topic Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile? in Announcements

Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

David_J — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 16:00:17 GMT

Hey Community! We’re trying out a new feature called “Public Poll” as a way for us to get to know you better and what brought you to Public Mobile. You can find the poll on the right side of your web page, right under the announcements. Our question this week is “Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?” Let us know!

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

Vakshwell — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 18:23:05 GMT

I was with Telus for a brief period of time after switching from WIND. I needed consistent service for when I travel to different cities and towns for work. But the price wasn't right with Telus. After a bit of research I noticed Public Mobile was open to the public in Beta. The prices were right, and the reception was great considering it is just Telus in the end. Couldn't be happier with my provider! The price and service are both phenomenal! I'm here to stay! 😀

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

makkahn28 — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 18:37:11 GMT

Well, that's excellent news. But, do you travel within Canada or outside? Because Currently PM has No Roaming capabilities as of yet, Hoping that it will play a role in PM's destiny

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

Vakshwell — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 19:16:35 GMT

Just within Canada really, within even the same region! WIND reception wasn't so great when you get further away from major cities. Any of the big 3 would cover the areas I frequent. Price was a key point in the decision as well. So here we are.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

homer — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 20:51:49 GMT

I only used Koodo and Wind before. I abandoned Koodo since I needed more data for several months. However, Wind's reception was terrible and I couldn't use much of the data limit I paid for. Once I heard PM launched its 90-day plan, I switched to PM immediately. I am very happy with Telus's network now. It would be better if Telus supports more LTE bands though, so I will have more flexibility when I change my phone.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

ckl — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:44:58 GMT

I was with Wind Mobile for about 4 years.

I had the US roaming plan which included unlimited data (5GB full speed, throttled after that), unlimited calls and texting within Canada, Voicemail, call waiting, etc. and unlimited US Roaming for about $39/month. My wife had the Holiday Miracle Plan which included unlimited data and text, North America wide calling, voicemail, call waiting, etc. for the same price.

While those plans are unheard of from any other carrier, I found that I really didn't need those features. I don't think my wife used the North America calling feature once in 4 years. I used the US roaming option probably only once. My wife's data consumption was less than 1GB per month on average and mine is about 2 on average.

But, what made me switch was the problem that I had no coverage inside my house. At first, I thought Wind would expand and eventually cover my area, but after 4 years and still no coverage (after repeated emails with no response), I finally figured out why. There are not enough people living in my area to make it worth their time.

Then there were the little things that eventually made me look elsewhere. Many times when I go shopping, I use the phone to look up items and prices and check reviews. Probably about 90% of the time, I spend 10 minutes or so waiting for the abysmally slow data (due to poor indoor coverage) to provide the results. Latency issues were in the seconds... not milliseconds. With PM, I don't even have to wait, LTE is like WiFi fast and very responsive.

While my original intention when joining Wind was to save money as well as foster new competition, the end result was that Mobilicity and eventually Wind got bought out by the incumbents. So, in effect, when ShWind starts rolling out LTE on band 66, I'll probably need to new phone and, as a former Shaw customer, I know they will rejig their plans so you end up paying more and get less.

In highsight, if I had heard of Public Mobile sooner, I would have switched earlier.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

NDesai — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 21:48:43 GMT

I was also with wind. Prior to getting wireless plan, i knew about PM but was bit confused on how it works and all. Wind was giving unlimited everything plan so i joined with them.

But in just 2 days, i found out how crappy their service is. Right at that point, i ordered PM sim and here i am.

So much better 🙂

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

makkahn28 — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:26:49 GMT

If Public Mobile offered Roaming in all fairness, they may see a fair surge of new ppl hopping into Public, as Wind is experiencing turbulence, Mobilicity not as Mobile citysense, Fido Bad Puppy, Chatr more talking and less action, we can certainly use PM's expertise in the world of Telecommunication

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

DK — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 04:05:43 GMT

My wife who is the one that is actually using the PM service as I was the one who set her up was with Bell and for about a week also with Wind but Wind wasn't doable in sourhwest oakville.

We knew PM would be good as we had been with Telus in the past and she tried it for a month and then ported from Bell and haven't looked back.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

PMcNamara16 — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 04:25:23 GMT

I was with Telus for 4 years and recently made the switch to Wind Mobile (the worst week of my life). I hated the horrible service from Wind and Telus's crazy expensive prices and decided to switch to PM which was way more reasonable (especially with the 90 day plans!). I have been here since and have loved every minute of it!

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

TroyDaBes — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 21:21:06 GMT

I was with Bell before I joined Public Mobile. I was paying $45 for a 400mb data with 200 minutes of Canada-Wide call when I renewed my contract 2 years ago. It was even more expensive before that. Paying $75 after taxes for 500mb data with 200 local minutes. Yes, it's definitely insane how much money I'm paying with them. I was actually planning to stay with Bell if they can offer me a good deal but nah. They didn't bother and jump on PM when my contract is done. I'm currently paying $43/month for a 2GB of data with unlimited province-wide call. I definitely saving a lot of money with this company. My savings will go when I reach my first year when I'm getting $1 off per month.

