Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Montreal and the iPhone

nburwell

nburwell

macrumors 603
Original poster
May 6, 2008
5,619
2,504
DE
My girlfriend and I are driving up to Montreal on April 21st for a five day vacation. We both have iPhone 4's which are not jailbroken and are locked to AT&T. I also have a 2G iPhone which is jailbroken and unlocked. From those of you who have been to Canada, which of two scenario's below do you think would work best. I don't plan on sending any texts while I'm there. I'll make an ocassional phone call home (Skype?), but that's about it. However, I would like to use my phone for Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Zagat, etc.

1. Use the iPhone 4 until we get into Canada. I would then put the phone in airplane mode and use it to pick up wifi hotspots. The hotel we are staying at has free wifi, so I know I will at least have data at the hotel.

2. Use my unlocked 2G iPhone and purchase a pre-paid SIM card when we're in Montreal. I'm only familiar with Rogers up in Canada, so I don't know what my other carrier options would be.

I'm just seeing what the best option for me would be since I don't want to receive an enormous bill from AT&T upon my return to the states.
 
Other providers are Bell, Telus, and Fido.

If you have time, I would give them all a call to find out which would give you the best deal on a pre-paid SIM.

You can go with Airplane mode, or you can turn your cellular data off, including roaming. That way you can still receive calls on your iPhone without having to worry about roaming data charges. You don't have to answer the calls, but at least you can see if someone is trying to call you. The only thing to worry about in that scenario is how you are charged for incoming text messages.
 
nburwell said:
My girlfriend and I are driving up to Montreal on April 21st for a five day vacation. We both have iPhone 4's which are not jailbroken and are locked to AT&T. I also have a 2G iPhone which is jailbroken and unlocked. From those of you who have been to Canada, which of two scenario's below do you think would work best. I don't plan on sending any texts while I'm there. I'll make an ocassional phone call home (Skype?), but that's about it. However, I would like to use my phone for Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, Zagat, etc.

1. Use the iPhone 4 until we get into Canada. I would then put the phone in airplane mode and use it to pick up wifi hotspots. The hotel we are staying at has free wifi, so I know I will at least have data at the hotel.

2. Use my unlocked 2G iPhone and purchase a pre-paid SIM card when we're in Montreal. I'm only familiar with Rogers up in Canada, so I don't know what my other carrier options would be.

I'm just seeing what the best option for me would be since I don't want to receive an enormous bill from AT&T upon my return to the states.
Click to expand...

im in a silimar situation on reversed, im from Canada and i will be in flordia for a week, i called my carrier Rogers and i was told becasue i have unlimited text that i can still recieve texts while in the states for free but sending texts would be 75 cents each of i could buy a bundle pack while im there, voice calls would be 1.40 per minute each way incoming or outgoing, data is crazy so i would advise against that outside of wifi, so i would call your carrier and see what they say
 
iisforiphone said:
im in a silimar situation on reversed, im from Canada and i will be in flordia for a week, i called my carrier Rogers and i was told becasue i have unlimited text that i can still recieve texts while in the states for free but sending texts would be 75 cents each of i could buy a bundle pack while im there, voice calls would be 1.40 per minute each way incoming or outgoing, data is crazy so i would advise against that outside of wifi, so i would call your carrier and see what they say
Click to expand...

It's different going the other way. US carriers charge for both incoming and outgoing texts. It's not like Canada where only outgoing texts are charged for.
 
@OP: You're probably just better off getting a pre-paid SIM on your unlocked 2G.


iisforiphone said:
im in a silimar situation on reversed, im from Canada and i will be in flordia for a week, i called my carrier Rogers and i was told becasue i have unlimited text that i can still recieve texts while in the states for free but sending texts would be 75 cents each of i could buy a bundle pack while im there, voice calls would be 1.40 per minute each way incoming or outgoing, data is crazy so i would advise against that outside of wifi, so i would call your carrier and see what they say
Click to expand...

I'm from Canada and am in Florida right now. On Telus I just bought a $20 international texting package and turned Cellular Data off. Currently on AT&T and able to send texts. I cannot use data because it's $3.00/MB which is nuts, but other than that it's pretty good.
 
awadeee said:
@OP: You're probably just better off getting a pre-paid SIM on your unlocked 2G.




