Is my plan grandfathered? Looking to possibly switch plans...

[Potrice]

Hey everyone,

I've been with PM for a very long time (I get the 15$/3m reduction, so I guess 5 years?). My current plan (been on that plan for a very long time) is unlimited international text, unlimited Canada wide talk and 6GB of data for 135$/3m. In other words, it's 2GB for 45$/m (before the rewards are applied). Not sure about the speed, but I get the LTE icon on the top left of my phone.

Is this a grandfathered plan? If I want to switch to a lower plan, say the 35$/m plan, will I lose the LTE speed and downgrade to 3G? Will the difference in speed be noticeable? Will I lose my rewards if I switch plans?

TYIA!

[Zyl]

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@esjliv wrote:

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@Zyl wrote:

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Don't think any plans from Public Mobile is grandfathered.  

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@Zyl  - hi there.

Yes, some customers are on plans that are grandfathered. Any plans that are not currently available in the current in-market Public Mobile plan line up, is considered grandfathered.

And, I would say there are probably quite a lot of customers that have various plans like this.

So, if they ever Change Plans, they will not be able to go back to the ones they are on now.

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This is what I meant.  The plans are no longer available in that he won't be able to go back to it if he chooses to change his current plan.  I understood that as not grandfathered.  I thought when something is grandfathered, it means you can go back to it.  

[computergeek541]

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@Potrice wrote:

Ty everyone. I just made the switch to the 35$/m. It will come in effect at my next auto payment renewal (16 December). I tested the 3G network and was surprised at how fast it was. Didn't notice much difference from LTE for my daily tasks (obviously I didn't watch a 4k movie or download a huge file). 

I really appreciate all of your help.

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The speed doesn't get changed until 48 hours later.

[Potrice]

Ty everyone. I just made the switch to the 35$/m. It will come in effect at my next auto payment renewal (16 December). I tested the 3G network and was surprised at how fast it was. Didn't notice much difference from LTE for my daily tasks (obviously I didn't watch a 4k movie or download a huge file). 

I really appreciate all of your help.

[computergeek541]

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@Potrice wrote:

@darlicious 

Ty! Switching to the 35$/m plan later on tonight. Are there any promo codes available right now?

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There are currently no promo codes available to existing customers.  I only remember one case of Public Mobile using one for current customers and that was more than 2 years ago.

[Potrice]

@darlicious 

Ty! Switching to the 35$/m plan later on tonight. Are there any promo codes available right now?

Regarding the Pixel 6, yeah I'll wait for it to drop to 698$ again (100$ off). My iphone is from 2015 so it's showing its age.

[darlicious]

@Potrice 

Since you have an older phone you may have to remove the outer casing of the micro sim (if thats the size sim card you have) to use the nano sim in a new phone.)

Change to the $35/3gb plan. Keep an eye on your data usage. If you are leaving more than 1gb on the table every month consider downgrading to the $25 and with some conservation you can live with the lower data amount. Another $10 in bank. That takes you from $480 a year for your mobile service to $180. $300 in savings. Wait a year and the Google Pixel 6 will be reduced in price.

You can purchase it from B&H Photo for $US 599 about $750 cdn. It was $100 off at staples and best buy on Black Friday so I would expect reductions in price once the order backlog has been fulfilled.

You might find this an informative read....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/The-Lounge/Google-Pixel-6/m-p/739035#M16634

[Potrice]

@darlicious 
Thank you for the great response. Regarding some of the questions you asked me in your response.

1- Total amount in rewards that I'm getting is 30$/3m (or 10$/m). -5$ for loyalty, -2$ for autopay and -3$ from referrals. So the 35$/m plan would be 25$/m.

2- Regarding the amount of data used, well, I have to say 2GB per month is plenty for me. The 25$/m plan includes 1GB (500MB+500MB) and the 35$/m plan includes 3GB (2,5GB+500MB). Ideally, a 30$/m plan with 2GB would be the sweet spot for me, but that doesn't exist. I suppose the closest/ideal would be the 35$/m plan. I don't use a lot of data and I mostly use it for emails, imessages, Waze, weather network, etc. I rarely watch videos or stream stuff when I'm on data (off wifi).

