istop lines seem to be dropping like crazy

[John Macdonald]

On Thu, Jun 30, 2005 at 04:50:53PM -0400, mgjk-cpI+UMyWUv9BDgjK7y7TUQ at public.gmane.org wrote:
> Are data-capable phones with cellular service available or affordable on
> the Telus or Mike networks these days?  I'd like to ditch my land line, go
> for a cheap Roger's cable connection and be able to dial up the office
> should my cable modem die.  Not just because I want to get rid of Bell,
> but because caller ID and Voicemail is bizzarely expensive, and there's no
> point in keeping a landline when it is roughly the same price as a cell.
> 
> I ask about those two networks because they have towers near my house: 
> http://www.arcx.com/sites/

Data service from cell phones is available.  It is not
particularly fast (expect about double the speed you'd get
from a dial-up modem on a land line - the cell data conection
is nominally 120 kbps and you actually get around 60-80 while
a modem is nominally 56 kbps but actually 30-40).

It can be very expensive.  While there are cheap plans,
they have a limit on total data allowed and the surcharge for
exceeding the limit is huge.  Rogers had no plan that did not
have a cap (Fido does have an unlimited plan, I believe -
I didn't lookinto it because I was going to be outside of
its service area).  Telus has an unlimited data plan for
$100/month (plus a $60/year extra charge).  I used Telus for
the past two weeks, and ran 2 or 3 Gb through it in that time.
It worked fairly well, but because of the price and speed,
I'd only recommend it for times when DSL or cable service is
not available as an option.

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