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Bell phone not receiving texts sent from my Public Mobile number

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

On Wednesday and yesterday I texted a Bell phone from my Public Mobile phone and they did not receive my texts although they were able to receive my texts last month and I can still receive texts from them. I am able to send and receive texts from other people, including someone else who has Bell service (tested today).

 

Are certain carriers, phones, or texting apps known have problems receiving texts from Public Mobile?

25 REPLIES 25

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Today the person who could not receive my texts to their Bell phone a few weeks ago was able to receive my text and could see my call from my Public Mobile phone.

 

I also continue to be able to text the other person who I know is also Bell customer (also mentioned in my first post) from my Public Mobile phone without any problems. In response to Dogbert's post above, yes all the obvious things were already tried as noted in my previous replies. Please read previous replies before adding to this thread.

Dogbert
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Because someone can receive a message from your Textnow number; this doesn't mean that they've not accidentally blocked your PM number.

 

I suggest you try this:

 

- call the individual on Bell to ensure your phone is working & that you have signal

- have the individual on Bell text you

- you immediately reply back to the text to see what happens

 

If they don't receive your text, either they've somehow blocked your number or you have a problem that needs to be escalated to a mod (link).  When contacting a mod, please be sure to provide details of when text was sent etc. to allow for them to look further before contacting you back.

 

I can confirm that I'm able to send Bell customers text messages without an issue.

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Sure no problem. The person who cannot receive texts from my Public Mobile number has re-confirmed that my PM number is not a blocked contact.

 

At least they can still receive messages from my Textnow number.

disregard I got two posts mixed up

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

@iliketotalkI can't see your reply here but in my nofications it says "have you tried adding a 1 in front of your number?" I'm not sure what you mean. As mentioned, I continue to be able to receive texts from this person to my Public Mobile number when they texted me on Friday but they were not able to see my texts, only texts from my Textnow number. We did not have problems texting last month. We both have 647 area codes.

 

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

The person said that my Public Mobile number is not blocked. They continue to be able to receive texts from my Textnow number. I've asked the person to check their contacts to see if my number is listed there with a blocked status.

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes I've also used Hangouts Dialer for calls to the U.S.

 

Sometimes I've had to switch from Hangouts to voip.ms during a phone call (local) because the other person said they could not hear me that well. But it is a bit better than Textnow. And of course there is no 911 calls from Hangouts Dialer in Canada so for me voip.ms serves as an option with 911 with more reliable quality which could be important. And if you do not have unlimited outgoing calls wtih your Public Mobile package, Voip.ms does not charge for calls to toll free numbers and you can make a recording of the call with Zoiper that will be reliably saved on your phone.

@movi  I agree with you voip.ms is great Another good one for voice quality is Hangouts Dialer for making calls across NA.

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes I thought the message saying outgoing calls are not a part of my plan could have been a temporary glitch and tried calling a few times but kept getting the message while I was in a windowless room in an office building. Before using Zoiper I also tried making a voip call with my Textnow app but it would not make the call.

 

I think get more reliable voice quality overall with voip.ms than with the apps that offer free voip calls e.g. Textnow, Fongo, etc. Zoiper also includes reliable call recording that you can switch on and off during the call as needed, and it stores the recordings on your phone.  voip.ms also has reasonable long distance rates without having to buy a plan or add-on if you occasionally make a quick long distance call outside Canada.

 

I have access to voip calls using the TTC wifi while underground in the TTC subway station without cell service. And I think it helps with security and privacy to have a separate number just for official purposes. Based on the calls I have received, it seems that my Public Mobile number used to belong to someone else. I do not have that as much with my voip.ms number. So my voip service does a bit more than just being a back up for Public Mobile.

 

GinYVR
Mayor / Maire
@movi it is always good to have backups however unless a huge number of people having the same issue, it could be a network glitch. With numbers free to port here and there, there will bound to be issues.

NW1
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

It could be programmed into the PM SIM card in the phone.

NW1
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Some buildings have designs that block radio signals by accident due to thick concrete walls or a steel skeleton.

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

At least we now have a case that shows it can be useful to have voip as a backup provided the 3G or wifi is still working. The monthly cost for my voip is a nominal amount, mostly the $1.50 for the 911 subscription. I also have a LAN phone connected to the voip service via an adapter plugged into my router.


@sheytoon wrote:

@geopublic wrote:
That is the default message when you don't have signal Possibly in your case because of building interference.

@geopublic @RossN are you sure about that? How can you listen to a recorded message from the network when you are not connected to the network?


@sheytoon No I'm not. Maybe I should have used spotty or weak signal due to building interference. If you have a better explanation please do share.

GinYVR
Mayor / Maire

@moviI would suggest you write a detailed report to Public Mobile including the phone numbers of the people who have / haven't received messages from, your location and your particulars. Give the Moderators clear but enough information for them to make the decision whether to escalate the problem. I think also good idea to get your sender to send you a screen shot of their usage of their Bell account to show that their particular message had been sent out and acknowledged by the network (just to eliminate Bell as the source of the issue).

 

 

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

My 3G data also worked enough for me to use it to make a voip call (using Zoiper with voip.ms) after I got that message of "no outgoing calls" inside that building. I was not connected to wifi.


@geopublic wrote:
That is the default message when you don't have signal Possibly in your case because of building interference.

@geopublic @RossN are you sure about that? How can you listen to a recorded message from the network when you are not connected to the network?

jodiedudka
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

My mother had same issue.  She had to contact Bell to get her phone unlocked. They did it for free even though you are not with them anymore, they have the lock on that phone which can stop texting from coming through.  Once she did got it unlocked, everything started working.

Roger3
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

This can’t be a PM issue and most probably it has to do with the phone and or settings. However, if this issue continues, it is better to send a quick email to the moderator team.


@movi wrote:

Yes I will ask them. It's only one person who stopped receiving my texts.

 

Also yesterday afternoon, when I tried making an call from inside a building I got a message saying something like outgoing calls were not available with my plan. I ended up my voip app to make the call. But then I was able to make outgoing calls later while I was at other places. Seemed like something glitchy was going on.


@movi That is the default message when you don't have signal Possibly in your case because of building interference.

RossN
Mayor / Maire

@movi sometimes people lose their service in bldgs that's fairly nomal no matter who your service provider is

movi
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Yes I will ask them. It's only one person who stopped receiving my texts.

 

Also yesterday afternoon, when I tried making an call from inside a building I got a message saying something like outgoing calls were not available with my plan. I ended up my voip app to make the call. But then I was able to make outgoing calls later while I was at other places. Seemed like something glitchy was going on.

geopublic
Mayor / Maire

@movi wrote:

On Wednesday and yesterday I texted a Bell phone from my Public Mobile phone and they did not receive my texts although they were able to receive my texts last month and I can still receive texts from them. I am able to send and receive texts from other people, including someone else who has Bell service (tested today).

 

Are certain carriers, phones, or texting apps known have problems receiving texts from Public Mobile?


@movi  I don't think what you described is a Public Mobile issue. You should ask the people that can't receive your texts if they have accidentally blocked you.

RossN
Mayor / Maire

@movi did they accidentally block you in there settings

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