When in a new city, you may have difficulties getting service. However, as our customer, all you need to do is get WiFi or, if not always available, Data (as cell phone providers call their mobile internet access). You will also need a device that can connect to the Data network and act as a hotspot. Most providers will try hard to sell you not just Data, but also Voice and Text services, which are generally a bad deal as they are far more expensive than what you can readily get with us. Although some may have what they call "Tablet plans", they will tell you that such plans cannot work on your smartphone, which is completely false (see c|net Maggie and Jason as well as M). You need to ignore such advice and get your smartphone on a prepaid Data (or "Tablet") plan ASAP. You only need to worry about frequency and networks - for instance Wind does not work with all phones. But once you establish that your phone works with a provider, you can get that provider's Data or Tablet plan and start making the Internet work for you. If you already have a full plan with them, inquire about the Data or Tablet plan, get the respective SIM card, make sure the smartphone can get on the Internet with it, and once that is done, cancel your full plan and keep only the Data / Tablet plan. For example, in Toronto there are quite a few providers offering Internet (Data)-only plans: TbayTel, Wind, Speakout, Rogers. The prices vary between $100 / year / 20GB with TbayTel to $10 / month / 100MB + $5/additional GB with Rogers. Obviously, the best deal is from TbayTel, but unfortunately that's outside Toronto, and according to Lakehead University, getting there is not easy. Both TbayTel and Speakout use Rogers network. Wind uses a different frequency (1700/2100 MHz AWS) and charge $99/year for 1GB/month + $10/additional GB in an online-only offer that goes only for the first year. Relying on VoIP, apart from significant cost savings in both local and especially international calling, not to mention free or very close to free texting at least in North America as well as a few other countries, provides you with freedom from your main provider. Are they having an outage? You can use WiFi. Are they charging too much? If you had the wisdom to get prepaid Data, you don't have to use their expensive options. Does their service suck? You can easily switch your Data provider, without worrying about transferring the number, paying penalties or losing your voicemails (we even email them to you, automatically). Most of us need Data or WiFi (in short, an Internet connection) more so than the Voice or Texting services cell phone providers offer. If you are already using Data for Facebook or to check your emails or for Google Maps, why not put it to better use to save you money on voice and texting and to free you from your cell phone provider, who usually charges outrageous prices? Additionally, a VoIP provider such as us can provide you with a phone number (for incoming phone calls) almost in every major city of the world. All you need is a working Internet connection you can get via Data or WiFi - and voila! No more roaming charges, only predictable, consistent outgoing calls charges. And you can continue to answer those calls even after you left that particular geographical region. After signing up and installing a softphone such as Zoiper, using the smartphone cannot be any easier. |
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