their plans are good and they have some of the lowest rates but are they too good to be true? they're expanding their networks and coverage but how good and reliable are their networks? specifically, outside and in basements and high-rises, is the reception good? how reliable is the service and how good is their customer service? can a Wind phone, specifically blackberry curve 3g, be unlocked and used with a different carrier (say Telus, Fido or Virgin Mobile) with no problems at all (even have apps working properly)? any pros and cons about the networks and/or the Wind service itself, especially from current/former Wind mobile blackberry customers would be great.
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is wind mobile good, really?
- Thread starter C.G
- Start date
Andrew Stephen
New member
No contract, almost
WIND’s offerings are contract-free, so figuring out how much the commitment really costs is straightforward… almost. You can cancel starting the next month and you can move on. And you can choose to go prepaid or post-paid on any of its monthly plans. (But don’t confuse prepaid with a true pay-as-you-go arrangement — WIND’s plans are still monthly plans.)
The catch, at least for now, is that you almost certainly will have to buy a WIND phone, and if you decide to leave WIND, you’ll have to have stuck around for 3 months before the phone is useful on other carriers. More details in the next point…
SIMs and phones
First of all, WIND will sell you a SIM card separately, which you could insert into an unlocked phone. So you can technically bring an unlocked phone to use with WIND. In the future this could be handy, but at the moment it is likely not so useful. Unfortunately, WIND uses the 1700 Mhz frequency band (also referred to as AWS), which is only used by some T-Mobile phones and the smaller Canadian wireless company Mobilicity. Up until now, most unlockable phones in North America are GSM phones, running on the 850 Mhz and/or 1900 Mhz frequency bands.
Once you’ve been with WIND for 3 months, the phone is quite useful because you can ask WIND to help you unlock it. WIND phones are 5-band phones, supporting the AWS band, the North American GSM bands, and the 900 / 1800 Mhz bands used in many other parts of the world, such as Europe. This is unlike some other Canadian carriers such as Koodo, whose phones will only work when you’re using Koodo, leaving you semi-stuck if you want to leave but don’t want to waste your phone. So the selection of WIND-compatible phones is somewhat limited, but WIND phones are compatible on a lot of other networks (even if they were probably forced to do this even be relevant)!
I’m not an avid cell phone model follower, so I cannot comment on the merits of the phones that WIND offers. You definitely don’t have your choice of all of the latest trends, though.
Yak bundles
WIND’s parent company is Globalive, which also runs Yak. Yak is best known for its long distance plans, but it also offers high speed Internet and home phone service. WIND’s website does not advertise this, but you can bundle some or all of its offerings in what they call Yak Paks. Pricing is competitive, but make sure you research reviews of Yak’s services and also decide whether you really want to put all your eggs in one basket!
Coverage, “zones”, and plans
WIND’s plans are good for the medium-to-heavy talk and text users. If you’re a light user (less than 100 minutes per month) look for something like pay-as-you-go with Speak Out Wireless. Data / web browsing is a standard add-on. It’s great to see that caller ID, call forwarding, call conferencing, and call waiting are included in all plans. Voicemail, though, is an extra $5 per month unless you’re on the highest plan. In keeping with the long-overdue trend in Canada, there are no extra 911 or system access fees with WIND.
An important and unique concept with WIND is the differentiation between a “WIND Zone” (aka local or almost-local) and an “AWAY Zone” (aka roaming). If you’re in one of the cities where WIND has built a network, you’re in a WIND Zone. Depending on your plan, you get province-wide calls from a WIND Zone; plus possibly unlimited incoming calls when in a WIND Zone; all the way up to unlimited Canada-wide calling from any WIND Zone. Because WIND’s network is relatively new (so far they’re in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa), this will be more of a perk as it grows.
AWAY Zone calls, including all incoming calls in an AWAY zone, are extra even on the most expensive plan. Their AWAY zone coverage map in Canada looks like Rogers’ coverage: in other words, coverage is as good as the other wireless providers but it’s obviously costing WIND to use the other networks. Other carriers have the benefit of a bigger network. At least with WIND you know you’re paying for what costs them and not paying so much when it’s cheaper for them… it’s semi-transparent. The within-Canada “roaming” rate actually isn’t bad (25 cents a minute extra for calls), and an unexpected advantage is that the US roaming rates are the same. WIND seems to beat Telus’, Bell’s, and Rogers’ US roaming rates by a large amount.
