Does Public Mobile support 5G?

[eternal]

For some reason the chatbot couldn't answer my question, and the website directed me here instead of letting me create a support ticket to ask the staff directly.

I'm thinking of getting a 5G phone, but I'll probably switch to Telus or some other carrier if Public doesn't support 5G. My area (Toronto) has full 5G coverage from the major carriers.

[Vger]

They have 4G plans now. 100mbs expected speed.

So far good. Switched from Bell to Public saving a stack of cash 

20gb $55

[keepasa]

Even if it would in near future, it would be just like LTE, speed limited to 3 Mbps.  I still would prefer 3G connection since speed is a bit faster while not much difference on latency.  But biggest difference is battery savings since LTE signals are always much weaker than 3G making your phone work harder to stay connected.  And with higher frequencies on 5G it will be even worst until it's fully implemented.

[LeePublic]

@Korth So, kind of like social media companies do nowadays?

[Korth]

@LeePublic 

At some point the money they make selling "your" data will outweigh the money they spend carrying "your" data. That's when they'll give you more data for cheap (or even for free).

[LeePublic]

@eternal  Very unlikely PM will support 5G as 5G is still a new network and there isn't many reasons to upgrade. The 3G speeds over 4G LTE are still plenty fast for 95%+ of users. My guess is it will take 5+ years to see 5G speeds and network capacity on PM. Even then, it still would be capped speeds, but who knows, maybe PM will double/triple the data and/or increase the throttled speeds in the future. (i.e. 3 Mbps to 30 Mbps.)

[Korth]

5G is still very new, it's been partially deployed for barely a year. Coverage in Canada is only available in certain core urban areas, it will likely take at least a couple more years to rival existing LTE coverage. (Telus and Bell 5G coverage maps are nearly identical, as usual, because of their network sharing agreements.)

If you're outside these areas then there's no 5G network regardless which operator you choose. And there's no way to get it installed any faster, it'll arrive on whatever schedule the local carrier can afford.

If I actually needed/wanted to buy 5G (in BC) then I'd probably choose Xplornet. At this point in time it looks like they'll offer the best consumer deal on bulk data rates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_5G_NR_networks

https://www.telus.com/en/bc/mobility/network/coverage-map?INTCMP=tcom_network_ban_coverage_map_july1...

https://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Our_network/5G#Bell_5G_coverage

https://www.nperf.com/en/map/CA/-/6915.SaskTel/signal/?ll=54.13669645687002&lg=-100.458984375&zoom=5

https://www.rogers.com/mobility/network-coverage-map

[sheytoon]

@eternal just curious, why do you want 5G?

[Meow]

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@softech wrote:

sorry.  no 5G support at the moment.    Even 4G, data speed is capped at 3Mbs

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Aren't we spoiled... Anybody remembers modems?... brrr..beep..beeep...brrrr...

[Triguy]

PM is a third provider so not likely for the forseeable future that it would offer 5G.  PM uses Telus and Bell towers which are 4G but throttles the speed to 3G.

[Anonymous]

@eternal 

No 5G,

Plans with 3G data may reach download speeds of up to 3 Mbps, with the coverage and reliability of the LTE network. Speed and signal strength may vary with your device, configuration, Internet traffic, environmental conditions, applicable network management and other factors.

[softech · Accepted solution]

sorry.  no 5G support at the moment.    Even 4G, data speed is capped at 3Mbs