First full day on Public Mobile service - 4 dropped calls :(

[chrism]

I switched over yesterday afternoon, everything went very smoothly.  Made a few brief calls last night, no issues. 

Today, someone called me (in Vancouver BC) from a landline in Ontario.  The call suddenly disconnected after 22 mins.  I called him back, and the next 3 calls disconnected (3 beeps in my ear) after:

3 mins

5 mins

56 secs.

Then we gave up.

I had 3 or 4 bars of signal.  In a wood house, not moving around at all, no big concrete or metal structures nearby.  I was previously with Fido/Rogers and I don't think I ever had a dropped call in ten years.

This all happened about 2PM local Vancouver time, in a residential (pretty quiet, not that busy) area.  Is Public Mobile a lower priority, will a Telus or Bell customer bump me if they want to make a call?

Kind of bummed out so far.  Thanks.

iPhone 8, latest iOS update, new PM Sim card,

[sheytoon]

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@chrism wrote:

Question: if I call a friend with a Telus cell phone, does my traffic travel completely over Telus infrastructure, or does it ever hit any Public Mobile server or wires or anything?

@chrism, it depends where you and your friend are located. If you're both connected to a Telus site, then the entire call is handled by Telus. If either of you is connected to a Bell/Sasktel site within Canada, the RAN portion as well as some of the IP transport is handled by that party, while the core portion is entirely Telus.

If one of you is roaming outside of Canada, even the core would be partially handled by a third party operator.

There's no such thing as Public Mobile call servers or cellular network infrastructure.

[stonechucker]

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@chrism wrote:

I've had no dropped calls since my previous post.  Have made a few lasting an hour, quite a few lasting around a half hour..  all good.

Seems like it was a network issue that has since been resolved, just bad luck that it happened my first day on a new cell carrier.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Question: if I call a friend with a Telus cell phone, does my traffic travel completely over Telus infrastructure, or does it ever hit any Public Mobile server or wires or anything?

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@sheytoon, could probably give you the actual correct answer, but for sure, this network is combined Bell and Telus, along with their lower tier companies and MVNOs.  Depending on the tower you connect to, the call travels on either Telus or Bell until it’s completed.

[geopublic]

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@chrism wrote:

I've had no dropped calls since my previous post.  Have made a few lasting an hour, quite a few lasting around a half hour..  all good.

Seems like it was a network issue that has since been resolved, just bad luck that it happened my first day on a new cell carrier.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Question: if I call a friend with a Telus cell phone, does my traffic travel completely over Telus infrastructure, or does it ever hit any Public Mobile server or wires or anything?

---

All within the Telus network.

[chrism]

I've had no dropped calls since my previous post.  Have made a few lasting an hour, quite a few lasting around a half hour..  all good.

Seems like it was a network issue that has since been resolved, just bad luck that it happened my first day on a new cell carrier.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Question: if I call a friend with a Telus cell phone, does my traffic travel completely over Telus infrastructure, or does it ever hit any Public Mobile server or wires or anything?

[LovesToPM]

@sheytoon  If you're referring to the URL links, they are somewhat dated.

I think the jist and takeaway of it is if your SIM card isn't snug, you can experience dropped calls. The same applies to all other components of the phone. If the battery isn't snuggly connected, the phone may turn off.

[sheytoon]

@LovesToPM, that's actually incorrect. SIM card has no impact on the phone's receiver performance.

[LovesToPM]

@chrism  It could be that the SIM has a bit of play in your iphone.

Here's an interesting read:
https://www.cnet.com/news/boosting-iphone-signal-strength-with-scotch-tape/
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6716954

[geopublic]

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@chrism wrote:

The call disconnects then I get 3 beeps.  It's not a warning, it's an indication that the call has dropped.

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Please ignore my previous post then.

[chrism]

The call disconnects then I get 3 beeps.  It's not a warning, it's an indication that the call has dropped.

[geopublic]

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@chrism wrote:

Previous provider was fido/Rogers.

I reset network settings, changed from auto network selection to public mobile, and disabled LTE.  Powered off and on.  Dropped a call after 15 mins.

Tried my sim in another iPhone, call dropped at 30 mins.

Can a mod help?  How do I get real tech help?  I don't know what's going on here but dealing with dropped calls isn't worth saving a few bucks each month, probably going back to my old provider.

