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kittychaos · ‎10-12-2019

My phone died and I'm trying to replace it with an unlocked American phone, but when I put in the Public SIM card for some reason it says I have no service? Why? I thought I just had to stick in the card and turn it back on and would be good to go?

srlawren · ‎10-24-2019

@kittychaos do you have the brand and model of phone handy?

I see that tracfone (which I wans't familiar with before just finding this thread now) is an MVNO in the US that has agreements with all of Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile, to provide "service using GSM, CDMA, HSPA+, and LTE on one of the top five U.S. networks (dependant on phone programming or SIM card)."

You phone might be a GSM-only or CDMA-only phone that happened to work fine with Tracfone since Trac has access to GSM networks (via AT&T and T-Mobile) and CDMA networks (via Sprint and Verizon). Public Mobile does not oeprate a network of either of those technologies; Rogers (Rogers, Fido, Chatr) operate a 2G GSM network that might be of use to you if your phone is a GSM model. Nobody in Canada operates a CDMA network anymore, so you'll be out of luck entirely with that phone if you have a CDMA model.

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GinYVR · ‎10-24-2019

@kittychaosIt does't work with Public Mobile since it doesn't receive the 3G bands required for voice.

For cheap phones look on redflagdeals forums for good deals on phones. However if you need a bit of hand holding, you do get you pay for when it comes to support. eg if you need help on Samsung or Apple phones you can always walk into their retail stores and get help right there.

kittychaos · ‎10-24-2019

The phone is unlocked.. it just doesn't seem to be recognizing the Public network. There doesn't seem to be a way to select a Carrier/Network in the settings; it shows "Network: Unknown" but I can't do anything with it.

I had been using the same sim card in another phone and it worked just fine for calls and texting, and this phone had been working just fine in the States with TracPhone.

Related question: anybody know of a cheap phone that would be similar to the J7 SkyPro? One that would definitely work on Public mobile? 😄

Korth · ‎10-13-2019

@cellphoneuser1 wrote:
@Korth wrote:
Galaxy J7 Sky Pro
Supports 2G GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (all incompatible with Public/Telus) , 4G LTE 700/850/1700/1900/2600 (all compatible with Public/Telus)
What are the 3g specs if any? If it doesn't have one of 850 or 1900 on 3g, it doesn't matter what LTE abilities it has because it wouldn't work in calls.

I don't know. I couldn't find hard specs online, only the site I linked and two others (all the same, and they might have copied each other). I don't know AT&T or Verizon freq/band requirements. And Public/Telus "3G" or "3.5G" is no longer technically precise terminology (because of how their 4G is back-compatible and throttled to simulate 3G).

So maybe the phone is 3G compatible, it's just not listed in these (marketing) specs. Or maybe it's incompatible.

It seems like the only ways to tell (without reverse-engineering the hardware, decompiling the firmware/software, or measuring with telcom network/spectrum instruments) is to simply try the phone with a known-working PM SIM card or to somehow obtain more complete specs. It's an American product so FCCID/OET lookups might find published specs in public domain (unless the manufacturer bribed "special permission to protect patented technologies and trade secrets" which keeps them private for a while).

cellphoneuser1 · ‎10-13-2019

@Korth wrote:
Galaxy J7 Sky Pro
Supports 2G GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (all incompatible with Public/Telus) , 4G LTE 700/850/1700/1900/2600 (all compatible with Public/Telus)

What are the 3g specs if any? If it doesn't have one of 850 or 1900 on 3g, it doesn't matter what LTE abilities it has because it wouldn't work in calls.

