Cellphones with data-only-plans and VOIP

[pcdunlop]

I have read that some people use their freephone line on Nokia cell phone, so I was wondering if we can get data-only-plans in Canada and their prices.

We would save a lot in using VOIP over 3G getting a data-only-plan for half the price of standard voice + data plans. I would be more than happy to pay for another freephoneline SIP activation and cancel my cell phone voice plan - which is very expensive in Canada.

[FONGO_steve]

Pretty much all cellphone carriers still require a voice plan. They're essentially trying to prevent you from doing just that.. using cheaper voice services than their own

[bridonca]

I have a $30 Virgin mobile 512 meg data plan on my Nokia E71. That is pretty much as low as one can go. I am not all that happy with the reliably of the call or the quality of VOIP over 3G though. $10 extra a month gets me reliable unlimited incoming, and it does not eat into my data bandwidth quota.

[FONGO_steve]

I have a $30 Virgin mobile 512 meg data plan on my Nokia E71. That is pretty much as low as one can go. I am not all that happy with the reliably of the call or the quality of VOIP over 3G though. $10 extra a month gets me reliable unlimited incoming, and it does not eat into my data bandwidth quota.

Yeah.
I think some mobile technologies still have a short ways to go until being a real viable option for VOIP. Wireless connections still have so many variables that can affect VOIP. Packet loss, jitter, complete signal loss, etc.

I know we'll see it someday, and I know Google is really pushing data-only plans on the Android for this reason, so it will come with time.

[patx]

I have a Rodgers 512MB data plan only on my iphone for 30$ a month...

But did you know you can use any 3G USBKEY SIM card on your Iphone and the best part is that the Iphone doesn't have to be hacked... google for Iphone APN changer...Set the APN for the provider you choose on your Iphone, put the SIM card in and your good to go

[uoft23]

How do you get $30 rogers data alone? I've looked all over their site and only see plans that require data + voice. Same with virgin unless I"m missing something?

[bridonca]

http://www.virginmobile.ca/vmc/en/phone ... oadband2go

Scroll down. Just buy the sim and subscribe to a month to month. You get a phone number even if you are using data only, and it works as a phone for 30 cents a minute.


I believe rogers is the same, go to their data stick page.

[laurent]

Now I'm going to share a little tip I've been using for a number of years. In a nutshell, this "tip" can give you about half price on any cellphone contract/feature/whatnot.

I think it is worth pointing out that all cellphone carrier prices are doubled on average. What I mean here is that cellphone companies don't really care what you do with your mobile device. Data, SMS, cellphone minutes, local, incoming, outgoing, whatever. The bottom line, to them, is the dollars per month average you bring to them. As long as the dollars per month in satisfactory, the "services" they give you in exchange doesn't matter.

Of course they don't go on and give incredible prices to anyone that asks. They have tied this to customer fidelity. If you're an existing customer, you have a better chance of staying with your provider instead of switching. They know this, it's basic market research. So the goal, is to play that card.

When your contract nears the end, go shopping. Find whatever plan option or crazy feature that you really want. Be it number of text messages per month or gigabytes of data or plan minutes, whatever. Then you call your cellphone provider customer service line, and say you're tempted into renewing your contract, but dissatisfied at your current plan.

This is the first sales group. They'll throw in freebies and give you modest discounts, pressuring you to renew your contract, get new options, etc. They're very good at it, and will pressure you a lot to buy into it. This is where most people get "their cellphone deals". In my opinion/experience, this is about 15% off from advertised regular prices.

After spending some time with them, you have to come to the conclusion that it doesn't work for you. It's just too expensive! Or too restrictive! Or too .. anything. Valid customer complaint here. Too expensive for what you get in return is ultimately your final argument. This is the point where you've had it, and wish to leave this cellphone provider for good. Say your brother/wife/boss has a good deal on Bellus Rogido Virgolo. You wish to terminate your account.

Are you sure sir/m'am? Yes, you are.

They will now transfer you to a special group, sometimes called "Customer relations". Actually, they're known as the retention people. The cellphone companies have a really good understanding of this basic, simple fact: A happy client that brings a few dollars of profit is better than a dissatisfied client that leaves for good. So this group, while ready to terminate your account, will give you one last "promo" to keep you with them for another contract term.

This is where it gets interesting. These folks have considerable latitude for making deals. They have a few guidelines to follow, which more or less translates to "Minimum of X dollars per month." As long as you're above the threshold, you can ask for a LOT of stuff. You really wish you had 500 minutes instead of 250 for the same price? Done. You really want caller id but don't want to pay for it? Done. Company Y gives a bluetooth headset for free? Why not. Etc etc.

I've done this several times over the years, and I am now with a cellphone plan with data that is about 50% off the regular price, on a 3 year contract of course.

Happy bargaining!

[uoft23]

Thanks a ton bridon. Thats exactly what I was looking for. I had seen rogers mobile internet but thought it could only be used as a usb stick in a PC. So I can get a $10/mo 100 meg data plan for a smart phone and tether to my netbook if I understand properly?

[thunderzhao]

Thanks a ton bridon. Thats exactly what I was looking for. I had seen rogers mobile internet but thought it could only be used as a usb stick in a PC. So I can get a $10/mo 100 meg data plan for a smart phone and tether to my netbook if I understand properly?

Do you mind telling me where and how you get that plan?

[sl149q]

https://www.fido.ca/web/content/prepaid ... sebytheday

Has anyone tried the Browse-by-the-Day plan? Appears that $1/day gets you unlimited data

That with SIP App would get you a $31/month SIP phone.

[bridonca]

https://www.fido.ca/web/content/prepaid ... sebytheday

Has anyone tried the Browse-by-the-Day plan? Appears that $1/day gets you unlimited data

That with SIP App would get you a $31/month SIP phone.

If it is what I think it is, it is useless for SIP. blocked ports, a proxy and GSM latency, pretty much doom it. It is not 3G.

[curriegrad2004]

Fido's offering $3/week plans now.

And yes, SIP appears to be completely walled off for users behind their networks. If you were thinking of using a PPTP VPN to overcome this, it's not going to work that well which I can guarantee you. OpenVPN will definitely punch a hole through Roger's NATted IP space, but that kind of setup requires time and energy to get up and running.

[Sharon]

Fido's offering $3/week plans now.

And yes, SIP appears to be completely walled off for users behind their networks. If you were thinking of using a PPTP VPN to overcome this, it's not going to work that well which I can guarantee you. OpenVPN will definitely punch a hole through Roger's NATted IP space, but that kind of setup requires time and energy to get up and running.

And $10/month.

Couldn't you SSH through port 80? Seems like it would work...

[curriegrad2004]

SSH won't work in this case because RTP needs UDP ports opened up on the fly which SSH can't do. Also, SSH communicates over TCP regardless if you forward port 5060 or 5080 using UDP. UDP over a TCP tunnel is a pretty bad idea and I won't get into the details on that. What gets even better is TCP over TCP... Oh, I wish you luck that TCP meltdown won't happen while you're making an important phone call with FreePhoneLine's servers.

OpenVPN by default communicates over UDP, so it wouldn't be an issue at all for the RTP packets to pass through reliably. Similar idea for PPTP, but it uses the IP level protocol GRE instead of our commonly known TCP/UDP ports. Most NAT firewalls can't handle PPTP's GRE properly anyways unless an ALG is activated to accommodate it.