Thanks,

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I'm assuming you are on unlimited talk plan. The three beeps is usually a warning indicator that you have almost used up your allowable minutes which is not correct in your case. Contact the Public Mobile Team include your sim number and mention that you are getting the 3 beeps when calling. They should be able to resolve the problem. Pleas be patient it could take up to 48 hours or longer to resolve.

Good luck!!

[chrism]

Previous provider was fido/Rogers.

I reset network settings, changed from auto network selection to public mobile, and disabled LTE.  Powered off and on.  Dropped a call after 15 mins.

Tried my sim in another iPhone, call dropped at 30 mins.

Can a mod help?  How do I get real tech help?  I don't know what's going on here but dealing with dropped calls isn't worth saving a few bucks each month, probably going back to my old provider.

Thanks,

[sheytoon]

@will13am, previous provider was Rogers/Fido. See first post.

@TheOldVR, apologies for coming across so rude. Didn't mean to attack you. Thanks for trying to help.

[will13am]

@chrism , who was your previous service provider?  There is only 2 major networks in Canada.  Your connection performance should only change if you were a Rogers customer previously.  

[TheOldVR]

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@chrism wrote:

Hi, Thanks,

> Possible issue could be with your phone not having all the bands so in your specific region, the major band in use may not be working for you.

> Tell us more about the phone you are using and perhaps we can troubleshoot a little.

It's a ~ 5month old iPhone 8, never experienced a dropped call in the 5 months that I've had the phone.  I checked a webpage linked to from the PM site that said my phone was compatible with public mobile GSM, and HSDPA (I'm on a 3G plan).

> any chance you can try your SIM in a different phone?

Do you suspect a faulty SIM card?  I really can't see it being the phone, some electronic fault spontaneously appearing the day after a carrier switch doesn't seem likely.

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Just some basic trouble shooting to take away possible faults.

1) use your sim in another phone... makes sure your plan setup and sim card are both okay

2) use a different sim in your phone... similar to above and tests your phone settings

Again, just offering options to zone in on what the issue is.... like resetting network settings.

Good luck... hope things start working.

[Someone_here]

Hi,

I am with PM for 4 yrs+, and I never had any drop call problems until today... I am up to four times as well :

- one when placing the call before the other party answered,

- one after 0:00:53, after calling back the same number as above,

- one approximately 2 hours later, received a call, dropped after 0:06:43,

- and one after calling back that last number after 0:08:53

- I haven't change my cell phone, tried restarting already

- I still live at the same place, reception was always good, happened in my home, not on the road

- I haven't change anything really, don't undersand what's going on...

EDIT : Here someone else having similar problem today... https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/On-LTE-plan-and-calls-are-on-3G-bad-sig...

[TheOldVR]

Someone else had a very similar issue that the MODs helped by fixing something on the back end... just a suggestion to try after troubleshooting, not trying to cause trouble.

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@sheytoon wrote:

@TheOldVR 

How could mods possibly help?

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[chrism]

Hi, Thanks,

> Possible issue could be with your phone not having all the bands so in your specific region, the major band in use may not be working for you.

> Tell us more about the phone you are using and perhaps we can troubleshoot a little.

It's a ~ 5month old iPhone 8, never experienced a dropped call in the 5 months that I've had the phone.  I checked a webpage linked to from the PM site that said my phone was compatible with public mobile GSM, and HSDPA (I'm on a 3G plan).

> any chance you can try your SIM in a different phone?

Do you suspect a faulty SIM card?  I really can't see it being the phone, some electronic fault spontaneously appearing the day after a carrier switch doesn't seem likely.

[sheytoon]

@TheOldVR 

How could mods possibly help?

[TheOldVR]

Not good... any chance you can try your SIM in a different phone?

If you can try that and the results are the same I would suggest directly contacting a MOD for help. (I have seen a similar thread just get closed with MOD help....)

Good luck!

[imm1304]

Hey @chrism , welcome to PM!  

Public Mobile is not on a lower priority for pushing calls through or when accessing the data network.  Telus has capacity to handle all the customers they have and more.  

I have never experienced dropped calls or poor call quality in a very busy downtown Toronto area for almost 4 years with Public Mobile.

Possible issue could be with your phone not having all the bands so in your specific region, the major band in use may not be working for you.  

Tell us more about the phone you are using and perhaps we can troubleshoot a little.  The community is full of people with all kinds of knowledge and experiences so it wont hurt to try.