My Ultimate Canadian Cellphone Setup

[nawoa]

MAJOR UPDATE: OCTOBER 26, 2010. I'm completely rewriting this from scratch to reflect new information and experiences.

Hello! I wanted to share the fruits of my labour, so to speak. Before I begin, I should disclose that I am NOT an employee of Telus, Google, HTC, FreePhoneLine, Xpresscall, or any of the other companies I might mention. What I am is simply a telecommunication company's worst nightmare: an educated consumer.

For the last few months I've been researching cellphones, providers, plans, limitations, the benefits and drawbacks of Android vs iPhone vs Windows Mobile 6.5 vs Windows Phone 7 vs Blackberry, etc. At last, I think I've found a really, really solid system to get the most I can for my money. This is the setup I decided on, and the reasons for my choices, and I apologize in advance because I have a tendency to be long-winded:

I chose Telus as my cell provider.

In all, I investigated Rogers, Fido, Wind, Bell, Telus, Virgin, and some of the smaller operators. The problem is, all but Bell and Telus currently don't have any real "current generation" cellular devices (WVGA screen + a modern mobile OS) besides iPhones and dumbphones. Telus just released the HTC Desire (a variant of the well-known Google Nexus One), while Bell recently released the Samsung Galaxy S, which they have released as the "Vibrant". However, this is not the "Vibrant" that's been released in the 'States, it's actually (from what I can tell) a slightly (if at all) modified version of the standard international version of the phone, known officially as the i9000.

So, in essence, I was presented with two choices: A great, well-known phone from Telus, or a cutting-edge but unproven phone from Bell. Ultimately what it came down to was the selection of phone plans that were available, and here is where the choice became obvious. I primarily wanted my phone for mobile data, so monthly bandwidth allotment was a huge concern. Bell offers 1 GB of data with 300 minutes for $65 a month, plus a choice of unlimited text, unlimited 5 numbers, or an extra 200 minutes... not horrible but let's check Telus, shall we? Telus offers the exact same package and the exact same choice of 3 free extras with one exception: 5 bonus gigabytes of monthly transfer is given for any plan over $60 a month. 6 GB and 300 minutes for $65? IN CANADA?? Yes please. They also allow tethering, which will be nice if I'm traveling and want internet access on my laptop.

UPDATE: THE +5 GB OFFER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. IN OTHER WORDS, YOUR CHOICE BETWEEN BELL AND TELUS IS SIMPLY A MATTER OF WHICH PHONE YOU WANT AND WHETHER OR NOT YOU HATE BELL, IN OTHER WORDS, IF HAVE DONE BUSINESS WITH THEM AT ANY TIME.

I chose Android as my operating system.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is on its way out and isn't going to be compatible with Windows Phone 7, so it wasn't even a serious consideration. Windows Phone 7 doesn't support multitasking and it will be a while before it's a mature, stable alternative with a comparable feature set to Android and iPhone. I don't really like Apple too much in general because of their business conduct, closed market system, and the fact that I'd want an iPhone 4... meaning I'd have to re-learn how to hold my phone and be careful not to breathe on it (or put it in a case, apparently) lest it shatter.

Android is the most open and flexible mobile operating system, period. There are risks associated with such openness, such as the possibility of malicious or poorly-coded downloaded apps doing things you might not appreciate. However, by simply using a little common sense these dangers can be avoided completely. When you choose to download an app, you are notified in verbose detail exactly what the app will have permission to do and see. This varies from app to app and you can uninstall anything just as easily as you installed it. Another good way to avoid potentially bad or malicious apps is by checking the comments other people have made on it as well as the number of times it has been downloaded.

If an app is discovered to be malicious, Google has the power to remotely disable it if need be. This raises a flag in some peoples' minds, but Google has exercised great restraint so far in its use of this ability. In any case, you can also install apps you've downloaded on your main computer manually using the HTC Sync software or by copying the apps to your phone and using a phone-based installer such as Astro File Manager.

I chose the HTC Desire to be my new smartphone.

