Pay as you go cell plans.

[fmahovalich]

Can someone educate me here.

lets say I pick up an older hobby iPhone 4.... Rogers, Telus or Bell....whatever...even cracked.


And lets say I want 'pay as you go'...do I just go to a Bell kiosk for instance and set it up. Is it hard? Can it be anonymous?

Sorry always been on plans and Need advice! What is typical ( reasonable) cost?

is it better if phone is 'cracked' for more options?

Thanks

 

[fmahovalich]

Bump

 

[John Connor]

You can buy a $15 prepaid phone card or as high as $100 at the local bell store. Its not that hard really last time I checked. The only thing is if you're texting a lot you'll be charged for each text message. Something like 15 cents per texts which could eat up into your prepaid phone card.

You might be better off getting a monthly plan where they give you the texts for free. I'm paying $25/month for mine with unlimited texting, and nights after 9pm are free calling.

Hope this helps.

 

[MadonnaLove]

Telus has a great pay as you go monthly plan no contract for 40 bucks free incoming from North America 24 hours a day free unlimited texting free outgoing after 6pm and all weekend its a great deal and you can cancel it anytime with no worries.

you can buy phone cards at most variety stores also.

 

[esoterica]

Can someone educate me here.

lets say I pick up an older hobby iPhone 4.... Rogers, Telus or Bell....whatever...even cracked.


And lets say I want 'pay as you go'...do I just go to a Bell kiosk for instance and set it up. Is it hard? Can it be anonymous?

Sorry always been on plans and Need advice! What is typical ( reasonable) cost?

is it better if phone is 'cracked' for more options?

Thanks

Walk into a 7-11. Buy a Speakout SIM for $10. Tell the cashier to put $50 on it. This is valid for a year. Pay cash. Put the SIM into your Rogers or unlocked phone. The number is on the SIM. That's it.

 

[shakenbake]

Bad, bad experiences with Telus, I have had. I also find that they have very high rates. 50 cents per minute compared to 30 or even 20 with Fido, on a solely pay as you go basis. Texting is also high, 35 cents versus 25 for Fido. I also find that Fido transactions and activity reports are clearer than with Telus. Why is it when some one calls you and your voicemail picks up it registers as an outgoing call from your phone? This even before I had voicemail set up with Telus. Luckily, they didn't charge me for it, although the morons who I asked why when I was overseas I was getting outgoing calls when my SIM was not even in a phone; it was locked up at home.

Anyway, these were my experiences with Telus. Personally, on a strictly pay as you go, no monthly plan, I prefer Fido. Oh, and the Rogers/Fido/7-11 etc. network will also let you use an older 2G unlocked handset if you want to go cheap. Can't do that with Telus/Bell.

BTW, Bell wanted to charge me $35 for a SIM card; prepay for set-up/administration on their network. Fido only wanted me to buy a SIM card for $10, no set-up charge/administration charge, and $10 additional for initial air time credit. Fuck Bell.

 

[Jeffrey93]

Walk into a 7-11. Buy a Speakout SIM for $10. Tell the cashier to put $50 on it. This is valid for a year. Pay cash. Put the SIM into your Rogers or unlocked phone. The number is on the SIM. That's it.

yep, that's the way to do it ...you could take it one step further by purchasing a unlocked pre-owned phone at a second hand store/pawn shop if you want to remain anonymous

 

[Mr Deeds]

Go to a pawn shop pick up an old phone for $25 go to a fido store get a chip and a pre paid card for $50 lasts 6 months 20cents a min talk time and 15cents a text make sure all corespondents from fido goes to an alternate email not on your regular phone or computer. Keep the phone in your car or office.

 

[shakenbake]

Go to a pawn shop pick up an old phone for $25 go to a fido store get a chip and a pre paid card for $50 lasts 6 months 20cents a min talk time and 15cents a text make sure all corespondents from fido goes to an alternate email not on your regular phone or computer. Keep the phone in your car or office.

Right on! :thumb:

 

[canada-man]

Telus has a great pay as you go monthly plan no contract for 40 bucks free incoming from North America 24 hours a day free unlimited texting free outgoing after 6pm and all weekend its a great deal and you can cancel it anytime with no worries.

you can buy phone cards at most variety stores also.

