[kwlug-disc] Adventures in cellphone and ISP shopping

[CrankyOldBugger]

I thought I should give you an update on my adventures with shopping for
internet and cellphone plans, since so many of you offered suggestions.

Back in the Olden Days I was using vMedia for my ISP, getting 300/30 for
around $90 a month.
For cellphones, my wife and I had a "shared" account from Zoomer Mobile,
aka Cityfone out of BC.  We were paying around $70 a month for 3gig data
and endless yapping Canada-wide.

My wife was the primary user of the shared cellphone account.  My phone sat
on the charger and did nothing more than forward any incoming calls
(usually spam) to my work cellphone, which is what I used primarily.

Then one day I got a letter from Zoomer saying that they were being eaten
by Rogers, please find enclosed two new Rogers SIMs, feel welcome to
blindly use them without asking any questions...

Around the same time I got a letter from my ISP vMedia stating that they
were being eaten by Freedom Mobile.  I'm under the impression that FM is
actually part of Rogers, but I couldn't tell you if that's just as a
reseller or as an actual division in the company..

My wife's phone (Samsung S12, I think?) has a cracked screen, so we decided
she should get a new phone.  The current hot model is the Samsung S24FE, so
that's what I'm shopping for.

So, in preparation for Black Friday I regularly harassed KWLUG members for
suggestions, as well as a few people at work, and of course my favourite
non-google search engines...

At this point, I was leaning towards Freedom Mobile for their cheap
cellphone plans.  So prior to Black Friday, I dusted off my walker and
braved a trip to Conestoga Mall.  This is when an employee at FM told me
that my old Samsung Galaxy SIII wouldn't work on the newer networks.  So I
left, empty-handed.

Thinking that the guy at the store in the mall was just overanxious to sell
me a phone, I phoned Freedom Mobile World Domination Headquarters to see if
I could get the plan and phone from them directly.  Sure, we can sign you
up for a plan, but we don't have any of those S24FEs in stock at the WDHQ,
so you have to go into the store to sign up there, assuming they have the
phone in stock.  Nasty people, telling lies like that.

So I phone the store on Black Friday, and as you might expect, they didn't
answer.  I left a voicemail that basically said, "shut up and take my
money."  No reply.  The next day I phoned again, again no reply.

So we went into the mall to punch someone in the face until they sold us a
phone.  We went in the wrong mall entrance and came across a Virgin Plus
kiosk.  For fun, I went over and started talking to the guy.  Long story
short, we got a plan for Wifeski with an obscene amount of data, free
calling, etc., for around $50 a month, and a shiny new Samsung Galaxy
S24FE.  Done.

I then decided on using voip.ms for my own cellphone, as many people
recommended it.  So after a long wait for the porting to complete, I now
have call forwarding set up in voip.ms that costs pennies a month.  There's
that problem solved.

Finally, I signed up with CarryTel for internet.  Get this: 1000/50 up/down
for around $50 a month, including free modem rental.  Compare that to
vMedia's 300/30 for $90 and BYOB modem.  It's kind of sad as vMedia used to
be the place to get a deal...

Shortly after I got all this settled, the guy from the Freedom Mobile store
finally returned my call.  I told him a few of my Grandmother's more choice
words...

So thanks to all who offered suggestions.  It was a lot of work getting all
this straightened out, but right now I think we're in a good position...
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