topic Re: starting a new service in Get Support

starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 06:45:37 GMT

I purchased a public mobile sim card and minutes and the technician at Walmart went through the set up process but was never able to satisfactorally complete it. So I have a SIM card and $20 worth of minutes but cant use it. He does not know what the problem is and told me my money is not refundable. I received a welcome letter from Public Mobile and tried to log on to my account to try to figure out what is wrong but my phone cannot receive the text that they sent me. What do I have to do to get my phone working?

Re: starting a new service

Dunkman — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 23:12:35 GMT

@Ralsgrandma

When you put your SIM card in the phone, do you see the Public Mobile network display, signal? Can you call in or out?

You will likely need to contact moderator with the following link:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

(include your phone number, account number and PIN)

Re: starting a new service

mimmo — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 23:22:15 GMT

If you message the mods include your sim number.

How can you get help with your account, activation, or service?

Please contact the Community Moderator Team to get gelp with you account.
They are Public Mobile support employees who can help with your issue (More details).
Click here to send them a private message.

In your message please include:

PM Phone Number, 4 digit PIN, Account email address, Detailed explanation of your issue

Don't know your pin?--provide any 3 of the following:

Complete mailing address, Email address, Alternate phone number, Date of birth, Last top up date & amount

How long until they reply?:

Office Hours: Mon-Fri 9am to 9pm, and Sat-Sun 9am to 7:30pm [Toronto Time].
Messages are replied to during business hours and in the order they are received
Typical response time is between 1-3 hours, but can be up to 48 hours.
There is no need to send multiple messages.

Some good posts/reads:

Search PM-GUIDE (remove "-") to find some great posts and answers to many common questions

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 23:52:19 GMT

No I do not see the Public Mobile network nor can I call out. I will try the link you provided. Thanks.

Re: starting a new service

mimmo — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 00:17:50 GMT

What phone are you using? It might not be compatable with public mobile

Re: starting a new service

drmartin — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 00:26:31 GMT

@Ralsgrandma wrote:
I purchased a public mobile sim card and minutes and the technician at Walmart went through the set up process but was never able to satisfactorally complete it. So I have a SIM card and $20 worth of minutes but cant use it. He does not know what the problem is and told me my money is not refundable. I received a welcome letter from Public Mobile and tried to log on to my account to try to figure out what is wrong but my phone cannot receive the text that they sent me. What do I have to do to get my phone working?

Please note that Public Mobile is a 3G/4G(LTE) only network. Meaning old phones won't work. You also need to check that your phone supports the correct bands.

Public Mobile works on following frequencies:

For 3G use (UMTS/HSPA): 850MHz/1900MHz bands
For 4G/LTE use: 700Mhz/1700MHz/2100MHz bands

In addition your phone cannot be locked to other carriers. 🙂

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 16:43:03 GMT

thanks for the reply. The phone is supposed to be unlocked, work on the 3G:850/1900/2100MHz. band and when I checked the IMEI on Public Mobile it was approved. I will have to contact the moderators.

Re: starting a new service

stonechucker — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 17:24:44 GMT

@Ralsgrandma, the Moderators won't be able to assist until you get the phone unlocked if it is locked.

What carrier was it previously with? You'll need to contact them to get a code to unlock it.

Re: starting a new service

Mytime — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 17:29:49 GMT

Or bring the phone in to any carrier and they can unlock it for you

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 19:24:19 GMT

The phone was purchased from an independent store as an 'unlocked smart phone' not connected to any specific carrier. Then I went on line and found SIM cards from an international carrier that permitted the phone to work in the US, Australia and New Zealand on several different carriers. it is supposed to accept any carriers card as long as it is on a compatilble network.

Re: starting a new service

srlawren — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 21:06:51 GMT

@Ralsgrandma I'm not sure if this is what happened or not, but some phone models that are sold as unlocked initially will actually lock themselves to the network of the first SIM card that is inserted into them. It's possible the phone has locked itself to the international SIM card you were referring to. Do you have any other active SIM cards handy--other than the international SIM and the Public Mobile SIM--that you could try in the phone to see if it accepts them? For example if a friend or family member has a Rogers, Fido, Chatr, Bell, Virgin, Lucky, Telus, Koodo, Freedom Mobile, Videotron etc SIM card around, try borrowing it for a couple of mins to see if it works in the phone. If the phone also rejects that card, and it truly does support 850MHz and 1900MHz 3G network frequencies, then you can conclude it locked itself when the international SIM card was used.

Alternatively: do you have the brand and model number handy for the phone so we can help verify it's compatibility?

Re: starting a new service

lat34hat34 — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 22:33:48 GMT

Hey there!

I'm sorry that happened to you. That really blows but I'll try to help.

Go here: https://activate.publicmobile.ca/

Enter all of your information and that should help. I know you received a welcome letter already but it doesn't hurt to try. If all else fails, I would call Public and maybe they can fully activate it over the phone.

Re: starting a new service

shartomjam — Wed, 12 Sep 2018 22:58:51 GMT

@lat34hat34 wrote:
Hey there!

I'm sorry that happened to you. That really blows but I'll try to help.

Go here: https://activate.publicmobile.ca/

Enter all of your information and that should help. I know you received a welcome letter already but it doesn't hurt to try. If all else fails, I would call Public and maybe they can fully activate it over the phone.
Sorry but there is no phone help for Public Mobile. All help is done through this community forum and by private message to the Moderators.
r the phone.

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:07:11 GMT

I never thought about the possiblity that it had locked itself it to the first service I used. That may be the problem. Thanks for that info.

It was marketed as Unlocked Smartphone DOOGEE X5 Dual Sim GSM International Phone - 5.0" HD IPS Display - Android 6.0 - MT6580 Quad Core

IMEI 356446075606330

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:18:31 GMT

Thanks, I tried that link but it wouldn't accept my SIM number, I assume because it had already been registered. I contacted the moderators 2 days ago, no response so far. I am about to give up.

Re: starting a new service

mimmo — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:39:53 GMT

@Ralsgrandma have you tried selecting which network it is using and or swapping sim slots?

also it looks like dta will not work on LTE unless i got the wrong model

https://willmyphonework.net/

Doogee X5 Canada Public Mobile

2G Network:
Carrier Network does not support 2G

3G Network:

850MHz, 1900MHz

4G LTE Network:

Device does not support 4G LTE bands

Re: starting a new service

Ralsgrandma — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 16:32:27 GMT

Thanks for all your input. It turns out that the technician who inserted the new SIM had left the original SIM in one of the available slots, which must have taken priority. I took it out and now the phone is working. Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Re: starting a new service

srlawren — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 18:13:56 GMT

@Ralsgrandma glad you got it sorted out! Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct explanation.