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Signal falls into an uncomfortable place for me. I like pre-paid cellphone plans which give me a small number of text messages, a small amount of airtime. Usi
by frabbit 6y ago
Signal falls into an uncomfortable place for me.
I like pre-paid cellphone plans which give me a small number of text messages, a small amount of airtime. Using these I can communicate with people when I am not near a WiFi AP. I do not want to pay for data and would prefer to use my and my friends' access points and the free wifi in the small number of commercial locations that I visit.
In Canada all of the major carriers disable WiFi Calling² on pre-paid plans. They essentially only enable it as crutch to leach off public infrastructure to take up the slack on their insufficient private infrastructure.
So I infrequently (but enough to be annoyed) find myself in the situation that I am not near a WiFi access point and wish to communicate with someone else. Currently Signal will only allow me to do this via insecure SMS messages.
I read their original explanation in 2015 for disabling this functionality. Namely SMS leaks too much metadata¹ and we are only catering to needs of real-activists in real-dictatorships, and anyway SMS is too expensive there so this is a 1st World Problem.
As an explanation it leaves me wondering why I would bother with Signal: if I bite the bullet and sign up for a circa CA$50/month plan with data I may as well just use Element Matrix over WiFi. Signal brings nothing to the table except the possibility of accidentally sending an insecure SMS message and incurring a 30c charge for it.
1. https://signal.org/blog/goodbye-encrypted-sms/ https://signal.org/blog/goodbye-encrypted-sms/
2. https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007321171-Can-I-send-SMS-MMS-with-Signal- https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007321171-Ca...
- redthrow 6y agoIn Canada, Fido has $10/m + tax "Tablet Plan" which can be used on phones and gives you 4GB/m data
- frabbit 6y agoI appreciate the suggestion but had already experienced the issue that WiFi Calling did not work with my unlocked Nexus5, similar to this: https://forums.fido.ca/t5/General-Support/Wifi-Calling-worked-amp-stopped-working/td-p/98186 https://forums.fido.ca/t5/General-Support/Wifi-Calling-worke... As noted on this article, your compatible device must have been purchased from Fido. If you have a non-Fido device and no conflicting services, Wi-Fi Calling may work, but we can’t assure that the feature will work properly! Without WiFi Calling enabled sending Secure Signal messages will not work. The only option left is sending a normal insecure SMS to which the message text has been input using the veneer of the "secure" Signal app.
- redthrow 6y agoNo experience in Wifi Calling but I use the 2ndLine app for (very rare) calls and SMS. It gives you a local number. Data-only is the most cost effective imo
- frabbit 6y agoThanks for the response. One more question: when I look at those plans on Fido¹ they seem to suggest that I need to be an existing postpaid customer. The plan seems like an add-on to other plans. Is this accurate or did you sign up from scratch with no other commercial relationship with Fido? Make sure that you are an eligible Fido customer. You must be an existing, postpaid, mobile customer. 1. https://www.fido.ca/consumer/tablets https://www.fido.ca/consumer/tablets
- redthrow 6y agoI have a friend who's a Fido customer so I used their plan for signup. I found out about the deal on a Redflagdeals post where some have successfully got the plan without being a Fido customer https://forums.redflagdeals.com/fido-4gb-tablet-plan-cpo-tablet-5-mo-existing-customers-only-2-yr-agreement-ymmv-2385712/ https://forums.redflagdeals.com/fido-4gb-tablet-plan-cpo-tab...
- frabbit 6y agoThanks. Guess I have to start making some new friends: "Heyyyy... you look like Fido kinda guy..."