Freedom Mobile $10 Family add on vs Public Mobile $15 plan

[elhota]

I've been on the Public Mobile $15/mth plan since March 2019 and receive discounts for autopay ($2) and friend referral ($1).  So my monthly cost is $12.  Coming up to my 1 year anniversary I should get another $1 off for loyalty.  Freedom Mobile is offering a limited time deal for $10/mth for an add on to an existing customer (my wife).  It is unlimited calls across Canada, unlimited text, 1 GB a month of data.  Also this rate is lifetime if I autopay.  The Public Mobile plan is 100 min/mth outbound calls, unlimited inbound calls, and 250 gb/mth data.  I haven't exceeded any of these limits yet.

I'm wondering whether I should switch to Freedom Mobile or stay with my Public Mobile plan.  Public Mobile costs more now but eventually will be less if I stay a few more years and accumulate the loyalty bonuses. 

[insider878]

I work downtown everyday and when I had freedom, calls would go straight to voicemail and the data was shotty and inconsistent. My data has been inconsistent with public mobile too.

[Korth]

Freedom Mobile does offer some good deals. When in a Freedom Zone and when calling from a Freedom Zone to a Freedom Zone. But no coverage (aside from Roaming) outside the Zone. This deal does sound like a good catch, but read the fine print and consider the parameters carefully.

Public Mobile's Loyalty Reward does eventually increase to $5 discount in every bill. And it's transferrable to any plan you activate on the account, so it still retains value if you find your needs (and your plan) changing in the future. Coverage from the shared Telus/Bell/SaskTel/etc network is the most comprehensive in Canada - but of little value if you (and those you call) don't really need it.

It turns out that Freedom Zones also happen to be the major population centers which are prioritized deployments for Telus, Bell, and Rogers.

Freedom does currently have exclusive license to Band 66 - a little bit faster data (on capable devices). And they typically offer bigger data buckets than anyone else (for a price). Although it seems like that wouldn't have much impact on your light data habits.

I've met people who passionately love Freedom (they praise it as just perfect in every way). And I've met people who vehemently condemn Freedom (lack of coverage, poor call quality, unreliable reliability, bad speed, hidden costs and problems, etc). All anecdotal and we all have opinions about our favourite brands. But it might indicate Freedom Zones are not all created equal. So perhaps best to read some reviews or online commentary relevant to your local Freedom before fully committing to it.

[scorpio17]

Yes, this Freedom Mobile plan is better. I used Freedom Mobile for about 6 months with Samsung S8 phone in Toronto.

I had some problems with their network. 1 - my phone drained more power in the background (~1% / hour on Freedom and ~0.5% / hour on Public). 2 - Sometimes I couldn't receive calls from 1st attempt. 3 - Their support service works pretty bad.

So, in my opinion, you shouldn't change your plan.

If you need some more minutes - it is not a problem. 500 Canada wide minutes costs only 5$ and they will last for many months.

If you need more MB - may be Freedom would be better choice.

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@elhota wrote:

I've been on the Public Mobile $15/mth plan since March 2019 and receive discounts for autopay ($2) and friend referral ($1).  So my monthly cost is $12.  Coming up to my 1 year anniversary I should get another $1 off for loyalty.  Freedom Mobile is offering a limited time deal for $10/mth for an add on to an existing customer (my wife).  It is unlimited calls across Canada, unlimited text, 1 GB a month of data.  Also this rate is lifetime if I autopay.  The Public Mobile plan is 100 min/mth outbound calls, unlimited inbound calls, and 250 gb/mth data.  I haven't exceeded any of these limits yet.

I'm wondering whether I should switch to Freedom Mobile or stay with my Public Mobile plan.  Public Mobile costs more now but eventually will be less if I stay a few more years and accumulate the loyalty bonuses. 

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[darlicious]

@elhota  There are some good points on either side...there are no real cost savings except your bill will get cheaper with public mobile without effort and with a little effort could easily get to $0. So what to compare? You will get more services with freedom but if you won't really use them then that's neither here or nor there. You do get phone support if that's your thing and it's not too bad customer service wise so really the biggest comparison is coverage. Public Mobile has the best coverage in Canada and freedom probably the worst with the exception of some very small local providers. That was the single biggest factor that made me switch to public mobile from freedom. The price was about the same but without rewards, customer service was okay but the coverage sucked. I had to have a back up telus phone for service at home in the middle of Vancouver. They only had service in a handful of other major urban centres, as soon as you left the city limits you would lose service and have to roam.....on ferries, in shopping malls, sports arenas, the lower elevations of the landscapes between hills or ridges in the city and sometimes heavy cloud cover or the wind (maybe that's why they changed their name) would literally blow your signal away.

    Seriously....if they offer a free SIM card sure try it out for a month but as @popping mentioned you can back up your wife's phone when she has no service and would have to pay for roaming and she can back up your phone if you travel outside Canada internationally and in the US with better roaming options than public mobile currently offers. That's what my late partner and I did with the two providers....he had free Canada wide calling and unlimited data and I had nationwide coverage and free roaming and a consistent signal at home in a freedom shifting "dead" zone.

[popping]

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@elhota wrote:

We hardly go on highway trips.  We fly to Vancouver annually.

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Then, it does not make any difference whether you stay with PM or not.

If you don't need your phone number to be ported to freedom, you may consider to let someone to take over your account with 2GB and 400 intenational minutes add-ons and soon with $4 reward every 30days.

[gblackma]

@elhota , as long as you stay within major urban areas,  there shouldn't be that much difference in service.

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@elhota wrote:

We hardly go on highway trips.  We fly to Vancouver annually.

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[elhota]

We hardly go on highway trips.  We fly to Vancouver annually.

