Leaving Public Mobile

[Bigbear50]

After four great years,  time to switch.  The reason is not Public Mobility,  but Telus.  When we first moved to Grand Forks,  reception was good with no dropped calls.   Over the last couple of years it has steadily gotten worse to the point that nearly 50% of the calls would not go through and incoming calls would go directly to voice mail.   Tried everything including a cell booster.   Am going with a Rogers flanker brand that has a MUCH better signal.  Also getting more data and a new 5g Samsung phone for less than I am paying with Public.   Telus seems to be aware of the problem and said they will be reconfiguring their cell towers,  but not until next year.  Mostly, Telus could care less.  This is a small town and many people have experienced the same problem with Telus and are dropping them.  Would seem to me to be better to keep current customers happy than replace them.  Also cheaper.  Yes, Public Mobile needs to revisit their pricing and offerings as well.  

[darlicious]

@beth1791 

I am in Vancouver and have no issues but as 

@Korth can attest there are some weak signal areas in the valley but it shouldn't be just starting recently.....Start with rebooting your iPhone then toggle airplane mode on/off.

If voice calls are still an issue switch to the 3G only network and see if that improves the missed calls and calls going to voicemail. This will improve your data speed as the 3G data is not throttled and can reach 20mbps+but average between 10mbps and 12mbps. 

You may have "3G"service but your text and data usually use the 4G LTE network. Only voice is limited to the 3G network currently.

[beth1791]

I figure since my son and I are in different cities (different towers) and using different phones (iphone XR and 11 pro max) it's probably not our phones. We will continue monitoring this for another month or two to see if it improves, but, since we both use our phones for work we need things to just work properly. I don't really want to leave Public, but we'll see what happens in the future.

[esjliv]

That is unfortunate @beth1791 . I hope you and your son are trying all the possible tricks and troubleshooting to rule this out.

If nothing is working, tell a CSA about it; who knows what they may be able to do in the backend or perhaps provide a reason or timeline for possible improvement.  🤞

[beth1791]

I've also been with Public for 4 or so years and I'm getting ready to possibly leave soon as well. In the last few months I'm having similar issues to you (direct to voicemail, picture messages don't go through, VERY slow data that often times out before the website loads). This is with 1 - 3 bars of 3G service in the Fraser Valley (BC). The 4G plans here at Public are too expensive for what I need. Which sucks because I have a lot of rewards and add-ons.

My son called the other night and asked if I was having these problems as well. And he's in Vancouver, on the same 3G plan as I am.

[darlicious]

@Bigbear50 

Sorry to see you go....but before you do consider a couple of things.....

Have you switched to 3G only? The calls going to voicemail can be caused by a minor delay in switching from 4G LTE to the 3G network. This may resolve the issue in the short term. The other option would be using a VoIP provider like textnow and call forwarding your pm # (unreachable/busy) to your textnow # when it would normally default to voicemail.

The reason I suggest this is the rumour that telus will be enabling VOLTE for pm customers by the end of September which may explain why several areas in the interior have had customers complain about the same issue and telus has not addressed it....as they don't need to if implementing VoLTE is imminent.

Otherwise I also suggest you don't port over to your new provider right away. Instead take 14 days to test out your new service and device to see if they are satisfactory to you. You are given 15 days to change your mind and cancel your 2 year contract and return the device at no cost or penalty to you (30 days if you identify as disabled).

There have been many customers that have ported out only to have the new provider not live up to their promises. They port back in to public mobile at their expense disappointed to learn they have lost all of their rewards, add ons, promotions and prepaid balance. Rather than live with regret just be sure that you are happy to have left pm and port over after 14 days.....or not if we get VOLTE sooner rather than later.

Let us know how it all works out for you?

@Timer 

Rogers has 2 fully loaded towers with the addition of the 600 MHz and 700 MHz bands vs 850 MHz for the Telus tower the other Telus tower is 4G LTE only. All the others are either indoor LTE sites or low level outdoor LTE microcell sites.

Perhaps with planned upgrades Telus spent the bare minimum getting services up and running in Grand Forks after the floods a couple of years ago.

[Timer]

@dust2dust 

in my area way replacing Towers and also they told me to exchange SIM card and i don't know is where the exactly issue from Towers or SIM. but them fix it.. 

also when is coming 5G they need to install more Towers i did required, and no one yet come to add it anything.

[CountyDownIeUk]

wow.....what a decision to have to make. But I don’t  blame you. And I agree with your Telus comments. 

