Fido / Rogers internet options?

[ASar08]

So has anybody had any luck with the "unlimited surfing" option from Fido / Rogers?

I KNOW there are other posts about this already, but wanted to start a fresh one. I have read so many answers, and there seems to be no agreement. I just spoke with a Fido representative that assured me the unlimited surfing option would NOT WORK AT ALL on the iphone, and that I would be charged 5 cents / kbyte for Safari, E-mail, Google maps, etc.

But there are people on this forum claiming that they signed up for it and are NOT getting charged for ANYTHING through Safari!

I also read some peoples comments @ iphoneincanada.ca. Same thing, some people have signed up with Rogers unlimited surfing plan, and appear to not be getting charged for the usage on the iPhone!

Also... what about the 1 gigabyte for $65 PC card option through Fido? Can this be used on the iPhone?

Answers / Questions / Discussion all welcome! Lets figure out how to best take full advantage of our awesome phones in Canada!

[eekz]

Ok, so here is what i have compiled so far... (while i was supposed to be studying for a psych midterm...)

- The $7 / $20 packages which include "unlimited surfing" TEMPORARILY allow Fido/Rogers users with iphones to browse the normal internet for no extra charge
- However, this only TEMPORARY. Source
- I am waiting for an email response from Fido, which i will probably get tomorrow so i'll post again then

As for the $65/1gb, the Fido web page claims this is for "PC-card usage only"
- I have not found anything concrete, but theoretically this should cover 1gb of data transfers
- Sources are Eurisko's posts in This Thread


-E

[leopod]

7$ unlimited plan is limited to Fido/Rogers supported phones, using WAP protocol. It is possible to modify your iphone to get it working on WAP, and even change your IMEI to match your old phone and then fool FIDO and Rogers into thinking you're using your old phone, but i'd say this is quite bold...also, it appears you can only surf with this option...no e-mail, maps, youtube...i don't know how fido/rogers can make the difference between surfing and other data transfers but in my opinion, if this plan is made for wap, huge data transfers will be noticed as incongruous with this protocol. Even IMEI spoof won't convince them you're making a legit usage of their plan. If you try this, feel free to give positive feedback. 7 dollars. wow.

On the other hand, speaking hours on the phone with fido csr, they first let me get the 1GB/65dollars, but then took it away from me, explaining that the plan was only for PC cards...i tried to argue saying that my phone was in fact a PC (sic .. a MAC!) and the PC card was kind of built-in...but they wouldn't buy that...i saw on forums a lot of people with that 1GB/65 dollars plan, but i didn't get any trusted confirmation it really worked with the iphone...i'm waiting on a friend's bill next week, if it works, i'll probably get that, and i'll make sure not to tell fido csr i'm using this with my phone...

Edit : I won't get any plan that forces me to hide the truth to Fido sales rep (1GB PC card...), i want everything to be clear...thousands of dollars could be at sake if they decide to charge...my innocence card was lost when i spent hours speaking with them.

For the moment, i'm left with the 60 dollars 25 Megabytes internet option. This is ridiculous. But since they couldn't help me even if i spoke hours with customer service, they gave me 50 percent off that plan for a month.

Also, just because i'm quite frustrated with all this, i adressed CRTC a letter where i'm questioning Fido/Rogers' right to charge extra data transfers, when the consumer has no mean to monitor their current usage either with a FIDO/Rogers CSR or on the internet. I know it's possible to check stats directly on the iphone, but how can we be sure it's the same that will be charged on the bill. 5 cents a kilobyte is quite dangerous with the iphone.

Finally, i think it would be interesting to have a little third party app that could be able to block edge whenever our overall data limit is reached. Anyone interested?

[ASar08]

I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with a Fido CSR. I signed up for the $60 / 25 MB plan as you have. I asked about the $65 pc card option, but she assured me it wouldn't work with the phone and that I would get charged 5 cents / kbyte.

