International Roaming and 2-way SMS authentication

[cellphonesaver]

Hi PM ,

Could PM explain why they don't allow roaming internationally?(currently US only).

I have two points to make:

It's a big hassle to login to Canadian banks and other services when you travel as most of them now use 2-way text authentication and you can't receive incoming text with PM while in Europe and other countries

All other discounted carriers like Chatr allow for international roaming and pay per use texts, calls, data

When we travel and have roaming , PM makes money! Why not?)

Thanks!

[Yummy]

It will be, one day. But do not hold your breath...

PM is geared more toward mom & pop emergency phone service and not designed for globe-trotters.

[softech]

I guess it down to cost of contract for roaming.   probably Telus tries to save some money with those roaming contract for PM

and in fact, with US going for all VoLTE , even Fido prepaid is discontinuing it's US Roaming, not sure what is going to happen with PM (whether we will still have the one and one one roaming country , USA)

[cellphonesaver]

Actually yes, this is workaround I was able to use once: I got voice code to my PM voicemail and called in from VoIP to retrieve it but it's not common way of two way authentication. They mostly text you.

PS I don't mind to pay 40 cents for emergency texting and at least have a connection. Telus charges 75 cents for one text in roaming

[cellphonesaver]

Thanks for the info:) You saved me lots of time of useless testing lol. I think I tried TextNow but I wasn't able to use the app outside US and Canada(it asks for your location and refuses to assign new number).

[darlicious]

@cellphonesaver 

If you can verify thru voice message then you can call your voicemail to get your verification codes. If you suspend your account via lost/stolen before midnight on day 30 of your cycle you will maintain active voicemail service.

At the following rates for international roaming I'm glad pm doesn't offer this service. Fongo and a local sim is much more affordable for a little inconvenience.

WHEN IN BelgiumRATESPHONE FREQUENCY (MHz)

Incoming calls Outgoing calls to Canada Outgoing calls within Belgium Outgoing International calls	$2.50 per minute	900/1800 3G - 2100 What is this?
Incoming text messages	Free
Outgoing text messages	40¢ per sent message
Data Usage	$30.00/MB
Picture Message/MMS outgoing	50¢/message + $30.00/MB

To contact customer support click below:

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

To pre-verify your account include your full name, address, email, phone # and 4 digit acct pin #.

[Yummy]

It all depends on your mobile needs. If you are heavy user, traveller and require to stay connected with home (Canada) most likely PM is not for you.

But I would like yet to see phone/sms service costing $26+tax for a couple. Or less depending how long are you with the PM or how much you contribute and earn rewards.

As emergency phone or just to stay connected (unlimited) using only SMS, this service cannot be beat.

As for voip apps, do not expect them to be able to receive short codes from banks, etc. TextNow CAN do it but you have to pay for that service. Fongo cannot do it. At least Fongo can receive voice call with such codes but I would not count on them for serious purpose.

[cellphonesaver]

Didn't know about Lucky;) I guess not so lucky at all😂😂😂

Do you know any authentication apps and how does it work? 

[cellphonesaver]

Yes, at least. Just texts, no voice or data would be nice

[softech]

At least PM has US roaming.  Lucky has NO roaming at all

But for 2FA text, it is in fact safer to use authenticator app if possible.  So, if the choice is there, maybe time to move to away from 2FA text

[cellphonesaver]

Well the thing is the number from PM is already everywhere and it's a hassle to change it on all the services I use. I was able to sign up for Text Plus. But as you mentioned it's not reliable to receive codes. And some reviews said that even with paid version you could lose your number so it's risky. I'm not sure if I can port my number from PM there. I know it's possible with Fongo but not sure if you can receive texts with Fongo...

[dabr]

@cellphonesaver    Agree totally.  It would be nice if PM offered, at a minimum, a global roaming texting option.

[0PX9O4]

@cellphonesaver 

Depending on whether the provider will send codes to a VoIP number, you may be able to use a free/low cost service like TextNow or Google Voice (if you are able to sign up for it).

However, verification codes do not get sent reliably to VoIP numbers because some apps will block them from being used for 2FA codes.

[cellphonesaver]

Well one of my friends who I referred to PM switched back to Chatr because they travel often and need to get 2-way authentication. 

Any other option to do that instead of actual PM number?

[0PX9O4]

@cellphonesaver 

I would encourage you to explore all your options before you decide whether or not to continue with PM. I don't think it's right for everyone, or even most people. But for some of us it is.

[0PX9O4]

@cellphonesaver 

You're right, and I bet PM loses all sorts of customers to other prepaid carriers for just this type of reason. I myself switched to Fido several years ago, after using PM for a while. I'm back to using PM for now because it still ends up being a bit cheaper for my current usage.

[cellphonesaver]

I understand. But that's the first time I see the practice where carrier blocks roaming. I doubt people switch to Telus and pay three times more for service just to have that...

[0PX9O4]

@cellphonesaver 

I agree it would be nice for PM to offer this, but it's possible Telus sees this as an added differentiator between PM and it's own Telus-branded prepaid services.

There are lots of other basic facilities that a lot of other prepaid carriers offer and PM does not, such as eSIM, VoLTE, WiFi calling, visual voicemail, and high-speed data.