Need a new plan to replace old Rogers plan

Normally, I would recommend Lucky Mobile or Public Mobile, as they are the best values on the Bell/Telus network and that has the best rural coverage for Ontario in general, with Rogers a distant second place. However, you have already tested your important location and found that the reverse is true there.

In that case, you should look at 2nd tier and 3rd tier carriers that use the Rogers network. Try Chatr and Zoomer.

metaman wrote: ↑ Hi. Is this where I post to plan recommendations?

I'm one of the people who had my old Rogers plan go up 5 bucks. So I went from $51 to $56. ...

Right here where you posted, there are already two ongoing threads about Rogers increasing plans by $5:

Rogers - increasing rates on old plans

Rogers is increasing mobile plans by $5 ($40/4Gb to $45)

My girlfriend also just had her plan go up $5 and she’s going to port out to either Public Mobile or Koodo.

metaman wrote: ↑ I'm one of the people who had my old Rogers plan go up 5 bucks. So I went from $51 to $56. I had been with them since 2004. That $51 was the most I was willing to pay for only having 1 gig of data.

...

I also go to the cottage 12-15 times a year up north in the woods. Rogers has provided good coverage up there. Telus on my work phone has a terrible signal right at the cottage surrounded by trees. When I get out to the main road the signal works fine.

How about the Rogers $50 15 GB win-back plan, especially since you go to your cottage up to 15 times a year?

[Rogers] *BYOD* Rogers $50/15GB - Unlimited Talk/Text Canadawide - YMMV (win-back)

Did you contact Rogers and review with them some other Price Plans?

I was on the phone with Rogers customer retention and they said there was no plan they could offer to keep me at the price I was paying.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. Have looked at providers you guys mentioned here and also Freedom.

Right now I am focused on getting a cheap plan for my father in law who just needs talk and text since my inlaws no longer have a land line. When my mother in law is over at my house watching the kid he needs a phone. Also at the cottage for when he goes out and the wife is still there. The cheapest plan I could find was Freedom:

Freedom Nationwide Talk + Text
$14/mo
Unlimited Canada-wide calling
Unlimited global text, picture, and video messaging
Voicemail and call display
The guy in the store said it'll switch between networks to the best one up north. He said he's from Muskoka and works well for him.

He's used to a flip phone and pretty sure his ancient phone will not work with the Freedom SIM. I was in one of their stores and they said most likely not going to work on a potato. They told me about the Alcatel GO Flip. I didn't want to buy it new from them for $99 so looked at used on kijiji and Amazon. On Amazon it clearly said not compatible with Freedom. I did a live chat with Freedom and they said they can't find enough info about the Alcatel GO FLIP (4044V) I found on Amazon. I read somewhere that the Alcatel they sell is a specific version for them. CSR said to get the IMEI number so I'm asking a kijiji seller now to see if he can provide it. He used that phone with Chatr.

Chatr's features are:

$15 Per Month
100 Canada-Wide Talk & Unlimited International Text
100 Minutes Canada-wide Talk
Unlimited Incoming Canada-wide Talk
Unlimited International Text,
Picture and Video Messaging
40 ¢/min for voicemail retrievals

That is not as good of a deal, especially with the VM thing.

Should also point out that with these cheap plans I gather that it's very easy and non punitive to cancel these days, particularly when you're bringing your own phone. So if coverage sucks up north then can always change.

metaman wrote: ↑ ...

Right now I am focused on getting a cheap plan for my father in law who just needs talk and text since my inlaws no longer have a land line. When my mother in law is over at my house watching the kid he needs a phone. Also at the cottage for when he goes out and the wife is still there. The cheapest plan I could find was Freedom:

Freedom Nationwide Talk + Text
$14/mo
Unlimited Canada-wide calling
Unlimited global text, picture, and video messaging
Voicemail and call display
...

You can do better than that if you have or get a line of $25 or more -- your second line is only $10:

[Freedom Mobile] Freedom $10 1GB add a line deal

'... one more line $10 for 1GB unlimited talk and text!!!'

metaman wrote: ↑ He's used to a flip phone and pretty sure his ancient phone will not work with the Freedom SIM. I was in one of their stores and they said most likely not going to work on a potato. They told me about the Alcatel GO Flip. I didn't want to buy it new from them for $99 so looked at used on kijiji and Amazon. On Amazon it clearly said not compatible with Freedom. I did a live chat with Freedom and they said they can't find enough info about the Alcatel GO FLIP (4044V) I found on Amazon. I read somewhere that the Alcatel they sell is a specific version for them. CSR said to get the IMEI number so I'm asking a kijiji seller now to see if he can provide it. He used that phone with Chatr.

Chatr's features are:

$15 Per Month
100 Canada-Wide Talk & Unlimited International Text
100 Minutes Canada-wide Talk
Unlimited Incoming Canada-wide Talk
Unlimited International Text,
Picture and Video Messaging
40 ¢/min for voicemail retrievals

That is not as good of a deal, especially with the VM thing.