Just to test out my plan, I went into Safari, went to Download.com, read 2 articles, then went to google and did a search. 1.4 MB received!!! I then opened google maps, and let the nice picture of North America load. Then I hit the "locate me" button, and let the map load. Went to check usage... 2.2 MB received!! Almost 1 full MB just to open up google maps for a minute!! Looks like 25 MB isn't going to go very far...

E-mail was a little more reasonable. I erased all my e-mails on the phone, and then re-downloaded them. (I have it set to show 50 messages) The total usage to show the 50 messages was 76 k. Then I went and actually opened some of them (5 maybe, text only, no pics) and the total usage jumped to 160k. I guess that's reasonable. It seems I could probably get away with this plan using JUST e-mail... but that's bloody expensive just to check my e-mail while I'm away from wifi. (especially seeing as there's free wifi all over the place now)

I've read in a few places that Rogers is going to introduce some new, more reasonable data packages on March 18. Hopefully Fido will follow their lead... I really don't want to give up my City Fido Unlimited plan!! If only I had also signed up for the $20 / month unlimited edge when it was offered to me 3 years ago...

[leopod]

just a quick notice, sorry if i didnt mention it in my earlier post : last month i was on the same plan...and used 380K the day i got the plan, after making sure with the rep that my plan was immediately active. When i received my bill i had 380K surprisingly charged at 5 cents/KB...i claimed and they put the 380K where they belong, in my 60 dollar plan...but their lame excuse was that the plan started at midnight the next day...even if my bill indicated the right date for the plan, and the CSR (a supervisor!) had given me the go.

[ASar08]

Well I used about 3 MB in my first 10 minutes, so I certainly hope it kicked in IMMEDIATELY! Hmmm... 3 mb @ 5 cents / kb... $150... Somebody poor CSR will be getting screamed at if I see that on my bill!

[eekz]

Usually, when they add something to your service plan it takes place either the day AFTER the day your old plan ends.

So for example... you request a change on monday, they input it in the system, it will become active on wednesday.
So if you used it tuesday, you're not covered

(i think)

-E

[leopod]

They charge you at pro-rata from the day you ask for the plan, so they better not charge at 5 cents/KB because you're paying already for this service...this was exactly my case.

[ASar08]

Well, the CSR just told me to "Turn off you handset, turn it back on again and it should work."

Even if they do try and charge me, I doubt it would stick any way you look at it...

leopod, did they take that 380k off your bill?

[leopod]

They took it off indeed...actually 19 dollars (380 KB * 0.05$) will be credited on my next bill...CSR was a little bit hard though, but in front of fact #1 : my 60$ plan was billed from the day i spoke with CSR, and fact #2 : CSR confirmed i could go ahead 1 hour or 2 after i hung up with him. I waited a couple of hours, maybe three, but i was still charged.

About the turnoff/turnon handset, i really don't know what he's talking about. CSR tend to be lost.

Hoping for the best on march 18th's reasonable data plans...

[diazjoaquin]

So, will the $7 plan be good for fido users? or will we be charge?

Thanks

[TheJoker]

Originally Posted by diazjoaquin

So, will the $7 plan be good for fido users? or will we be charge?

Thanks

if you get lucky ..it'll work for a while...and then you'll start getting charged like crazy

[Eurisko]

Originally Posted by leopod

About the turnoff/turnon handset, i really don't know what he's talking about. CSR tend to be lost.

Turning your phone off and then back on will generally reset (reauthorize) your phone. But your iPhone's IMEI has to be registered as your active phone with the Rogers network, otherwise this step is useless.

[leopod]

Originally Posted by leopod

Finally, i think it would be interesting to have a little third party app that could be able to block edge whenever our overall data limit is reached. Anyone interested?

does anybody know if this could or does exist? i know i can always check my stats in the settings/usage menu...still, i'm sure this could be useful in order to avoid surprising bills.

[ASar08]

Yes, this would be awesome!! I'm actually still a little nervous about having edge enabled on my phone at all... I have these horrible thoughts going through my head of my phone downloading hundreds of MB on edge while I'm asleep and getting slapped with a $10,000 bill!