3- Regarding the speed I'm getting. I did a speed test (wifi off obviously) and I got 36mbps. That was on LTE 4G (I assume that is what my grandfathered plan is). 3G is probably sufficient for me since I don't watch videos and stream on data. Like you suggested, I will switch my iphone settings to give 3G a try...

4- I also want to buy a Pixel 6 but PM doesn't offer it. I can pay for one in full, but I'd rather make payments at 0% interest and invest that 800$-900$ for the time being. Btw, when switching phones, is it as simple as putting in the SIM card from my previous phone into the new ones? Nothing else has to be done?

I will test everything tonight and try to make a decision. My auto payment (for 90 days) is due soon.

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@Potrice 

Geez this post **poof** landed in my unmoderated items....hopefully it stays this time!

You have definitely had that plan for awhile...too bad you didn't get the infamous fall 2016 promo of 12GB/$120/90 days. But that is neither here or there now. The rewards and any add ons you have including any holiday add on gifts (like the previous and current "More is Merrier" campaign) stay with your account not your plan.

You have a few things to consider:

90 day plan vs 30 day plan:

The 90 day plan makes for less payment/renewal dates to worry about and gives you the ability to manage your data usage over 90 days...essentially allowing data not used early in your cycle to be "rolled over" and used later in your cycle.

The 30 day plan gives you greater flexibility to change your plan based on need along with the ability to suspend for overseas holidays or if you simply don't need mobile service. That is much harder to do with a 90 day plan. By planning ahead and anticipating your data usage you can change plans for more or less data so you don't leave a lot of unused data on the table at the end of your 30 day cycle. 

Full speed 4G LTE data vs throttled 4G LTE data to 3mbps:

Full speed 4G LTE data can reach up to 200mbps but in reality you average between 30mbps and 60mbps. I have both....full speed and throttled and can barely notice the difference between the two for my needs. Sure sites with a lot of HD content load faster and surfing is a little snappier but for the most common uses of mobile data throttled data is perfectly fine and you may use a little less as many apps or sites such as YouTube automatically detect slower data speeds and adjust the resolution down thus using less data. You can also make adjustments in your own app account settings.

You also have access to 3G data by choosing 3G only in your settings on your phone. Pm currently uses the 3G network for voice calls but it also can be used for SMS/MMS texts and your mobile data. 3G data speeds can reach 20mbps+ but average 12mbps based on network traffic. So the speed can vary wildly up and down but if you use it in off hours it will probably be consistently high but during the day you may find it lower than the consistent 3 mbps that the throttled 4G LTE offers. Give the 3G network a try and see if the data speeds would suit you when you might need a higher data speed if and when you change your plan.

30 DAY Plans:

Your $135/90 Day plan at $45/30 days is expensive by today's standards. Seeing as $50/10.5gb (+US calling), $40/5gb, $35/3gb or even the $25/1gb plan is almost the same value as your current plan. Choosing a new plan to suit your data needs depends on how much data you really use... Are you pretty consistent every month? Averaging 2gb? Or does it vary? A GB or less one month and 3 or 4 GB the next? What is the minimum you might need? What's the maximum? Can you predict what you might need each month?

The sensible choice may be the $35/3gb plan (2.5gb+500mb autopay bonus=3gb)=$105/90 days. Subtract your rewards ($5 loyalty only?)=$30/30 days or $90/90 days basically 33% cheaper with 50% more data compared to your grandfathered 90 day plan. $1/day w/100mb of data averaged over 30 days. Alternatively you could pay the same amount you currently do and have 5gb per 30 days.

But maybe you would like to test the minimum data you generally need per month. With the holiday add on gifts from pm you will have a 2gb data add on to supplement your plan data. With some smart data usage maybe you only need 1gb of data with maybe 200mb of "overage" coming out of your add on data. That would allow the 2gb add on to last about 10 months. If it was purchased data it would add an average $3 to your plan amount and if thats the $25 - $5 (rewards)=$20+$3=$23/30 days for those last couple of months before hopefully the 4th annual "More is Merrier" campaign is announced.

