Telus vs. Bell vs. Rogers

[Masked Bandit]

I've been a Telus customer for about 15 years now and my contract is up soon. I'm wondering what it's like with one of the other carriers. I'm not looking for pricing information (yet) as there are a million different plans but I'm concerned with things like reliable service (not dropping calls) and coverage in rural areas. Does anyone have specific experience with at least two of the major carriers? Did you find a big difference from one to the other or is it all the same? I'll (probably) be looking at an Android set up as I won't buy Apple products and BB seems to be circling the drain.

If it isn't obvious yet this will be my first "Smart phone". I've only had traditional phones until now as I haven't needed to text or do anything online. That is starting to change so it's time for a new phone.

TIA

[msommers]

Rural coverage = Telus or Bell (they share towers). Rogers just can't compete. Everyone in the field switches to Telus for a reason.

Oddly enough, my coworker has an iPhone 4S and I a Galaxy II X, both on Telus and typically he gets slightly better reception. So much for this dual-antenna bullshit.

[spikerS]

I am going to stay out of this one. I think pretty much everyone here knows who I work for, but I will let everyone have their say. If you want more specific knowledge with your current cell phone provider, I would be happy to help.

[Joe-G]

If you're worried about coverage, I would stick to Telus or Bell. Rogers is an instant fail in that category. AFAIK, Bell and Telus coverage is one and the same.

As for pricing, the big 3 all pretty much have the same pricing. Since you've been with Telus for 15 years, I would try calling in to see if they can give you a deal.

[ercchry]

real keyboard is awesome if you are going to be sending emails from it.

yes bell and telus have better coverage due to their shared networks, but they also have no backup if you drop off their 3g system. rogers offers a 3 network backup. 3g, edge, and uma (calling over wifi). but the uma is only for bb products currently (well, last i checked)

[eblend]

I just left Rogers after 15 years...not because of coverage (i am in the city 99.9% of the time) but because their prices are stupid for what you get and they are super inflexible in every way (leave countery for 2 month = pay for 2 month even when you don't use a minute or a mb).

I know you said you are looking for rural coverage, so you obviously must be out of the city often, and from what I hear Telus is pretty good for that, more so then rogers.

I am in the city 99.99% of the time and couldn't be happier with my new provider, Mobilicity, because it is dirt cheap ($25 perpetually unlimited data, txt and anytime calling) and it still gives me the ability to use the phone that 0.01% of the time i am out of the city, as it goes into roaming and you get charged 20c per minute, regardless where you are in north america! Also, if you are in a large urban area like Vancouver or TO, it is back to unlimited everything.

Depending on your needs really. Mobilicity $25 for life promo end this Saturday. Both my wife and I have yet to hit a spot in Calgary where we don't have reception, so it works well for us.

[rage2]

I switched from Rogers to Bell last year. It all depends on your location.

I can make calls just fine down the parkade at work on Bell, impossible with Rogers.

I can make calls from Rogers at my gf's house, impossible with Bell.

I can make calls from Bell at the US Border in Coutts, impossible with Rogers.

I can use the internet at flames games at the dome on Bell. Rogers, impossible.

So ya, it's hard to say how well other providers work for you, since you're not in my parkade, we don't have the same gf, and you might hate hockey. :rofl:

[pea_soup]

Rogers = Illegal contracts.

Nuff said. They will renew contracts without permission. Had this happen to us and would never go back.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by pea_soup
Rogers = Illegal contracts.

Nuff said. They will renew contracts without permission. Had this happen to us and would never go back.

This, in case you were wondering folks, is a great example of slander. Stating opinion as fact.

Neat coverage map..
http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

[ercchry]

Originally posted by codetrap


This, in case you were wondering folks, is a great example of slander. Stating opinion as fact.

thought it was libel...

[codetrap]

Originally posted by ercchry


thought it was libel...

Sorry, you're correct. My mistake. Though in my defense I usually read out loud.. :D

[Masked Bandit]

It seems so far that Bell is the best alternative to Telus with respect to coverage. It's not that I'm outside of urban areas a lot but it's when you're in the middle of nowhere that you REALLY need your phone to work in an emergency. If I break down on the side of Deerfoot trail I'm sure someone will see me. Years and years ago I was with Cantell (who was bought out by Rogers) and I didn't even have constant service between here and my parents place in Saskatchewan. Granted, 15 years ago I'm sure the coverage Telus had wasn't as good as it is today either.

Does anyone have an opinion on overall price differences between Telus & Bell? Pretty much the same or are there some big swings?

[pea_soup]

Sorry not when it's truthful. I'm not the only person who has had it happen to them either. A number of complaints where people said they had a contract renewed without their knowledge or permission.

