[IceFire]

Thinking about joining the cell phone fray.  I've resisted long enough and I'm on the road more necessitating the need to occasionally be in touch for emergency reasons.  So I'm looking to choose between the pay as you go style plans that Rogers and Telus have and I've noted that the two use competing standards for cellphones as well.  So I'm curious...I see there is ongoing debate between CDMA and GSM camps on which is the better standard and ultimately which will be more useful.

Opinions?

[Rictor]

Nooo, another fellow Luddite abandons the cause!
...seriously, I thought I was the only person in Canada without a cell-phone.

[Nuke]

cell phones are not kvlt.

[redsniper]

GSM will cause speakers around you to make noise occasionally, sometimes even if they're off.

[IceFire]

Nooo, another fellow Luddite abandons the cause!
...seriously, I thought I was the only person in Canada without a cell-phone.

I think I qualify as a semi-luddite...or even a neo-luddite if there is such a thing.  Strange given my age...but I always dip my toes cautiously into "new" technologies.  And I work in the field too.  Just the way I am.  Its still going to be a basic phone and no bloody data download/ringtone madness

[G0atmaster]

the way it was explained to me by a person who works for Verizon, there are more GSM towers, but CDMA is farther-reaching, and thus less towers are needed.  I'm on T-Mobile, which is GSM, and I kinda hate it, to be honest.  I get "emergency only" service in places my friends (who are on T-Mobile) have full service.  When we're standing next to each other.

[Black Wolf]

I had to go onto "Next G"  (i.e. GSM in marketingspeek, I think) because of my new job, and I quite like it. I've been working about 20 kms out of a town of 80 (i.e. pretty solidly in the bush) and it works well, but spottily (i.e. sometimes you'll get full bars and a few metres away,0 bars, but when you do get full bars it acts like it (i.e. full speed internet, perfect call quality etc. etc.). And this is using a the standard range company phone - I haven't had a chance to test my personal, supposedly longer distance phone out here yet as I left the charger at home and I'm conserving batterylife. Despite the long distance thing though, you do have to remember it's not a sat phone. If it's anything like over here, there are big coverage gaps, as hey have to put the infrastructure around the people, however I drove through some bloody small towns on my way up here from Perth (600 kms) and I had coverage in and around every single one of them. It might be even better in Canada if the towns aren't as far apart. I can say though, that you generally get coverage within about, Oh, fifteen minutes at highway speeds (so I guess, 30 odd kms) out from towers, and in some cases quite a bit further (I was a good fifty kms out of Morewa and could still get high speed internet through it on the company laptop).

Of course, CDMA is no longer an option here in Australia as they're turning off the network, but there have been a lot of complaints from people that their new GSM phones don't work where their old CDMAs used to. I guess you have to think about the nature of your travelling - if you're moving between small towns, lots of less reaching towers might be better than vast areas with no towers at all. Plus, once you get the internet functionality, you tend to use it almost instinctively. I regularly use it to check the weather and get directions to places, and I onestly didn't think I'd ever, ever use it when I first got the phone.

So, err, if you were in australia and travel a lot, I'd have no qualms reccomending it, as long as you understand the restrictions (especially since they're turning off the CDMA stuff in a few months). Of course, the canadian infrastructure is going to be vastly different, and you'll probably want more local advice, but I an say that I, at least, have been pleasantly surprised in my particular situation.

[Prophet]

I only know one person who doesn't have a cell phone. And thats my grandmother. Jeez you guys are low tech. You living in the stone ages or something? 
No but seriously this discussion felt a bit odd to me being part of a nation enslaved by cellphones.

And speaking as an inhabitant of said country... Even we don't have 100% coverage here. There are blind spots. But ofcourse common sense applies, don't expect miracles if you're crawling in a thick bush. In general, I have never been totally cut off. Moving around a bit and waving the phone around always gets results. At the very least you'll get a message out.

The speakers making "tyddytyddytyddytyddy" isn't all that bad unless you really obsess about small things. It is very occasional. And when it happens, you remember to check if you have lost your phone or if it's still with you. It always happens if a call or message is coming in, so you can grab the phone before it starts ringing! Now tell me you wouldn't want to have precognitive abilities like that. Too bad I can't impress anyone with that around here anymore.

A word of warning though. You might become dependant on it. When I was a child, people used to plan ahead. Where to meet when to meet and so on. Now we just call. "What kind of beer you wanted? Oh, k bye" ... "It's me again. You want bottle or can? Sure, bye" ... "I'm where we were supposed to meet! Are you coming or not? Wait I see you now."

[MP-Ryan]

GSM = older technology, inherently less secure as the caller data can be stored on a SIM card.
CDMA = newer, and network identifier is tied to the phone's physical hardware.