Since I was basically choosing between doing business with the worst telecom company in Canada (Bell) with a terrible data package, or an OK telecom company with an incredible data package (AS NOTED EARLIER, THE DATA PACKAGES ARE NOW IDENTICAL), I was basically limited to a choice of either the Desire, the Desire, or the Desire. I didn't want to regret my decision though so I tried the Samsung Galaxy S, with the intention of buying it outright and then unlocking it and switching to Telus after the first month.

The Galaxy S is a bit of a mixed bag. It has a front-facing camera for video calling, but no flash on the back for the main camera, and isn't the so-called "pro" version with the slide-out keyboard. Having used the phone myself for a full day, I can say with confidence that the lack of a camera flash isn't really much of an issue since the picture quality is quite good (for a cellphone) and, more importantly, it is extremely responsive; shutter lag is very low. However, after a day of using the "Vibrant", I decided that it wasn't the right phone for me.

Samsung's custom version of Android is quite low-quality and despite their statement that they will release an Android 2.2 update, overall due to their weak initial release I have come to the conclusion that they don't have a strong commitment to getting the phone to run its best. You get the impression that to Samsung their phone division is not a high priority for them, which is surprising given how top-notch the hardware itself is. The screen is nice although it seems to use the battery somewhat faster than their public relations department would lead you to believe, and the phone's performance seems generally good although you can tell that the custom software isn't doing it any favours. In fact, the awful custom software is basically the #1 reason anyone wants to "root" their Galaxy S if you do some reading. It's basically Android with an iPhone skin and such abysmal coding that it slows the entire phone down by 50-75% much of the time.

The Desire is also a much better-understood platform since it is based on Google's "developer phone", the Nexus One. As such, it is likely to have much stronger developer support for a while. For instance, at the time I'm writing this, Skype doesn't work on Galaxy S phones but works fine on virtually everything else, and the Desire has a version of the Cyanogenmod rom available for it while it's still only in planning for the Galaxy S - and even then, only for one of the five current models.

In brief, the HTC Desire is an outstanding phone and certainly the best choice for Canadian smartphone buyers at this time, as well as still being one of the most well-rounded Android phones released to date anywhere. It has a good SLCD screen instead of the original high-contrast AMOLED screen it was launched with, but due to AMOLED's current weaknesses (poor outdoor visibility, severe burn-in potential within just a few months, color oversaturation, short expected lifespan, unique subpixel layout leading to text blurriness, greater-than-expected battery drain, etc), I consider this to be a positive thing. It has more than enough RAM and storage space for almost anyone, and the upcoming Android 2.2 update will eliminate any storage limitation you might feel. It also comes with a relatively generous 8 GB microSD card for external storage (Telus). Touch accuracy is superb (although I should note that it is not actually "multitouch" per se, only being able to detect two fingers at a time), the interface is fast and well-designed, battery life is average to good (depending on your software configuration, 1-3 days with moderate use), official and unofficial accessories are widely available, and it uses cheap and common Micro USB cables for charging and PC connectivity so you don't need to worry about yet another custom cord.

"Rooting" it (in other words "jailbreaking") for additional functionality is relatively painless and well-understood. There are dozens of well-made custom operating system ROMs available in well-organized community sites such as XDA-Developers, though many of them are just Cyanogenmod variants. Mobile data is fast and has great coverage (Telus), call quality is excellent even in the car through speakerphone, and the Android App Market is positively exploding with free and paid apps for almost any purpose. Games do remain a weak point; there are still really only a handful of competently designed, interesting games. However, you must remember that Android as an operating system only became truly competitive with iPhone OS in the 12 months, and in terms of sales only became comparable to iPhone in the last 3-4 months, so for the short term this is no surprise.

Video and audio codec support is adequate, with h.264 (baseline) being the best choice for video and AAC being the best choice for audio; in other words, anything that will play on an iPhone (except protected content) will play on Android. Many other formats are playable using apps such as VPlayer (free, currently in alpha status) or RockPlayer (nag screens + ads until purchased, but full-featured).