I'm from Canada and am in Florida right now. On Telus I just bought a $20 international texting package and turned Cellular Data off. Currently on AT&T and able to send texts. I cannot use data because it's $3.00/MB which is nuts, but other than that it's pretty good.
Click to expand...

good to know Rogers said the same $20 for 75 texts i believe it was, data was about the same
 
awadeee said:
Oh wow, I got unlimited incoming and outgoing for the $20. I've probably already sent&received 1600+ in the last week.
Click to expand...

ya rogers sucks, i would have unlimted incoming, but only 75 outgoing at $20, which is pretty lame

what would of been the telus charge per text without the package? i will be travelling with a friend on Telus
 
iisforiphone said:
ya rogers sucks, i would have unlimted incoming, but only 75 outgoing at $20, which is pretty lame

what would of been the telus charge per text without the package? i will be travelling with a friend on Telus
Click to expand...

it's more like, Canadian carriers suck... Telus, Fido and Bell will give you similar rates to Rogers.

they all gotta make money, it costs them for you to receive texts on AT&T's network.
 
Surely said:
Other providers are Bell, Telus, and Fido.

If you have time, I would give them all a call to find out which would give you the best deal on a pre-paid SIM.

You can go with Airplane mode, or you can turn your cellular data off, including roaming. That way you can still receive calls on your iPhone without having to worry about roaming data charges. You don't have to answer the calls, but at least you can see if someone is trying to call you. The only thing to worry about in that scenario is how you are charged for incoming text messages.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the suggestion. I'm leaning towards just bringing my iPhone 4, putting it in airplane mode when we cross over to Canada, and just using it as a glorified iPod touch. I'll also have my iPad with me as well. I want to avoid bringing 2 iPhone's and my iPad on the trip with me.
 
iisforiphone said:
ya rogers sucks, i would have unlimted incoming, but only 75 outgoing at $20, which is pretty lame

what would of been the telus charge per text without the package? i will be travelling with a friend on Telus
Click to expand...

I think it's like $0.30 per incoming text and per outgoing text. Your Telus friend is better off just buying the package because it's even just half decent to have so that you're protected from the incoming charges.
 
nburwell said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm leaning towards just bringing my iPhone 4, putting it in airplane mode when we cross over to Canada, and just using it as a glorified iPod touch. I'll also have my iPad with me as well. I want to avoid bringing 2 iPhone's and my iPad on the trip with me.
Click to expand...
dont need to put it in airplane mode just turn data roaming off and you set i drive to the usa once a month never get charged a penny if you have it off.
 
chrisperro said:
dont need to put it in airplane mode just turn data roaming off and you set i drive to the usa once a month never get charged a penny if you have it off.
Click to expand...

i was wonder about that so what the advantage to leaving cellular data on if you set roaming data to off? just helps you to remember to turn it back on when you return home?
 
chrisperro said:
dont need to put it in airplane mode just turn data roaming off and you set i drive to the usa once a month never get charged a penny if you have it off.
Click to expand...

Oh really? I would think that to prevent receiving a hefty bill from AT&T you should put the phone in airplane mode in addition to turning data roaming off.

Not that I don't trust you, but can anyone else confirm that if I simply have data roaming off, I don't have to put my iPhone in airplane mode when I reach Canada?
 
nburwell said:
Oh really? I would think that to prevent receiving a hefty bill from AT&T you should put the phone in airplane mode in addition to turning data roaming off.

Not that I don't trust you, but can anyone else confirm that if I simply have data roaming off, I don't have to put my iPhone in airplane mode when I reach Canada?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't need to put data roaming off AND put it in Airplane Mode. Airplane Mode stops all data, so that's all you would need to do.

As I mentioned earlier, I can confirm (again) that all you need is "data roaming" and "cellular data" off. I visit Canada and that's what I do.
 
Get the data plan which they will prorate when you cancel it

Add to your line, Canada Voice and data - cancel when you return making sure all the data used is posted to your account (wait a few days). The carriers in Montreal work great. The 3G one is Rogers (your phone will pick that one first) but I couldn't get any data on that. ATT told me to chose the other - by shutting off 3G. I think Telus is 3G - it was super fast but shutting off 3G shifted me to Telus' network and the data downloaded fast. My original iPhone also worked well up there but much slower.
 
Surely said:
You wouldn't need to put data roaming off AND put it in Airplane Mode. Airplane Mode stops all data, so that's all you would need to do.

As I mentioned earlier, I can confirm (again) that all you need is "data roaming" and "cellular data" off. I visit Canada and that's what I do.
Click to expand...

Thanks. And I presume you didn't get an outrageous bill from AT&T?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back