Most new cellular networks are going to CDMA.  GSM was the standard, especially in Europe where it still dominates, but gradually many countries cellphone providers are switching to CDMA networks.

Do NOT, I repeat DO NOT get a phone from Rogers.  They have horrible customer service and their network coverage spans a lot of area but it doesn't cover it well.  Telus will rake you over the coals in fees too.  I finally switched to Bell Mobility on a whim (I'm in Canada too) and I've been with them for over three years.

[Black Wolf]

Whoops... my bad. The betwork is 3G, not GSM. So, err, ignore my above post

[Hippy]

GSM & CDMA = 2G network

GPRS & CDMA2000 = 2.5G network

'NextG' = (Australian) Telstra's propriety-branded version of a 3G network, competitor is '3', also a 3G network.

The difference between generations is bandwidth and compression algorithms.


Form my personal experience in in Melb, Aust... CDMA kicks butt over the lot of them. In rural Aust you pretty much need CDMA though 3G is slowly improving coverage, in the cities it doesn't hurt either as CDMA in OZ piggy-backs onto the GSM network so you get the best of both worlds. Sure the bandwidth is lower and I wouldn't want to try and download anything but that's what my home broadband is for, I don't need that stuff on my phone as I don't feel the need to be always connected. Some people do though and they should go for a 2.5G like the Crackberry, or a 3G network service.

But as BlackWolf said: the CDMA network in Oz is being turned off soon.

Trivia: the CDMA network is just the old analogue network with a few extra bits of hardware to improve throughput.

[IceFire]

Interesting...thanks guys!  I've started researching the cell phone thing and trying to get something thats pretty basic without too much fuss.  Telus and Rogers both have a decent pay as you go plan although Telus seems to have automatic topping up each month while Rogers doesn't...more reading necessary.  A bit worried about the higher SAR ratings for most of the phones I've been looking at.  Maybe not a big deal given the limited time that I need/use a cell phone.

[MP-Ryan]

Interesting...thanks guys!  I've started researching the cell phone thing and trying to get something thats pretty basic without too much fuss.  Telus and Rogers both have a decent pay as you go plan although Telus seems to have automatic topping up each month while Rogers doesn't...more reading necessary.  A bit worried about the higher SAR ratings for most of the phones I've been looking at.  Maybe not a big deal given the limited time that I need/use a cell phone.

You are better to get a low-cost (e.g. $20/mo) monthly plan than pay-as-you-go.  The pay as you go rates are atrocious, and you'll easily end up spending $20/mo for just basic usage anyway.  Also, like I said, check out Bell - they have some great plans too.

[IceFire]

Its still hard to beat $10 a month regardless of what the rates are.  Given my limited use of the phone but the need for it to be mobile.  I can get some decent corporate options with all three if I do go for a plan but the bottom line is still $10 versus...more

Am I wrong?

[MP-Ryan]

Its still hard to beat $10 a month regardless of what the rates are.  Given my limited use of the phone but the need for it to be mobile.  I can get some decent corporate options with all three if I do go for a plan but the bottom line is still $10 versus...more

Am I wrong?

When I first got a cell I thought the same as you, I'll barely use it, it'll only cost me $10/mo, etc.

Then you realize that they charge you $0.33/minute for ALL calls, and an additional #0.25/min for long distance calls.  And suddenly you have to make a long distance call in an emergency from your cell.  And all of a sudden you're paying $30 that month instead of $10.

Cell phones are hugely expensive if you don't have a plan that covers your basic usage needs, and unless all you're doing is keeping it in the car literally for emergency calls only, Pay-As-You-Go will cost you much more than a basic monthly plan.

[Scuddie]

WTF are you guys using for a pay as you go system?  FFS, I get a flat $0.10 per minute to North America and $0.05 per text sent/received.  You guys are being ripped off so badly, it's unbelieveable!  Who are you going with?  Verizon?

[MP-Ryan]

WTF are you guys using for a pay as you go system?  FFS, I get a flat $0.10 per minute to North America and $0.05 per text sent/received.  You guys are being ripped off so badly, it's unbelieveable!  Who are you going with?  Verizon?

Rogers.

Canada's cell phones are ridiculously expensive compared to the US and Europe.  It's a narrower base and there are fewer providers, which means they all charge more for less.

[IceFire]

WTF are you guys using for a pay as you go system?  FFS, I get a flat $0.10 per minute to North America and $0.05 per text sent/received.  You guys are being ripped off so badly, it's unbelieveable!  Who are you going with?  Verizon?

I know a guy who kept his European cell phone plan going after he came back to Canada because the price was cheaper even with the long distance charges with his European plan versus the Canadian ones.  THATS how bad the cell phone plans are here.