# Bell or Rogers for iphone



## lyonsnet (Feb 19, 2008)

I've been waiting a long time to pickup an iphone for myself, and I am almost ready to take the last step. 

I am located in rural Nova Scotia (Annapolis Valley to be more precise), and I have been researching network coverage of Bell and Rogers.

As it turns out, Rogers only offers 2G service where I am, and if I want 3.5G (HSPA), I need to be closer to Halifax. Bell on the other hand, claims to offer their HSPA+ across the province, even in my area. 

I believe I will use voice and data, probably equally, so will notice a difference being on the rogers 2G network versus the Bell HSPA network? Since both companies seem to offer similar plans, should I be basing my decision on simply the network? 

I currently have a PC Mobile pay-as-I-go phone, so I have no contract to break with anyone. 

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,


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## Snyp1 (Jan 26, 2009)

Yes you should go with Bell for the network reasons because you're paying just as much per month as you would with Rogers (I have compared the plans from Bell and Rogers) and you're getting the 3G service, hence it takes the full advantage of iPhone "3G" or "3GS". Being on Rogers and getting no 3G when you ARE using data is really pointless when you're buying a phone that has 3G capability.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Bell and Telus' HSPA+ coverage is awesome, I would switch in a heartbeat if it weren't for my contract. Same price, better service.


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## johnnyspade (Aug 24, 2007)

lyonsnet, I'll be curious to know who you end up going with. I'm in the same coverage area as you are, in Granville Ferry just outside of Annapolis Royal.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

dona83 said:


> Bell and Telus' HSPA+ coverage is awesome, I would switch in a heartbeat if it weren't for my contract. Same price, better service.


That seems to make sense where you and the OP are located.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I just got my 32GB iPhone activated on Telus on Monday. 

My plan is $80/month with no system access fee and five numbers in Canada that I can call anytime with no limit. (I can change these numbers once each billing period without penalty.) Also includes 350 anytime minutes and free evenings and weekends starting at 6:00 p.m. 

The coverage in Alberta is about 95%. Short story is you can't get to where there is no coverage, cause there's no roads.


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## polywog (Aug 9, 2007)

Will you be using Wifi for internet access as well? If so, 3G might not be as important. Do the majority of the people you call have 3G? If not, you won't have significantly better quality, although you can have simultaneous voice and data., at the cost of significant battery life.

All things being equal though - it looks like Bell is your best option.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Unless I'm just not understanding your post at all...

the iPhone doesn't do much of anything "simultaneously" and it doesn't matter at all if the people he's calling have 3G or a tin can attached to a phone line.

I'd still go with the carrier that offered the best 3G coverage in the OP's area though.



polywog said:


> Will you be using Wifi for internet access as well? If so, 3G might not be as important. Do the majority of the people you call have 3G? If not, you won't have significantly better quality, although you can have simultaneous voice and data., at the cost of significant battery life.
> 
> All things being equal though - it looks like Bell is your best option.


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## polywog (Aug 9, 2007)

HowEver said:


> Unless I'm just not understanding your post at all...
> 
> the iPhone doesn't do much of anything "simultaneously" and it doesn't matter at all if the people he's calling have 3G or a tin can attached to a phone line.
> 
> I'd still go with the carrier that offered the best 3G coverage in the OP's area though.


I'm pretty sure you misunderstood. With 3G, on an iPhone or otherwise, you can actively use data (download a file for instance) and place/receive/maintain a voice call.

And yes, you are limited to the quality of the lowest common denominator - if the person you call is on 2G, they aren't going to receive 3G quality audio from you. Likewise, the 3G network isn't going to magically improve their quality just because you're on 3G. Tin can or otherwise. The only advantage to being on 3G for calls like that is simultaneous voice and data.


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## luongo13 (Oct 25, 2009)

Yes, the Bell speed is faster, but it is also a whole lot more expensive. The basic plan from Rogers is 50 dollars which includes minutes, text (if you choose that option for no extra fees), and 500 mb of data. However, Bell would cost 55 dollars not including tax and some extra fee of 6 dollars a month and 911 charges and it has no text included unless all you do is talk to 5 ppl. You will need to pay an extra 20 just to get texting.


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## chris56 (Jul 17, 2009)

Rogers coverage is not good out east, at all. Bell would be your best bet.


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## Janeymac (Jul 17, 2008)

lyonsnet said:


> I've been waiting a long time to pickup an iphone for myself, and I am almost ready to take the last step.
> 
> I am located in rural Nova Scotia (Annapolis Valley to be more precise), and I have been researching network coverage of Bell and Rogers.
> 
> ...