Overall, it is EXACTLY what I want from a smartphone and the only thing that could make me happier with my purchase would be if I could find an expanded battery that didn't ruin the phone's appearance and convenient slimness.

How I'm getting the most for my money:

Note, previously this post included a suggestion to add your FreePhoneLine number as one of your favourite 5 in order to receive unlimited incoming calls. I tested this idea though and it doesn't appear to work after all, despite what I'd read to the contrary. Additionally, since FreePhoneLine doesn't/can't redirect SMS/MMS messages to your phone, it would mean giving two numbers to everyone and expecting them to remember to call the right one all the time... And good luck with that. Since this is no longer part of my little scheme, it's no longer really related to FreePhoneLine... as such I'm setting this post as "normal" rather than "sticky", and moderators feel free to delete the whole thing if you feel it doesn't belong here.

I signed up with a company called XpressCall and got 40 free minutes plus another bonus 40 minutes through a coupon at RedFlagDeals. So now, as long as I dial the XpressCall number before the number I want to dial, I effectively have unlimited outgoing calls - anywhere in Canada. Or, rather, close to free; XpressCall charges a couple cents a minute or so, but they're prepaid and your minutes/payments NEVER expire.

But that was still a little inconvenient though. I didn't want to have to remember the access number. So I went on the Android App Market and sure enough, I found exactly what I needed for this situation: an app called "Prefix Dialer". When you run the app, it gives you the choice of activating or deactivating call interception - note that you do NOT want to specify a "fixed" number, or you will automatically dial the prefix on EVERY call without being asked first. Maybe that's what you want, but it's not really ideal IMO. While call interception is active, it will give you the choice to dial a different number before the number you've asked the phone to dial - this is where you enter the XpressCall number. You can use commas where necessary to add a short pause.

For example, my outgoing call prefix is: "18663395656,[my code here]".

Whatever you enter as the prefix dialing number is saved until you delete it. You will be asked whether or not the prefix should be added before every call you make until you open Prefix Dialer again and disable it. The only downside to using a prefix is that there's about a 15 second extra wait before your call is actually "made"... hardly worth mentioning considering the benefit, IMO.

In case you're worried, I can find no indication that Telus has a policy against "calling cards" like this, and ALL Canadian toll-free numbers (including XpressCall's) are considered local calls anywhere in Canada. I have verified this with both phone-based and email-based customer support. It would seem that all they have to say on the subject is this:

Even so, you might just want to check their terms from time to time to make sure they haven't updated the exclusions... Hopefully by that time cellphone plans will be more reasonably-priced anyway.

[leper1983]

First, I signed up for FreePhoneLine and got a local number. I set the number to forward to to my cellphone and added my FreePhoneLine number as one of my favourite 5 - so I have no fees for ANY incoming calls.

as far as i know this little trick doesn't work with ftl and you would require some kind of free incoming plan with telus to not be charged.. you can test it out and forward ftl to another number.. you'll notice each incoming call wont use the ftl number it uses the line you are calling from

[bridonca]

I worked out a setup that only cost me $40 a month, after expenses, which I will discuss them later.

I went to Virgin, paid $5 for a SIM card and got their $30 half gigabyte data plan. With that plan, as an add on, I also got myself unlimited local incoming calls for an extra $10.

Now, I am not spending $600 for a phone that will be $150 next year. Instead, I paid $150 for a used, contract free, Rogers Nokia E71, and I unlocked it. You can get a new unlocked Nokia E63 for $150 at newegg. Nokia Symbian phones do not have the prettiest interface, but they pretty much do what a $600 phone does. Most important feature for me was the tethering. As long as the phone is HSPA friendly, and has a decent browser, it will be fine.

