and - One to TELUS on their My Faves plan.
3:21 pm
March 31, 2007
Offline
This is an awesome comparison. Thanks!
3:30 pm
lorac said:
Assuming you already have a compatible cell phone
Virgin is on Bell's network so you can't use their phones on SpeakOut or GSM phones on Virgin. (I assume you already know this.)
Here's my question. Bell's and Telus' networks are both CDMA. Despite that, AFAIK you can't transfer a Telus (or even a Virgin) phone to Bell. They force you to buy one of theirs. As I understand it, this isn't a technical limitation; they just won't do it as a matter of policy (read: greed.) So can you confirm that you transferred a Virgin phone to Telus? Can a Bell Mobility phone also be transferred to Telus?
As for rate plan comparisons, see Compare Rate Plans. It's geared mostly to postpaid plans but they also have a link to prepaid plans, although there's no mention of SpeakOut that I can see.
1:02 am
This is what I need. For a given number of minutes -- what's the best plan. Regardless of phone. I noticed Virgin has now gone to myPlan packages. Is Virgin still the way to go 95-300 minutes? Is Koodo a contender?
12:51 pm
Is Virgin still the way to go 95-300 minutes? Is Koodo a contender?
For usage under 95 minutes per month Speak Out is still your best bet.
For $20 /mo Koodo offers 100 anytime minutes; Unlimited usage Evening and Weekends, and and 50 free outgoing text messages (incoming are free). If half or more of your usage is evenings and weekends this is much better than Virgin or Speak Out.
Virgin's $20 plan is still better if most of your usage is weekdays between 7am to 7pm.
5:44 pm
Another company to look at is DCI Telecom. Their monthly plans start at $10 with no system access fee with 100 anytime minutes included.
10:03 am
any body knows about
DCI Telecom how good this company phones are as compared to speakout.\\\\
expert advise needed
3:48 pm
Regarding DCI
Their $9.95 / month plan may be cost effective for those whose monthly usage is between 50 and 95 minutes / month.
Keep in mind the following though.
- they charge $29.95 to activate the phone
- they charge an additional $1.25 /mo 911
- they charge $0.35 /min for extra minutes
The biggest thing I dislike is that they retain ownership of the SIM that is in your phone and if you lose, damage or fail to return it to them after you end the service, they charge you $75.
4:14 am
They do have other plans, in case their $9.95 plan isn't enough, since their per minute rate for that plan is really high. As far as plans go, this company seems to be pretty cheap.
That $75 for a lost sim is pretty disgusting.
And they require that you use a credit card, since that is the only way they can bill you.
Similar to other companies that piggy-back on the Rogers network (like SpeakOut), they don't offer any data - I THINK. The website is vague, and perhaps the only type of data they offer is GPRS.
Yeah, it's not perfect, but I'm going to switch over to them in the summer. Perhaps I'll get a new phone when that $75 off plan comes back, they switch over when I run out of SpeakOut minutes.
11:49 pm
Thanks lorac. Your insight is really helpful. When looking at Virgin, do you have any perspectives between their prepaid rate plans which you've quoted and the myPlan monthly packages?
8:11 am
If you're thinking about one of Virgin's plans you are probably using more than 200 minutes per month and you will probably find that KOODO or perhaps even TELUS are more effective ways to go.
10:11 am
lorac said:
If you're thinking about one of Virgin's plans you are probably
using more than 200 minutes per month and you will probably find that
KOODO or perhaps even TELUS are more effective ways to go.
IF you can tolerate their crappy coverage!
4:43 pm
IF you can tolerate their crappy coverage!
NOT TRUE!
KOODO, TELUS, and BELL all have the some coverage which is Better than Rogers and 7-11.
10:49 pm
Bell and Telus/Koodoo do not share the exact same coverage.
And each provider probably has some bad coverage areas somewhere in this country.
1:36 am
Bell and Telus/Koodoo do not share the exact same coverage.
NOT TRUE:
Bell and Telus share towers and cell hardware, with Telus owing most of the towers in the west and Bell in the east. As a result they have the same coverage which is better than Rogers who are the only other company with towers nationwide.
KOODO and Virgin use the Bell/Telus network and and have the identical coverage as Bell and Telus. 7-11 uses Rogers network and is limited by their coverage.
