Jollygoodfellow Posted May 26, 2012 Posted May 26, 2012 Hmm; not sure about this as I do recall contacting customer support and I believe they can activate it anywhere but do not guarantee it as my memory is blurred. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted May 26, 2012 Posted May 26, 2012 just buy a Sim card or even a Burn Phone (Pay as you go) in what ever country you end up in. As you are in Canada, try going into any place that sells Pay as you go phones. Now pretend that you have no local address, local phone number or local credit card and try to activate that phone. It used to be possible but I have not found a way to do it today. Remember that a Philippine purchased phone has a great likelihood of not working in North America (if it is dual band and not triband or quad band) and then try to get a local sim card for it . . . how do you do that? Now tell us again how it is easier to it is cheaper and easier to just buy a Sim card or even a Burn Phone because I am frustrated as heck trying to do that in Canada at this moment. I have been using Skype or a relative's landline to call back to the Philippines and there is nothing easy or cheap about it. Had I anticipated the problems in advance I would have made sure to bring an unlocked (hard to find in Canada) cell phone with me. I would have been sure it was quad band. I would have activated Smart International Roam before leaving (the one thing I actually did do). Then if I got here and it did not work I would have asked a close friend to activate a pay as you go phone for me (too late to be bothered with that now) because they would have no problems. Anyway, ya live and learn and get frustrated in the process. BTW, I knew all this from previous trips but I had forgotten. It is easy to do. I'll probably forget again when next I return to Canada. Life will go on though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted May 26, 2012 Posted May 26, 2012 One site I just noticed for low cost or even free texting to Philippines is Chikka dot com. I just browsed through it and it looked interesting. Anyone tried it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventurer Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 (edited) the only reason I was interested in roaming after leaving was so my girlfriend might be able to text me cheaper. But from what I read it looks like it would cost her 20 pesos per text anyway if she texted my smart number if I was to get roaming working. She has bought a Sun sim yesterday but said she had a problem getting it to text over here in Australia to my aussie mobile number but from what I understand it is only 5 pesos per text for her? I just hope she can get it working.... Edited May 27, 2012 by Adventurer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 the only reason I was interested in roaming after leaving was so my girlfriend might be able to text me cheaper. But from what I read it looks like it would cost her 20 pesos per text anyway if she texted my smart number if I was to get roaming working. She has bought a Sun sim yesterday but said she had a problem getting it to text over here in Australia to my aussie mobile number but from what I understand it is only 5 pesos per text for her? I just hope she can get it working.... My wife and friends send text to my smart number while I am on roam here in Aus and it is the cost of a local text for them but for my reply it cost me 20 peso. I used to use yahoo messenger to send text to their phones and it did work fine but the last 2 months seems to be not always working as often they do not receive it for what reason who knows. You can also use msn messenger to send text to her phone. To add my wife sometimes uses sun as where she lives she usually has to climb a coconut tree for reception but Sun is better in her area. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adventurer Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 My wife and friends send text to my smart number while I am on roam here in Aus and it is the cost of a local text for them but for my reply it cost me 20 peso. I used to use yahoo messenger to send text to their phones and it did work fine but the last 2 months seems to be not always working as often they do not receive it for what reason who knows. You can also use msn messenger to send text to her phone. To add my wife sometimes uses sun as where she lives she usually has to climb a coconut tree for reception but Sun is better in her area. that is all good to know, i have used yahoo but as you say its a bit hit and miss but I get $600 worth of calls and text for $30 here so I usually have enought to get it all over a month. the main problem is her texting me and I would not be too happy to pay an extra 20 pesos per text. She said she will have another attempt to get sun working tomororow so I will see how that goes, It seems she might have got an International card.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthdome Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 I have used http://www.loadntxt.com, I think this only works for US based phones. LoadNTxt gets $.05 per SMS either way, in addition whatever your local call plan charges for SMS whether in US or Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 One site I just noticed for low cost or even free texting to Philippines is Chikka dot com. I just browsed through it and it looked interesting. Anyone tried it? I used it in the U.S. before I moved. Works fine, it's free to send/receive from the computer anywhere in the world, I think the cost is about p1.5 to reply back from the cell phone but that may depend on the local carrier, ie., smart, sun, etc. http://www.chikka.