Accidental roaming charges

[Sami1]

I live in Canada in a border city to the U.S.

I like to spend time at a place that picks up U.S. roaming because the U.S city is so close by. I do realize I can toggle roaming off on my phone, but I do not want to miss any phone calls or texts. Will Public Mobile charge/refund accidental roaming charges?

[deej]

👍

[stonechucker]

@mimmo, Okay - When I was with Rogers, I had the odd roaming charge while in Niagara Falls (ON) as the towers from the US got me - I just had them reversed as I did not cross the border (the mid to late 2000s).  Since I've been with Public Mobile, I've just left it set for Public Mobile, without auto searching.

Thanks for the clarification - I shouldn't have an issue with my set up, as I don't go to the US regularly, and if I did, I already know about the roaming add-ons, and if required for a longer stay, I'd be looking for a local SIM anyways.

[mimmo]

@stonechucker  im in Victoria, and hav ocassinailly picked up us towers, with bell, Koodo and public. With the first two I encurred roaming charges, with PM just welcome to USA please buy addon.

Edit it might depend on which tower. Point roberts is so close to Canada that it might have a different setup. 

[stonechucker]

Can someone please tell me if Public Mobile is actually affected by the 'border zone' as being described?  When I've crossed the border since being with PM, I've only received the notification that I'm "In the US", and a roaming package is available (I didn't need it).  I have my phone set as described by @srlawren as I do not require roaming, and want no interference from US towers when I'm in border areas of SW-Ontario.

[cavemantoronto]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

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@srlawren wrote:

@AE_Collector it would--that's rather the point of the procedure.  

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 Which is also why there is nothing for me to gain, only to lose by making that change! Everything works better with me using the AT&T tower at our cabin which is within 1000 feet of the Canada/US border and it is at no extra cost since it is mapped in as part of the border zone. It would be different if I were travelling around in the US but that isn't the case.

Terry

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Public Mobile won"t do that because there can't be accidental roaming charge.  The others only do it to avoid billing complaints.

[AE_Collector]

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@srlawren wrote:

@AE_Collector it would--that's rather the point of the procedure.  

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 Which is also why there is nothing for me to gain, only to lose by making that change! Everything works better with me using the AT&T tower at our cabin which is within 1000 feet of the Canada/US border and it is at no extra cost since it is mapped in as part of the border zone. It would be different if I were travelling around in the US but that isn't the case.

Terry

[srlawren]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

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@srlawren wrote:

@AE_Collector @GinYVR still recommend setting your phone to manual network selection and choosing Public Mobile 🙂

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Well I could play with it but at best it might block me from switching to AT&T's network. Will play with that setting at some point. Terry 

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@AE_Collector it would--that's rather the point of the procedure.  

[AE_Collector]

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@srlawren wrote:

@AE_Collector @GinYVR still recommend setting your phone to manual network selection and choosing Public Mobile 🙂

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Well I could play with it but at best it might block me from switching to AT&T's network. Will play with that setting at some point. Terry 

[AE_Collector]

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@GinYVR wrote:
@AE_CollectorMy phone tend to switch back and forth especially at Point Bob's golf course. I always figure if Public Mobile doesn't offer service, I can always walk a few blocks back to the border!

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I would have thought that Telus service would be quite good at the golf course as Telus has a site at the ferry terminal. I guess the golf course is far enough back from the high bank down to the ocean that the signal is blocked in places. We have a cabin here but are on the east side just a few hundred feet south of the 49th. 

[srlawren]

@AE_Collector @GinYVR still recommend setting your phone to manual network selection and choosing Public Mobile 🙂

[GinYVR]

@AE_Collector My phone tend to switch back and forth especially at Point Bob's golf course. I always figure if Public Mobile doesn't offer service, I can always walk a few blocks back to the border!

[AE_Collector]

Yeah my example is Point Roberts WA immediately below Tsawwassen in Delta, South of Richmond and Vancouver. I am not certain EXACTLY how the Border Zone works, you may have to originate in Telus and then can be handed off to the AT&T site which recognizes you as a customer of Telus which they have the Border Zone arrangement with so it is handled differently. I have on occasion seen AT&T on top left of my screen, it might be when I have first turned the phone on and then it changes to Telus. I can't say for sure which site I am being served by, just that I am much closer to AT&T and service improved significantly when the turned that site up.

Terry

[srlawren]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

Voice in and out, text in and out and am using data right now posting here. No wifi at all here. However, never says AT&T just Public Mobile. It isn't roaming, it is Border Zone where the AT&T site provides service as Telus service. Must deliver everything back to Telus to deal with.

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@AE_Collector okay yeah that makes some sense.  Never-the-less, there are times when physically in Canada your phone may find a stronger signal from an actual AT&T or T-Mobile tower and swtich to using those.  With post-paid carriers, you would either start pay-per-use roaming in that case, or being a 24 hour of Easy Roam/Fido Roam/Roam Like Home/whatever carrier X calls it.  There are probably other areas where this can happen, but a common one is southern Vancouver Island, which is physically located below the 49th parallel, on what would be the US side of the border if you were on the mainland.  

