Droid 2 Global works on Telus in Canada

[wirecutter]

I'm on the Telus network now. The data connection actually feels faster than when I'm on Verizon's network!

The data indicator is showing 'H', not 3G, but it is fast. Anyway Telus does not have Edge data so this has to be on HSPA data right now.

Just though I'd let everyone know.

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[IslesFan]

Did you pop a Telus Sim in there or are you roaming with the VZW sim?

 

[droidman101]

its probably because Telus has less people on its network, lol, thats a big issue: bandwidth use for vzw and att is off the charts

 

[wirecutter]

I put in a Telus sim and switched the radio to GSM only. I had to enter the APN info as well.

Verizon CDMA phones do roam on Telus as well, but on its CDMA network. For those who don't know Telus has 3 networks. CDMA, iDen, and GSM. Their GSM network is new so it does not have Edge data. Rogers is the only Canadian GSM carrier with Edge data.


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[willzzz88]

wirecutter, of course Telus/Bell is using UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA+ technology, the SAME as AT&T which they recently have upgraded too. ;-) 21Mbps download/5.76Mbps upload at theoretical max. You can average 5-15Mbps down, 2-3Mbps up depending on network load. AT&T users get the same thing on the upgraded cell sites with fiber-backhaul that Telus has.

When its on CDMA mode its roaming on Telus/Bell CDMA rA which is the same as VZW speeds.

 

[wirecutter]

Yes, I was pointing out it was HSPA because the VZW Touch Pro 2 doesn't support the North American HSPA frequencies. Overseas on other frequencies it will work on HSPA data networks. You can use it on any North American GSM carrier (even AT&T & T-Mobile). It will work fine for phone/sms, but it will only work with their older Edge data network. It is not compatible with the HSPA data networks in North America. In Canada this mean the VZW Touch Pro 2 will only work on Rogers. It will not get any data on Bell or Telus because they do not have the older Edge data network.


The VZW Droid 2 Global is working on GSM and HSPA on the north american frequencies. This is something the VZW Touch Pro 2 could not do.

 

[cfowler]

Amazing!

I put in a Telus sim and switched the radio to GSM only. I had to enter the APN info as well.

Verizon CDMA phones do roam on Telus as well, but on its CDMA network. For those who don't know Telus has 3 networks. CDMA, iDen, and GSM. Their GSM network is new so it does not have Edge data. Rogers is the only Canadian GSM carrier with Edge data.


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wirecutter, this is amazing!
I have quite the ordeal going on right now.
I live in Kelowna, BC but work in North Dakota.
My telus Blackberry storm 2 worked on verizon's CDMA 3G band down here in north dakota, but the phone has recently been destroyed and I LOATHED the phone anyway, the worst handset ever. Anyway, Telus doesn't offer much for talk plans down here in the U.S. so I also have a Verizon phone which I pay $59/month plus taxes and fees for my calling plan. Since Verizon doens't offer a texting plan to canadian phones, I simply have used my Telus Blackberry for texting and BBM, which is included in my bundle.
WELL, now that my BB is history, and Telus offers only 1 BB (Curve) that runs on straight CDMA, I opted for the iPhone, knoing it's HSPA insides wouldn't work down here in north dakota. So now I'm stuck with a basic verizon flip for calls and an iPhone 4 that is completely useless for the 20 days/month I spend down here in ND, and I'm missing the luxury of texting (& bbm) in a big way.
I'm astonished to find this Droid 2 Global and it's cross-compatibility between networks.
I have a newbie question or two if you don't mind, so basically, I have a iPhone 4 w/ sim card, do I need a Milestone or similar handset's sim card to get Telus to work with the Droid 2 Global (since the iPhone 4 plans are different from that of Moto's etc.) or can I use the Iphone's sim and just change my plan with telus or can I buy a new sim from telus that will better suit the droid 2 global.... how does that work?
Your help would be greatly appreciated!
This is exciting!!!!

 

[cfowler]

Oh shoot, but I just thought of something, if I use the telus sim at home, that works fine and all but when I come back down to ND, to SMS text from the VZ Droid 2 Global using my telus account, the SIM would have to remain installed and when I want to make calls from my VZ account back to canada using the phone, I would have to remove the SIM?
So basically, I would have to be switching back and forth constantly to do what I need to do, which is text from a canadian telus account (because it's unlimited & free) and call from my verizon account (because it's what I use for talking from ND to canada)... all from the same handset.

OR, I could cancel my verizon plan altogether and active the TELUS sim on the VZ DROID 2 GLOBAL and move my calling plan back to TELUS which will end up costing about the same as have two carriers, only I would have less minutes to use with TELUS vs. VZ for the same money.

Oh geez, now I'm confused...

 

[cfowler]

Also, I'm curious if it's possible to make this phone work with CDMA 1x-EVDO on Telus towers in Canada rather than the HSPA? I'm often in remote areas where the HSPA coverage does not reach as far as the CDMA 1x does.

So I think I'd like to buy the phone outright and switch back to telus altogether.
That shouldn't be a problem if I install the Telus SIM?
Or maybe I could activate the VZ two-year and then pay the contract termination fee? I'm not sure which would be better.

Guess I'll have an iPhone for sale pretty quick if all this works....

Thanks for any input,

Chris

 

[wirecutter]

I was using a micro sim from a iphone 4 for my test. I bought and adapter off ebay to convert it to regular size. As well, if you are on Verizon's Nationwide + Canada plan, your texting plan extends to Canadian phone. I live in Canada too.

 

[wirecutter]

Oh and yes the D2G roams on Telus Cdma network. That is what I am on right now. The phone shows 3G in the status. I'm not sure about 1x coverage though...can't see why now. It does show 1x sometimes when I'm between the Vzw and telus networks.

 

[wirecutter]

The only real roaming issue is the International Data Roaming popup. See my other thread. I imagine this wouldn't be a problem if u flash another ROM when they are available.

 

[wirecutter]

I would recommed you just drop Telus. You're covered for Cdn texting with Vzw's Nw+Canada plan. The only real issue with that is that it will cost other Cdns more to text to you since they are txting a US phone. If you put your iphone sim in your D2g, you would just have to switch the phone mode between CDMA and GSM to switch between your VZW and Telus plans.

 

[IslesFan]

I would recommed you just drop Telus. You're covered for Cdn texting with Vzw's Nw+Canada plan. The only real issue with that is that it will cost other Cdns more to text to you since they are txting a US phone. If you put your iphone sim in your D2g, you would just have to switch the phone mode between CDMA and GSM to switch between your VZW and Telus plans.

Not just the NW+Canada plan, regular domestic plans too:

As Per International Text Messaging

"Text messages sent to phone numbers in Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico are charged domestic rates per your plan."

 

[leobg]

cfowler, reportedly phone will not be able to see any GSM/WCDMA networks in the US if you are using your TELUS sim card in it. This means with the TELUS SIM inside and switched to GSM/WCDMA you won't get reception at all. I don't think phone can have both radios active at the same time (GSM/WCDMA and CDMA/EVDO) which means you use either Verison's account or Telus one.
Phone was ment to have Verizon's SIM in it for transparent roaming when you are outside of the US. When you replace the sim with a sim from another provider, that transparency is gone and it is due to fact CDMA radio links to one subscription and GSM radio links to completely different subscription.