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i am bob Posted May 27, 2012 Posted May 27, 2012 just buy a Sim card or even a Burn Phone (Pay as you go) in what ever country you end up in. As you are in Canada, try going into any place that sells Pay as you go phones. Now pretend that you have no local address, local phone number or local credit card and try to activate that phone. It used to be possible but I have not found a way to do it today. Remember that a Philippine purchased phone has a great likelihood of not working in North America (if it is dual band and not triband or quad band) and then try to get a local sim card for it . . . how do you do that? Now tell us again how it is easier to it is cheaper and easier to just buy a Sim card or even a Burn Phone because I am frustrated as heck trying to do that in Canada at this moment. I have been using Skype or a relative's landline to call back to the Philippines and there is nothing easy or cheap about it. Had I anticipated the problems in advance I would have made sure to bring an unlocked (hard to find in Canada) cell phone with me. I would have been sure it was quad band. I would have activated Smart International Roam before leaving (the one thing I actually did do). Then if I got here and it did not work I would have asked a close friend to activate a pay as you go phone for me (too late to be bothered with that now) because they would have no problems. Anyway, ya live and learn and get frustrated in the process. BTW, I knew all this from previous trips but I had forgotten. It is easy to do. I'll probably forget again when next I return to Canada. Life will go on though. Ok, Dave, here's some answers for if you are in Canada! Try going to one of the convenience store chains and you can get a PAYG phone without using a permanent address - just tell them you need a temporary phone and use the address of where you are staying. Yes, that is legal. President's Choice phones can be bought the same way. Or try Wind. If you are on their system for 3 months, they will give you the code to unlock your phone when you go. Or you could just explain to them that you are leaving the country after so long. And some of their plans also have free texting around the world. They also have $5 long distance plans to some countries - I would have to look to see if the Philippines is on the list. But if someone is spending 6 months here in Canada and then 6 months in the Philippines on a regular basis, you can get a smart phone or blackberry at Wind with full data, Canada long distance, worldwide free text, and more for $45 a month - and often that special price (which I got) of only $40 a month... When you leave to go out of Canada, a $20 deposit holds your plan and phone number for 6 months while you are gone! If you just want to buy an unlocked phone, go to one of the many smaller electronics stores., computer stores or independent cell phone stores. If they deal in refurbished models, they are unlocked. If you want to call the Philippines for free from Canada (and vice versa), you will need to be in Canada to initiate this... Check out freephoneline.ca and you will see that it is a free download for a telephone based on your computer. Register (use a friends address and home phone to start with) and then download so you can ensure all the data is entered correctly. When you register, you get a telephone number for your use. Then have your better half in the Philippines download it. Once the registration process is complete and your phone is operational, so will the download in the Philippines- just give them your log-in and password. Then can now call you in Canada or you can call them (on a different phone of course) from Canada for free other than their normal internet costs. Only got 50 cents - the cost of a payphone call nowadays? You can call your loved ones in the Philippines! Anybody remember the old Motorola Razr? The ultra thin folding phone that would sit in your pocket and nobody knew it was there? Including pickpockets? Well, there is a chain here in Canada you can buy them for $50 unlocked. But while researching them, I also found out that there was a model made for India that will work in the Philippines - and will accept 2 Sim cards at the same time! So, you can have both Globe and SMART on your phone at the same time... Or any other phone company there... Or you can have a Philippine Sim and a Sim for what ever country you are in working at the same time! Never miss that wonderful text from you loved ones again! For those who want a smartphone that does the same thing, Alcatel makes a nice little one that is pretty basic that also works on dual Sims. There is still lots more info out there but so far this one post has turned into a novel so... ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted May 28, 2012 Posted May 28, 2012 Thanks Bob. Wish I had all that when I arrived. I go back in 2 weeks so we have already come to the understanding that I call her once a week and forget about all the texting and stuff. When the relationship is in the early stages I felt the need to text 5 times a day. Now, a once a week phone call will suffice. :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now