Now it would be nice to make calls without incurring more charges. That is where freephoneline comes in! You pay the $50 for the sip settings if you have not done so already, and you subscribe to a VOIP provider called Voxalot. For $15 a year, you can get a feature called Web call back. It works very much like Jajah or dingaling.ca in that when you activate the web panel, it will call your cell, and then call the number you inputed. What makes Voxalot better, is that you can use freephoneline.ca as one of many voice service providers. That allows people with caller id to see your freephoneline number, and if you have freephoneline forwarded to your cell, You can get the incoming call. I might add the voice quality has been consistently excellent.

With Voxalot web call back, you can set up a web page of all the numbers you frequently dial. So once set up, you just need to click an icon on that web page to be able to dial that number.

Let us get a recap on the costs.

Around $90 and up for a HSPA compatible phone.
$5 for the Virgin SIM
$35 for activation (you might get that waived)
$15 a year for Voxalot
$40 a month for Virgin

Beat that!

[nawoa]

I don't know what Virgin's policy is on VOIP, but Telus specifically prohibits it. Aside from that, if all you're interested in is calling, it sounds like a solid deal. Personally I'm about 60/40 in favor of mobile browsing and apps, with actual "phone" use not really being my priority.

"as far as i know this little trick doesn't work with ftl"
FTL? You mean freephoneline? I haven't received my first bill yet but I guess we'll see. It seems... odd that they could just simply connect someone that calls your freephoneline number directly with your cellphone. I mean, I guess it's probably possible but I wasn't expecting that possibility. Are you sure?

[bridonca]

I don't know what Virgin's policy is on VOIP, but Telus specifically prohibits it. Aside from that, if all you're interested in is calling, it sounds like a solid deal. Personally I'm about 60/40 in favor of mobile browsing and apps, with actual "phone" use not really being my priority.

"as far as i know this little trick doesn't work with ftl"
FTL? You mean freephoneline? I haven't received my first bill yet but I guess we'll see. It seems... odd that they could just simply connect someone that calls your freephoneline number directly with your cellphone. I mean, I guess it's probably possible but I wasn't expecting that possibility. Are you sure?

That is what makes my setup so sweet, you are not using any data to make the call, You only use a web browser to tell a web page the numbers you want dialed. The VOIP is coming from elsewhere, the cell phone just thinks it is just another incoming phone call.

[Konowl]

When freephoneline forwards your calls... how does that work? Say someone phones my freephoneline number but it's actually a call originating in New Brunswick... and I have it setup to forward the number to my cell phone. If I have free incoming LOCAL calls on my cell, does my provider see the call as local of long distance?

[bridonca]

When freephoneline forwards your calls... how does that work? Say someone phones my freephoneline number but it's actually a call originating in New Brunswick... and I have it setup to forward the number to my cell phone. If I have free incoming LOCAL calls on my cell, does my provider see the call as local of long distance?

The originating New Brunswick number would be displayed on your cell phone call display even if forwarded by Freephoneline.

[Konowl]

That's great, but for my cell phone providers purposes, is the number considered coming from my local Freephoneline number or New Brunswick? For example, I get free LOCAL incoming calls on weeknights and weekends.... but not free incoming long distance calls. So if they called my freephoneline number and I forwarded that number to my cell, is it still an incoming long distance call?

Thansk in advance!

Gary

[leper1983]

"as far as i know this little trick doesn't work with ftl"
FTL? You mean freephoneline? I haven't received my first bill yet but I guess we'll see. It seems... odd that they could just simply connect someone that calls your freephoneline number directly with your cellphone. I mean, I guess it's probably possible but I wasn't expecting that possibility. Are you sure?

Yea i have no idea how i kept miss spelling it.. but the forwarding system fpl uses is like any other kind of system.. when you set up forwarding all fpl does is redirect the person that is calling you to the new number so you won't be able to exploit telus one number unlimited system unfortunately.

Just setup your call fowarding and call the FPL number and if your fpl number shows up on the incoming call you can exploit telus.. if it displays the number your calling from your shit out of luck

[j8van]

"as far as i know this little trick doesn't work with ftl"
FTL? You mean freephoneline? I haven't received my first bill yet but I guess we'll see. It seems... odd that they could just simply connect someone that calls your freephoneline number directly with your cellphone. I mean, I guess it's probably possible but I wasn't expecting that possibility. Are you sure?

