Does anyone know of any REAL paygo plans for Alarm System.

[BearFBI]

So we decided to go through all our bills and cut unnecessary costs out. We canceled our landline, Switched to IPTV, Canceled alarm monitoring, Switched to PM, and so on. Ever since we canceled alarm monitoring we at least wanted the alarm to call our phones in case of an emergency. Now the first thing i thought of using was a VOIP service like Ooma but the problem with Ooma is that i would have to find a way to run Ethernet to my alarm panel and have to deal with power outages. There are too many points of failure with VOIP. Thats where an Alarm Cellular Communicator comes in. It uses the 4G network as a landline. I found a couple of units online for my old DSC alarm system. The problem is i need to find a plan. I dont want to be paying 10 dollars a month for it to call me. I might as well buy a new Ring alarm system and get their 10$ monthly monitoring. So i am looking for a plan preferably Pay As You Go with REAL pay per use rates where it charges you per minute and it has a long expiry. Or something like where you put X amount of money in and get X amount of minutes. I cant find anybody that offers real PAYGO plans anymore. All the ones that still exist have a minimum topup of at least 5 dollars monthly. Too bad PM doesn't have something like that. Anybody have any suggestions ?

[BearFBI]

@popping Yeah at first a long time ago when i wanted to switch to PM i saw it and i  thought to use it but sadly i waited too long. Also 8$ monthly is still too much for an alarm system. My alarm system wouldn't need 50 minutes of talk or text. I think speak-out is my best option. I do wish PM brought back the 10$ monthly plan though because i would like to get my parents who dont talk that much on PM. I could save a few dollars by giving them my refferal too.

[Korth]

PM's $15/GB current data add-on price is not PM's usual $30/GB data add-on price.

It might stay that price forever, who knows? But it doesn't scale well with PM's other data plan prices or PMs other data add-on price - so I suspect it's a "special" temporary thing which won't be sustained, I'd advise buying it now (if you need that data) while it's still available, I wouldn't recommend banking on it across the long run.

[popping]

@BearFBI 

Speakout is the cheapest pay-per-use provider for minimum $1.25/m and $25 topup is for 1 year.

That was the cheapest before I found out the discontinued PM $10 50/50 plan.  After 5 years with PM, people are paying $3/30days ($10 - $2 - $5) with autopay.  Calling toll free number is free.  

If you can find someone wants to get rid of her/his grandfathered $10 50/50 plan, get it ASAP before the owner changes her/his mind.  If you need more minutes, get the $5/500 minutes addon.  If you need data, get the $15/1GB data addon.

[BearFBI]

@Korth I just realized rings alarm monitoring is only available in the US. 10$ alarm monitoring was too good to be true. Canada Sucks our cell plans are no where near the US or Europe and TV and internet is so expensive. Thats why i switched to PM but their plans are still no where near the plans that are in Europe. 

[BearFBI]

@Korth Yeah if your with a big carrier its no problem they offer stuff like that but with PM they don't. I think im going to go with speak-out. It seems like the best option. 

[Korth]

@BearFBI

I know what you mean.

Maybe Telus/Bell/Rogers offer "family plans" or whatever which would let you attach another phone number to your main phone number account and work out costing less overall. PM doesn't do anything like that.

To be honest, you're probably best off just paying the $10/month for the fully packaged alarm subscription service.

[BearFBI]

@Korth Yeah i never thought of foreign cell phone plans that work in canada. Ill have to look at that too. I Just don't want to pay for so much minutes that an alarm system would never use. I wish you could buy a Talk add on without a plan on PM and have it last a year or something.

[Korth]

7-Eleven/Rogers Speakout is definitely the cheapest way plan for this sort of alarm application.

Pay-as-you-go rates are reasonably cheap but there's small monthly fees which gradually trickle unused funds away. And, I think, there's a minimum top-up requirement every year which pays for far more call minutes than an alarm system should he expected to use during that period.

Koodo has some kind of $99/year Limited Talk/Text/etc offer, I think.

SaskTel and Ice Wireless also have some dirt-cheap plans, but unlikely you live in their coverage areas.

You may live in an area serviced by one of the many "little" ISPs which offer "wireless home internet" across a wide wifi network or localized 2G/3G/4G network. If so, they probably offer some cheap low-end packages perfect for this alarm system.

Foreign cellphone plans which work in Canada are becoming cheap options for consumer niches like this. Singapore-based "Circles Life" has some low-end plans which could work with this alarm call/text/data thing for $40/year (with contract).

[BearFBI]

@wetcoaster BEAUTIFUL. Thats all i need. Its for an alarm system so it is just for emergencies. It still would be better if it started charging me when it got used but 25$ Yearly seems to be the best one so far. Also Paygo has changed. Paygo is way diffrent with Rogers Bell and Telus. I feel like you have to go with not so popular cell providers just to get a real paygo plan. Rogers and Bell treats Paygo as a normal billed plan without the bill and high monthly costs. There is no more pay X amount and get X amount for long periods of time like a year. 

[gpixel]

Hey @BearFBI, what @wetcoaster  said

[wetcoaster]

@BearFBI 

Minimum top up is $25, valid for 365days. Every month $1.25 fee is deducted. Per minute cost is $0.30, so the $10/year gives you 33 PAYG minutes.

Obviously you can top up whenever you are low in funds, the new year will be valid from the next top up and existing funds are carried over.

This is how I always understood PAYG I'm not sure what you had in mind?

[BearFBI]

@gblackma yeah ill have to ask @popping. I just dont want to pay 50$ or 100$ a year to keep my alarm system monitored to myself. It would be great to have something that charges me when i use it like pay per minute but without any base monthly or yearly topup. They used to exist REAL paygo plans but the companies like Rogers just turned them into normal monthly cell plans that you topup with vouchers and you pay all this money for a crappy plan. 

[gblackma]

@BearFBI , @popping  is more of an expert on Speak out. I have never used it.

[BearFBI]

@Triguy The problem with freedom is that i am not in their network. I am in the nationwide zone. and you have to be connected to their network at least 3 months of the year.

[BearFBI]

@gblackma yeah i went to speakout as my first option but i am confused on how they work. If i put 10 dollars in and get X amount of minutes what is the expiry of that. does it expire monthly. All the yearly plans i can find need a minimum of 100$ topup

[Triguy]

7-Eleven SpeakOut $50 Voucher with Bonus Value

https://www.whistleout.ca/CellPhones/Guides/Best-prepaid-cell-phone-plans

[Anonymous]

 @BearFBI 

A certain multi-national convenience store has a pay as you go cell thing that iirc can be alive for a year between payments. But I'm not sure.

[gblackma]

@BearFBI you can try Speak out https://www.speakout7eleven.ca/deal?gclid=Cj0KCQjw-Mr0BRDyARIsAKEFbeexlA1zCQIIMr89RL6eKhdFdiY-reCkIR...