$25 Plan | 500MB Data, Unlimited Can-Min, Unlimited Int. Texting

[Obice]

Hi, I have been with Public Mobile before and am thinking of returning, while looking at plans I noticed that Public Mobile no longer offers a way to "Build Your Own" plan and that all plans (except for one "data" plan) are locked to 3G speeds.

If one were to up look the speed of 3G data, you'd come to find out that it has a maximum bandwidth of 42Mbps.

Here on the Public Mobile website, this disclaimer says that you can get up to 3Mbps.

"Plans with 3G data may reach download speeds of up to 3 Mbps, with the coverage and reliability of the LTE network."

Does this mean Public Mobile users are locked to speeds up to 3Mbps or that this speed is the average speed and that it can get up to 42Mbps?

Reference: https://www.lifewire.com/how-fast-are-4g-and-3g-internet-speeds-3974470

Thanks, cheers.

[geopublic]

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@Btazaroo wrote:

Personally I have always prefered the LTE but with switching to public mobile I have found little to no difference in the internet speed and find it to be pretty fast. As long as you have good service the internet speed is really fast.

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@Btazaroo  Just a clarification you are still using LTE even if you are on a 3G plan. It's the same LTE network connection that the LTE plan uses it's just throttled down to 3G speeds.

[Btazaroo]

Personally I have always prefered the LTE but with switching to public mobile I have found little to no difference in the internet speed and find it to be pretty fast. As long as you have good service the internet speed is really fast.

[GinYVR]

@jor123The text for the plans in selfserve hasn't been updated to the latest information eg LTE+ etc.

old 2.5Mbps

[jor123]

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@zvoethomas wrote:

from looking at the bottom of the plan builder page, it looks like it has actually changed to 2.5Mbps now

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Oh really...?

[GinYVR]

@zvoethomas 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/plans

[Anonymous]

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@zvoethomas wrote:

from looking at the bottom of the plan builder page, it looks like it has actually changed to 2.5Mbps now

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What is this in reply to?

It's helpful to quote the post you're replying to.

There's no plan builder page too. 2.5Mbps what?

[zvoethomas]

from looking at the bottom of the plan builder page, it looks like it has actually changed to 2.5Mbps now

[Obice]

@hairbag1Thank you

[Obice]

Ah. Well I'd like at least 500MB of data so that when the power goes out for any stretch of time I am able to tell some close peers of mine that I'm not able to reach them because my power's out. I don't need LTE for this.

[hairbag1]

Welcome to Public Mobile.

[rukawa0929]

Just switched from Virgin because I got fed up with their false promises and reluctant customer service. Initially concerned about being downgraded to 3G speed, but after I used it for one full day, did not really notice much difference. It was a breeze using '3G' from Public. Couldn't be happier !

[Obice]

I see. Well normally all I do is browse and use discord on data.

[Luddite]

@Obice Some "real" data for you: 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Share-Your-3G-Real-World-Experience/m-p...

[Obice]

Yeah, I have had 3G and LTE plans with Public Mobile.

3G was about 3-12Mbps for me, but times change so what I got say 6-12 months ago might be different, not to mention each device is different and has varying results.

I am currently using an iPhone SE since my other phone is out of commission. It's a fast phone but its actual telephony part is terrible with peers always saying they cannot hear me. The irony. I digress.

I'm not sure what my next phone will be, out of all the ones currently available from carriers none are impressive or stand out to me. I check Amazon now and again, and eBay, but both have a very narrow selection and cost is an issue; phones shouldn't cost what they do, perhaps that's opinion.

[kselmak]

I'm always on throttled lte and never had issues watching as long as the signal is good. Choosing 3g connection will increase the speed if you need to download something really large, but apparently it will give you initial lag. I never tried it and now I am curious about it. I can test-drive tonight and report back about my experience, but it will be very subject and I have to warn you I'm easily impressed and may have a bit lower standards when it comes to need for speed:) 

Your best bet is to find a friend or a family member who wouldn't mind lending you their sim to test it out.

Another thing is you can score a nice promotion and test-drive it, you've done this before so you know how easy it is to leave, just remove autopay. And if you are not porting you still h have 90 days to change your mind and come back.

PS. Don't forget about the referral too

[Obice]

I see. Well, I am mostly interested in data for emergencies, never been big on watching videos without WIFI and like one of you said, 1GB would go quick with watching videos.

I'm looking for a cheap phone option since I hardly use my phone. I have been stuck comparing Public Mobile and Fongo. They both seem like good options, they do have one major difference that being one is a literal cell service while the other is dependent on the internet. Apparently, Fongo has come out with what they are calling "Fongo Wireless" a data plan to aid with their free Fongo service and while that's fine and dandy, I have used Fongo on data, with my current Fido service and it was shotty. As I understand it, as far as voice calling goes, data is not something to rely on during travel.

[mimmo]

@Obice search teh forum for lte vs 3g

you might not het high def video,  but with only 1gb  i dont really expect you to be watching much anyways, except for the occasioanal cat video on facebook.  Its really not bad at all ans as mentioned unless you are downaloding apps or big files you really wont notice a difference. 

[geopublic]

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@Obice wrote:

Hi, I have been with Public Mobile before and am thinking of returning, while looking at plans I noticed that Public Mobile no longer offers a way to "Build Your Own" plan and that all plans (except for one "data" plan) are locked to 3G speeds.

If one were to up look the speed of 3G data, you'd come to find out that it has a maximum bandwidth of 42Mbps.

Here on the Public Mobile website, this disclaimer says that you can get up to 3Mbps.

"Plans with 3G data may reach download speeds of up to 3 Mbps, with the coverage and reliability of the LTE network."

Does this mean Public Mobile users are locked to speeds up to 3Mbps or that this speed is the average speed and that it can get up to 42Mbps?

Reference: https://www.lifewire.com/how-fast-are-4g-and-3g-internet-speeds-3974470

Thanks, cheers.

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@Obice  Officialy it means that PM will throttle your connection to 3Mbps. I suspect that during heavy usage periods that would be true. Just before my last renewal period I had some data to burn so decided to run a couple of speed tests. Connection was showing LTE+ on my phone. I got 27Mbps with fast.com and with speedtest I got 25.8 Mbps so make your own conclusion.

[ChuckYeah]

Higher end video is definately a test for bandwidth of any type. But your regular every day YouTube videos seem to work just fine for me. Never looked at the default quality.

[Obice]

Well I mean, 3Mb up and down isn't terrible for $25 and to sort of add salt to the wound Bell offers "unlimited" data at 512Kbps for 'light web browsing' so I suppose if you can surf the net at 512Kbps than 3Mb is great.

I do have my skepticism about it in terms of watching video though. Although I do not really watch video with data, so it is more of an issue I'm creating, I think 3Mb would have a hard time loading even a 360p video. Happy to be proven wrong, though.

[ChuckYeah]

The LTE is capped at 3Mb up and down, I believe. I have heard of people getting higher spees using HSPA+, but the LTE is reliable, but throttled. I myself have never had any issue with the 3G speed.

[mimmo]

@Obice   Public offers LTE at 3g data speed.  So basically when you are connected to the 4g network you max speed is the 3Mbs.   it is actually pretty good for most applications except for downlading big files.