My wife's phone stopped working several months after we joined Rogers. They sent us a new phone.

We were really angered to find out their coverage map is inaccurate. Coverage at our cabin in BC which is in their coverage area had no coverage at all. It's actually right off the trans canada highway.

We then asked to cancel with them only to find out that we had a 3 year contract that we didn't know about.

They tried to tell us that when they sent us the replacement phone a document was included stating the renewal even though there was no document.

There have been several cases of people reporting similar events. I now go contract free with any company to avoid this.

[Gary@UrbanX]

We recently signed on with a Bell Business Plan, with Bell you can get the Samsung Galaxy S2 for $0 for a three year contract (applies to personal accounts as well). In my opinion the Samsung Galaxy S2 is a great alternative to the Iphone 4S. Have been with Rogers for many years and decided it was time for a change. Have had no issues with Bell yet and have had their service for almost a month now.



We are paying $85/month per phone and we get:

3100 min outgoing calls/ per phone
Unlimited incoming calls
Unlimited text
6GB data month/per phone
6pm start for free outgoing calls
Call waiting, voicemail, call display etc.
$100 bill credit to Port your existing number from Rogers
$50 in store credit (Future shop)

OP, my brother in law works at Future shop, let me know if you want his info.

[ga16i]

ditto what others said regarding lack of coverage by Rogers in more rural areas. I have a Samsung Galaxy S with Rogers and an iPhone 4 with Bell. Last summer when I was up in the middle of nowhere by Bonnyville / Cold Lake Bell still had okay reception and calls were still fine while Rogers had no signal at all. :banghead:

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Masked Bandit
It seems so far that Bell is the best alternative to Telus with respect to coverage. It's not that I'm outside of urban areas a lot but it's when you're in the middle of nowhere that you REALLY need your phone to work in an emergency. If I break down on the side of Deerfoot trail I'm sure someone will see me. Years and years ago I was with Cantell (who was bought out by Rogers) and I didn't even have constant service between here and my parents place in Saskatchewan. Granted, 15 years ago I'm sure the coverage Telus had wasn't as good as it is today either.

Does anyone have an opinion on overall price differences between Telus & Bell? Pretty much the same or are there some big swings?

Nothing that REALLY swings one way or the other.

basically, with the exception of a few places, Bell and Telus will have identical coverage.

Telus has most of it's infrastructure in the west, versus Bell's in the East.
I can say that on TELUS and being in the WEST, you would be better off on TELUS as it would be TELUS's equipment, versus, being on bell and having to have bell contact TELUS to get something fixed.

Just my $0.02

[guessboi]

Not sure if you could get some thing similar since you are an existing customer but I switched from other carriers to Telus last December and I got a heck of a deal with Telus business plan.

I have a telus business account mgr contact in BC...(PM me if you want his contact info)

You will need at least 2 lines to work.

Total share minutes: 1000 pooled (500 each)
6pm Evening and weekends: unlimited
Canada texting: unlimited
Incoming calls: unlimited
Local in-Ban calling: unlimited
Call display/VM: included
Data: 6 gig’s (each, not shared)
$65.00 / Line

I got an iphone 4S (149.99) and a Samsung SIIX (49.99)
I got the following credits being a NEW Telus customer.

$700 credit back for switching to Telus (350 / line)
$400 credit back for having Telus TV / Internet (200 / line)
$70 credit back for hardware purchase fee. (35 / line)

Best Deal due to the credits IMO. Coverages you know Telus is very good. They might have other promos now.

[syritis]

I'll be going to telus for my next contract. I have 3 cell towers within eye sight from my work and I have never been on the 3g network. I get disconnected from the bell network every night around midnight only way i can get back on is restarting the phone. the phones are the worst of the big 3 and have shit for support.

I bought a samsung galaxy S with a 3 year contract.
2 months later os 2.3.3 came out and that started a world of problems. bell said it was because the phone was outdated and couldn't handle the larger OS.
couple months later i caved and bought the galaxy 2. now 4 months later and OS 4.0.3 is coming out and bell STILL hasn't updated to 4.0.0. and the best part is, they say that if i want ICS i should buy a nexus. fuck that i'm not buying 3 phones within 10 months.

they promised me a bunch of discounts when i bought the galaxy 2 but i had to call them half a dozen times to actually implement them. and now i'm fighting with them because my "unlimited social networking" isn't exactly unlimited.

PS i was with rogers before. they'll screw you on EVERY bill they send. so you have to call them every month just to get it right.

