Which Carrier to choose in NL - St. John's? (Student)

[Sharif]

I'll be studying in St. John's in the coming winter session.

I am pretty much new to the carriers in Canada minus Linus rambling about it from time to time over the years on the WAN show.

 

Being completely new I wanted to ask about any general pointers, carriers to avoid and decent plans you would recommend. 

 

A little background

I got a unlocked LG G6. 

Don't know if I'll be calling much.

I can probably survive with 500mb plan since I'll have a proper internet at the place I am planning to stay at.

 

Any info would be of great help

[oahbpn]

Avoid Freedommobile, their coverage is very spotty.

 

A decent plan would be the following:

$30
30-days
3G
500 MB Data⁴ at 3G speed
UNLIMITED Talk Canada-wide
UNLIMITED International Text and Picture Messaging
VOICEMAIL & Call Display

 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/nl/plans/30for500MB-3Gspeed

[Sharif]

8 hours ago, oahbpn said:

Avoid Freedommobile, their coverage is very spotty.

 

A decent plan would be the following:

$30
30-days
3G
500 MB Data⁴ at 3G speed
UNLIMITED Talk Canada-wide
UNLIMITED International Text and Picture Messaging
VOICEMAIL & Call Display

 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/nl/plans/30for500MB-3Gspeed

That's the best one I seen so far, will probably go with that if it's available at the airport or wait till I visit a walmart from what I read on the site

 

Which are the current prominent carriers in NL right now?

[dizmo]

Check out Koodo's prepaid service. It's $15/month for a Text plan, and you add minutes and data via booster packs. The booster packs don't expire, so they carry over month to month. Eg, if you pay for 1GB of data ($25 or $30) you might be able to make it stretch the length of your stay. It's likely going to be a better deal if you're low usage.

 

Pubic Mobile is decent but you get much worse support, and 3G internet is pretty brutal.

15 hours ago, oahbpn said:

Avoid Freedommobile, their coverage is very spotty.

 

A decent plan would be the following:

$30
30-days
3G
500 MB Data⁴ at 3G speed
UNLIMITED Talk Canada-wide
UNLIMITED International Text and Picture Messaging
VOICEMAIL & Call Display

 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/nl/plans/30for500MB-3Gspeed

3G internet? Ouch. It's not even that much more to step up to 4G.

[Sharif]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Check out Koodo's prepaid service. It's $15/month for a Text plan, and you add minutes and data via booster packs. The booster packs don't expire, so they carry over month to month. Eg, if you pay for 1GB of data ($25 or $30) you might be able to make it stretch the length of your stay. It's likely going to be a better deal if you're low usage.

 

Pubic Mobile is decent but you get much worse support, and 3G internet is pretty brutal.

3G internet? Ouch. It's not even that much more to step up to 4G.

I don't think it'll last for 4 years haha. With that said I was looking around their site if I get the $15 base package combined with the  $10 100 min add-on (Which will last for months) $20 500mb, that's like $35 per month excluding the call minutes which will last forever.

 

As a no thinking involved good deal it's the public mobile offering and as for a good value offering with a lot of flexibility is the Koodo one.

Honestly I can tolerate the slower 3G as the only time I will notice it is when using instagram and video calling outside for any funny reason. 

 

The main issue is that once I get a SIM and a particular number it'll be a pain to switch and I hope I don't regret going with a particular carrier.

[dizmo]

4 minutes ago, Sharif said:

I don't think it'll last for 4 years haha. With that said I was looking around their site if I get the $15 base package combined with the  $10 100 min add-on (Which will last for months) $20 500mb, that's like $35 per month excluding the call minutes which will last forever.

 

As a no thinking involved good deal it's the public mobile offering and as for a good value offering with a lot of flexibility is the Koodo one.

Honestly I can tolerate the slower 3G as the only time I will notice it is when using instagram and video calling outside for any funny reason. 

 

The main issue is that once I get a SIM and a particular number it'll be a pain to switch and I hope I don't regret going with a particular carrier.

Why would you buy 500mb? Buy 1GB. It's cheaper per MB. The Koodo one is 4G service. So, it's a lot better in that regard.

It's not hard to switch. Public Mobile is owned by Koodo. They're both owned by Telus. Numbers can easily be ported to any carrier.

[dalekphalm]

3 hours ago, Sharif said:

I don't think it'll last for 4 years haha. With that said I was looking around their site if I get the $15 base package combined with the  $10 100 min add-on (Which will last for months) $20 500mb, that's like $35 per month excluding the call minutes which will last forever.

 

As a no thinking involved good deal it's the public mobile offering and as for a good value offering with a lot of flexibility is the Koodo one.

