US Election Funnies

"... but in our riots, people get laid."

Getting the Nexus One working on Fido (Canada)

Since the Nexus One is an unlocked phone and you can buy it without having to sign your life away, you will have to do a little bit of configuration yourself. It took me a little while to sort out what little conflicting information I could find in order to get all the bits in place.

As far as I can tell, the phone works perfectly on the Fido network at 3G speeds (I saw a lot of people saying it would not and would only work on EDGE).

Here are the steps you need to take to get the phone working on Fido's network.

Basic Phone & Voice Setup

1. The Phone will want to configure when you first turn it on (You need a gmail account or a Google Apps account for this). Leave the SIM card out until the initial configuration is done. You can do it with the SIM in, but it's better to use a WiFi access point instead.
2. Once done and booted for the first time, shut the phone down again (press and hold the button on the top left). Once the phone is off, insert your SIM (give attention to the orientation of the SIM card, it's labeled in the slot). Press the same button to power up the phone again.
3. You should now have a working cell phone. you can make and receive calls with it etc. however the data portion will not yet be working. Make a test call if you can to check that the SIM is correctly installed.

Get the Data Setup

At this point the phone is working but you have no data. It will work fine on a Wifi connection (which you have already created) but as soon as you leave the house and the wifi goes out of range, you will lose the data access. All is not lost, there are just a couple of settings to add.

1. On the phone, go to: Settings -> Wireless & Networks -> Mobile Networks
2. Click on "Access Point Names" (it will be an empty screen).
3. Click the menu button (centre left) and select "New APN".

You need to do that twice as there are two APNs to add as follows:

This is the one that will show the 3G icon in the notification bar.

Name: FidoINT

APN: internet.fido.ca

Username: fido

Password: fido

APN Type: default

leave the rest of the fields blank

This one will enable MMS from the phone.

Name: FidoMMS

APN: mms.fido.ca

MMSC: http://mms.fido.ca

MMS Proxy: 205.151.011.013

APN Type: mms

leave the rest of the fields blank

You should now have proper 3G data access and MMS working.

Update 1: It appears that MMS is not working. I'll see if I can sort out why and post it here.

Update 2: A commentator below (Milo) added the following to our knowledge base:

"To all those of you who are not getting 3g speeds and only edge:

I called Nexus One support about the issue, and I figured out why it is that I too am only getting edge. There are 2 versions of the Nexus One. The AT&T version and the world version. The most recent one which became available for sale in Canada will allow for 3g on all networks around the world, however if you purchased your nexus one from the states or a third party site prior to its release in Canada then you're as boned as I am. The newer Nexus One is identical except for the fact it works in wider cellular range for data. Now this doesn't mean the phone is completely useless for 3g. For example I just got back from Europe using an Orange sim and had 3g. Sadly I don't believe any provider in Canada at the moment works on the same frequency as the older Nexus One."

Google Street view in Toronto

Google street view is now live in Toronto.

Street view was delayed in Canada because our privacy laws have more depth than in the US.

About time someone stepped up

I've been more and more concerned in recent years as hardware and software publishers begin to add "features" to the products I use, that allow them access to those same products without my consent.

Recently a civil action case has come before the US courts on just such an issue.

I think its high time that someone did, and I hope that other manufactures take note.