Canada Carriers Information

[ratatapa]

Hello with the release of the ipad 2 in Canada, more people will either have at least Ipad1 or 2 and to celebrate the first week of Ipad2 in Canada I think it's time to analyse our Carriers

First of all I had Ipad1 since day 1 and I tried all 3 of em so what I will say here is not april fools or anything

So Let's talk about Data plans

We have 3 Carriers here, Telus Bell and Rogers : First of all all 3 use GSM Ipad, which means if you come from USA make sure to have an AT&T Ipad and not a Verizon

Rogers

15$ for 250 mb + Rogers WIFI hotspot
35 $ for 5gig + Rogers WIFI hotspot

Ok the prices seems a bit high and they are those price are montly

Pro

You can activate the Rogers 3g directly from the Ipad and manage everything there

You can upgrade your plan when you want!

Cons

Big con for me YOU CANNOT VPN!!!!

OK you can but let me explain I had a Rogers Sim card and tried to VPN for work but I wasn't able, so i called Rogers and they said that VPN IS NOT ACTIVE you have to pay a 5-10$ more per month to have the VPN and you need to call em to activate it!!!!

So If I want a 15$ per month 3g with VPN I need to

1) Activate 3g on the ipad
2) Call Rogers to activate my VPN
3) pay 20-25$ for 250mb ....
4) The worse part is that if I deactivate the Data plan and reactivate later I still need to Call em to reactivate my VPN Bullshit

Telus (This will be quick)

Telus is the worse Ipad Plan Ever

20$ for 500mb

Pros

Cheaper then Rogers or bell 15$ for 250 while telus is 500mb for 20

Cons

You cannot activate your account from the Ipad

To activate your 3g you need to call Telus and then Call em again to cancel it
Same for VPN (BUT VPN is free)

So if your not in a hurry to have 3g Telus is fine, but if your like me and when you need 3g it's ASAP Telus is not for you


Bell

15 $ 250 Mo + Wi-Fi*
20 $ 500 Mo + Wi-Fi*
35 $ 5 Go + Wi-Fi*
45 $ 5 Go + Wi-Fi + Tablet TV**

Well Well Well I personally Hate Bell but sadly they are the best for me on Ipad Data

Cons Lots of choices
Can activate and cancel directly from the Ipad
VPN IS ACTIVATE AND FREE!!!!!! You don't need to call Bell for VPN access

Con

Sadly I do not have any lol

Speed 3g

Rogers about 5mb s
Bell About 4mbs
Telus no Idea didn't activate 3g because I diddnt had 1h on phone to loose

So here is my recommandation


Bell then Rogers then Telus

Bell is awsome due to VPN and their new 20$ for 500mb for me owns Rogers plans

So that's about it

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to put together this comprehensive review. It's much appreciated.

Tim
Scotland

 

[Banquish]

I'm with telus, they have a 5Gb option for 35. Well actually it's a flex plan, 20$ for 200mb / 35 for 5th, so if I don't use the data much in a month it'll knock me down a notch.

Only problem I've had is that in downtown toronto, my avg speed has been 2-3 mb max. Often getting 1.something - uploading is generally a paltry .02. I called to get this fixed, it's been 2 weeks and it's not much better, but well see.

 

[John99]

I'm no better with Rogers... I get around 1.2 download and around .3 upload...

Even with 4.3.1 and 4.3.2...

What site are you using to do your testing?

I use the app speedtest hd.

 

[Banquish]

I use the iPhone version of speediest, and double pixel it
The hd one seems to give erroneous results

 

[jwt873]

Roger's has added a 'Flex Rate' plan.

They charge $20 per month for 500 MB and if you exceed that you automatically get upgraded to the $35 dollar 5 GB plan. If you exceed the 5GB, then you pay 2 cents for every MB after that.

http://www.rogers.com/web/content/ipad-dataplans?cm_mmc_o=mH4j7BBTkwCjC8bywkwll2By5jHECjCbVzp%20C%20VkzElCjCqBTwyl%20bVzp%205kzE

One thing I've noticed is that you can't activate this plan from the iPad. I guess you have contact a dealer and do it through them..... I normally only use 300 - 400 MB per month, so I'm going to be looking in to this plan.

 

[LarryGB]

In NW Manitoba. MTS & Rogers have just turned up the 3G service, Mar 31. Had to pre-register with Rogers, setup up an account, and when 3G became active, locked on and good to go. Speedtest over the N/W of the province seems to max out at 4600 down, ~300 upload. Two plans available, 250mb for $15, 5gb for $35. Other plans mentioned here are for there Rocket sticks, etc. Not for iPad, I believe. Has been excellent coverage here, because all the old Microwave sites have been converted to cell use in the past years, and Rogers piggybacks on MTS system for it's coverage. If you want to see what has changed in Manitoba, go to Rogers cell coverage site, and click off the extended coverage and see how we looked, just like Saskachewan does now! First time activation did require the help of local Wifi, but now are able to admin from with in iPad. Coming up to first renewal - auto/manual. Will cross fingers and hope all will go well. Have 5gb plan, more than really needed, but Netflix trial has helped eat some of that up. Will renew with 250mb plan as will be overseas for most of May. MTS seems to be suspiciously quiet about there plans. Probably the Bell system.