Question About Switching Over (Niagara Falls)

[Fastforce]

Hi,

I recently bought a home about 10 minutes from the falls and therefor i'm pretty close to the U.S border.

I'm currently with Freedom which have absolutely no cell service here, and I've seen how good the pricing on the plans are on here. My questions were.

1. I would need to buyout my phones on Freedom. Would PM handle the transfer of my phone number to their service?

2. How reliable is the service in this part of Canada if any of the existing customers could chime in?

3. Services will stop if I exceed what's been offered on the plan I've selected?

4. Will I face issues of getting towers from the U.S that will cause me issues to make outgoing calls/texts?

I'm pretty sure my devices are compatible (Samsung Galaxy S8 & S10)

Thanks,

[Fastforce]

I noticed if you're super close to the falls and the areas where heavy foot traffic would occur, Freedom would have no issue.

I moved into a new build home that's about a 10 minute drive from the falls. Freedom hasn't extended their service here and don't seem to have any plans on doing so sadly.

[darlicious]

@Fastforce 

      Its unlikely either of your phones are locked as they were both released well after December 2017. Porting your number in from freedom upon activation should be simple and quick I wouldn't go the with a temporary number and then having to contact the moderators its just an unnecessary step. Be sure that your accounts are active with freedom, there is no porting protection lock on them and make sure you obtain the account numbers from freedom ahead of time.

      If you are on a postpaid account with a device subsidy then it's best to port your your number out (closing your freedom account) a day or two into your new monthly billing period. Your plan amount will be prorated but your device subsidy while prorated will count as an entire months device subsidy. (ie device subsidy $30p/m port day 2 you pay $2 but $30 comes off your remaining balance of your device.)

       Save your freedom sim cards they come in handy when entering the APN for certain other devices running Android 8 software  (not yours) but you can save a friend one day with them. The current promo ends june 26th expect another one after that....you will probably need to register the emails for the accounts you intend to open to qualify for the promotion. SIM cards are currently cheapest at Canadian Cellular Supplies averaging $3-$4 each and recieved via canada post in a week or less.

    As suggested if you don't have a referral code just ask for one via private message but once you activate your first line just use that accounts referral code for the second and so on.... Don't activate more than two accounts on the same day using the same credit card as more than two accounts going thru renewal and using autopay can trigger a credit card lock....just space them out by a day (or after midnight et)

       Unless you're on the $15 plan the only thing you may run out of is data but if you have a good idea of your current usage then just choose wisely (the $40/5gb plan perhaps?) Keep roaming off to avoid connecting to US towers but there are no overages to worry about. You'll be on the telus network with the most comprehensive coverage in Canada. Welcome to the community....if you have more questions just ask away were always happy to help!

[geopublic]

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@Fastforce wrote:

Hi,

I recently bought a home about 10 minutes from the falls and therefor i'm pretty close to the U.S border.

I'm currently with Freedom which have absolutely no cell service here, and I've seen how good the pricing on the plans are on here. My questions were.

1. I would need to buyout my phones on Freedom. Would PM handle the transfer of my phone number to their service?

@Fastforce Yes, your number will ported in during activation. You just need to provide the Freedom account number, name on the account and the Freedom phone number that you want to port in.

2. How reliable is the service in this part of Canada if any of the existing customers could chime in?

Public Mobile uses Telus and Bell towers to provide service so the coverage would be the same to what Telus and Bell provides in the area.

3. Services will stop if I exceed what's been offered on the plan I've selected?

Yes, service will just stop unless you purchase add-ons that will automatically kick in and stay on your account until all used up (no expiry).

4. Will I face issues of getting towers from the U.S that will cause me issues to make outgoing calls/texts?

No, all you have to do is to manually set your network from automatic to manual and select Public Mobile to avoid any issues.

I'm pretty sure my devices are compatible (Samsung Galaxy S8 & S10)

Yes, they are.

Thanks,

---

[Naepalm]

@Fastforce 

you can contact Freedom and give them your IME#

do this by dialling *#06# that will give the time for each phone. They will unlock them for you if they are locked. 

You can also call Samsung Canada and see if they can unlock them. 

https://www.samsung.com/ca/support/mobile-devices/galaxy-smartphone-how-to-enter-an-unlock-code/

[Fastforce]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.

How would I go about checking if my phones are unlocked?

[oglat]

Freedom had great service in Niagra falls, I lived looking at USA from my window (not on River Street but just off of it) nobody's phone worked except freedom in the house. Fido and Rogers was constantly 'roaming', koodo was ok, but freedom was best. We frequently forwarded to it until we got VoIP. If I didn't have tab, I would have switched to freedom that year.

Borrow someone's phone and test it 

If you are under metal roof no service will work on most of the house (only close to widows)

[gpixel]

@Fastforce hi 

• you can do the the transfers yourself, each account must have a separate email
• the service is very reliable, it works off of the Telus network
• public mobile is prepaid so once the data or min is used up that is it
• just turn off roaming
• yes your devices are compatible make sure they are unlocked

[Naepalm]

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@Fastforce wrote:

Hi,

I recently bought a home about 10 minutes from the falls and therefor i'm pretty close to the U.S border.

I'm currently with Freedom which have absolutely no cell service here, and I've seen how good the pricing on the plans are on here. My questions were.

1. I would need to buyout my phones on Freedom. Would PM handle the transfer of my phone number to their service?

They can handle it for you if you like, just activate with a Public Mobile number then once you ahve activated message the moderators through community here and ask to "port number over"

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

2. How reliable is the service in this part of Canada if any of the existing customers could chime in?

I visited NOTL recently and it works well, they run on Telus towers you will not ahve any service issues for dropped calls it is a much better provider then Freedom. 

3. Services will stop if I exceed what's been offered on the plan I've selected?

That is correct it is prepaid so you will not receive overages at any point if you want to add on a service mid plan you can do that through the overview page and go to add ons. Some times that is more cost effective tehn renewing your plan immediatley. 

4. Will I face issues of getting towers from the U.S that will cause me issues to make outgoing calls/texts?

You need to turn off roaming on your phone. I used to live in Niagara on teh lake and when we went to teh butterfly conservatory or the falls I would see the USA pop up. Just turn roaming off and you will be fine. 

I'm pretty sure my devices are compatible (Samsung Galaxy S8 & S10)

Yes 100% they are make sure you unlock them first. You will need ot provide you IME# to Freedom, But Both devices are made after 2017 so you may noteven need to do that much. 

Lastly make sure to get a referal code for your first device from someone here to save an extra 10.00. You can private message anyone that has helped you out.

Cheers

Thanks,

---

[gblackma]

@Fastforce 

1. You would have to port your number on activation. The S8 and 10 are compatible.
2. If you know someone with the Bell family, Telus or Koodo.  They all use the same towers. Heres a coverage map https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/coverage
3. Yes, there are no overages. It just stops.
4. Disable roaming on your phone.

Here's 4 articles on activation and porting and the Refer a friend reward  if you need them:

1. What you require to activate https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/what-you-need-to-activate
2.How to activate https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/activation-account-set-up
3.How to port https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/choose-your-phone-number
4. Refer a friend https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/the-refer-a-friend-reward

Welcome to PM.  Stay safe.