topic Re: New cell phone in Get Support

New cell phone

sorinsimnic — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 13:32:31 GMT

Can I buy a new cell phone from Public Network?

Re: New cell phone

popping — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 02:22:07 GMT

@sorinsimnic wrote:
Can I buy a new cell phone from Public Network?

PM does not sell phones. PM only provides mobile service.

Re: New cell phone

sorinsimnic — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 02:23:13 GMT

OK thanks!

Re: New cell phone

Luddite — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 02:41:50 GMT

@sorinsimnic When looking for a new phone the option for a "fee" or heavily disounted carrier phone can be appealing. Just be sure you add up the full cost for 24 months and compare that to Public Mobile with a phone purchased outright. My recent research suggests you will at best break even, and in many cases be worse off with the "free" phone.

Re: New cell phone

GreaseMonkey — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 03:25:48 GMT

Unfortunately you can't.

But if you are looking for a decent phone, Walmart is selling

TELUS Motorola E6 for $129. Regular price $160

I'm pretty sure it will work on PM network since its owned by telus.

Re: New cell phone

GinYVR — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 03:32:29 GMT

@sorinsimnicPublic Mobile doesn't sell phones.

However if you are signing up for plans that are $35+/month. There are always deals on Boxing days where retail places like Best Buy give away gift certificates usually a couple hundred $ along with rebates and $0 deals from places like Koodo or Fido (Virgin doesn't do much discounting). That works out you are basically getting a phone for free if not more. It really depends on how much you want to spend / month.

Re: New cell phone

yanzhiqiang — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 03:35:47 GMT

Public mobile doesnt sell cell phones.

Re: New cell phone

popping — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 03:40:23 GMT

@GinYVR wrote:
@sorinsimnicPublic Mobile doesn't sell phones.

However if you are signing up for plans that are $35+/month. There are always deals on Boxing days where retail places like Best Buy give away gift certificates usually a couple hundred $ along with rebates and $0 deals from places like Koodo or Fido (Virgin doesn't do much discounting). That works out you are basically getting a phone for free if not more. It really depends on how much you want to spend / month.

If people are thinking to activate, get GC, cancel, keep the phone and pay the phone balance with GC, make sure to ask what is the phone account balance after activation which is what you have to pay back if you are not staying for 2 years. Read the contract slowing about the cancelation payment before signing.

Re: New cell phone

darlicious — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 04:38:56 GMT

@sorinsimnic Public mobile does not sell cell phones. Unless @popping has actually used her advice I would not suggest that method. Generally speaking once cancelling a cell phone contract with a device subsidy you must pay the full price of the phone plus taxes and return or repay any "gift" given with it in one lump sum. The phone cost is always the MSRP at the top end so you won't get any discounts that may be offered to buy an unlocked phone outright. Most people who purchase their phone outright will save about 20% over the length of the contract at a first tier provider. Your savings will be greater at public mobile. My phone bought all in two years ago for $400 would cost about $14.40 a month over 2 years plus plan cost. When I bought my boyfriend's phone out the device subsidy on a $400 phone was $20.35 per month plus the much higher plan cost which us why it made since to buy out the final six months and switch. There are great deals on phones right now and for boxing day or Amazon.ca. The umidigi A5 pro dual sim comes highly recommended and is selling for $135. 32gb 16 mp camera Android phone on a "contract" that would be $5.65 a month. Unless you want only a high end latest and greatest phone you are much better off doing a little research and buying your own phone just make sure it's compatible. I just bought a back up rca smartphone on cyber Monday for $40 with a memory card it works just fine.

Re: New cell phone

popping — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 04:46:02 GMT

@darlicious

My post was a warning about getting a contract tier 1 or 2 provider. The GC will not cover cancellation penalty if not staying for 2 year. Read the contract before signing the dotted line.

Re: New cell phone

darlicious — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 04:54:26 GMT

@popping Of course warning about reading the contract carefully was the intent but the suggestion that you could use the gc to pay off the device subsidy makes it sound like a good idea....after reading the contract you would have to pay both back. Adding the gc idea just confuses the OP. I wanted @sorinsimnic to be clear on the concept being flawed.

Re: New cell phone

GinYVR — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 05:52:08 GMT

@darliciousI would not recommend adding memory cards to phones, since Android is phasing out the support for it. I would caution against buying phones from entities that don't have a presence in Canada, since Canadian privacy laws will not apply and there is no recourse if they decide to pilfer your information.

Re: New cell phone

Karnbot13 — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:03:03 GMT

@GinYVR wrote:
@darliciousI would not recommend adding memory cards to phones, since Android is phasing out the support for it. I would caution against buying phones from entities that don't have a presence in Canada, since Canadian privacy laws will not apply and there is no recourse if they decide to pilfer your information.

Where did you hear android is phasing out support for memory cards?

