Capital Furs

ya, i dunno lol. i'm biased against bell and rogers, and i heard bad things about all of them. but now against my own will i must bear one of these monstrosities the popular world commonly refers to as, "cellular phones".

so which is the lesser of these great evils, ottawa furries? any stories or raging tales/tails? who has best reception? who has best plans for local calls? who's the biggest screwover? who's furrier?


p.s.: this isn't supposed to be an advertisement or anything, hope it's ok to post this, if not, well, damn.

Telus will royally rip you off if you let them.

Rogers and Fido are the easiest to deal with, Rogers being reliable and unlikely to suddenly screw you over, Fido not charging you stupid fees.

Here's how I'd break it down:

Rogers has a fast, reliable network and lots of cool phones. The downside is you get roped into a contract with them, there are hidden fees and their customer support can and will jerk you around. I've had good experience with the service Rogers provides (in all their services) but their support and billing departments are mediocre.

Rogers' bargain brand, Fido, is a good one because the contracts don't have any set terms (something they borrowed from Koodo) and they benefit from having most of Rogers' phones.

Telus, from what I've heard, is pretty bad. They have some decent phones and a fast network, but I've heard that they'll take any opportunity to squeeze a bit more cash out of you.

Telus' bargain brand, Koodo, is a great little provider. I'm with them right now. It uses Telus' network (which is nice. I haven't had any dropped calls and my signal is strong just about anywhere). The phones they have are a bit older, but they're getting nicer ones all the time. They have no contract and you pay month by month and are able to cancel at any time with no cancellation fees. On top of that, if you get the "Tab" your credit can take care of a big chunk of the cost of the phone you buy and then 10% of every bill you get will go toward paying it off. Also, if you're like me and didn't get the Tab, 10% of every bill gets banked, essentially and can be used toward a new phone after a year or so. Kinda neat.

Bell is not a provider I could easily recommend. Their selection of phones is pretty blah and their network is pretty old. As far as I know, they don't offer 3G (which is kind-of important for smart-phone users and the like) and their calls can be a bit shaky.

Bell's bargain brand, Solo, is kind-of alright. They were one of the first to create a subsidiary company (Rogers did it first, but they bought-out Fido, whereas Bell created a new affiliate). It was designed to appeal to the 'hip' crowd. Even the manuals that came with their phones were written the way an 18 year-old would speak. The phones they have, at least when I was with them, mainly focus on the annoying walkie-talkie feature they have and, ultimately, they're not very good phones. Their pay-as-you-go service was pretty good, but then, most pay-go services are pretty good.

So there you have it. If you're looking for something affordable and reliable, I'd strongly recommend Koodo. If you're looking for the same sort of thing but with a pricier phone, then go with Fido. If you really want all the bells and whistles, go with Rogers. There's a contract involved, but the phones are pretty awesome and you'll get all the features you want from a cell phone. The other two are better if you just want a phone, not an office in your palm.

And if you're looking to avoid the monopoly of the big three, Virgin is a decent cellphone company if you don't need the "batman"-style (full of bells-and-whistles) handset.

If you're not one for txt plans, keep in mind Telus is one of the few that still charges for receiving.

For me, I went with Telus since their student plan has more frills over Rogers' stab at it, but again, you get locked up in contracts which is never fun.  You *really* need to keep on top of your bill to see where they're squeezing extra cash from you that you signed up for. (which goes for every major cell company, not just Telus)

Also, with Koodo, I have 100 anytime minutes (I don't use it all that much) unlimited text messaging, free evenings and weekends starting at 7 and call display for $30 a month. (I think there's another feature or two, but it's slipped my mind. It's normally $25 but the call display was extra.

thanks for the long text and notes ^^

awesome, ok i plan on going for the most basic cell for local stuff, so i guess Koodo/Fido/Virgin are best bets? i probly want to avoid contracts so i guess Rogers is out.

Ironklaw wrote:Also, with Koodo, I have 100 anytime minutes (I don't use it all that much) unlimited text messaging, free evenings and weekends starting at 7 and call display for $30 a month. (I think there's another feature or two, but it's slipped my mind. It's normally $25 but the call display was extra.

That's pretty much the same thing I have but I'm with Fido.

TiamatX wrote:That's pretty much the same thing I have but I'm with Fido.

They offer pretty much the same deals. Either one is a good bet.

Virgin's not bad, but careful which phone you get. The one I have now is a bit fragile, but the one I used to have was tougher than a brick.

As for the plans, they aren't bad. Virgin offers pay as you go and monthly plans. Sending a text message is 15 cents, and but it's cheaper if your sending virgin to virgin. You've got good connection, but not as good as the bigger companies. If you're in a building with a lot of cement walls (like a school or office building) try not to find yourself in a central, closed off room or you might not have a signal. My school's science rooms don't give me a signal, because they're surrounded by cement and in the middle of the building.