You can also roam and call internationally, although like any other Canadian carrier, be prepared to pay exorbitant amounts. If you want to make calls when you’re outside of Canada and the US, it’s usually best to get a SIM card from the local area. And if you regularly make calls internationally from Canada or from the US, get a calling card, use a landline, or use Skype or another VoIP option.
WIND’s offerings are contract-free, so figuring out how much the commitment really costs is straightforward… almost. You can cancel starting the next month and you can move on. And you can choose to go prepaid or post-paid on any of its monthly plans. (But don’t confuse prepaid with a true pay-as-you-go arrangement — WIND’s plans are still monthly plans.)
The catch, at least for now, is that you almost certainly will have to buy a WIND phone, and if you decide to leave WIND, you’ll have to have stuck around for 3 months before the phone is useful on other carriers. More details in the next point…
SIMs and phones
First of all, WIND will sell you a SIM card separately, which you could insert into an unlocked phone. So you can technically bring an unlocked phone to use with WIND. In the future this could be handy, but at the moment it is likely not so useful. Unfortunately, WIND uses the 1700 Mhz frequency band (also referred to as AWS), which is only used by some T-Mobile phones and the smaller Canadian wireless company Mobilicity. Up until now, most unlockable phones in North America are GSM phones, running on the 850 Mhz and/or 1900 Mhz frequency bands.
Once you’ve been with WIND for 3 months, the phone is quite useful because you can ask WIND to help you unlock it. WIND phones are 5-band phones, supporting the AWS band, the North American GSM bands, and the 900 / 1800 Mhz bands used in many other parts of the world, such as Europe. This is unlike some other Canadian carriers such as Koodo, whose phones will only work when you’re using Koodo, leaving you semi-stuck if you want to leave but don’t want to waste your phone. So the selection of WIND-compatible phones is somewhat limited, but WIND phones are compatible on a lot of other networks (even if they were probably forced to do this even be relevant)!
I’m not an avid cell phone model follower, so I cannot comment on the merits of the phones that WIND offers. You definitely don’t have your choice of all of the latest trends, though.
Yak bundles
WIND’s parent company is Globalive, which also runs Yak. Yak is best known for its long distance plans, but it also offers high speed Internet and home phone service. WIND’s website does not advertise this, but you can bundle some or all of its offerings in what they call Yak Paks. Pricing is competitive, but make sure you research reviews of Yak’s services and also decide whether you really want to put all your eggs in one basket!
Coverage, “zones”, and plans
WIND’s plans are good for the medium-to-heavy talk and text users. If you’re a light user (less than 100 minutes per month) look for something like pay-as-you-go with Speak Out Wireless. Data / web browsing is a standard add-on. It’s great to see that caller ID, call forwarding, call conferencing, and call waiting are included in all plans. Voicemail, though, is an extra $5 per month unless you’re on the highest plan. In keeping with the long-overdue trend in Canada, there are no extra 911 or system access fees with WIND.
An important and unique concept with WIND is the differentiation between a “WIND Zone” (aka local or almost-local) and an “AWAY Zone” (aka roaming). If you’re in one of the cities where WIND has built a network, you’re in a WIND Zone. Depending on your plan, you get province-wide calls from a WIND Zone; plus possibly unlimited incoming calls when in a WIND Zone; all the way up to unlimited Canada-wide calling from any WIND Zone. Because WIND’s network is relatively new (so far they’re in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa), this will be more of a perk as it grows.
AWAY Zone calls, including all incoming calls in an AWAY zone, are extra even on the most expensive plan. Their AWAY zone coverage map in Canada looks like Rogers’ coverage: in other words, coverage is as good as the other wireless providers but it’s obviously costing WIND to use the other networks. Other carriers have the benefit of a bigger network. At least with WIND you know you’re paying for what costs them and not paying so much when it’s cheaper for them… it’s semi-transparent. The within-Canada “roaming” rate actually isn’t bad (25 cents a minute extra for calls), and an unexpected advantage is that the US roaming rates are the same. WIND seems to beat Telus’, Bell’s, and Rogers’ US roaming rates by a large amount.
You can also roam and call internationally, although like any other Canadian carrier, be prepared to pay exorbitant amounts. If you want to make calls when you’re outside of Canada and the US, it’s usually best to get a SIM card from the local area. And if you regularly make calls internationally from Canada or from the US, get a calling card, use a landline, or use Skype or another VoIP option.