Steve's Southern Ontario Cell Phone Page (and Cell Phone Reviews)

Welcome to my web page. You'll find all sorts of cellular related items here, geared primarily for the Southern Ontario market. My cell phone reviews should be useful to anyone who can buy the specific models from their local providers. I've current reviewed phones by Nokia, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Kyocera, Siemens, Samsung, Audiovox, Mitsubishi, Sanyo, LG, Sharp, and V-Tech. I have technical discussions on wide-ranging topics include TDMA vs CDMA vs GSM vs iDEN, as well as maps of all the cell sites for Telus PCS, Telus Mike, Bell Mobility, Rogers, Fido, Virgin Mobile, PC Telecom, Cityfone, and 7-11 Speakout Wireless.

Attention Nokia Smartphone owners

Do want to be involved in testing a new contacts application I'm preparing to bring to market?

This is early-stage alpha testing, and so I need dedicated people who are willing to put up with a lot of initial problems that may include an inability to install or run the program successfully on your S60 3rd Edition model. You'll also need to sign each version of the app using Nokia's free online signing page before you install.

Start by checking out my online documentation and support page for the application at:

http://www.arcx.com/sites/contactsex/WhatIs.htm

Then if you're interested in joining up, send me email at:

mailto:pcsguide@rogers.com

Let me know how you can help, and tell me which Nokia S60 model you own. Thanks in advance.

Site Locations via Google Maps

Note: Virgin Mobile, Solo, and PC Telecom use the Bell Mobility network, while 7−11, Petro Canada, and Cityfone use the Rogers network. Sites for Telus Mobility are PCS only (for HSPA see below)

Hand-Drawn Maps of Bell/Telus HSPA site Locations Updated: 21-Jan-2010
Note that this map is woefully INCOMPLETE. I can't yet get site location information from the Industry Canada online database, and so the locations are based on my own physical searches for the HSPA antennas. That means there aren't very many of them yet and the sites may or may not be 100% accurate.

Lots of Useful Information
Frequently asked questions.	29-Mar-2009	FAQ
Phonebook Extreme Applet for iDEN Phones	16-Apr-2007	PB Extreme
PCS Editorials. This is BIASED stuff.	18-Apr-2007	Editorials
Links to other cellphone-related web pages	19-Jan-2009	Links
Information about Phone Reviewing	15-Apr-2004	Reviewing
Phone Reviews (large table with pictures)	07-Jan-2010	Phones
Accessory Reviews (large table with pictures)	03-Oct-2009	Accessories
Phone Reviews (listed by manufacturer)	07-Jan-2010	Phone List
Phone Reviews (listed by technology)	07-Jan-2010	Phone by Tech
What is UMTS?	05-Nov-2007	UMTS
Unlocking Your Phone	03-Mar-2003	Unlocking
How I Test RF Performance of Phones	14-Aug-2005	RF Performance
Audio Quality of Phones	15-Apr-2004	Audio Quality
Cell IDs, PN Offsets, and Channel Numbers	09-Oct-2006	Cell IDs
Finding the Coordinates of an iDEN Site	30-Oct-2004	Coordinates
Echo Cancellers. Why we Need Them.	03-Mar-2003	Echo Cancellers
Technical background on digital technologies.	15-Apr-2004	Technologies
Learn more about the CDMA vs TDMA debate.	15-Apr-2004	CDMA vs TDMA
Learn how to use a number of GSM features.	10-Jun-2004	GSM Features
Discover how I located the sites.	15-Apr-2004	Finding Sites

Steve Punter's appearance on the CBC consumer show "Marketplace",
discussing phone reviews and this web page. From January of 2005.

Also Steve Punter's input on a story CTV News did on finding the right
cell phone plan for teenagers. From September 23rd, 2009.

I'd love to hear from you. If would like to make comments, or ask questions, then please drop me a line at pcsguide@rogers.com. Before you ask your question though, please check with my FAQ, as it might already contain the answer you seek.

PLEASE NOTE: DO NOT ask the following question: Have you reviewed or do you have any information about phone xxxx? If I've reviewed a phone, that review is online. If there is no review of the phone you are interested in, then I haven't tested it and I won't have any information to pass along to you. Also, I DO NOT recommend individual phones. Please read the reviews and make up your own minds based on what I say about the features that interest you.

The background image you see on this page is a former Telus PCS site at Eglinton and Highway 403 in Mississauga. It has since been replaced by a taller metal monopole a little to the north.

07-Jan-2010		Added Review of the Nokia N86
03-Oct-2009		Added Review of the Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset
01-Sep-2009		Added Review of the Nokia N97
30-Aug-2009		Added Review of the Blackberry Pearl Flip
10-Aug-2009		Added Review of the Motorola W233
		Added Review of the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic
12-Jun-2009		Added Mini Review of the HTC Dream
29-Mar-2009		Added Review of the Nokia N85
29-Mar-2009		New FAQ Question: Why Do You Only Seem to Review Nokia Phones
19-Mar-2009		Added Review of the Nokia 3120 Classic
16-Jan-2009		Added Review of the Nokia 1680
13-Sep-2008		Added Mini Review of the Blackberry Bold
14-Aug-2008		Added Review of the Nokia 1208
01-Aug-2008		Added Review of the Nokia N95 8GB
29-Jul-2008		Added Mini Review of the Apple iPhone 3G
03-Jun-2008		Added Review of the Nokia E51
		Added Review of the Nokia 5200
15-Dec-2007		Added Review of the Nokia 2760
05-Nov-2007		Added Review of the Sony-Ericsson K850i
		Added new article called What is UMTS?
24-Aug-2007		Added Review of the Nokia 6120 Classic
04-Jul-2007		Added Review of the HTC P4000
27-Jun-2007		Added Review of the Nokia 1600


The Year 2010	The Year 2003	Rogers
The Year 2009	The Year 2002	Bell Mobility
The Year 2008	The Year 2001	Telus PCS
The Year 2007	The Year 2000	Telus Mike
The Year 2006	The Year 1999
The Year 2005	The Year 1998
The Year 2004	The Year 1997