Hi nawoa, how is your first bill reflecting this "little trick"? did telus charge the incoming stranger calls even they were via your "favourate-listed" fpl number? or those stranger calls are all free because telus regarded them all as calls from your favourate-listed fpl number?

It's confusing me too, if say konowl's boss called him from New Brunswick to his home phone (New Brunswick local number), and konowl's home phone forwarded the call to konowl's New York cell number in US. Yes the New York cell would display the boss' number, but as I know, the boss only needs to pay local rate which transaction is between boss' phone company and konowl's home phone company, at the time being, it's konowl's home phone to pay the long distance rate which is conducted between his New Brunswick home phone company and his New York cell phone company.

Therefore I would like to believe, Konowl's New York cell phone company only deals with the New Brunswick home phone company on this call regardless the displayed caller is another number, and if the New Brunswick home phone is an "best-favourate-international-unlimited" number of the New York cell phone, then the cell phone company wouldn't charge Konowl any.

Hope I'm clear enough.

[bctripster]

My setup is as follows .. a combination of FPL and voip.ms routed via pbxes.org.

With that setup I can have all lines ring on as many devices as needed. So I have my FPL line ringing on my home PAP2T as well as via my iPhone's SIP software (Acrobits). I'm using Fido 3G, $30 for 6GB/month, so data usage isn't an issue. You can do this cheaper by choosing their 500MB plan for $25, but you might as well pay the extra $5 so you can actually use the data plan for something once in a while, like streaming music in the car . Their talk plans start at $15.

My dial plan at pbxes.org is setup that if I call out without a 1- at the front of the number it tries to route it via FPL, if I use a 1 it will route it via voip.ms ($0.0052/minute to Canada). Fido does not restrict VOIP via 3G, so it works just fine. Although if you end up in a busy 3G tower the call quality can be horrible, but on lightly used towers it is as good as using it on the PAP2T, even with the uLaw codec rather than G729.

pbxes.org offers free PBX setup, which is quite decent, of course this does put another link in the chain. Additionally their free plan only allows for 2000/minutes per month and 60 minute call length. But you can sign up for 5000/minutes and 180 minute call length for 3 Euros.

I do have secondary SIP lines setup at home and on the iPhone that go direct to voip.ms which has no restrictions just in case the pbxes.org setup is having issues, and because I use those secondary lines for business and want the best connection possible.

One thing interesting tonight, I was on a call on my home line which was going through pbxes.org and over my voip.ms trunk, but when FPL went down I lost the call even though I was on another trunk. Strange.

[Bloodsong]

I used to have unlimited internet on my palm through the telus student plan. Yeah I ripped them off pretty hard

I haven't done it yet, but what I'm planning right now, on an unlimited incoming/unlimited text plan is this:

(Very vague references to advanced setups ahead:)

Using Asterisk (As it's probably the best documented free VoIP PBX with SMS support.)
Setup your freephoneline, then with a little scriptfu, you can setup a dial-back service. (similar to Vox-A-Lot or google voice. Where you use a website etc, and it dials you and then the other number.)

Using the SMS support plugins, setup a script so that any SMS (Text message) sent from your phone number to the PBX initiates a call, the system will dial back to you, and dial forward to the phone number you gave it in the SMS. (For error checking make sure it accepts numbers only, and your choice of 7, 10, or 11 digit dialing.)

I haven't done the numbers, but know it's not very expensive to get a unlimited incoming, or a decent text messaging package.

[tummon]

For the outgoing portion of your setup, I'd suggest investigating Skype To Go. Similar to the XpressCall service you've described but you can leverage Skype's 2.99 u/l NA calling plan. For some reason, Skype provides Ontario based Sktyp-to-go numbers but doesn't provide local Skype-In numbers.

[nawoa]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry this is so late: I'm very disappointed to say my first bill arrived and my Free Phone Line number was NOT detected. Calls appeared to be coming from the actual originating number. Very, very sorry, I was confident this would work but no such luck. I apologize for jumping the gun and I hope I didn't give too many people false hope. I will update my original post to reflect this new information.

