U.S. Roaming has arrived!

[Brooke_C]

Hey Community!

We are ecstatic to announce that after months of planning and hard work, U.S. Roaming has launched! With Black Friday around the corner, we think the timing is pretty great.  It’s also news you can share with your friends to increase your referral rewards.  Remember - our $40/ 4GB promo plan ends November 20^th. We’re glad we pulled this off just in the nick of time!

Here’s how the U.S. Roaming Add-ons work:

• All U.S. Roaming Add-Ons will last 10 days. This 10 day period will begin upon payment of the Add-on and will end 10 days after this date.
• You can choose an Add-On with just one of the services or a combination. We want to ensure that you only pay for what you need. Keeping this in mind, we are offering a range of U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, all with great value. For example, the U.S. Talk, Text and Data Bundle works out to just $2/ day for the 10 day period!

U.S. Roaming 10 Day Add-Ons	Details	Price
U.S. Talk Only	·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk	$8
U.S. Text Only*	·         Unlimited global text	$8
U.S. Data Only	·         250 MB data	$10
	·         500MB data	$15
	·         1GB data	$20
U.S. Talk and Text Bundle*	·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk ·         Unlimited global text ·         No data	$15
U.S. Talk ,Text, Data Bundle*	·         Unlimited Canada Wide & U.S. talk ·         Unlimited global text ·         250MB data	$20

*Picture and video messaging are not available, but coming soon! Please note that you need a U.S. roaming data plan in order to receive picture and video messaging.

We’ve partnered with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide you with fantastic coverage.

Your U.S. coverage will include all 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. So, whether you are travelling to the snow-capped mountains in Alaska or to Hawaii’s sunny beaches, we will have you covered. For more details, check out our coverage map here.

Getting U.S. Roaming is easy!

You can purchase the U.S. roaming Add-Ons by either using your online Self Serve account or the automated phone system.

• Self Serve account: You will be able to purchase the Add-On in your Self Serve account at publicmobile.ca. After logging in, just select the U.S. roaming Add-On you want, make the payment, and then it will be ready to use.
• Automated phone system: You can also purchase your U.S. roaming Add-On using the automated phone system by dialling 1-855-4PUBLIC, and following the prompts.

With this exciting announcement, we have put together some anticipated FAQs. If you have any other questions, please post them below.

-Public Mobile Community team

U.S. Roaming FAQs

 1. What happens after my 10-day U.S. Roaming Add-On expires?

10 days after you purchase your U.S. roaming Add-On, it will automatically expire. If you need another Add-On, you can purchase it the same way you did originally, by using your Self Serve account or calling our automated phone system at 1-855-4PUBLIC. 

 2. I need more than 1GB of data while roaming. What do I do?

Not a problem. You can buy more than one U.S. Roaming Data Add-On if you find you need more data.

 3. Can I roam while I am in countries, other that the U.S.?

No. At this time, we only offer roaming in the U.S.

 4. I can’t see the U.S. Roaming bundle Add-Ons. What do I do?

If you are experiencing issues seeing the U.S. Talk and Text Bundle or the U.S. Talk, Text, Data Bundle when you are in Self Serve or during the activation portal, be sure to clear your cache /cookies in your browser. Once you do this, you’ll be able to see them!

 5. I am a Legacy customer and don’t have a Self Serve account. How do I buy an Add-On?

You can purchase an Add-On through our automated phone system by dialing 1-855-4PUBLIC. As a Legacy customer, you are also able to purchase the Add-On by calling into our call centre. Remember, you are able to create your own Self Serve account at any time, if you would like to. 

 6. Why is *611 not working while I am in the U.S.?

We’re working on this! Dialing *611 is not available now, but will be coming soon. In the meantime, you can dial 1-855-4PUBLIC instead.

 7. The U.S. Add-On prices in the French automated phone system do not match what is displayed on the French website. What’s up with that?

The U.S. Roaming Add-On prices are only stated incorrectly in our French automated phone system. But, don’t worry, when you select the Add-On you want, the correct price will be charged to your account.

 8. I am a Legacy customer on a $19 plan and, when I try to add the U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, I get an error message.

Legacy customers on the $19 plan are not eligible for U.S. Roaming Add-Ons. To take advantage of the roaming options, you will need to change your plan.

[imm1304]

Hi @coolspot!

1. No, you won't be able to use the long distance talk add-on while roaming.  This add-on is for making long distance calls while connected to Public Mobile.  Purchase a US roaming add-on of your choice on the day you leave for the US.

