Smartphones; (Can I do this?)

Kuroi Ookami

*I changed the title in H/A since I assume most smartphones are alike and I felt claiming Windows Phone 7 might make some people think they can't help me, when they can. I still didn't get any replies and very few people looked at the thread, so I thought I would try here*

(Located in Canada, buying a cellphone locks you to the Carrier who sold/leased you the phone)

So, The model I want, along with being Carrier unlocked (on eBay), has dropped considerably in price, since I guess this is what electronics do. Maybe new ones came out, I don't know. I found a number of them that are in a price range that I feel my dad may consider getting one of these for me for Christmas. *joy* Now, I have some questions, because I still don't fully understand Smartphones.

1) I don't want to go to MTS or Rogers to get a "Plan". Since I am not buying/leasing a phone through them and going on a 3-5 year contract, they feel that is reason enough to charge, what I feel, are outrageous prices. I'm trying to replace my home phone with a cellphone, not feel like I'm paying my home phone bill 2 or 3 times over every month. So, can I use Pay As You Go/Prepaid Airtime cards on a Smartphone? If yes, Does this provide me with a phone number to give to people, or can I only call out?

2) Again, I don't want to get a Data Plan for the same reason as above. The amount of time I'd need to use wifi outside of my home or a friend's place is very minimal. Without activating the phone to a Carrier can I just use my/a friend's home wireless network for my phone's wifi? If I need to use the wifi function while out and say, needing to check what time the bus comes, would this just come off my minutes, or I can't do this at all?

I'm not really sure what else to ask.

So basically, can I use a Smartphone with the whole Pay As You Go/Prepaid Airtime stuff, and can I use my own wifi without having a Carrier providing me with a Data plan to fall back onto? Can I use minutes to access wifi on the go if I need to use the internet real fast to check a bus time or something? Will the phone just outright not work if a Carrier doesn't activate it for me? If that's the case, I'd have to start narrowing down the lesser of evils to see if it's still worth it.

Thanks for helping me with my lack of understanding, and trying to help me to understand! I have never owned a cellphone. Ever. I feel at my age, it's time to jump on board and I really, really want the WP7 model that Bell released (it has the slide out keyboard) and I'd like to know if I can use it in the way I'm hoping to.

Dehumanized

With prepaid, you can only use the phones that the carrier has approved for prepaid use. The phone you want doesn't seem to be available for that with Bell (I'm not Canadian, I just Googled their prepaid rates and tried to put together a plan with said phone). Typically you will be locked into a midrangey smartphone (usually Android, mostly because that is the most common smartphone platform right now) if you go prepaid.

The reason that phones are cheap if you buy into a plan is because the carrier is heavily subsidizing the cost of the phone. If you don't sign a contract, then they won't subsidize your phone. The prices are only outrageous in the sense that that is what they actually cost. Now, you can probably have it both ways and get good prices and no contract if you buy a used phone off eBay.

When you use a prepaid phone, you have a regular phone number to dial in/out from.

You can use wifi-only with a smartphone. Just make sure to completely disable mobile internet to ensure you don't accidentally use it. Any smartphone you buy will have the ability to do this.

smokmnky

I'm not Canadian but I'm pretty sure prepay works the same there as it does in the States:

1) As long as the phone is unlocked you can just buy a prepay(PP) sim(the little card you put into the phone so you can get on the cellular network) and plug it in and go. It gives you a normal phone number and X amount of minutes a month. Use all those minutes and you can't make/receive calls with out buying more. I know here in California you can get different types of prepay accounts that will give you like 500minutes + 2gig of Data for like $50. Shop around and find the best plan for you.

2) Data usage is a tricky thing but in theory if you get a PP SIM that has no data I would assume you wouldn't be able to get on the internet with your phone unless on wifi. Data DOES NOT equal minutes so if you have 400 minutes and 0 gig of Data you can't access the internet but you can call your dad or whoever. Your phone should have the ability to turn off "Data Roaming" which should shut off that feature and basically just turn your smart phone into just a phone.

again check all this out first with the PP carrier you are looking at but you should never have to sign a contract if you Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP)

GnomeTank

Not every phone needs a SIM card either. Phones marketed as "world phones" have programmable SIM cards, that allow you to tweak the SIM number on the firmware manually. The new unlocked iPhones are this way (technically so the are the carrier locked ones, but they have more restrictions on the allowed SIM's). The biggest thing to make sure of is that your desired phone has the correct cellular modem for the service you plan to use, such as CDMA or GSM.

