03-28-2003, 05:10 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Fido and GPRS Goodness...Ruff Ruff!
I've been meaning to write up my experiences using GPRS with Fido for a while, but I just never quite got around to it. It's a slow night here as I procrastinate on a review, so I figured this would be a good time to talk about it.
Late last year, the fine folks at Fido/Microcell Communications hooked me up with a voice & data account to take for a spin. I had contacted them because I heard about their awesome GPRS flat-rate plan that seemed to be light years beyond what my friends in the US were paying. $50 CND is about $35 US, and for that fee I could get unlimited data. Flat-rate, unlimited plans are really what will drive wireless use - when you're measuring your KB consumption on a daily basis, you're more worried about keeping to the absolute essentials rather than exploring new uses for wireless data.
I had never used a GSM phone before, so when I started using the XDA as my phone and data device, it was an interesting departure from my CDMA phone. Believe it or not, I had never really gone wireless before Fido came calling!  ops: I know, I know, positively shameful. Telus was so incredibly frustrating - the extent of my "wireless abilities" while using my CDMA phone was browsing their feeble WAP portal (where I could only get restaurant listings for cities other than the one I was in), and receiving SMS messages...but I couldn't send them. CDMA phones were at a dead-end for a long time - while everyone was raving about GPRS data services, SMS, funky ring-tones, and all these other cool things, I was still asking when Telus would offer their first Bluetooth phone. You'd think I was asking for a phone made of solid gold the way they'd look at me!
My Kingdom for a Phone!
When my XDA broke, I was quite traumatised, but due to the generosity of a kind Thoughts reader, I was hooked up with a T68i phone in fairly short order (this is after ordering a T68m off eBay that I ended up not being able to use), and once I connected a Socket Bluetooth card, I was laughing! That was truly my first positive Bluetooth experience - the Socket implementation and instructions are amazingly simple, and I was up and running in a few minutes. At first I was frustrated with the slowness of GPRS - whoever dubbed it "high speed wireless" should be flogged.
I've been on broadband for eight years now, so it was a painful adjustment to GPRS speeds where, if you're very lucky, you'll get a 6 KB/s connection. After some adjustments in my approach, however, I'm quite happy with it now. GPRS speeds are great for checking email, you just have to train yourself to hit "connect" and then purposefully distract yourself with something else on the Pocket PC while it downloads the email. Web browsing is passable as long as they're mobile sites - full-blown sites are slow to download, but even slower to navigate (a problem compounded by the sluggish Pocket Internet Explorer). And, yes, this means that I share your pain of not having mobile forums here. :roll:
Familiarity Breeds Contempt?
It's funny, I had never truly understood the limitations in Pocket Inbox until I started using it daily, and within a few weeks the nice people at Microsoft were getting email messages from me where I frequently asked the question "Why the heck does it do THAT?". I look forward to the evolution of @mail, because the Pocket Inbox client we have now is a little too anemic for my tastes. I also keep wishing for enhancements for Pocket Internet Explorer - not being able to do a VIEW SOURCE on a page just kills me...I was out with a friend who was complaining that his Web site graphics weren't loading, and without being able to view the page source I wasn't able to diagnose the problems until I got home to my "real" computer. Instant broken mobile scenario, but I'd have a hard time convincing someone at Microsoft that "view source" is a much needed addition when they don't even allow image saving or multiple windows. But I digress...
Fido Gets a Thumbs Up! :way to go:
I've been really happy with Fido's service level, so much so that I cancelled my Telus cell number that I've had for five years (I needed to get those business cards reprinted anyway after moving). I've found that inside the city I always have signal strength, and it's only very rarely that I run into an issue of not having GPRS coverage, and I've found that by moving a few feet in either direction I can get service. Most days the service connects at around 25 to 35 Kbps (measured using GPRS Monitor), but quite often I see a full 50 Kbps connection.
When I was with Telus I was always worried about getting a roaming signal, and so far my trips to the US while on Fido have been uneventful - even when it comes to data roaming! I'm interested to see how well things will work when I travel to Paris and St. Petersburg next week. Fido boasts service roaming agreements in 120 countries, so it should be hiccup-free. I'll let you know! All in all, I feel Fido offers excellent value, and with their flat-rate data plan, if you're a heavy data user, you just might want to check out their offering.
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03-28-2003, 05:28 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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I've been using Fido as well. I have actually given Rogers, and Fido both a very good spin. Fido's $50.00 CAD a month for unlimited use is a very good deal. It started out being offered for a limited time (12 months) but that limited time seems to have disappeared. Rogers have the same deal for six months. After six months Rogers do NOT continue with that offer. They flip you to $30.00 CAD for 2MB.