Re: New cell phone

cavemantoronto — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:15:01 GMT

@Karnbot13 wrote:
@GinYVR wrote:
@darliciousI would not recommend adding memory cards to phones, since Android is phasing out the support for it. I would caution against buying phones from entities that don't have a presence in Canada, since Canadian privacy laws will not apply and there is no recourse if they decide to pilfer your information.
Where did you hear android is phasing out support for memory cards?

They've been saying that for years and use the security argument. Manufacturers keep installing them and buyers still want it.

Re: New cell phone

darlicious — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:42:43 GMT

@cavemantoronto wrote:
@Karnbot13 wrote:
@GinYVR wrote:
@darliciousI would not recommend adding memory cards to phones, since Android is phasing out the support for it. I would caution against buying phones from entities that don't have a presence in Canada, since Canadian privacy laws will not apply and there is no recourse if they decide to pilfer your information.
Where did you hear android is phasing out support for memory cards?
They've been saying that for years and use the security argument. Manufacturers keep installing them and buyers still want it.

I'm a little confused about the memory card issue here. The phone was bought from London drugs, imported by a Canadian company from a well known American company and made in China but pretty much everything is made there. The micro sd card is solely to boost the 8gb memory of the phone which was also used in my flip phone for music storage and now used additionally for app support. How does does a removable sd card become a security and privacy issue? Would it not be more of an issue having the same information in the unremovable memory of smartphone be a bigger concern? It's a common selling point of phones that a dual sim or micro sd slot feature in a phone or conversely a memory card slot in a tablet to boost memory is an advantage. Have I completed missed something here?

Re: New cell phone

cavemantoronto — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:49:59 GMT

@darlicious wrote:
How does does a removable sd card become a security and privacy issue?

When a phone is lost or stolen, internal storage can be remotely wiped. Most don't encrypt their memory cards. There's also issue with peformance.

Re: New cell phone

Korth — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:57:02 GMT

@GinYVR wrote:
I would not recommend adding memory cards to phones, since Android is phasing out the support for it. I would caution against buying phones from entities that don't have a presence in Canada, since Canadian privacy laws will not apply and there is no recourse if they decide to pilfer your information.

I actually disagree with this advice.

Memory cards (and the data stored on them) can easily be transferred from device to device. This is a great convenience to end-users, easy to move data around, easy to share data by making it portable, easy to migrate your off-cloud stuff when you replace or upgrade your device.

I don't view it as increased security threat because thieves would have to already have your phone to get the storage card out of your phone. Data on the storage card can be encrypted just like data on the phone itself. Data on the storage card remains intact even if the phone itself gets bricked or burned or broken. Data in your pocket is isolated from all the hackers and predators which threaten the cloud (let alone the untrustworthy promises of greedy or technically incompetent corporations who own the cloud storage hardware).

I personally have a lot more confidence in common sense and strong encryption than I have in nebulously defined and unenforceable laws. And Canadian privacy laws have never provided me any comfort before, lol, especially when it comes to internet and to wireless communications, I've seen agencies like the CRTC wibble-wobble after money and fold when confronted by lobby groups often enough.

But your claim is still interesting. Can you point at your source?

Re: New cell phone

darlicious — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 06:57:50 GMT

@cavemantoronto Aha...now I see the point. That doesn't explain the pilfering of info by the manufacturer.....? That could definitely be a concern when it comes to the apps. And a concern when it comes to the bf as he has a habit of losing/smashing screens. That was part of the reason for the purchase of a cheap phone so the loss of it would not be in the pocketbook as well. It's only intended as a back up....the real replacement is under the tree. Then the cheap one will be there when the inevitable happens.....

Re: New cell phone

darlicious — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 07:03:09 GMT

@Korth Your response is in line with what I was thinking that it is safer but encryption is a smart move. How does one do this?

Re: New cell phone

Korth — Sun, 15 Dec 2019 07:52:41 GMT

@darlicious wrote:
Your response is in line with what I was thinking that it is safer but encryption is a smart move. How does one do this?

Some phones have the feature built in, an option like "Encrypt Storage Card" buried somewhere in Settings. This is likely the easiest way but I think it's insecure (because anyone can buy the the same phone model to attempt decrypt) and it's inconvenient (because you be stuck needing the same phone model to decrypt it yourself).

Some file manager apps allow you to Encrypt/Decrypt specific files or folders by click-selecting them. ES File Explorer is free and uses a strong proven crypto. Many similar apps exist which could be as good (or better), but I haven't tried them.

But if you aren't comfortable manipulating file and folder stuff in the operating system then this isn't a good option.

AESCrypt is probably the best commercial crypto app available. Boxcrypter is arguably the best free crypto app available. They're both easy to use, both use vastly overkill cryptography, and both offer multi-platform support (so you could encrypt or decrypt the contents of your SD card on any phone, tablet, laptop, or PC which you can plug it into).