4G Tower

[lee682]

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

[srlawren]

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@AE_Collector wrote:

What do typical Telus plans use for voice? 

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@AE_Collector if this has already been answered then my apologies, but the answer here is "it depends".  Telus and Koodo both offer VoLTE but only on certain phones.  They publish a list of supported devices, and in many cases, the device also has to be purchased through them to be supported.  (In other words, buying it unlocked  direct from manufacturer or from Amazon or something, even if the model is supported, may not be supported.)

If your device is not on the golden list, then you are suck with 3G UMTS voice service like Public Mobile.  This is frustrating for those of us with VoLTE-capable devices that Koodo/Telus won't let enable.

[Korth]

@lee682 

I suppose another option would be to install a voice-over-data app.

Something like Hangouts, Fongo, Signal, Skype, FaceTime, whatever.

Not a perfect solution since it'll eat your mobile data. But some VoD apps/services allow you to use wifi instead of cellular when it's available (and it usually is when at home, work, school, etc). It's better than missing calls, at least you can respond with texts.

[AE_Collector]

So I have heard quite frequently here on the community that PM uses 3G network for voice. What do typical Telus plans use for voice? Is it a 4G/LTE thing that doesn’t support voice at all or just something from the past that remains for Public Mobile to only allow voice on 3G, not the LTE network? 

It seems logical that in 2020 a brand new cell site may not be equipped with 3G capability but if so it also seems logical that a change would be made at PM to allow voice on the 4G network unless 4G never supported voice. If VoLTE is the next generation for voice after 3G, then I would think PM would be moving in that direction. How long until some disaster happens that might have been averted if the customers phone worked to make a voice call on a 4G only tower or even to make a 911 call on an otherwise non functional account/phone? Something seems odd about this scenario to me.

<edit> I see answers to most of my questions above from @Korth now who’s reply wasn’t there as I typed.

AE_Collector

[Korth]

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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Public Mobile is based on the Telus network, it can (and does) use Bell network sites.

Voice calling normally requires "3G" UMTS 850/1900. The only voice calling option across an LTE-only site is a phone (and provider) which can support VoLTE. And Public Mobile does not support VoLTE at this time.

You can call Telus and request they install working voice calling hardware in your area. These days they can provide local network coverage with small cheap streetlight-mounted DAS boxes, massive radio masts aren't always necessary. They're likely unaware of network blind spots unless people complain. You're not a Telus Mobility customer in the strictest sense but you also might not be the only Telus/Bell customer experiencing these network issues in your neighbourhood.

Puny "tower"Puny network thingy

[Anonymous]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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No. Public Mobile needs 3G/UMTS/WCDMA to do voice. Ask Bell if their Lucky subsidiary can use this tower. By them saying not pay as you go that might imply that this would exclude their own prepaid company.

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The information provided isn't correct. Lucky Mobile customers do have access to the LTE network.

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 @computergeek541 

Weellll ok...but the context mentioned is voice. So fine...

Ask Bell if their Lucky subsidiary can use this tower for voice. By them saying not pay as you go that might imply that this would exclude their own prepaid company from voice.

[srlawren]

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@computergeek541 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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No. Public Mobile needs 3G/UMTS/WCDMA to do voice. Ask Bell if their Lucky subsidiary can use this tower. By them saying not pay as you go that might imply that this would exclude their own prepaid company.

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The information provided isn't correct. Lucky Mobile customers do have access to the LTE network.

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@computergeek541 access to the LTE network isn't the issue.  I'm not sure if Lucky offer VoLTE or not (have never looked), but with PM, UMTS is needed for voice calling.  Sadly.

[totalUser]

@lee682 

For now it's data and text only

You would need 3g tower to talk

You could consider fongo or TextNow for the talk part, we don't know how long it will take, changes are not too fast around here

[computergeek541]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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No. Public Mobile needs 3G/UMTS/WCDMA to do voice. Ask Bell if their Lucky subsidiary can use this tower. By them saying not pay as you go that might imply that this would exclude their own prepaid company.

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The information provided isn't correct. Lucky Mobile customers do have access to the LTE network.

[computergeek541]

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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There are some LTE-only towers, but I believe those are usually llimited to rural areas that never had cell service until very recently.

As for LTE, that isn't related to anything prepaid vs, postpaid. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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No. Public Mobile needs 3G/UMTS/WCDMA to do voice. Ask Bell if their Lucky subsidiary can use this tower. By them saying not pay as you go that might imply that this would exclude their own prepaid company.

[RosieR]

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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Hi @lee682 yes, Public Mobile will connect to 4G/LTE network except when you are on call it will switch to 3G as they currently do not offer VoLTE or WiFi calling. 

(as already stated above)

[Gunner123]

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@lee682 wrote:

We recently got cell service in our community. Bell supplied the tower and informed us that the tower is 4G LTE only, and does not support pay as you go. I am able to connect and text but am not able to send or receive phone calls. 
Can public mobile connect/support the 4G only tower?

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@lee682 hi public uses bell towers  we have lte throttled to 3g

[Triguy]

PM uses Bell and Telus towers which are 4G but throttles the speeds to 3G.