If your dad's phone is compatible with Public Mobile or Lucky Mobile, I'd recommend them over Chatr. Like Chatr, both have $15 plans with 100 minutes. With Public, incoming calls are free which is good if your dad receives a lot of calls. Voicemails are deducted from the 100 minutes. Lucky has a bonus going right now for being referred ($5 off per month for 5 months) so you'd be paying $10/month for 5 months.

The guy selling the Alcatel phone on kijiji provided the IMEI and I confirmed that it won't work with Freedom. I just did a chat with Freedom and said if I buy the $99 Alcatel GO Flip that is specific to Freedom, but a few months down the road I'm not satisfied with Freedom's coverage and I want to cancel, will that specific phone work with other discount carriers? He said it should. I am going to the store in the mall today to talk to someone there and ask the same thing.

metaman wrote: ↑ The guy selling the Alcatel phone on kijiji provided the IMEI and I confirmed that it won't work with Freedom. I just did a chat with Freedom and said if I buy the $99 Alcatel GO Flip that is specific to Freedom, but a few months down the road I'm not satisfied with Freedom's coverage and I want to cancel, will that specific phone work with other discount carriers? He said it should. I am going to the store in the mall today to talk to someone there and ask the same thing.

With Freedom be sure to check that signal coverage and quality works in the locations you/father-in-law/mother-in-law travel in. If I recall you got 15 days. There are weakspots/peculiarities. You don't want to get feedback that service didn't work when they really needed it. You can also get a sign-up/referral credit ($25).

I've setup several older folks on Public Mobile. Solid signal/coverage throughout Southern Ontario/Montreal area/Vancouver area in our experiences. Depending on talk/text/data needs but $13/month after auto-pay for unlimited incoming and 100 minutes outgoing calls/ unlimited Cda-Int'l sms/mms and 250mb data. Additional 500 minutes for $5 (=$0.01/minute) that carries over each month until used up. Works great with the made-for-seniors DORO flip phone.

Talked to the guy in the store and one thing I hadn't anticipated is the roaming. For the father in law that's not an issue since he will only be talk and text. But for my purposes, if I'm up north and the phone starts roaming then I'll be charged 5 cents per mb.

So when leaving the GTA to go to cottage or occasionally other rural places to go fishing I will always have to remember to turn off data on my personal phone and rely on the work phone. Going to have to bring a small power bank with me I think if I'm burning the battery on the work phone using google maps for the entire drive.

Think I'll bring my own phone, pay the $10 for the Freedom sim card and go with the $15 plan for:

Data
250MB + 250MB Bonus (24 mo.)

Talk
100 mins of calls to Canada
Unlimited incoming calls

Text
Unlimited
Unlimited global text, picture, and video messaging

CD & VM


If it doesn't work out I'll just cancel.

Okay I'm confused now. I thought roaming only meant when you leave Canada but Freedom guy said if I go up north to the cottage, out of the city, my phone might start roaming and then I'll be charged. Just talked to Lucky on the phone and he said roaming is only when you leave Canada, so I wouldn't have problem I would have with Freedom.

Also, Freedom told me that they use LTE Bands 4, 7, 13, 66. TBH, I don't know what this means. But they said if my father in law got that Alcatel flip phone with them and we cancel with them later then the phone will work with any of the discount carriers that use those same LTE bands.

When I spoke to Lucky asking them about that two people had no idea what I was talking about.

Also, Lucky's cheap plan for $15 for my father in law is 100 minutes incoming and outgoing as opposed to Freedom's unlimited incoming, which Public also has.

metaman wrote: ↑ Okay I'm confused now. I thought roaming only meant when you leave Canada but Freedom guy said if I go up north to the cottage, out of the city, my phone might start roaming and then I'll be charged. Just talked to Lucky on the phone and he said roaming is only when you leave Canada, so I wouldn't have problem I would have with Freedom.

If you're coming from $50/month for 1GB then I'm afraid you have a bit of a learning curve. Learning what your needs really are. Learning the market. There is no silver bullet answer. You can make progress as your understanding evolves. At the very least you can pay alot less right now and get more - risk free. Cut your bill in half with Public Mobile and see how it goes while you stay tuned into RFD.

My suggestion would be to join zoomer. They use the same network as rogers and apparently have very good CS. I've also seen a thread where they're offering a 5gb plan for $40 with $100 activation bonus. I believe you can also pick up an s9 for $350 on this plan as well.

Ya so turns out I'm going with Public for myself and father in law. Both $15 dollar plans. Didn't realize Freedom's "nationwide" means roaming. It's the yellow in their coverage map, which is where the cottage is.

Public uses Bell and Telus apparently and the cottage is halfway between a Rogers and a Bell tower. Hoping that'll be sufficient. If not, will cut minimal losses and try something else.

Going to get a used Alcatel for the father in law for 45 bucks or so unlocked and that should work with Public. Will continue to use my existing personal phone.

Thanks for all the help.