[syritis]

funny i just noticed this in the random pictures thread

http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

[eblend]

Originally posted by syritis
I'll be going to telus for my next contract. I have 3 cell towers within eye sight from my work and I have never been on the 3g network. I get disconnected from the bell network every night around midnight only way i can get back on is restarting the phone. the phones are the worst of the big 3 and have shit for support.
...
PS i was with rogers before. they'll screw you on EVERY bill they send. so you have to call them every month just to get it right.

I am confused, you said you can see three bell towers from your office and get crap reception, yet you said you will switch to Telus...even though if you read alot of the replies in this post, Telus and Bell share the same towers, so I am afraid your connectivity issues just aren't going to be fixed by switching to Telus.

Your issues with phones are just issues to you because you want to stay at the latest and greatest. Updates from providers are slowly coming for ICS for galaxy 2, but it's not like your phone no longer works...

If you really want to get updates fast you have to stop giving Bell/Telus/Rogers money and buy unbranded phones, that way you get updates right from the manufacturer instead of waiting for Bell/Telus/Rogers to brand their own version of the update, with their own links, bloatware ect.

And as for Rogers, I 100% agree, well maybe not every bill, but definatelly every single bill after you make any of the smallest changes.

[syritis]

Friend of mine has the exact same phone but the telus version galaxy 2x and has never had a connectivity issue. anywhere while in the city or on the road.

And yes I'm about to root my phone and update myself to 4.0.3. I found it on a forum its based on 4.0.0 with a little mod from android developers and loyalists.

[GQBalla]

I'm with bell now don't have any complaints. Good fast customer service. Bill is all laid out.

Good coverage.

Came from Rogers. Hated rogers

[syritis]

Kudo and mobilicity have some GOOD plans but they are also on the bell/telus network. kudo is actually owned by bell.

i think telus beats bell just by the slightly better phones.

[Joe-G]

Originally posted by syritis
Kudo and mobilicity have some GOOD plans but they are also on the bell/telus network. kudo is actually owned by bell.

i think telus beats bell just by the slightly better phones.

Telus owns Koodo, Rogers owns Chatr, Bell owns Solo and Virgin.

Personally, I think Bell is the first to receive the better phones. Everyone else gets the cheaper, dumbed down, less exclusive version.

[samo147]

I've had my contract renewed without my knowledge as well.

On our rogers account i called in to change my plan to a business plan cause it was cheaper but i'm already on month to month. The guy tells me that I'm able to upgrade my phone. I tell him I already have an iphone 4 and dont need an upgrade. Hes like fine switches my plan over and everything. Doesnt say anything about a contract or renewing

I check my next bill i see that i've renewed for a 3 year contract? and there were missing credits on my bill

I had to call again and told next CSR the situation and she fixed everything the first guy did wrong (missing credits and signing me up for a 3 year)

The original CSR probably thought i wouldnt notice and would be able to make some money by signing me up for a 3 year contract

Shady...

[syritis]

Originally posted by Joe-G


Telus owns Koodo, Rogers owns Chatr, Bell owns Solo and Virgin.

Personally, I think Bell is the first to receive the better phones. Everyone else gets the cheaper, dumbed down, less exclusive version.

I was at best buy has all the carriers side by side of the galaxy 2. rogers has a slightly larger internal memory card. telus has a 1.5ghz (0.3ghz faster then bell) the trend was the same with a few other phones.

[ZEDGE]

Originally posted by syritis


I was at best buy has all the carriers side by side of the galaxy 2. rogers has a slightly larger internal memory card. telus has a 1.5ghz (0.3ghz faster then bell) the trend was the same with a few other phones.

The Bell GS2 is the international version with the Exynos processor. It is .3 slower but superior in every way to the faster qualcomm chip in the Telus/Rogers versions. These are basterdized carrier branded versions of the GS2. Not to mention the international GS2 is the first to get new ROMS, ICS is already in full rollout in Europe/Asia/Middle East. All of these ROMS are compatible with the Bell version. Running ICS on mine already, unbranded O2 UK ICS.

[syritis]

got any good links on stuff to know about flashing roms?
I've been reading here http://forum.xda-developers.com/ and my conclusion is that i'm way in over my head if something went wrong.

[syritis]

got any good links on stuff to know about flashing roms?
I've been reading here http://forum.xda-developers.com/ and my conclusion is that i'm way in over my head if something went wrong.

[ZEDGE]

Originally posted by syritis
got any good links on stuff to know about flashing roms?
I've been reading here http://forum.xda-developers.com/ and my conclusion is that i'm way in over my head if something went wrong.

XDA for sure. If you are just flashing the official ROMS all you need is ODIN and the ROM, no rooting or anything required.

Easy instructions here. LP3 is newest version. (O2)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1544487

Non Branded LP3 in this thread. Plus instructions with screens.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278

Helpful also.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1193695