Texting and Phoning from Canada

ney

03-06-2005

Im going to Canada in just under a weeks time. Im sure someone asked this a while go. I got a Dul Band Mobile and My sisters got a Tri Band Mobile. Im I right in saying only my sisters mobile will work in Canada. I be in the Toronto area and Niagra Falls. I heard parts of Canada have poor signal. What Network would we be using we both on 02. My sisters taking her 02 pay monthly mobile as im almost sure my 02 pay and go mobile will not work outside europe.

Darren
Last edited by ney : 03-06-2005 at 20:39

mjk79

03-06-2005

You'll need a tri-band, if not quad-band GSM phone to be able to use it at all. (ie it needs to have at least GSM1900 and GSM850 too would be even better!)

Even then it'll only work properly in populated areas towards the south of the country. If you're going to be mostly in cities or large towns then it should be fine, but in my experience once you start to venture out into the country reception starts to get patchy if not non-existant.

You could of course leave the phone at home, or at least turned off available for emergencies only. Roaming in North America costs an absolute fortune regardless of which UK provider you're with and from what I remember is billed to the nearest minute, not by the second. If you intend to use the phone a lot it might be more cost effective to get a local PAYG service instead...

ney

04-06-2005

My sister is taking her 02 pay monthly mobile with her as its more likely to work in Canada than my 02 pay and go mobile that may only work in Europe. We will manly be in Toronto but will be at Niagara Fall for a short time.

Darren

BexTech

04-06-2005

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_ca.shtml

You would need at least a tri-band phone, as the USA and Canada uses 850 and 1900 whereas the rest of the world uses 900 and 1800.

You would be better off ensuring your mobile is unlocked and using a local PAYG SIM when you get there, the cost of roaming in USA and Canada is very high. Though it must be noted even when using a local SIM unlike the rest of the world where it is free to receive calls (except when roaming) you would still have to pay to receive calls on your Canadian mobile number, though only a fraction of what the cost of receiving whilst roaming.

GSM in the USA and Canada is very patchy, as it is only recently they adopted GSM.

ney

04-06-2005

Originally Posted by BexTech:
“http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_ca.shtml

You would need at least a tri-band phone, as the USA and Canada uses 850 and 1900 whereas the rest of the world uses 900 and 1800.

You would be better off ensuring your mobile is unlocked and using a local PAYG SIM when you get there, the cost of roaming in USA and Canada is very high. Though it must be noted even when using a local SIM unlike the rest of the world where it is free to receive calls (except when roaming) you would still have to pay to receive calls on your Canadian mobile number, though only a fraction of what the cost of receiving whilst roaming.

GSM in the USA and Canada is very patchy, as it is only recently they adopted GSM.”

Thanks for the link and info.

Darren