Note: In fairness the coverage of both Bell/Telus and Rogers is very good.
9:55 am
Well, as a past long-time user of both Bell & Telus, I can tell you they DO NOT have the same coverage.
I could sit right in front of a Bell tower & NOT get a good signal on my Telus phone.
There are lots of areas here ( S.W. Ontario ) where I used to constantly drop calls with my Telus phone, but not with a Bell or my current Speakout phone.
Repeated complaints to Telus ( they are well aware of these problem areas ) prompted me to switch to SO.
So far, whilst travelling in the same area, I have not dropped 1 single call.
6:26 pm
I suspect that differences in coverage noticed between Bell and Telus have more to do with the phone one is using than anything else.
We currently use 3 cell phones. One Bell, one Telus, and one 7-11/Rogers. All have been excellent in terms of coverage. I travel mostly in the GTA and sometimes as far north as Huntsville, West to London, and East to Cobourg.
As per dropped calls, I have noticed fewer dropped calls with Telus than Bell or Rogers but attribute this to the fact that I am using a Top End MOTO KRZR with Telus and lower end Nokia phones for Bell and 7-11/Rogers.
The only noticeable difference I have noticed as for as coverage is concerned, is that while out sailing on Lake Ontario, Rogers/7-11 reception cuts out way before Bell or Telus. On the other hand when driving down in some of Toronto's underground parking lots Bell/Telus reception cuts out before Rogers/7-11.
For my purposes I would call it a draw!
11:32 pm
Have a look at http://cellplanexpert.ca for choosing the plan that fits you best. They have both prepaid and monthly plans.
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with them.
7:15 am
manny said:
Well, as a past long-time user of both Bell & Telus, I can tell you they DO NOT have the same coverage.
I could sit right in front of a Bell tower & NOT get a good signal on my Telus phone.I agree with Manny
Bell and Telus cannot be exactly the same towers. When I wanted to get out of Telus and switch to Virgin Mobile [which is Bell and now is ALL Bell], Telus told me I get someone to take over my plan. They guy that bought it had been told by people in the Fort Erie Area that Bell sucks down there but Telus was strong. I know that my Virgin Mobile is iffy until I get about 10 miles north of Fort Erie and also in Niagara Falls, I get American Roaming Network until I get to the west side of the Falls.
-Charles
9:51 pm
Just like what lorac wrote, a LOT has to do with the brand AND MODEL of phone that you are using. Even Motorola have weak and strong phones. We should not mistaken a weak phone for a weak cellular signal.
I have personally carried TWO cell phones with me... both phones are NOT top of the line, just mediocre Telus and Rogers. Standing in the middle of big stores like RONA, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart, I could NOT make any calls with my Roger's phone. Signal indicators showed zero for Rogers.
BUT I COULD USE my Telus phone with no problem at all. Apparently, Telus' signal is stronger as also indicated by the phone's signal indicator.
In order to use my Roger's phone, I had to walk to the entrance of the big stores and then only could I use my Roger's phone.
I guess Roger's signal could not penetrate through the roof/ceiling and/or products stacked everywhere in the aisles in the stores.
Talking about Rogers, I read somewhere in this site that 7-11 SO was suspected of selling our cell numbers to telemarketers.
NO, that is not true.
IT IS ROGERS...I was a victim myself...anyone signing up for Rogers anything, (TV or cell phone etc) had better be aware that Rogers will sell or give out your contact home tel or cellular number to bad, obnoxious and extremely inconsiderate telemarketer Gemma Corporation who will harass you into buying Rogers products like "rocket internet stick" and all kinds of product plans. This telemarketer can call you very often up to 3 times a day and even on weekends. AND this telemarketer, once they got your number from ROGERS, they will somehow sell your cell phone number all over the world and scammers from Mumbai, India and elsewhere will phone you for your credit card numbers pretending to abe able to lower your credit card interests etc... NO MORE ROGERS FOR ME, EVER!!!... NO other Canadian Corporation behaves like these sleazy barbarians that sleazy Rogers do business with ... Check here
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx.....95-8813/13
If you'd like to know more, you can flip through all the 15 pages listed at the bottom when you scroll down.