Kuroi Ookami

I don't think the Windows Phone 7 I want is considered a "world phone", but it can use things such as CDMA or GSM. I had to look into this while planning my move.

I should explain something; The reason I can't do a contract is because I'm eventually leaving Canada to go overseas, and want a phone I can take with me, not one that is on contract that I have to try to sell off to someone. I have my heart set on this phone... I'm a Microsoft Junkie and have a Live account already for my 360.

Bell does not do Cellphones in Manitoba, so the model I want would have to be purchased unlocked anyways through ebay or some other website.

How does one buy a prepay SIM?

Thanks for answering the question about minutes remaining/wifi time. I'll just be using wifi at home, at my dad's, or at friends places. I'd be sure to turn off roaming.

floobie

As others have said, all you need is a pay as you go "plan" and a sim card.

If you want a phone that's nice and compatible with most of the world, definitely go with a HSPA (GSM) phone, ideally unlocked, and with the 850, 900, 1900, 2100mhz frequencies on 3G. Such a phone will work damn near anywhere on any carrier. A lot of phones are a bit region specific on the 3G bands. So, the version sold in Europe will only have 900 and 2100mhz, because that's what most European countries use. And North American variants will only have 850 and 1900mhz. Quad band 3G phones are becoming more the norm, but it's still something you should watch out for if you plan on moving outside of North America. Have a look at this site to see if the phone you're after is optimally equipped: http://www.gsmarena.com/

As for data, if you're bringing your own phone, the carrier can't tell you to do anything. Just buy a sim card and buy however many minutes you want. You can absolutely use wifi as your only source of data. It'd be a bit of a pain, in my opinion. But, it's your call. You can indeed use data here and there, but you'll get charged out the ass for it if you don't have a data plan... think 3 dollars per megabyte! Definitely not recommended. IMO, the price for a voice+data plan is pretty damn reasonable these days, so it's not something I mind paying for at all. With Telus, I'm paying about 57 bucks a month all in on my iPhone. The convenience hugely outweighs the price, for me. Though, that's certainly all relative.

Kuroi Ookami

$57 is about what I pay monthly for my home phone+Internet, and I rarely, if ever, use my phone (will not give up the internet but trying to cut costs). This is why I'd like to use "Pay as you go" plan on a phone I've wanted since it was first announced. I'd save so much money using cards for minutes vs monthly fees.

So, all I have to do is go into one of the cell shops at the store and say I want to buy a sim card? I'm so thrilled to read this ^^

Also, I've checked out the whole my phone works in this country, will it work in this other one, when the phone first released. It will work fine in the country I plan to move to, so no worries there but thanks for the link. It never hurts to double check, and I will be doing so before linking my dad up to some ebay pages for consideration.

Serpent

I think most prepaid plans/minutes/cards/whatever expire after 30 days.

Most Canadian phones are locked, meaning it won't work with another carrier, including other countries.

Phones can be unlocked, there are shops around that will do this for $25-50, and it's pretty easy to do yourself if you're tech savvy, just be aware that it's an intimidating pain in the ass if you're not familiar with it.

Kuroi Ookami

Right, I know they are locked to a carrier. It's why I'm asking if I can buy an unlocked one, and just get a pay as you go card, and go. I like the 7-11 Speak Out plan or whatever it is. ok-ish phones (Last I checked they had 3 to choose from), ok price on minutes, they roll over and don't expire, but I have my heart really set on the Windows Phone 7 (smartphone in general). The 7-11 ones last time I checked were all basic cellphones with texting abilities, which while nice, I want more out of my phone.

floobie

Any phones you buy from the carrier will be locked to that carrier. Some will unlock them for a price, if you request it. That depends on the phone and the carrier though. As far as I know, my dad had his HTC Desire unlocked by Telus. It cost him 50 bucks, I think, but they did do it. But, again, if you buy an unlocked phone from ebay or something and just pop the carrier's sim card in, it will work, provided the phone operates on the correct frequencies. This is definitely the way to go in your case, since you're planning on moving and know exactly what you want.

Kuroi Ookami

Yeah, given I need it unlocked, and Bell doesn't sell cellphones in Manitoba, eBay is my only option. Getting a sim card from one of the carriers won't relock it, will it?