[besson3c]

Hello,

As many of you know I'm moving from the US to Canada. I'll need to figure out whether I should do the cell phone unlock thing and bring that unlocked phone to Canada. I believe my contract is up since I received notice that I'm due for a new phone... Should I start a new contract and break it, or just go month-to-month with my current iPhone 4? Can I easily break my contract, and will all Canadian carriers work with an unlocked phone? How hard is unlocking a phone these days? What would you recommend doing, and what Canadian carrier would you recommend I work with? My US carrier is AT&T, so my phone is a GSM phone.

Secondly, there seem to be a number of internet service options. What would you recommend for a geek like me that can make use of healthy bandwidth and no quotas?

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

[Phileas]

For really unlimited internet TekSavvy - Residential is the way to go. Their customer service is top notch, but because they piggy-back on other people's infrastructure, service quality can sometimes be affected by circumstances outside their control.

If you want rock-solid, always available then, despite the frequent bad press, both Rogers and Bell offer great service. Both have bandwidth caps, but these can often be negotiated up or even away. I've got 320 GB/month available at my home, up from 75GB that my plan ordinarily offers. Getting this was as simple as asking for it whilst reminding them that they've got competition. At work we've got Bell's Vibe service, which is screamingly fast, especially upstream - important for us, as we frequently upload large video files.

Cell service, it all depends. If you like your old iPhone, may as well keep it. If it's unlocked, it'll take any old SIM. Rogers, Bell, Wind, you name it, they will all work. Again, Rogers gets plenty of bad press, but the service works. If rural coverage is important to you, then Bell is the way to go.

[besson3c]

Thanks Phileas! It sounds like the bulk of my homework is here on the US side. It would be lovely if I could upgrade my phone now, and keep it when I move to Canada. Maybe I could explain to AT&T that family health problems have necessitated the move (which is true).

Does anybody here know how strict AT&T is about breaking contracts?

[subego]

Dude. I hate AT&T with the fiery passion of a thousand suns, but that doesn't justify stealing from them (which is what your plan entails).

The way to get a new unlocked phone is to buy one without a subsidy. That's how everyone else does it. We're totally brainwashed in this country by the subsidy model.

[olePigeon]

If it's anything like the U.S., your choices are: overpriced and slow. Pick two.

[OreoCookie]

I've researched my options over the last few days and Virgin mobile seems very sensible to me: no 2-year contracts, sensible pricing, no carrier lock-in. Since I don't know how long I'll actually stay (I have a 2-year contract, but I'm looking for tenure track positions already), I definitely don't want a contract. My brother gave me his old Windows Phone 7 phone for the time being, so I don't need a new device.

However, I was surprised to find out that even on $60/month data plans the monthly data allowance is very small.

[besson3c]

How is life in Toronto, Oreo? How is your Virgin Mobile? Did you find an internet service you like too?

My wife received her confirmation of permanent residency letter, so we're starting to really get underway with planning for this move in the summer.