Telus pre-paid is now a rip off. 7 years ago it was 25cents a minute for voice today it is 50 cents a minute

 

[MadonnaLove]

Are you sure about that ? cause telus told me 20 cents a minute when its not during free time just recently

 

[freedomlover]

The best pay as you go is Wind mobile. Buy a cheap phone with them our use an old phone and transfer it to their service. Buy cards in $10 amounts that should last you for the month, as $10 will get you about 40 minutes of talking for the month or about 50 text messages, plus incoming text messages are free. So, for $10, you can have a second hobby phone. 7-eleven has a prepaid fro less than $10 per month as their minutes dont expire at the end of 30 days, but their phone selection is poor and I doubt they have the same cheap rates as Wind does.

 

[Richard.TO]

There have been a few threads on hobby phones you can search for here. I got myself one from 7-11 which was recommended in one of the posts. Paid cash about $100 for phone and airtime and its good for a year, no bills or charges to be "discovered", I keep the phone password protected in case it is found.
http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/

 

[canada-man]

Are you sure about that ? cause telus told me 20 cents a minute when its not during free time just recently

http://mobility.telus.com/en/ON/prepaid/rate-plans.shtml

scroll down to pay per use rates.

 

[shakenbake]

Are you sure about that ? cause telus told me 20 cents a minute when its not during free time just recently

Let`s remember that the OP wanted a cell phone with NO plan; Pay Per Use. You get reduced rates with a monthly plan that also allows some one to trace who you are through your monthly plan. Unless you have a monthly plan, it is 50 cents a minute when buying time on an as needed basis. I tried them and got tired of their exorbidant rates and insufficient customer service. It`s back to Fido for me.

Now, if I buy $10 worth of time, it`s 30 cents a minute with fido. However, if I subscribe to $10.75 monthly top-up, it, 10 cents a minute. It`s still cheaper than Telus acording to the link that canada-man gave us.

Off Fido`s web page:

By the Minute*	30¢ Anytime	Talk & Text for 10¢
Monthly fees	-	$10
Local anytime minutes Per-minute billing	30¢ per minute	10¢ per minute
Outgoing text2 From Canada to Canadian wireless numbers	Pay per use 25¢	Pay per use 10¢
Outgoing international text2 From Canada to U.S. or international wireless numbers	See add-ons	Pay per use 10¢
Incoming text2	Unlimited	Unlimited
9-1-1 Emergency Access Fee ± (non-government fee)	75¢	75¢
TOTAL monthly fees	-	$10.75

Offers subject to change without notice.
±A monthly 75¢ 9-1-1 Emergency Access Fee (non-government fee) applies. Certain provinces may charge an additional 9-1-1 government fee; fido.ca/911.
1. Available for new activations from May 7, 2013 to Aug 5, 2013. Applied in $5 credits per month for 6 months after each payment of monthly plan fees.
2. Sent/received premium texts (alerts, messages related to content and promotions) and texts sent while roaming not included and charged at applicable rates.
3. Local airtime minutes within your zone only; airtime used for calls made & received outside your zone costs 40¢/min. Long distance charges of 40¢/min may apply and are determined based on local calling area, not your zone; fido.ca/callingareas.
Applies to all prepaid plans and rates: Prepaid airtime is billed by the minute and is applicable to local calls only (excludes calls made through Call Forwarding, Video Calling or similar services). Airtime and long distance charges may apply for some services. A partial day counts as an entire day with fixed per-day rates. $10, $20 and $30 vouchers provide access to the network for up to 30 days from date added to the account; $50 vouchers for up to 60 days; $100 vouchers for up to 365 days.
Subject to Fido Terms and Conditions & Acceptable Use Policy; fido.ca/terms.

 

[password88]

I find the best pay as you go is Chatr. For as little as $25 a month you can get unlimited incoming and out going. If you use it for hobbying , all you do is just give them a fake and address.

 

[fmahovalich]

And how is data charged to these cards from 7-11 or wherever.

lets say I on an iPhone 4 and wanna surf some MP for availability. Does data add up,quickly?

 

[esoterica]

And how is data charged to these cards from 7-11 or wherever.

lets say I on an iPhone 4 and wanna surf some MP for availability. Does data add up,quickly?

Unfortunately, no data with 7-11. I just use my normal smartphone and clear the cache. Or go to a cafe.

 

[DanJ]

And how is data charged to these cards from 7-11 or wherever.

lets say I on an iPhone 4 and wanna surf some MP for availability. Does data add up,quickly?

From the 7-11 link above, they charge you $10 a month for web browsing (it also says data services aren't available currently, so I don't understand the difference). That 10 bucks is deducted from your pay as you go amount. I'm sure the other plans have some sort of similar plan.

 

[TeasePlease]

Holy crap. I pay $2 a day for my AT&T phone down in the states. Unlimited nationwide calling and texts. Canada sucks.