2.  Unfortunately, all US roaming add-ons become active instantly.  You will have to sign into selfseve or call the toll-free number and purchase next add-on closer to day 10 of your trip.

[coolspot]

Hello,

I have two questions about the US Roaming Package:

1. I already have the 200 min US and Canada Long Distance - $8.00 package - does this cover US voice calls or do I specifically need the US Roaming - Talk Text (10-day) - $15.00 plan?

2. Secondly, what about longer trips - I'll be away for ~22 days; can I purchase multiple add-ons and will they be used up one after another, or do I have to purchase the add-ons as they expire?

Thanks!

[echf]

Looking forward to other countries roaming package!

[Rockdaddy22]

The roaming bug causing service interruptions have been fixed 🙂

[kjmckenz]

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@WearySky wrote:

This is HUGE.  PM should be advertising this as a plan feature, because it's something that a lot of people were asking about in the RFD forums.  I'm going to assume that it still doesn't work outside the US, though?

---

I have a feeling that this functionality wasn't intentional. 🙂

Although, I'm pleased to see that when I log in to my account, I do not see the account suspension notice that others were seeing.  This was a huge worry for me, as I wasn't sure whether or not that would affect my service upon renewal.

[WearySky]

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@kjmckenz wrote:

I too was able to receive text messages during my trip to & from north carolina, although I wasn't able to send any. (I only selected the 500 mb data plan).

---

This is HUGE.  PM should be advertising this as a plan feature, because it's something that a lot of people were asking about in the RFD forums.  I'm going to assume that it still doesn't work outside the US, though?

[kjmckenz]

I too was able to receive text messages during my trip to & from north carolina, although I wasn't able to send any. (I only selected the 500 mb data plan).

[WearySky]

Interestingly, somebody over in the RFD forums reported being able to receive text messages while connected to AT&T in Washington state, without a roaming add-on.  That's... Confusing.

[hopetindall]

For those that are interested - I posted about my successful U.S. Roaming here....

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/Successful-U-S-Roaming-experiences/m-p/126...

[Rockdaddy22]

@hopetindall thanks for testing 🙂

[srlawren]

@hopetindall it will indeed be a good test.  I'm going to bet that you have no issues with either of your PM accounts, bundle or individual, since a potential fix was deployed quietly last night.  Please keep us posted, but theoretically, you will have no suspension or issues.

[hopetindall]

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@srlawren wrote:

@WearySky it's happening more because more people are discovering the feature and using it on their travels to the US!  It appears to only be affecting people that purchase the US Roaming bundle(s) (I think specifically the $20 bundle, but it could be both?) and not people that only purchase the individual items.

That said, I know PM has been actively working on resolving this issue.  I'm hoping we hear an update on this soon (paging @Jeremy_M!) but for now until we hear otherwise, it's safest to pick individual roaming service addon(s) rather than the bundles.

---

Will be a good test.

I went to Buffalo today to drop my daughters off at the airport and took a bunch of phones for testing with a number of SIMs.

1 Public Mobile with individual roaming items (talk + text + 250MB Data)

1 Public Mobile with US Roaming Bundle (talk + text + 250MB Data)

1 Knowroaming Sticker

1 Knowroaming SIM

1 Roammobility SIM

(I had all sorts of funny looks at the Anchor Bar with my phones on the table.)

I'm back

Will be interesting to see if anything breaks in the next few days/week.

PHT

[srlawren]

@WearySky it's happening more because more people are discovering the feature and using it on their travels to the US!  It appears to only be affecting people that purchase the US Roaming bundle(s) (I think specifically the $20 bundle, but it could be both?) and not people that only purchase the individual items.

That said, I know PM has been actively working on resolving this issue.  I'm hoping we hear an update on this soon (paging @Jeremy_M!) but for now until we hear otherwise, it's safest to pick individual roaming service addon(s) rather than the bundles.

[WearySky]

Has anybody been able to use the US Roaming addons lately and NOT gotten the "account suspended" bug?  This seems to be happening more and more, and I'm just curious if it's a system-wide bug (in which case, I think the addons should be suspended) or just limited to certain people.  

[ReillyWood]

  It now seems to be fixed, on both phones, I think/hope.  My wife's iPhone is now receiving texts that I send her and I'm now receiving her texts and others.

  I found an old iPhone and transfered my android PM SIM to it, started it up, then moved it back.  The old iPhone was locked to Rogers so I didn't think it would work but it seems to have done the trick.  

