Easy Experience in Newfoundland

[dnadolny]

Last weekend I went to buy SIMs from our local Walmart. The tech guy there was happy to either have me buy and take them home, or help get things set up in the store (no problems with "you must set up an account now" or anything like that).

He had specific knowledge of Public Mobile, made sure I knew that tech support wasn't provided (at least on the phone - I thought there was no tech support at all, at first), and also warned me about the 3G vs 4G speeds. He mentioned it's not unusual for someone to try out Public Mobile for a few months, then to switch back due slow data (I almost never use any data, and when I do it's for checking email, so doesn't seem like a problem to me).

Overall, I had a positive experience and he was able to help out. I had the referral code ready and so he typed that in. Things went pretty smoothly!

[darlicious]

@dnadolny 

   I'm happy to hear you had a good experience at walmart. Somehow I think that has to do with how friendly and community minded newfoundlanders are but I'm sure Wal-Mart will be happy to have a good review as well.

    It looks like you are well on your way to becoming a great contributor on the community. As you've discovered it's a great learning experience for yourself in your pursuit to help others. Don't be surprised if you find a community reward added to your account next month in appreciation of your efforts. Keep up the good work!

    A word of warning about 4G speed tests....as you might have discovered. They can use 200mb of data or more....3G tests might hit 20mb. Ok if you have 5gb of data in your plan but takes a big bite if you're on 250mb or 1gb data plan.

[gblackma]

In theory yes @dnadolny . However, the only reason that I would put it on 3g is to download/ upload a large file. For me to use data, it would have to be an emergency, normally, I would just use WiFi. For casual browsing etc, you don't even notice the difference, so 4g it always is on my cell.

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@dnadolny wrote:

@gblackma I hadn't realized that! So if I'm in an area with good coverage, switching to 3G network would improve speeds, but if I'm travelling, the LTE network would be the one to connect to?

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[dnadolny]

@gblackma I hadn't realized that! So if I'm in an area with good coverage, switching to 3G network would improve speeds, but if I'm travelling, the LTE network would be the one to connect to?

[gblackma]

@dnadolny officially it's 4g LTE throttled at 3 mbps and 3g unthrottled max between 21 and 42 mbps depending on which 3g setting you connect to. Personnally I would set my mobile data setting to 4g since its more stable and common nationwide.

[dnadolny]

@ShawnC13 Thanks! I have no idea how accurate that was either. I'm still fairly young, and seem to get mistaken for younger than I am, so he may have been expecting me to be streaming HD youtube videos or something.

He may have mentioned the LTE network - I don't recall what I heard from him versus what I read on here about the networks. I know I didn't realize till a comment here about how it takes a few days for things to adjust, so when I tested out my download speed right away it was still probably using the 4g speed.

[dnadolny]

@Triguy 

Thanks, I will! I don't remember the tech guy's name - I'll check the bill (or the store if I need to) and leave one later!

[dnadolny]

@gjong26 I had minor issues with swapping my old phone number, but that got resolved quickly!

I'm really liking PM so far. I like how there's an incentive to help others in the forums here. I've tried reading a bunch of stuff hoping I can help out others in the future, and realized that helped me learn a bunch already.

Some of the things I've picked up so far:

- Ideally add money manually to your account, as autopay sometimes fails, but as long as there's a balance to cover the bill your account will be renewed.

- Addons are a two-step process: add funds, and get the addon.

- There are sometimes problems with the US addons. You may need to manually change the network. Not entirely sure what other problems can happen.

- A lot of people get confused with how rewards/paying works.

[Triguy]

You can leave a review about your experience.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/store-locator

[ddeep91]

@dnadolny   Very few People share a positive experience nowadays. So this is awesome to hear.

Welcome to PM! 

Cheers

[gjong26]

Great to you havent had any issues.  My experience was pretty simple to setup so I havent had any issues.  Well no major issues I couldnt resolve with the help of the community.  If you have any technical issues here is where you can find a lot useful information.  The self-serve is easy to use as well so making any changes to your account is easy.

[ShawnC13]

@dnadolny, great to hear and welcome to PM.  Glad that you had a good sales rep, although not sure how accurate his comment on people trying it for a few months then switching back is as well he should be able to also clarify that it is 3G "speeds" while still on the LTE network.

[gblackma]

Welcome to PM @dnadolny . Its always nice to hear a success story.. Thanks.