[kwlug-disc] Adventures in cellphone and ISP shopping

[Jason]

I'm glad to hear you got your cellphone sorted out, and VoIP.ms is working
for you as a solution!  Lots of features there you can take advantage of
for basically nothing so check it out.

This year was definitely not great for cell upgrades.  I had a great BYOD
plan with Virgin for 30GB/$29 per month.  I switched to a 100GB/$45 per
month US/CAN plan with Telus, which was an EPP offer (some companies have
this).  I also got a new Pixel 9 Pro XL 256 GB that will cost about $800
over 2 years to pay off.  All the new plans have this "Buy it Back" pricing
which I'm not a fan of, and it's funny that the BIB pricing is lower in
total than a monthly plan where you keep the phone at the end.  If you do
the math both ways it just makes sense to go that way and buy it out at the
end of contract.

My wife got a similar plan and a Pixel 9 128GB for $0/month and $150 BIB
after 2 years.  So that's pretty good.  She had a Pixel 7 before this but
the fingerprint reader was terrible.  Apparently the new model uses an
ultrasonic sensor instead of optical and it seems more accurate.

Best thing I can suggest is to check RedFlagDeals forums to stay up to date
when you're looking for something, and look for "win back" promotions, as
you'll get a better deal switching providers, even better than their
retention department can offer.  It's pretty sad that the loyal customers
who stay with one provider for years get the WORST value.  Shows what we're
worth to them I guess.

Sounds like you got a good deal with Internet.  I'm on a similar plan and
pricing that I snagged as a win back offer with Rogers.  I put in my
calendar when our promo is up then start shopping around when it comes
close.  Just hope it's stable and actually hits the advertised speeds.

Cheers,
Jason


On Wed, Dec 11, 2024, 12:18 PM CrankyOldBugger <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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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