$20×12/30 day plan cycles=$240+$15/1gb data add on=$255/360 days on the $25/1gb plan or $30×12/30 day plan cycles=$360/360 days on the $35/3gb plan

$120×4/90 day plan cycles=$480/360 days on your current plan

Are you currently not registered for autopay? The $2 reward would save you additional $24/360 days and the 500mb autopay bonus data (included in the above plan data amounts.) If you pay by voucher currently and need a card to register I can give you an expended credit gift card number... just private message me if you are interested.

Be sure to give us an update when you make your decision.

[esjliv]

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@Zyl wrote:

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Don't think any plans from Public Mobile is grandfathered.  

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@Zyl  - hi there.

Yes, some customers are on plans that are grandfathered. Any plans that are not currently available in the current in-market Public Mobile plan line up, is considered grandfathered.

And, I would say there are probably quite a lot of customers that have various plans like this.

So, if they ever Change Plans, they will not be able to go back to the ones they are on now.

[Potrice]

Yeah I agree that 45$/m is pretty bad for 2GB LTE… I mean, I can get Fizz for 34$/m for 3GB LTE… and they have rewards too (not as good as PM though). It’s a shame PM doesn’t have LTE plans anymore…

I guess my plan will be to switch to a 3G plan and try the speed… if it’s enough for me, then great. If not, then I will probably have to jump ship to Fizz’s LTE plan. I also want a new phone (mine is 5-6 yo), but PM doesn’t seem to sell that model (Google Pixel 6)… that’s another advantage of switching to Fizz… my 90 days plan is due for renewal in 2 weeks, so that will give me time to try 3G.

[Zyl]

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@Potrice wrote:

Hey everyone,

I've been with PM for a very long time (I get the 15$/3m reduction, so I guess 5 years?). My current plan (been on that plan for a very long time) is unlimited international text, unlimited Canada wide talk and 6GB of data for 135$/3m. In other words, it's 2GB for 45$/m (before the rewards are applied). Not sure about the speed, but I get the LTE icon on the top left of my phone.

Is this a grandfathered plan? If I want to switch to a lower plan, say the 35$/m plan, will I lose the LTE speed and downgrade to 3G? Will the difference in speed be noticeable? Will I lose my rewards if I switch plans?

TYIA!

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Don't think any plans from Public Mobile is grandfathered.  If you had your plan's rate from a promotional offer, once you switch to a different plan and/or go past the renewal date, then you lose the whole plan.  Here is a link that I found about a previous post that talked about grandfathering Public Mobile plans that might provide more information for you.

For the rewards, you should still be able to keep your rewards as long as you still meet the condition for the rewards, i.e. still signed up for Autopay for the Autopay reward and is still a customer of Public Mobile for the loyalty reward and your friend(s) that you referred to Public Mobile is(are) still with Public Mobile for the referral reward. 

As for the plan itself, I think you should definitely change your plan.  For the amount that you pay per month ($135/3), you can get 10.5 GB at 3G for just $5 more, not sure if you can get higher speed than 3G.  It looks like all of Public Mobile's plans have data at 3G. 

Hope it helps.  

[Dunkman]

@Potrice 

As stated above, your plan is grandfathered.  IMO, your grandfathered plan is not that competitive compared to other companies LTE plans.   Black Friday deals are over, but Boxing day deals are coming up.  $40 should get 5 GB LTE and $50 get 10+ GB LTE/month.  

You may want to consider either the $35 or $40 3G plans.  With your loyalty discount, that drops your pricing by $5/month.  

As stated above, 3G speed data is good enough for most day to day uses of data.  

[NDesai]

@Potrice Yes, your current plan is grandfathered. PM do not offer 90 days plans anymore. When you switch to an in-market plan, your speed will change to 3G (LTE Lite at 3mbps). You won't lose your rewards. 
I have been on 3G plans for a while now, and speed is not so noticeable with browsing and emails unless you watch a lot of videos on YouTube and other social media apps. At time its really slow at loading, but fine most of the time. Lot of feedback out there in this community, here is one thread I found might be helpful:
Share your 3G plan experiences here (latency to su... - Community (publicmobile.ca)

[HALIMACS]

@Potrice 

Yes, this means you've been with public mobile for at least 5 years.

And it is a grandfathered plan.

If you switch to a lower plan, you will switch to 3G speed.  Some folks say it is not overly noticeable compared to 4G.

You will not lose any of your Rewards. (ie.  Referral, Loyalty, nor AutoPay )