On the bright side, the Xpresscall + Prefix Dialer trick DOES work and effectively gives me unlimited outgoing calls to anywhere for almost free.

Thanks to everyone else who has in the meantime offered up alternatives, I will have to look into the SIP options possibly. I'm mainly interested in long-distance outgoing calls though, since the overwhelming majority of my incoming communication usually takes place with text messages. XpressCall is bloody golden for this, and combined with the Prefix Dialer app I can't say I'm really eager to push my good luck any further!

The next thing I'm really interested in is for Skype to fix their new Android app, it's bloody worthless right now. Like a pre-alpha coded by a blind monkey or something. No, scratch that, a blind, retarded, drunk monkey that did a lot of drugs in high school.


Anyone else here got an Android phone? Here's my app list, if you're interested: http://www.appbrain.com/user/nawoa

[thejinx0r]

I know I'm a bit late to the forums. But I thought this could still help.
Since you have the desire, you could just pay the 50$ for the sip config file and then you you could use csipsimple on android to get free outgoing/incoming with FPL?

[Jake]

I just thought I would throw my hat in the ring here. It is not as complex as some of the suggestions here, but our goal was to get free calls (in and out) as cheaply as possible per month. I 'work' from home, so data, texting, and all the other wonderful things mobiles do is not very important to us as the computer is right there all day. Phone calls to and from the kids however seems a never ending activity while we are out. Which is why this setup works for us, but I know it will be moot for many of you.

I signed up for FPL over a year ago and have been using it as my main number after a month of trial. When I signed up for the FPL DSL package bundle it came with a config file, so this basically gave us a spare number. This is the number I use as my mobile number.

Remembering that talking is our only reason for having a phone, we picked up a Telus pay as you go phone for $59.99 which also came with $20 credit. We chose Telus pay as you go for one reason only, it has a one number unlimited calling plan for $7 a month. I programmed in my spare FPL number as this number so I get free calls to and from it at any time.

Next I have set up my freeswitch pbx to forward calls to this number to the mobile. Because it is done through FS the caller ID that comes in is my FPL number, not the person calling. This gives me free calls in all the time.

I have also set up the FS pbx to recognize my cell number when I call in to my spare number, which then runs through a DISA script and allows me to call out. This gives me free calls out all the time and uses the spare number as the caller ID, so people will call back on that number and keep my real mobile number hidden.

Each month I have to top up with $10, which is all set up automatically, and the one number calling is also automatically renewed. So for $10 a month I get free calls in and out which is the best I could do. From that $10 it uses $7 for the one number plan, leaving a couple of $s for texting or calling numbers not free via FPL which I don't think is too bad.

[domptg]

Jake wrote "I have also set up the FS pbx to recognize my cell number when I call in to my spare number, which then runs through a DISA script and allows me to call out. This gives me free calls out all the time and uses the spare number as the caller ID, so people will call back on that number and keep my real mobile number hidden."

Hey Jake
I'm a newbie to this and I like your cell/FPL number setup.
I would like to know where to buy this free switch pbx box with DISA script so I can do exactly what you did with outgoing calls on FPL number.

[Jake]

Jake wrote "I have also set up the FS pbx to recognize my cell number when I call in to my spare number, which then runs through a DISA script and allows me to call out. This gives me free calls out all the time and uses the spare number as the caller ID, so people will call back on that number and keep my real mobile number hidden."

Hey Jake
I'm a newbie to this and I like your cell/FPL number setup.
I would like to know where to buy this free switch pbx box with DISA script so I can do exactly what you did with outgoing calls on FPL number.

Hi Domptg, maybe someone else can point you in the direction of an easier way to get it installed. I am no expert and just fiddle around with things until I get them to work as close as I can.
Freeswitch is a free program that you can install on a unix or windows machine. I have it installed on a spare Ubuntu computer I have in the basement that also acts as a local test webserver. Since I have loaded it on I understand there are various builds that come with nice GUIs. Maybe if I was doing this again I might go down that route, but I was new when I first looked into it. Others here might be able to advise you which way to go.

