Canada Pre-Paid to work with Australian iPhone 3G

[fluffybunny]

Hi,

Just started looking into pre-paid sims in canada, and am not sure if I can use a Canadian Sim in my phone, so my question:

Will an Australian iPhone 3G work with Canadian Pre-Paid Sims?
I had a quick comparison of the specs between the Iphone 4 (3G isn't listed anymore) on both the Canadian and Australian Apple websites and these details match:

Cellular and wireless

GSM model: UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)

The Canadian site also has "CDMA" listed which the Australian doesn't:

CDMA model: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)

Would I be okay to use a Rogers , Fido or Wind sim card? Still looking into the pre-paid offers available.

Thanks

[weekilter]

Originally Posted by fluffybunny

Hi,

Just started looking into pre-paid sims in canada, and am not sure if I can use a Canadian Sim in my phone, so my question:

Will an Australian iPhone 3G work with Canadian Pre-Paid Sims?
I had a quick comparison of the specs between the Iphone 4 (3G isn't listed anymore) on both the Canadian and Australian Apple websites and these details match:


The Canadian site also has "CDMA" listed which the Australian doesn't:


Would I be okay to use a Rogers , Fido or Wind sim card? Still looking into the pre-paid offers available.

Thanks

It's frequency compatible. Is the phone unlocked? Unless it is you cannot use it with any operator other than the original one.

CDMA and GSM iPhones are meant for specific systems and are not the same and are not compatible as far as use to make phone calls. Fido only has data with GPRS at 15¢/minute.

[Stu]

Wind is incompatible. They are on the 1700mhz frequency which is not supported by the iPhone. They have roaming on other frequencies, but I'm not sure that roaming is a great deal and may only be on 2g.

Bell, Telus, and Virgin have the iPhone and have prepaid networks on their HSPA network. They also run incompatible CDMA networks so be forewarned.

[PhotoJim]

As far as I know, all the GSM/UMTS iPhones are identical worldwide. An iPhone 2G will only work on Fido or Rogers. The 3G or newer will work on these plus Bell and Telus and the regional carriers MTS and SaskTel.

[VladS]

Rogers/Fido, Bell and Telus operate their UMTS networks on the II an V bands and both bands are supported by any UMTS based iPhone (3G, 3GS and 4).

Telus has a 250MB + unlimited national SMS for $20 add-on for their prepaid SIMs. Not cheap, but coverage is very good.

[fluffybunny]

Originally Posted by weekilter

It's frequency compatible. Is the phone unlocked? Unless it is you cannot use it with any operator other than the original one.

CDMA and GSM iPhones are meant for specific systems and are not the same and are not compatible as far as use to make phone calls. Fido only has data with GPRS at 15¢/minute.

Yep unlocked.

So I have GSM, and not CDMA? This is a big confusing will look into it. Thanks for the tip.

Originally Posted by Stu

Wind is incompatible. They are on the 1700mhz frequency which is not supported by the iPhone. They have roaming on other frequencies, but I'm not sure that roaming is a great deal and may only be on 2g.

Bell, Telus, and Virgin have the iPhone and have prepaid networks on their HSPA network. They also run incompatible CDMA networks so be forewarned.

Thanks. Uh oh. I hope it's easy to find out if they are on the right network.

Originally Posted by PhotoJim

As far as I know, all the GSM/UMTS iPhones are identical worldwide. An iPhone 2G will only work on Fido or Rogers. The 3G or newer will work on these plus Bell and Telus and the regional carriers MTS and SaskTel.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by VladS

Rogers/Fido, Bell and Telus operate their UMTS networks on the II an V bands and both bands are supported by any UMTS based iPhone (3G, 3GS and 4).

Telus has a 250MB + unlimited national SMS for $20 add-on for their prepaid SIMs. Not cheap, but coverage is very good.

Thanks. Will look into Telus too.


So I'll look into them all, but wind!

I thought some of the deals from Rogers / Fido looked really good. But now that I know some plans may be the wrong network (CDMA?), I am going to have to look again carefully for the right one.

Thanks so much for the help guys.

[tivoboy]

So, can someway say if an iphone 2g, the original will work on Rogers or Fido with just data service?

I have an older iphone 2g, unlocked, jb'd, and want to use it on a trip to canada this week. thought I could just buy a sim card.

[Stu]

FIDO and Rogers only use GSM/HSPA and their flavor of GSM is very compatible with unlocked phones. Wind and Public anre the odd dogs in the GSM world.

Watch it with Canadian prepaids also, their calling area is regional on most plans. You pay a surcharge once you wander into a different market (e.g. using a Toronto SIM in Montreal).

[PhotoJim]

Originally Posted by Stu

Watch it with Canadian prepaids also, their calling area is regional on most plans. You pay a surcharge once you wander into a different market (e.g. using a Toronto SIM in Montreal).

Once you leave the local calling area for your number, inbound calls become toll calls. Outbound calls are always based on the local calling area for the tower to which you are connected.

You can look up typical calling areas at http://www.localcallingguide.com. Some mobile providers have somewhat more generous calling areas than these. There are also some peculiar anomalies (e.g. Rogers does not charge inbound toll to Saskatchewan 306 number subscribers who are out of their local calling area but on a cell site located in Saskatchewan, but outbound toll may apply.)

[Stu]

Here is another odd issue on Rogers (at least contract). My hometown, Detroit Michigan is part of Windsor, Ontario. You could make on plan calls in four counties inside the US. Data, however, is/was considered international.