Coverage....Fido is very solid in metro areas, but if you get more that a few short miles out of a city or off a major highway you will not get coverage. Rogers coverage is much, much wider. There are some holes in their coverage though. It can be a bit "swiss cheese"
Dave
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03-28-2003, 05:38 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Paragon
Coverage....Fido is very solid in metro areas, but if you get more that a few short miles out of a city or off a major highway you will not get coverage. Rogers coverage is much, much wider. There are some holes in their coverage though. It can be a bit "swiss cheese"
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True. I very rarely leave the metro area though, so I've only ran into this issue once when I was out in some small Alberta town, and I didn't expect my cell phone to work anyway. :lol: Still, more coverage would be nice, that's for sure!
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03-28-2003, 05:47 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 96
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Hey Jason in your post you said you "if you're very lucky, you'll get a 6 KB/s connection" but then you say "Most days the service connects at around 25 to 35 Kbps (measured using GPRS Monitor), but quite often I see a full 50 Kbps connection. " I think GPRS is not what they sorta make it out to be, it's never been "always on" and I turn of the graphics in PIE just to give me the illusion of speed. Maybe I'll get GPRS monitor and see whay my speed is, cause it sure doesn't feel like 50 kbps.
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03-28-2003, 05:54 PM
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Magi
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,341
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It would be nice to see a bit wider coverage from Fido, but I doubt we will see it very soon. They need some financing. The two providers have taken very different approaches to their coverage. Fido gives very solid coverage in populated areas, whereas Rogers has a very wide coverage area but it is a bit flakey. There are very good reasons for this difference in approaches. Rogers built their GSM/GPRS system on their existing TDMA towers. TDMA apparently has a stronger signal so the towers can be a bit further apart. So, now that they have switched to GSM, the signal doesn't always make it to the next tower, giving it the swiss cheese effect I mentioned. Fido have built their system form the beginning as a GSM network so they don't have the holes in the coverage.
What would be very cool is to see BellMobility, or Telus pickup one of the new 1x devices from Samsung, or Hitachi!!
Dave
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03-28-2003, 05:55 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 110
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Be careful when you're using data services when you're in Europe. If you're used to unlimited usage you could get a very nasty surprise when you see your roaming data bill!!!!
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03-28-2003, 06:01 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Hank Scorpio
Hey Jason in your post you said you "if you're very lucky, you'll get a 6 KB/s connection" but then you say "Most days the service connects at around 25 to 35 Kbps (measured using GPRS Monitor), but quite often I see a full 50 Kbps connection. "
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Yup. Notice the Kb and KB - big "B" means BYTES, small "b" means bits. Take 50 Kbps and divide it by eight, and you'll get the measurement in kiloBYTES. That 1.5 Mbps high-speed DSL like? It's really only 187.5 KB/s. It's all marketing hype...
Regarding GPRS being "always on", the problem is really with the Pocket PC OS - when you make a GPRS connection it SHOULD always stay connected, but the Pocket PC 2002 OS is stupid in that it kills connections when it goes into suspend mode.
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03-28-2003, 06:26 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 90
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A bit of a side note but be careful you know what your going to be paying for GPRS when roaming - I'm travelling to Hong Kong quite soon and my Service Provider (Orange UK) have quoted on their website �25 a meg for GPRS when roaming in Hong Kong (thats about $40 USD a meg!!!).
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03-28-2003, 06:53 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 56
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I've been using Fido GPRS with a Palm Tungsten and an Ericsson R520 (my old Compaq Aero doesn't have Bluetooth - hmm, maybe I could connect with IR?). I've been satisfied with the speed for e-mail connection.
Now I no longer have to choose between going to my girlfriend's house (which has NO internet) or going home to check my mail. I can do it wirelessly. that makes me happy.
I've avoided doing much web browsing because at $0.03/kb, the costs can add up quickly. I know I would use the service more if I had the $50/month unlimited plan (and it IS a good deal), but I'm not sure I will consistently spend more than $50/mo. on the per-use plan.
BTW, I sent an e-mail to Rogers asking them about their data plans and they never responded. That was over 10 days ago. Sure doesn't say much for their customer service or their interest in wireless data! I've also heard that they charge you airtime if you call their 1-800 tech support line to resolve wireless data issues. With Fido, all calls to tech support (via *611) are airtime-free.
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03-28-2003, 07:21 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 111
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I just signed on with Fido's $50 unlimited plan this week on a very reasonably priced XDA I bought from the States - I figured I'd see how much I used it and then decide whether I might want the cheaper $25 2MB plan. Well, 6MB in 3 days later, I know that I'll be sticking to the $50 plan.
Just like Jason I am also with Telus, but on a contract, so I'll be a two phone guy for a while. I'm still hoping they might bring out the Samsung or Hitachi PPCPE, since I like their coverage, but given that Telus's data plan pricing sucks ($100 for 'unlimited' that is capped at 100MB), and they seem to be very conservative about bringing on new phones - they just launched the Thera, for Pete's sake.
The XDA is fabulous, by the way. I'm really pleased with the feel of it, the phone ability and the overall coolness of being able to check email, websites, have IM conversations, FTP files to a server, etc. from wherever I am. It is truly liberating.
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