There is quite a bit of work to get going, at least for me it was, but start here http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Installation_Guide you might know more than me and find this easy.

Once you have it installed this is the DISA script I used http://wiki.freeswitch.org/wiki/Examples_disa.js

I had to play around with the dial plans and such but it works nice now it is set up. I am more than willing to point you in the right directions, but it is too much to make a step by step guide, even if I could remember all the steps I went though to get there. The first step is to get freeswitch set up, preferable on a spare machine because it needs to be on all the time.

[domptg]

Thanks Jake I will look into that in my spare time.
Perhaps someone else has better idea?

[kraza01]

The easiest way is to Spend $20 With Wind Unlimited Canad wide voice/text plan as long as u are their customer. Hurry up this Promotion is ending tomorrow Dec.31,2010. Promotion Referral code is HAITF (Holiday All in the Family Plan ).

[leper1983]

I'm curious if this would be possible with the new budphone two stage dialing??? Is the local number always the same or does it choose them randomly???

[FONGO_steve]

I'm curious if this would be possible with the new budphone two stage dialing??? Is the local number always the same or does it choose them randomly???

The local number for each city is always the same, but each city has it's own number.

[Snowboardphil1]

Nobody can beat my plan !!!!

It goes as follows:

Startup costs
President Choice Mobile SIM : 11.50$ with taxes
old (2012) Bell Samsung Galaxy W : 60$ (works on PC mobile even if locked with Bell)

Monthly costs:
President Choice Mobile's 8.33$/month for 100mb (200min under 3g/4G) and 911 coverage (mandatory)
** The 8.33 is actually 5$/100mb but with PC mobile the cheapest way to go is to refill your plan with 100$ for the whole year instead of a minimun 15$ refill every month (hence the 8.33$/mo)
Fongo All you can text for 1.66$/month (10$ for 6 months)
Québec and Canada taxes : 1.50$/month

All and all : 11.50$/month

I do work and live in a free WIFI environnement (unlimited minutes under Fongo). The city buses also provide free WIFI on board.
When travelling I try to stop at Tim Hortons and Mcdonalds or chose hotels with Free Wifi when planning to talk long times.

Good luck going cheaper for a data connection

[FONGO_mike]

A little bit of thought, a little bit of effort to get set up and BINGO you have just found a way to beat the high pricing of standard set-ups, good job!

Nobody can beat my plan !!!!

It goes as follows:

Startup costs
President Choice Mobile SIM : 11.50$ with taxes
old (2012) Bell Samsung Galaxy W : 60$ (works on PC mobile even if locked with Bell)

Monthly costs:
President Choice Mobile's 8.33$/month for 100mb (200min under 3g/4G) and 911 coverage (mandatory)
** The 8.33 is actually 5$/100mb but with PC mobile the cheapest way to go is to refill your plan with 100$ for the whole year instead of a minimun 15$ refill every month (hence the 8.33$/mo)
Fongo All you can text for 1.66$/month (10$ for 6 months)
Québec and Canada taxes : 1.50$/month

All and all : 11.50$/month

I do work and live in a free WIFI environnement (unlimited minutes under Fongo). The city buses also provide free WIFI on board.
When travelling I try to stop at Tim Hortons and Mcdonalds or chose hotels with Free Wifi when planning to talk long times.

Good luck going cheaper for a data connection

[Snowboardphil1]

I also use "my data manager" to keep an eye on my data use, "auto airplane mode" activating and deactivating my cellular antenna (to get better battery life) and "auto wifi toggle" to activate and deactivate wifi when comming and going from à wifi network.

Those two last apps are merly to lower battery use. Keep in mind that Wifi uses much less transmitting power than cell network. I'm glad to say that Fongo merges perfectly with these connection mode swapping software.

Thanks Fongo. for the 250$ saved in the last 6 months