  However, I'm only receiving new messages, no older messages from the day.  But this at least is better than it was.

  Rob Wood

[ReillyWood]

  Working away at this problem, playing mostly with the two phones with texting issues.  I've discovered so far that from my android:

1. I can send SMS and MMS messages (i.e., no error given) to the iphone but:
   • SMS are not received
   • MMS are received 
2. I can't receive any SMS messages but I can receive MMS messages
3. I can place and receive phone calls
4. I can use data (both on wifi and mobile)

  I tried the following so far, with no improvement yet noticed:

1. clearing the android messaging app cache
2. clearing the android cache via recovery
3. setting up and using a new PM APN 
4. sending myself a text message

  I can see my outgoing text messages on the PM Account site but it lists no incoming texts except for one phone this morning which I can confirm I received, before I noticed this problem, but nothing since from that or any other phone (other than MMS).  I did confirm (through a call) that this other phone did send me a few more text messages that I haven't yet received.

  I've listed the details in case anyone else can think of something to try while I wait for a mod.  One website suggested moving the SIM card to another phone, then back, to reset the network registration.  I'll try this if I can get my old phone up and running.

  Rob Wood

[ReillyWood]

  @srlawren - thanks for the suggestion, I tried both the app cache clear and the recovery cache clear, still not receiving any texts and possibly not sending any texts (or at least, my sends not being received). This all on the android phone.

  Will play around with the iphone later.

  Rob Wood

[srlawren]

@ReillyWood yeah that's the same symptom I was getting--I could send texts fine and people received, but incoming never displayed.  

Clearing your system cache does not erase your data.  (Factory Reset does--don't do that at this point).  You can find directions for the S6 here:

https://www.androidpit.com/how-to-clear-the-cache-on-a-galaxy-s6-edge

[ReillyWood]

  Of the two phones with US Roaming and the apparent texting problem, one is an iphone, one is an android (Samsung S6).  

  I'll try the rebooting and clearing cache, maybe, but don't want to loose other data or installed apps, which I though clearing from Recovery did.

  Rob Wood

P.S.  if it matters, the default android app appears to be sending the message, it doesn't give me an error, but at least some of the texts are not being recieved.  At least none by the iphone above.

[srlawren]

@ReillyWood that's disheartening.  What a pain eh?

I think I remember at least one of your phones is an iPhone, but is there a chance either or both is an Android phone?  I recently stopped receiving texts out of the blue, and ironically within a day or so of my US roaming text add-on expiring, but that appears to be coincidental.  Some Android phones develop this for some reason.  Booting into recovery and clearing the cache resolved it for me.  Might be worth a try if either of your phones are Android....

[ReillyWood]

  Thanks @srlawren.

  However, today, my texting isn't working (most of the time).  At least not between the two phones that had US Roaming and apparently not to most other phones either (some texting does get through to other phones, but I can't quite figure out which ones, e.g., texting to at least one iphone seems to work but not to others and maybe not to non-iphones).

  I wonder if this is related to the fact that our US Roaming plan expired today?  Texting worked well yesterday when we arrived back in Vancouver.

  Rob Wood

[srlawren]

@Johrobkoo @ReillyWood I'm glad your service isn't actually suspended upon return to Canada.  That means it's not quite as critical of an issue as feared, but still very bad.  

[canucks4life]

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@jchlo wrote:
When are you going to have international data roaming?

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Yeah I wouldn't be holding your breath since US roaming Beta version was just unleashed

[Rockdaddy22]

Nobody knows

[jchlo]

When are you going to have international data roaming?

[Johrobkoo]

yes, ours did as well although it still says it is suspended.  So hopefully it gets fixed before the date when they say it expires. 

[ReillyWood]

  @Johrobkoo - fyi, our phones still work after we arrived back in Canada even though they show as suspended.

  Rob Wood

[makkahn28]

I did have this question

Will Premium Messages, or Short Codes, will they Still Function when in US with Roam Txt Add-On?

Just curious, At least We have Unlim, Unlike the Koodo Prepaid, THOUGH I hope PM will offer flexible variety, for those on Short Trip excursions

[makkahn28]

Try reading this, see if this addresses the issue

http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Discussions/TO-Use-US-Roam-correctly-Here-s-the-Proper...

[MoreYummy]

Public mobile must be still trying to fix all the issues from the previous promotion. Now there is this US roaming issue.  

They need to have a better support system such as ticket in future for sure, as this wont work as they wanted to be.