Honestly I can tolerate the slower 3G as the only time I will notice it is when using instagram and video calling outside for any funny reason. 

 

The main issue is that once I get a SIM and a particular number it'll be a pain to switch and I hope I don't regret going with a particular carrier.

I agree with dizmo. Koodo is going to be a much better experience - they run off of the national Telus network, and the speed difference between 3G and 4G is going to be massive.

 

Furthermore, in Canada, you (basically) own your phone number. You can quite easily transfer your number to a new SIM/carrier - most (all?) carriers allow you to do this near seamlessly via the account page of their website.

3 hours ago, dizmo said:

Why would you buy 500mb? Buy 1GB. It's cheaper per MB. The Koodo one is 4G service. So, it's a lot better in that regard.

It's not hard to switch. Public Mobile is owned by Koodo. They're both owned by Telus. Numbers can easily be ported to any carrier.

 

[Sharif]

15 hours ago, dizmo said:

Why would you buy 500mb? Buy 1GB. It's cheaper per MB. The Koodo one is 4G service. So, it's a lot better in that regard.

It's not hard to switch. Public Mobile is owned by Koodo. They're both owned by Telus. Numbers can easily be ported to any carrier.

 

11 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

I agree with dizmo. Koodo is going to be a much better experience - they run off of the national Telus network, and the speed difference between 3G and 4G is going to be massive.

 

Furthermore, in Canada, you (basically) own your phone number. You can quite easily transfer your number to a new SIM/carrier - most (all?) carriers allow you to do this near seamlessly via the account page of their website.

 

Thanks a bunch! I personally wanted to go with Virgin mobile because I currently use them but their plans are horrible in Canada. In the long run I will most likely be glad I went with Koodo plus knowing I can switch is a peace of mind as well.

Seems like Koodo is the way to go.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Sharif said:

 

Thanks a bunch! I personally wanted to go with Virgin mobile because I currently use them but their plans are horrible in Canada. In the long run I will most likely be glad I went with Koodo plus knowing I can switch is a peace of mind as well.

Seems like Koodo is the way to go.

Virgin Mobile in Canada is a subsidiary of Bell Media. They really only cater to the lower usage/lower income demographics, focusing on pre-paid type plans.

[dizmo]

2 hours ago, Sharif said:

 

Thanks a bunch! I personally wanted to go with Virgin mobile because I currently use them but their plans are horrible in Canada. In the long run I will most likely be glad I went with Koodo plus knowing I can switch is a peace of mind as well.

Seems like Koodo is the way to go.

Haha most cell phone plans are horrible in Canada. I'm honestly not sure why most people still put up with paying over $100 a month for them.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

Haha most cell phone plans are horrible in Canada. I'm honestly not sure why most people still put up with paying over $100 a month for them.

Specifically, it's the provinces that lack a regional competitor that get screwed the most.

 

Take Bell Canada for example. They sell the same plan in Manitoba and Ontario. In Manitoba, it costs $50-$60. In Ontario, it costs over $100.

 

Ontario has been a lot better with promotions lately, but once the promos end, the regular price of $85 for 1GB of data comes back. Oh, you wanted unlimited Canada wide calling instead of just unlimited local calling? Sorry, that'll be $100.

 

I actually use a Quebec Plan on Koodo, and pay ~$50/mo for 5GB of Data, unlimited Canada Wide calling and texting, etc.

[dizmo]

On 11/27/2018 at 9:13 AM, dalekphalm said:

Specifically, it's the provinces that lack a regional competitor that get screwed the most.

 

Take Bell Canada for example. They sell the same plan in Manitoba and Ontario. In Manitoba, it costs $50-$60. In Ontario, it costs over $100.

 

Ontario has been a lot better with promotions lately, but once the promos end, the regular price of $85 for 1GB of data comes back. Oh, you wanted unlimited Canada wide calling instead of just unlimited local calling? Sorry, that'll be $100.

 

I actually use a Quebec Plan on Koodo, and pay ~$50/mo for 5GB of Data, unlimited Canada Wide calling and texting, etc.

Interesting. I had no idea they were like that. I'm surprised that isn't somehow illegal. I pay $55 for unlimited/4GB of data on Koodo.

 

[dalekphalm]

24 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Interesting. I had no idea they were like that. I'm surprised that isn't somehow illegal. I pay $55 for unlimited/4GB of data on Koodo.

 

The problem is that how would you make it illegal, unless you decide to regulate pricing heavily - which has it's pros and cons.

 

Having more competition in general would better serve to lower the price. We've got companies like Freedom, but they still have a small footprint in terms of LTE coverage - and even after Shaw bought them, people still complain about network quality and service.