Of course, with Public Mobile, in this situation if you were actually on a US tower, you'd have no worry about suprirse roaming bills, but you would also not be able to effectively use your services.  The workaround in either case is to turn off automatic network selection and just force your phone to stick to Public Mobile, such that it will work with the Canadian tower's signal even if it's relatively weaker than one from AT&T/T-Mo.

[AE_Collector]

Voice in and out, text in and out and am using data right now posting here. No wifi at all here. However, never says AT&T just Public Mobile. It isn't roaming, it is Border Zone where the AT&T site provides service as Telus service. Must deliver everything back to Telus to deal with. I did 37 1/2 years with BCTel/Telus though that means little as I never worked on the mobility side. But, I had lots of friends on that side in switching and field work side where this info comes from.

[srlawren]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

Sorry, wrong on all accounts. I am within 1000 feet of the Canadian border and I am likely on the Telus site in Canada  some of the time.  We have been coming to our cabin here since 1995 and when the local AT&T tower went in maybe 8 years ago service improved dramatically. The Telus site is a bit of a stretch from here. Thus I assume AT&T is picking us up and processing our calls, texts and data quite a bit of the time. I had a friend in Telus Mobility who I had verify for me that I was on AT&T a couple of times in the past when I was on a Telus account.

Terry

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@AE_Collector that was a lot of "assume"s in your reply.  Have you actually made any successful calls while the phone showed AT&T during the call?  

My understanding is that as soon as your phone is on AT&T or T-Mo, you're roaming and need the add-ons--no matter which side of the border you are physically standing on.  

[AE_Collector]

Sorry, wrong on all accounts. I am within 1000 feet of the Canadian border and I am likely on the Telus site in Canada  some of the time.  We have been coming to our cabin here since 1995 and when the local AT&T tower went in maybe 8 years ago service improved dramatically. The Telus site is a bit of a stretch from here. Thus I assume AT&T is picking us up and processing our calls, texts and data quite a bit of the time. I had a friend in Telus Mobility who I had verify for me that I was on AT&T a couple of times in the past when I was on a Telus account.

Terry

[srlawren]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

 I am in the US right now using PM with Roaming turned off in my phone and no US plan getting service from an AT&T tower. 

Terry

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@AE_Collector you will get "service", meaning you'll see a signal and your phone will show AT&T or T-Mobile.  I would wager you're unable to place an outbound call, send an outbound text, or use any data while your phone shows AT&T though.

[AE_Collector]

Another piece of the puzzle with TELUS at least (and thus Koodo and PM) is there is what is known as “the Border Zone”. Because customers in Canada can be picked up by US towers while still in Canada and visa versa, the sites along each side of the border are mapped into “the Border Zone”. This provides seemless service without constant roaming charge complaints (I know, not possible on PM anyway). I am in the US right now using PM with Roaming turned off in my phone and no US plan getting service from an AT&T tower. 

Terry

[srlawren]

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@Dogbert wrote:

Unless you pay for the option you won't be charged any roaming charges.

However, I believe if you lock onto an associate cell site instead; you won't be receiving calls.

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@Sami1 just to clarify here (because you don't actually lock to an associate cell site):  go into your network settings, mobile network, and turn OFF automatic network selection. Your phone will then scan for available networks (this may take a min or two depending on your phone) and give you a list to choose from.  Choose Public Mobile.  Now your phone will not even try to get onto a US network's tower when you are close to the border--this way you won't miss out on calls or ability to use your services.

[dna2016]

@Sami1 this is the beauty of PM, literally no surprises, even if you tried using call/text/data while roaming it won't work unless you had pre-purchased the applicable service.

[GinYVR]

to add to what @Dogbert had said you won't be receiving calls but you would receive text.

[Sami1]

It's actually $15CAD but okay 🙂

[Dogbert]

Unless you pay for the option you won't be charged any roaming charges.

However, I believe if you lock onto an associate cell site instead; you won't be receiving calls.

[Sami1]

Thanks Jordan. Now I know exactly what to do my friend!

[jordan23]

Hi @Sami1 , since Public Mobile is a prepaid service, you will not be charged any overage. It will stop working when you are in the US unless you purchase an Add-On.

[wetcoaster · Accepted solution]

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@Sami1 wrote:

I live in Canada in a border city to the U.S.

I like to spend time at a place that picks up U.S. roaming because the U.S city is so close by. I do realize I can toggle roaming off on my phone, but I do not want to miss any phone calls or texts. Will Public Mobile charge/refund accidental roaming charges?

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Public Mobile is prepaid. What you are not paying for in advance you can't use.

So, there are never any surprise charges for usage you might be unaware of (because if you have used up all your data, or minutes/texts if on a limited plan, the according part of your service will just stop), but you will also not be able to get reception from US towers if you don't pay a 10 day US roaming add-on (and absolutely no international roaming outside of the US, period.)