Data plan for unlocked phone

[kaddle]

so if you've read my other thread you are aware that i will be buying a new smartphone soon. likely sometime between now and early november. i've only ever had one smartphone which is some crappy https://www.phonemore.com/alcatel-one-touch-fierce-2-7040t/specs/1979 so i don't know as much about smartphones as many other people. anyways, i've always been on the cheapest chatr plan without data, so it only recently hit me that learning about data plans will be very important in regards to how well i can utilize my smartphone.

i pretty much know that locked smartphones is when you are buying the phone from a carrier and usually requires a two year contract with that service. apparently there is often stock software and adds on the phone from that carrier and you are pretty much trapped with that phone and in the contract until the time is up. i guess the upside is you may be able to get a free or lower cost phone. the downside is there are many limitations and unnecessary addons to the phone. when you get an unlocked phone you are paying full price for the phone and you can get whatever plan from any service you want, and switch at any time. you can also mod your phone or something.

 

anyways. my original plan was to get the $50 REGULAR chatr plan as listed here, which apparently gives 6 gb of data. it sounds like a very awesome deal. i never had a data plan before but i know that they used to be much more expensive. however, the problem occurred when i saw that these chatr data plans are at 3g speeds. i saw a chart in a video showing that 3g speeds are dreadfully slow compared to 4g speeds, and 5g speeds will be legendary. i'm not getting a 5g phone anytime soon, but now i have to decide between a potentially crappy 3g chatr plan or finding a different service and getting a 4g data plan.

 

the problem with that is i simply don't have any experience with data plans, data usage, etc. i have no idea how much i can use the internet with a 6gb data plan, or how slow or not slow it will actually be. i can assume a 4g data plan is a lot more expensive, but i also don't know if the difference in speed will be worth the price.

 

so now i am asking. how much internet usage can i get out of 2, 4, 6, etc gb of data? does anyone have any experience with the chatr data plans or any 3g data plans? how does the 3g actually compare to the 4g? what are some good services in canada that offer good 4g plans? any other info i should know about?

[PineyCreek]

Depends on how much you're around decent wifi and the applications you use.  Web browsing doesn't take much data.  Email doesn't take much as long as you're not downloading large attachments.  Games will usually be your biggest data user, along with streaming music and video, followed by general application updates.  It really is all subjective based on how you use your phone and the environment.  I would use your phone's administration options and track your data use based on your applications usage over time.  Pick what you think you need.  You'll either pay an extra charge if you go over, or you can change your contract at the end of the period if you don't need that much.

[wojtepanik]

6gb is a lot if you don't stream any high quality video, I can use 50gb a month watching netflix, yt without wifi

[Pixel5]

how much data you need depends entirely what you are going to do with the phone and how often you have access to wifi.

 

you can make it work with 1GB if you dont watch any videos outside of wifi networks and only download apps when in wifi but you could also easily use more then 5GB if you just do whatever you want and have the time for it.

[kaddle]

i see. thanks for the info. i think i'll go with the 6gb chatr plan or auto pay for 8gb just in case, and hopefully it won't be too slow.

[kokakolia]

The thing about data plans in Canada is that they suck, big time, as the big three (Telus, Rogers and Bell) are milking us. In fact, if you want to get the most data for your $ you may as well get a data plan from France. Yes, you heard me. For 60€ per month you get 60gb that you can use in Canada and the USA. That plan comes from the company called Orange. 

 

If you don’t need this much data, I suggest you go to Koodo. Around December there will be a 10gb for $60 or $50 a month. And Koodo has great coverage unlike Public Mobile or Chatr. 

 

The right times to get a data plan in Canada are in August (back to school) and December (Christmas/Black Friday). October is not the best of times. 

 

One more thing. Buying unlocked phones in Canada can end up being more expensive than through the Koodo or Fido tab. With Koodo the Tab Medium can get really interesting, especially with LG phones (which are more often on sale than Samsungs and iPhones). For example you can get an LG G6 for $360 or an LG G7 for about $500 sometimes. This is why I regret buying my used and lightly scratched iPhone 7 for $600 6 months ago. 

[kaddle]

i see. thanks a lot for the info. in the end i decided to get a contract for a note 9.  i didn't get it just yet though. i might be in another predicament. i originally was going to settle on koodo because their medium tab for the note9 will cost $900 - $200 when i trade in an old phone, and then for a 7gb unlimited plan it's $75 a month + $10 for the tab. so i would be spending about $800 up front after tax and then $85 per month.

 

when i went to the store to get this plan i was informed that rogers is having some kind of promotional deal for chatr customers to transfer, and i just so happen to be with chatr now. the deal is i can buy the note9 for about $750 after tax accounting for the trade in, and $60 per month including the tab expense for 6gb of data and unlimited minutes, etc.

 

this deal is far superior and so i was going for it but they didn't have any note9s in the store so i have to wait for them to be shipped out. when i got home i realized that i'm not sure if this deal rogers is offering is for 4g data or 3g data. i think i should go back tomorrow to make sure. if it's 3g then i will go with koodo instead. as far as i know rogers does not offer 3g plans, so maybe it is 4g? you said there are better deals around december, but i just can't wait that long.