Out of curiosity have you:

”Shopped” a Telus or Bell store to confirm?

Asked friends on Bell or Telus if they experience the same?

Confirmed it is not phone related?

I am am sure you have! Seems ridiculous to have a known problem solved in a year  and lose customers during the year and then be up and ready with a huge percentage less of a customer base. Will you lose $ rewards accounts too?

Some one mentioned  Zoomer. In my opinion it is a big fallacy that Zoomer products are less costly  and cater to seniors. I haven’t seen it!!!! Zoomer is a money maker for the owners.  Would you be trying 711, Petro Canada , FIdo or Chtr. Or see if you can  get a deal at Costco for Rogers. 

Are you ok with their track record for outages....not huge but inconvenient. 

[dust2dust]

@Timer- 1. I tend to lean more towards the idea of replacing the sim as a lazy way out rather than fixing the problem. And how could some services work and others not. I'm still in a current problem that has been taking weeks. No one has suggested replacing two sims I had in the phone. Why are both being a problem. But this is all my problem. Not the OP.

2. I don't know how to read this.

3. But it used to.

Do you imagine nobody else that they know tried to get Telus to fix the problem? Themselves included.

The flattery is nice but I'm not sure to what end. I'm no expert here. That's sheytoon.

[Timer]

@dust2dust 

3 things about your Q. 1. maybe the SIM card defective but is still working and i have this issue for long time ago and one of IT Tech with PM found out.
2. maybe Towers issue it's a device probably happen.

3. device phone not support with frequency bands to Towers.

but if that area no one report to carrier to send some IT Tech to fix it.

and your your experience with Technology is more than me been years and years really. chill.

[softech]

---

@Timer wrote:

@computergeek541 

ok..

then the frequency bands, depends on device what has support. between Towers Telus or Bell.

the big deal it's the phone device... right.

---

@Timer   how you come to the conclusion that it is problem with the "phone device" and not towers?

[dust2dust]

@Timer- I think it's the continuing background mucking around with their network that is affecting customers. The phone was fine some time before. Antenna? Maybe. Not likely as they report others moving away from Telus.

[Timer]

@computergeek541 

ok..

then the frequency bands, depends on device what has support. between Towers Telus or Bell.

the big deal it's the phone device... right.

[dust2dust]

@Timer- What does data speed have to do with the problem of calls dropping and poor reception?

[computergeek541]

@Timer

Sites showing maps of tower locations are sometimes based on crowd sourced information and can contain duplicates.  Also, your comment about all Telus towers supporting those frequencies isn't accurate.  A "tower" can support any combination of frequencies and network types that the carrier uses. This means that some can be LTE-only and that some towers will only have one or some of the frequencies.

[softech]

---

@Timer wrote:

@umnikke8 @Bigbear50 

No way,, all Telus Towers will working on frequency bands,  depends on your device what has support.

@Timer   , 

@umnikke8  was correct, not all  Telus/Belll network towers are the same.

[Timer]

@umnikke8 @Bigbear50 

No way,, all Telus Towers will working on frequency bands,  depends on your device what has support.

Plans with 3G speed may reach download speeds of up to 3 Mbps, and plans with 4G speed may reach download speeds up to 100 Mbps, with the coverage and reliability of the LTE network. Speed and signal strength may vary with your device, configuration, Internet traffic, environmental conditions, applicable network management and other factors.

[umnikke8]

@Timer not all towers are equal. Many of the Telus towers showing in that area appear to be very short range, perhaps even personal sites.

[Timer]

@Bigbear50 

i understand, but there showing Telus has 13 Towers should be very good service. somethign wrong please check your full address at above link.. and how many Towers it's showing for Telus or Bell because both company use same Towers.

and did tried your SIM card with other device.

[Bigbear50]

Sure did, but thank you for mentioning it.  Also, it is not just me.  

[Timer]

@Bigbear50 

at  cellular towers map

in your area showing for  Telus has 13 Towers and rogers has 3.
maybe your issue with device setting do you check it out before you port out?

[esjliv]

Too bad @Bigbear50 . But sounds like you found something you are happy with. Good luck to you!

[Outdoorsman]

@Bigbear50 hi can't say I blame you if alot of people in your area are having the same issue it should have been fixed by now  good luck!!

[saadh]

Is it Zoomer Wireless you are going for? And may I ask what your total monthly cost with the new phone will be?