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Cell Phone Advice?

B

BuildTO

Guest
I am planning to get a cell phone to replace my land line. Never having had one, and never having paid attention to all the discussions of people's experiences with cells, I am curious to hear recommendations or warnings about specific companies/systems (Bell, Rogers, Fido...), packages, and cell phone manufacturers/models.

Any advice?
 
Last year I went the same route - cell phone with no land line. Having realized that was a mistake, I now have both. The reasons are:

-Land lines are more reliable. There is no risk of ever having a weak signal.

-Land line phones are more comfortable. Sometimes I can't stand talking on my cell phone for hours on end.

-Mobile plans are $40+ per month. Land lines cost $20 per month give or take, and the price is fixed no matter how much or when you make phone calls. Something to consider is that once you've exceeded your mobile plan's free talk time, you will be charged 30 cents a minute. If you exceed your free minutes by just 3 hours per month, that adds $55 to your monthly bill.

If you must drop the land line, I would recommend having people over to your house who have phones from all of the major providors. Don't get yourself in a situation where you're locked into a contract with a cell phone providor, but can't use your phone in your own house.

In general, my advice is to use Rogers/Fido because they have a larger network with fewer holes. Having Bell myself, I could count on one hand the number of places where I have had a stronger signal than someone standing right beside me with a Rogers phone.

Lastly, don't sign anything longer than a one year contract. You never know when your situation will change, requiring you to switch providers. My base Bell plan is $35/month and I signed a 3 year contract giving me 6 months free. It's the equivalent of paying $29 per month every month for 3 years. Getting out of my contract now is worth far more to me than $6 savings per month for the next 2 years, but I'm stuck because of the cancellation fee.
 
Thanks, Chuck - all good advice.

In my case, my situation has remained stable for years, which is that I get extremely few calls at home, and find myself in more and more situations in which I want to locate people (or be able to be located) when I am out and about. I spend very little time on the phone even when I do get calls ("Hi. Where are you now? Ok - see you in 5 minutes."), so I know I will never exceed the monthly limit. When at home, most of my communication with people is done by email.

While a cell will likely cost more, I've decided the convenience will be worth it. I'm curious now about package prices, network coverage/reliability (is that a moot point since I rarely leave the city?), and actual phone models...
 
If you live in a building, land lines are absurdly cheap. My bill came to $10 last month.
 
You'd be surprised how sketchy service can be in the city. I could name several inner city locations where you basically can't get a signal with Bell. Not to mention the fact that Rogers phones seem to work indoors no matter where you are, while with Bell you'll typically lose 2 signal bars the second you step inside.

Keep in mind too that most providers bill by the minute. If you make 60 phone calls that last 5 seconds each, you'll be charged for 60 minutes rather than the actual 5 minutes of talk time. That's how the minutes really start to add up. It's also why you should aim for a plan that has free incoming calls.
 
If you don't have a landline you may have a problem communiating to your guests in an apartment/condo when they try to call you at the front door using the entraphone system.

You can't have DSL Internet without a landline. You would need to to have a dry loop installed by a phone provider, or go with Cable Internet.
 
If you live in a building, land lines are absurdly cheap. My bill came to $10 last month.
Click to expand...

Who provides phone service that cheap?
 
Yeah, who? I need call display and voicemail. It won't be that cheap.

The one thing I had not thought about is the enterphone. That will be a bit of a pain. Can they link it to your cell number? At least there is a door camera, so I can watch for people I am expecting. No one ever drops by unannounced.
 
I have Rogers telephone which uses a completely different system from the buzzer code in my building. To use the buzzer code, all you have to do is plug a normal phone into the phone jack on the wall and it will work. The line is just dead so you can't actually call out.

I also at one time had sympatico internet without an actual landline. It's the same idea - you are given what is called a dry line because there's no dial tone. It's just used for the internet.
 
You'd be surprised how sketchy service can be in the city. I could name several inner city locations where you basically can't get a signal with Bell. Not to mention the fact that Rogers phones seem to work indoors no matter where you are, while with Bell you'll typically lose 2 signal bars the second you step inside.
Click to expand...

I've had a similar experience with Bell. The reception can be awful at the most unusual places - you'd think it would be excellent anywhere in the city.
 
I was with a friend, who is a Telus customer, and her phone rang while we were in the subway. And I don't mean street level stations, I mean dark tunnel.
 
I don't have any advice re: what company to go with but I'm with Bell and no problems with signal anywhere... Toronto, Montreal (even in the Metro), Boston and New York. I don't have a land line and use a regular phone for the enterphone (which works fine) and have DSL with Bell including a $10 monthly discount for having their cellular service. Ultimately, you'll have to shop around and see what package works for you but if you have high speed internet, maybe a package deal with Bell or Rogers would be best.
 
I am planning to get a cell phone to replace my land line.
Click to expand...

I just did the opposite. I got rid of my cell and went back to having a landline.
 
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