The only complaint I have with PM is the lack to generate a utility bill. It would be nice if PM will make one in the future.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

NDesai — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 22:16:35 GMT

@TroyDaBes wrote:

The only complaint I have with PM is the lack to generate a utility bill. It would be nice if PM will make one in the future.

Honelstly, i always hated looking at the bills..with PM, everything is available to view on Self-serve. So, not having bills every cycle is whatever for me.

But if they can generate one for those who would like to keep records would be great. They only need to show history and payment details...e-bill should be pretty straight forward to do.

PM is upgrading something almost everyday, and i am sure generating bills is one of their planning...

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

Dave_M — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 22:26:07 GMT

@ckl how did you find out about Public Mobile?

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

srlawren — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 22:56:56 GMT

@NDesai yeah for many of us, this is fine. Some folks might need an actual bill for various reasons: they may get reimbursed for part or all of the cost by their employer, they may need to provide to a parent or someone else whom is paying their bill, they may even be able to write it off as an expense (independent contractor/consultants for example?--maybe, i'm just guessing here as they can write off car, part of their mortgage, meals....why not communications?), etc.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

srlawren — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:00:28 GMT

I've said it on various threads here before but I was with Telus post-paid for about a dozen years or so before moving to PM. Still Telus network, but I'm saving in the neighbourhood of about $25/month+tax and getting more in almost every service with the exception of slightly less data but still more than I need. My mobile is an important service, and I don't mind paying for it, but if I can get the same quality and more quantity for less, they why would I want to pay more?

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

ckl — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:55:09 GMT

@Dave_M If I remember correctly, I found out about PM through a comment posted by somebody on the Mobilesyrup website on an article about the Shaw takeover of Wind. That led me to the PM website.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

IWIK — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 02:09:41 GMT

Bell for many, many years. They just couldn't match the price. They were close though, and with the U.S. travel addons pretty darn close.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

salondijon — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:37:07 GMT

I was with Virgin before moving to PM. I had a decent promo plan, which was $45/month and hand unltd Canada-wide calling, texting, and 1 gig. I barely call out of my province, but could use more data, so I switched to PM and have province-wide calling, Canada-wide texting, and 4 gigs over 90 days for $38/month. Better plan for my needs and I find I get better signal with PM than I did with Virgin on the Bell network (this is in central Halifax). So happy I switched and am spreading the word to friends that they don't have to pay $100/month for their phones.

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

Martin — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:42:29 GMT

Hi,

Thank you for sharing your positive experience.

I'm certain that your friends, if they port to Public Mobile, will be equally happy.

Welcome to PM!

Re: Public Poll - Who was your wireless provider before you joined Public Mobile?

Duckman — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 03:40:26 GMT

Like many of you, I’ve had a long resume of service providers over the years.

Most Recent

Virgin – 6 months - $43 BYOP plan – 750 anytime cdn min, 750 MB data

Review: Plan price wasn’t bad, discount perks were nice providing I had actually used them, self service site simple, voice mail login voice was annoying British women trying to sound cool. Ran off of Bell/Telus towers so I got good service at my work.

Rogers – 5 years - $50 Corperate plan – 350 anytime min, unl wkd/eve, 1000 incoming min, 250 LD min, 5 GB data

Review: Plan was fantastic for Rogers, included phone on 3 year plan, I found the website annoying, calling someone was almost just as annoying as you never got the same answer twice, I couldn’t get service inside my work so I finally gave it up.

Rogers took $900 one month due to a billing error and I had to fight with them for hours. They refused to give the money back but instead wanted me to take a credit once it was sorted out. I was able to go to my bank and have them reverse the transaction and have never again paid another bill by automatic banking withdrawal that wasn’t for a set monthly amount. I now prepay or use my VISA.

Wind – 3 years - $15 special plan – unlimited everything

Review: (Based on the time I had service) Wind home zone was only half of Hamilton and I hit roaming a lot, internet was slow, website was simple to use, phoning customer service was actually good the few times I called. I still have the plan and let my sister use it. Service has improved but it still wouldn’t get reliable service at my work.

Telus – 10 years - $35 plan – 350 anytime min; unlimit wkd/eve, text, no data

Review: I never really had any complaints with telus and only left due to being able to get cheaper plan. Once data started to get big it was not worth keeping an old grandfathered plan once you added data costs. I will say that back in the day they had the absolute worst penalties for breaking a 3 year contract. The way they calculated it you ended up paying a ridiculous amount compared to the subsidy of the phone. It was the harshest penalty in the business for years. Website wasn’t bad, monthly perks were cool, phone service was average but at the time I had nothing really to compare it to.

I came to PM for the price, being on Bell/Telus towers for service while at work, BYOP which I prefer with the high cost of 2 year plans that most providers now offer. I like the simplistic site and billing. The community is something I’ve sort have gotten into now but I would like to see some of the ideas from the lab section of the site implemented in order to show us that our opinions are making a difference. I guess I should be happy that at least my contribution is helping me earn my $2 a month community reward : )