How to buy a rugged phone?

• AliExpress has good prices if you are willing to wait

Is it compatible with my wireless network?

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/smartphone-bands-explained/

https://www.frequencycheck.com/

• 3G
  • Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS)
  • High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+)
• 4G
• Long-Term Evolution (LTE)
  • LTE is an umbrella term for 40+ variants
  • In general, B4 is most important, if you have it you will usually have LTE across Canada
    • But matching more bands gives a better user experience

Questions

Q: How many bands must match my new phone?

A: you only need one or two bands to match.

A: For voice calls and 3G data, your phone will only use one band

A: For high speed LTE data, your phone can combine or aggregate multiple bands simultaneously using a technology called CA (carrier aggregation).