For those of you in the Toronto area

[Lyric 0]

Ok....besides this K-1 stress and I am having major anxiety because I am having MAJOR problems trying to have contact with my fiance. His internet service has not been working properly the last two weeks and it's causing us to have next to no communication. I am trying to figure out a way to fix this problem. I have been attempting to research phone service there, whether cell or home and it all seems to be at least $40 per month there, from what I have found. Does anyone know anything any cheaper that he could use that doesn't rely on the internet? $40 normally isn't that expensive but when you are extremely strapped for cash...it very much is. We'd need a service that wouldn't charge him an arm and a leg for getting incoming calls from me. sigh. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[misa 2]

There's only really one phone service he can get, and that's Bell Canada (unless things have changed). Since he's receiving calls from you, a basic phone line (no bells and whistles) is about $20/month CDN.

http://www.bell.ca/shopping/PrsShpPns_wire...es_Landing.page

[Lyric 0]

Thank you very much, Misa. I will see if there is some way he can scrape up the money for that.

[misa 2]

It might take a little time before they will "install" it and there will probably be some sort of setup charge but $20 is not bad for just a phone line.

[Lyric 0]

yeah, that's exactly the price range I was hoping for. Just something where I KNOW I can call him whenever I need/want to. For some reason I couldn't find that particular $20 plan when I looked before. So long as they allow international incoming calls free of charge. I'll make sure we check into that beforehand.

[misa 2]

International incoming calls are free with Bell. Actually any incoming call is already including in the plan and he gets free local calling.

[mozplay 29]

I had a Bell landline as well but never used them for long distance. I used one of those loony call numbers and I would spend an hour on the phone with David for a dollar. Yak longdistance and Loony call were the two I used.

Beware though, Bell will definately want their pound of flesh for installation. Have you thought of a Pay-as-you-go cell phone? Fido, is one of the companies that do pay-as-you-go I think.

Mo

[Lyric 0]

Hey, Mo.

Well I've looked into the pay as you go but unless I'm missing something, they all seem to be anywhere from $35 and up per month. All he needs is to be able to make local calls and accept incoming from me because I use Skype and I call him for practically nothing.

I figure Bell will charge a hefty fee to install but at least he'd have a phone line that way. I never know when his internet is going to go on the fritz...or his computer for that matter and it's getting to the point that I'm literally having panic attacks because I have pretty much NO way to communicate with him. I don't know if he's ok or not and it's very disconcering right now

[mozplay 29]

I know you used to be able to get pay-as-you-go type plans for as little as $20 a card, however, if you don't use your minutes up within a certain time frame, you lose them - which sucks!

Unfortunately, Bell is still the best way to go for reliability. Don't forget to give them 30 (?) days notice to cancel.

As for reaching your guy --- hell put his addy up, I'm sure someone will go knock on his door for ya!

Mo

[Galateia 1]

From when I got my bell line in, it was about $50 to get it installed. I can tell you exactly what you're looking to pay for a monthly service. Ahem. *breaks out last month's phone bill* If he gets bare bones set up, it should look like this:

Residence Line: 19.13 (obvious)

Network Charge: 2.95 (involuntary)

911 Emergency Service: 0.19 (ditto)

Touch-Tone Service: 2.80 (likewise)

GST + PST: 3.51

Basic phone line with no bells or whistles: $28.58 CDN

Hope that helps.

[Jashley820 0]

Just FYI- there are two unlimited long distance companies OTHER than Bell- Bell will rip you off.

Vonage is no more than $20 or $30 for unlimited long distance & all features (Call waiting, call display, etc). My parents have this.

London Telecom/Primus is a bit more expensive and I don't think the quality is as good.

I'd recommend Vonage. Bell is a waste of time & money.

EDIT: Just re-read your post....It's too early!! If he's having a problem with internet, he can't have internet phone!! SORRY!

I'd say that he should look into new internet services- there's a few options other than Rogers and Sympatico.

Edited July 27, 2007 by Jashley820

[Lyric 0]

From when I got my bell line in, it was about $50 to get it installed. I can tell you exactly what you're looking to pay for a monthly service. Ahem. *breaks out last month's phone bill* If he gets bare bones set up, it should look like this:

Residence Line: 19.13 (obvious)

Network Charge: 2.95 (involuntary)

911 Emergency Service: 0.19 (ditto)

Touch-Tone Service: 2.80 (likewise)

GST + PST: 3.51

Basic phone line with no bells or whistles: $28.58 CDN

Hope that helps.

This might be a stupid question but what is the GST + PST? sigh...all the extra fees and taxes suck. Plus there's the wire maintenance fee that is an extra $6.00.

I talked to Bell last night and they said that if anything ever went wrong with the wiring inside his apartment it's $99.00 just for the guy just to go there and check it out. That's not even counting FIXING the problem

With my fiance's luck?? He'll need the wire maintenance on there too.

[misa 2]

GST is federal tax and PST is provincial tax.

Yeah, Bell has a "wire care" plan which waives the $99 service fee for problems inside the apartment from the demarcation point (point of where the phone line enters) but you have to pay for that. Chances are he won't have problems unless the wiring inside the apartment is very old or he has a dog or cat that likes to chew on phone wires...

[Lyric 0]

GST is federal tax and PST is provincial tax.

Yeah, Bell has a "wire care" plan which waives the $99 service fee for problems inside the apartment from the demarcation point (point of where the phone line enters) but you have to pay for that. Chances are he won't have problems unless the wiring inside the apartment is very old or he has a dog or cat that likes to chew on phone wires...

Yes, his building seems to be on the old side and he has a cat that likes to get into things.

[misa 2]

Tell him to masking tape any wires to the wall. I have a cat that likes to chew wires too.

A better option for him would be to switch his internet plan I think. Is he on DSL or cable? If his building is old and wires unreliable, then DSL probably isn't a good choice since it relies on the phone lines.

Edited July 27, 2007 by misa