Korth · ‎10-13-2019

Galaxy J7 Sky Pro

Supports 2G GSM 850/900/1800/1900 (all incompatible with Public/Telus) , 4G LTE 700/850/1700/1900/2600 (all compatible with Public/Telus)

There are at least two variants of the device specific to AT&T and Verizon. And they might have preconfigured it to prefer or disable some frequencies which are used by Public/Telus - "hard reset" or "factory reset" should restore fresh OEM settings (and wipe all data on the phone, so backup or write down any call logs/contacts/notes/etc you want to keep) - you can even download and flash "clean" factory firmware for the device, although that's probably overkill and definitely too technical/involved to get into here unless it's necessary.

https://www.gsm-specs.com/specifications/samsung-galaxy-j7-sky-pro/

The phone could still be carrier-locked and/or region-locked. If so, an unlock can (probably) be obtained (free?) from the American carrier or purchased (cheap) on ebay. And I doubt that Canadian (CCTS/323118 CRTC) Wireless Code applies to devices purchased outside Canada, lol.

And it runs an Android 6.0 so maybe not as automagically self-configuring as newer Android devices. You may have to go into Settings and "Select Operator/Carrier/Network" ("Public Mobile" or "Auto") before it connects to service.

You can always activate service and get everything running in a different phone then transfer the SIM card into the American phone. This would allow you to rule out all issues with SIM card or PM account or network, confirm issues are only on device (hardware or software, compatibility or configuration).

GinYVR · ‎10-12-2019

@computergeek541One extra thought, I suppose if @kittychaos go to a provider with VoLTE eg Koodo, then the user would be able to use the LTE portion of the service (provided she got it unlocked).

computergeek541 · ‎10-12-2019

@GinYVR wrote:
@kittychaosAccording to Amazon https://www.amazon.com/TracFone-Samsung-Galaxy-Prepaid-Smartphone/dp/B071RR8NCG

More detailed Samsung specifications.

Your phone works on CDMA and locked to Tracfone as such.. it is not compatible with Public Mobile, since Telus had retired CDMA network.

Even if Telus still had a CDMA network, Canadian CDMA carriers did not allow devices with an ESN from a different carrier (or even a different brand owned by the same Canadian company) to be used with CDMA service.

GinYVR · ‎10-12-2019

@kittychaosAccording to Amazon https://www.amazon.com/TracFone-Samsung-Galaxy-Prepaid-Smartphone/dp/B071RR8NCG

More detailed Samsung specifications.

Your phone works on CDMA and locked to Tracfone as such.. it is not compatible with Public Mobile, since Telus had retired CDMA network.

computergeek541 · ‎10-12-2019

@Phreak wrote:
I am assuming you did not get a unknown sim error, so the phone is unlocked? It could be your apn settings are not correct/entered.

APN settings are not related to connecting to the cellular network. They are only needed for data use. If APN settings were wrong or not set at all, a compatible phone set to the correct network type selection settings would still connect to the network with calls and text messaging still working.

Phreak · ‎10-12-2019

I am assuming you did not get a unknown sim error, so the phone is unlocked? It could be your apn settings are not correct/entered.

You will need to input the following information:

Name: Public Mobile
APN: sp.mb.com
Proxy: Leave blank
Port: Leave blank
Username: Leave blank
Password: Leave blank
Server: Leave blank
MMSC: http://aliasredirect.net/proxy/mb/mmsc
MMSC proxy: 74.49.0.18
MMS port: 80
MCC: 302
MNC: 220
Authentication type: Leave blank
APN type: Leave blank

Step 3:

Select Save/Done. Select Public Mobile to connect to the Public Mobile network

popping · ‎10-12-2019

@kittychaos

Restart your phone with your new PM SIM card installed. Report result. Thanks

popping · ‎10-12-2019

@kittychaos wrote:
It's a Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro. The phone-checker thing on Public's website isn't working for me, so I'd appreciate it!

Your Samsung Galaxy J7 Sky Pro supports all PM 3G frequencies. Depending on where you are using your phone, you may not have LTE coverage with this phone.

https://www.frequencycheck.com/carrier-compatibility/PNDQh7/samsung-sm-j727a-galaxy-j7-sky-pro-lte-a...