I'd go Bell. Have had great service from them. I'm stuck with Rogers for the immediate future but when contract up and switching to Bell.


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## Janeymac (Jul 17, 2008)

I'm on Rogers basic plan and my bill comes to $79 a month.


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## Newdeal (Nov 2, 2009)

*...*

if Rogers only has edge and bell has 3g get bell. 3g is around 300kBps download speed, edge is like dial-up. No reason to buy an iphone if you are on edge imo. That said if you are a current rogers customer you can probobly get a sweet deal through retentions. I got my iphone a year and a half ago, I pay around $62 a month including all taxes, SAF, 911 fee etc. For that money I have 6gb of data, 250 anytime minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends starting at 8, 100 included long distance minutes, free rogers to rogers calling, voicemail, and call ID. To me thats a pretty good deal. I didn't ask for text messages because I don't use them but I am sure they would have thrown in some text messages too had I asked.


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## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

while it's certainly a bonus to have faster broadband speeds, the reality is, if you're dropping phone calls you'll be more pissed than if a page takes a little longer to load. so i'd ask around and find out who provides the best cell coverage in your area ad go with them...


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## lyonsnet (Feb 19, 2008)

johnnyspade said:


> lyonsnet, I'll be curious to know who you end up going with. I'm in the same coverage area as you are, in Granville Ferry just outside of Annapolis Royal.


Back in Dec, I picked up a 3GS for myself, and a 3G for my wife, and choose Bell as the provider. We have the shared 50 plan (that's $50 each):
- 150 minutes each, plus 150 bonus each, to share 600 minutes per month
- 500MB data each, to share 1GB per month
- we each have 5 favorite numbers to call for free anywhere in Canada
- we can call each other for free 
- the evening+weekends is from 6PM-8AM

So far I have had a few times where I have no bars, or my phone simply says No Service. To fix I either switch Airplane Mode ON, then OFF, or reboot the phone. My wife's 3G phone has been on the network 100% since day 1. 

If it gets worse for me, I will be contacting Bell. I've read a bit on this in the Apple forums, but it seems to be a network thing and not a phone thing. We'll see.

Cheers,


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## jeepguy (Apr 4, 2008)

lyonsnet said:


> So far I have had a few times where I have no bars, or my phone simply says No Service. To fix I either switch Airplane Mode ON, then OFF, or reboot the phone. My wife's 3G phone has been on the network 100% since day 1.


This happened to me in Ottawa, but I was in a basement of a building, with lots of steel, but after a off and on it was back to normal, this was over a period of a week , it's the only time this has happened to me.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

I'm in CB, Nova Scotia. I'd switch to Bell in a heartbeat if I wasn't locked into Rogers. Rogers coverage is terrible here.. only 2G. Everyone I know with a Bell phone, including the work trucks I drive everyday, always have service.. WAY better coverage.

Bell in a heartbeat if you're in NS, anywhere!


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## macquest99 (Jan 6, 2010)

Bell all the way , as soon as they made the cut over to there network for iphone and its been wicked fast on 3G


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## ras.lucas (Oct 9, 2008)

*rogers*

Hey everyone, I live in Vancouver, and I have lived in Victoria. I have had a iphone 3g since it first came out and have been very happy with the service from Rogers. Not always the fastest, but then again it is a 3g, not a 3gs. But I have coverage everywhere, if I need more battery life, I can switch to edge and still have very reliable service. My gf got a bell iphone 3g, when it first came out. the service is terrible. Her network speed is very similar to my Rogers iphone, but there are plenty of places that she doesn't have service where I do. 

Rogers, more bars, more places.

I agree that for an area outside main cities, bell would probably be better. But, Rogers is expanding and I would prefer reliable service over 3g any day. It just all depends, you should find someone in your area that is currently using bell's 3g network and ask them how reliable it is. Dont ask the Bell store, you know what their answer will be.

Lucas


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## harrisjr (Aug 29, 2007)

chris56 said:


> Rogers coverage is not good out east, at all. Bell would be your best bet.


I can attest to this. I used to live in various towns/cities all over Nova Scotia and travelled to Toronto on a monthly basis. During this time I owned Rogers and Aliant phones. I can assure you that Aliant has superior coverage in the Maritimes and Rogers has superior coverage in Ontario.

I now live in New Brunswick and own a Rogers iPhone and I can tell you that I lose signal regularly on the highway drive from Yarmouth, NS back to Fredericton. However, when I'm in TO, the Rogers coverage is amazing.

Hope that helps!


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