Ditching Data

[KamWest]

After continuing bills over 300 for two lines with a competing service I have decided to ditch data and go with the least expensive voice & text plan I could find. 

Just so happens to be public mobile when I do auto pay at $25 for unlimited provincial call and north american unlimited text.

A few things I need clrified... assuming I am in home province

1. I can text anywhere to North America for sure?

2. I can use wifi for long distance, can I have it so it will not dial long distance?

3. Once I activate my sim card how long does porting take on average?

[stonechucker]

WOW, 45¢ per text to the us?  Crazy!  I’d be sending emails or Skype or ICQ messages, before paying that price.

im still paying less than $35 on my Promo 2016, saving money compared to my previous providers, and getting more than I need as it is for province wide calling, global txt and 12 GB over 90 days.  That $35 I mention is the approximate max cost per month.  I have not yet maxed out my data, and I rarely call out of province.  Also, have never sent a txt outside of my province, except when I was in Halifax, on a different provider.... that was expensive as I was roaming in Canada, on Wind Away.

[MoraMan]

very good info in this thread

[KamWest]

Yup and I am about to give it up after getting charged .45 cents for every text to the states. That adds up really fast.

[bsperanz]

people went crazy for the $60 10 gb data plan last month

[will13am]

Going cold turkey on data gives me the heebie jeebies as well.  I could actually go without talk and text, but not data.  Data can be converted to talk and text, but no the other way around.  That said, I would lose it paying $300 a month for 2 lines.  Heck, I pay about $150 for 4 cell lines and 3 data only plans.  Unlimited data usage at $50 in Canada, ain't ever gonna happen.  Seriously, unlimited is overrated.  If the monthly allotment of data is not consumed, then the plan is essentially unlimited. 

[srlawren]

@KamWest well, for comparison.....

• 90 days, prov-wide talk, global texting, no data = $75 or $25.35 per calendar month
• Same but add 1.5GB "3G" data (approx 500MB per month) = $90 or $30.42 per calendar month, OR
• with 3GB "3G" data (approx 1GB per month) = $105 or $35.49 per calendar month.

It may not be a ton of data, and it's capped at 3Mbps speed, but at least there's some there if you need it for casual use and navigation and stuff.  Difference is around $5-10 per month (plus taxes of course--all prices are quoted pre-tax).  Just for the peace of mind?  Still a big savings over what you are paying currently.  Food for thought?

My "per calendar month" is calculated as:

Plan cost / 90 days = $x per day, * 365 = $y per year, divide by 12 = $z per calendar month.  PM of course will charge you every 90 days, so this calculation is just to make it easier to compare against what you're paying today, or would pay at any other providers (since they all use calendar months).

[KamWest]

HeHe..... I will miss the data too but I have to do it and will do it.... I will do it... I will do it...

I'll keep saying that until I'm sure

Seriously though... when the day comes I can pick up unlimited for 50 bucks I might be back. Traditionally I don't use a lot but I'm just so tired of data watching. If that never happens then... well I guess that will be the same as my cable bill, a distant memory.

[srlawren]

@KamWest no, the long distance add-ons are for making calls *from* within Canada only.  There is a 10-day US-roaming talk (unlimited inbound from anywhere while in the US during those 10 days and unlimitied outbound to Canada and the US while in the US during those 10 days) you can purchase for $8.

Cold turkey on data?  OMG I'm getting the shakes just thinking about it.  I'd be so lost.  If you decide to come back, you can get some slower "3g"-speed data for very little on top of a talk + text plan.  And with PM there's not such thing as overages.  If your plan data runs out, it stops until your renewal.  (OR, you can optionally purchase more data as add-ons, but they're quite expensive relatively speaking.).  

Bottom line:  with PM being entirely pre-paid, you will never have an unexpected overage.  You get what you pre-select and pre-pay for, and absolutely nothing else.  No unexpected long distance (the call will just fail to go through); no unexpected data overages (data just stops flowing).

[KamWest]

@mimmo if I buy that long distance pack it says it is international long distance. So if I travel to the states can I use it to call back home to my home province or is it just for calling out long distance from my home province?

Huhhh.... HeHe... Does that make sense?

[mimmo]

Hats off to you.

[KamWest]

I have an ooma home phone and it comes with an app that does wifi calling. So if I go to the US or something all I have to have is a wifi connection and I can call home and I can use hangouts to text my wife.

I use about 300mb data monthly and really I spend 90% of my time in wifi. I did the math and I can save $1084 per year for my two lines by ditching data. The only time I use date is for navigation and I can just download the maps so that too is not a big deal.

Kinda like when I ditched cable.... now 5 years later I laugh when I see someone paying those bills. I figure as I get wise using everything within wifi I will probably chuckle too when I hear people paying $50+ for data.

I decided to go cold turkey, I know I can source a cheaper data plan at public but I want to prove to myself that I can cut that last string.

[will13am]

@KamWest, just to clarify what is meant by using wifi for calling.  If this is in reference to using a calling app that works on wifi, definitely there will be no additional cost to this service.  If the question is in reference to whether this service has wifi calling that is free, no this service does not support wifi calling. 

[mimmo]

The long distance add-ons 15$ for 400 minutes is a great option and is good till the minutes are used up.  I have used70 minutes over the last year

The 30$ 1gb add-on is not bad value if you can spread it out over 6+ months else the 500mb 3g speed is a good alternative .  Nice to have emergency data.

I know you didn't ask these questions but I thought it is good food for thought.

[NDesai]

1. I can text anywhere to North America for sure?

- Texting is Global, so you can text anywhere in the world from anywhere in Canada. 

2. I can use wifi for long distance, can I have it so it will not dial long distance?

- Yes, you definitely can. This is a prepaid service so if you mistakenly dial a number, simply it will not go through. So you don't need to worry about those type of charges. 

3. Once I activate my sim card how long does porting take on average?

- Depending on where you are porting from, it can take somewhere between a few mins to a few hours. 

BTW, if you go on a 90 days plan with AutoPay enabled, that same plan will be $69/90 days. 

Let us know if you have further questions.