Canada Cell expenses

[Reynolds531]

I'm currently on Telus for $50 a month. I get 300 minutes and 6gb.

I'm not using the data so thinking about switching to Freedom for $25 unlimited minutes and 250mb.

Any comments on the difference in network would be great. I'm in SW Ontario.

[lizi]

Wow, that appeals to me too. I'm currently prepaid on Koodo and pay on average $25-30/month but I try to limit my data usage to <100MB. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has experience with Freedom.

[kaypinkHH]

Had Freedom/Wind for 3 years.

Pros: Cheap

Cons: Service would cut out (at least in DT toronto) during rush hour/post work, which is when I needed my phone. Also, lack of coverage while travelling to non freedom areas, so had to pay for LD calling/data if needed. Could be managed mostly by planning ahead, but over spend was still cheaper than a more expensive plan!

[Reynolds531]

How does freedom work outside the city? Does it connect to another network?

Does that cost more?

Do they have problems inside buildings?

[kaypinkHH]

You hop on to another network, so coverage wasn't an issue, but it does cost more. You basically are paying roaming rates any time you aren't in a freedom area.  We had a 2 person plan that I believe was $70 a month total, I worked outside of the zone for 1 year during the weeks and some weekends and my average costs (for mostly extra talk and text, I tried to use wifi/google chat/etc. instead of my phone as much as possible, only used data once or twice in an emergency), were $85-90 a month. So increase of $15-20 for consistent use outside of the zone. But for a few days of travel here and there outside the zone you wouldn't see that huge of an impact.

Coverage seemed ok inside buildings (about the same as outside buildings). Downtown Toronto is wonky anyway, so unsure if was freedom or just general cell service.

[jambongris]

Can't speak to their coverage in SW Ontario but I was with Freedom for about two months in Ottawa and their coverage was horrendous. I got zero bars at my office (in the core of the city) and would regularly lose my connection in or around my neighbourhood (also in the core of the city).

The price and data allotments were enticing but it wasn't worth the headache of constantly losing a signal. I ended up switching to PC Mobile and now pay $39 for 500 minutes and 1 Gb with an additional 1 Gb costing $10 if I go over.

[ElleFiji]

I'm paying $47/month for a $40 plan with koodo....and switching to their prepaid, $15/mo plus add-ons. My goal is to stay sub 25.

I really like the koodo network. I used it before freedom/wind, and came back when I was a little less broke. Now I'm less broke, but want to trim the cost.

Depending on your needs, the best options I see are
Koodo prepaid
Speak out
Freedom
Public
Mobilicity) chatter etc

And ads keep popping up for lucky.

Without a second line in my household, I find koodo has great reliability.

[Koogie]

My family has three phones with Koodo postpaid and we love Koodo service and coverage  (disclosure: DW owns Telus stocks).
We do buy the phones outright ourselves though, usually somewhere else, and then get the discount on the Koodo plans.

I have a friend who has Freedom/Wind and yeah, his coverage sucks.  Especially down your way (he works in Windsor).

[daverobev]

If you can deal with it:

Get a Fido tablet plan; 3Gb for $15. And then get something like Voip.ms. Use the data to make calls.

Other than that, Koodo is good. Or Virgin, or in fact whichever gives you the number of minutes you need for the least amount of money.

The thing to watch for is Koodo (and probably the rest as well) charge 50c/minute if you go over your minutes, and bill per minute (they all do this and it drives me absolutely fucking bonkers. If your call is 1:01 you pay for 2 minutes).