[popping]

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@elhota wrote:

Her coverage is pretty good.  Better than the Fido plan she was previously on.

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How often do you 2 go on highway trip?

[elhota]

Her coverage is pretty good.  Better than the Fido plan she was previously on.

[Lowufo]

What is your wife's coverage/service like? I would personally stay with Pulic Mobile as they will likely make some improvements to the $15 dollar plan at some point. Not to mention they give out free data and calling minutes from time to time. Not worth changing to save $1 per month

[geopublic]

@elhota it's your wallet, you just have to decide how important is network coverage on your list when making your decision.

[CannonFodder]

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@popping wrote:

@elhota 

Since you can live with 250MB data and 100 outgoing minutes, you should stay with PM as a backup for your wife phone when she does not have any Freedom signal. 

There is no point to have a service at a time when you needed the service most and there is no singal.  I was with Mobilicity and I know what it is like with a subpar network.

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While everybody in this thread has brought up a number of good points, including the OP, I think @popping  has hit the nail on the head with the part I highlighted in bold - probably THE most important point brought up in this thread. 👍 

[lorca01]

Definitely worth a try for ten bucks. Get a new number and try it out, then port your Public number over if you like it.

[andreale]

It is obvious up to you but for my experience from Freedom Mobile. It is a good mobile company with so many good deals and cheap plans. But it serves for some zone specifically, as sometimes I traveled to Montreal and on the way to Montreal I couldn't use the service because it was out of the zone that Freedom covered. Then the service was so slow and more you had to pay for what you used as away service. Freedom doesn't has it service in so many provinces, so that is a concern. For overall, Freedom is a good phone company. 

[popping]

@elhota 

Since you can live with 250MB data and 100 outgoing minutes, you should stay with PM as a backup for your wife phone when she does not have any Freedom signal.  

There is no point to have a service at a time when you needed the service most and there is no singal.  I was with Mobilicity and I know what it is like with a subpar network.

Edit: You plan will be down to $11 after your first anniversary date.  PM gave you 2x 1GB bonus data and 400 international minutes from last 6 months.  You have the backup minutes and data if you use more outgoing minutes and/or data in a cycle.

[will13am]

@elhota , product quality is something that you can compare yourself as you have a data point in the household.  It comes down to the needs for more usage vs sacrifices in product quality.  Pricing is pretty much a wash.  Having come from the other side, I am not going back.  Product quality sacrifices are too much.  

[gail709 · Accepted solution]

In one month you will be paying $11 a month, so really switching will only save you $1 per month.  I say "if it anin't broke, don't fix it".  If you are happy with Public why switch for $1 a month (less the cost of a new SIM card)?  Yes, it appears you will get more...but you don't use what you already have.  That's my 2 cents worth....keep the change.

[gblackma]

@elhota If freedom mobile is allowing your wife to add another line, to her account with the features that you listed, then it's a good deal. Unless your wife is on account with a termed contract for a free phone. Then you should take into account the following:

1. Pm through Telus has better coverage than Freedom through Shaw.

2. Your loyalty rewards that you mentioned. 

3. The combined costs of your wife's plan and the $10 to add you. VS the combined cost it would be if she switched to PM. $1 more reward monthly for you. The one time $10 credit + $2 autopay credit.

4. And the most important, the entertainment that our community offers.

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@elhota wrote:

I've been on the Public Mobile $15/mth plan since March 2019 and receive discounts for autopay ($2) and friend referral ($1).  So my monthly cost is $12.  Coming up to my 1 year anniversary I should get another $1 off for loyalty.  Freedom Mobile is offering a limited time deal for $10/mth for an add on to an existing customer (my wife).  It is unlimited calls across Canada, unlimited text, 1 GB a month of data.  Also this rate is lifetime if I autopay.  The Public Mobile plan is 100 min/mth outbound calls, unlimited inbound calls, and 250 gb/mth data.  I haven't exceeded any of these limits yet.

I'm wondering whether I should switch to Freedom Mobile or stay with my Public Mobile plan.  Public Mobile costs more now but eventually will be less if I stay a few more years and accumulate the loyalty bonuses. 

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[gjong26]

You also want reliable network coverage. The cheaper cost may be tempting but if it gives you more Hassel than anything it's not worth it. Stay with PM give it a chance!  Check out the reviews from Freedom clients. One search I found showed 91% bad! Best to do your due diligence before deciding 

[Anonymous]

 @elhota 

Value propositions are entirely up to you. Obviously the Freedom is more for less. But how's that coverage? For where you go as well?

Do a little bit of posting here and get a few more referrals and you're ahead here. With Telus/Bell coverage.

[Staliger]

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@elhota wrote:

I've been on the Public Mobile $15/mth plan since March 2019 and receive discounts for autopay ($2) and friend referral ($1).  So my monthly cost is $12.  Coming up to my 1 year anniversary I should get another $1 off for loyalty.  Freedom Mobile is offering a limited time deal for $10/mth for an add on to an existing customer (my wife).  It is unlimited calls across Canada, unlimited text, 1 GB a month of data.  Also this rate is lifetime if I autopay.  The Public Mobile plan is 100 min/mth outbound calls, unlimited inbound calls, and 250 gb/mth data.  I haven't exceeded any of these limits yet.

I'm wondering whether I should switch to Freedom Mobile or stay with my Public Mobile plan.  Public Mobile costs more now but eventually will be less if I stay a few more years and accumulate the loyalty bonuses. 

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@elhotaIt is totally up to you. In the long term, yes, PM would be cheaper + some promotions and give aways may appear. Also, PM is the only provider I know that allows your to pay 0$ for your plan due to all rewards, including refer-a-friend, loyaly, autopay, and community activity.