Question about new data plans

[John_Dobski]

Hi everyone,

Around two years ago I got the 90$ for 90 day plan with 1GB of data, which ends up something like 300 MB per month. Recently, I saw that I could change my plan to the same 90$ for 90 day with everything appearing to be the same but I would be getting 1.5GB of 3G data instead. At first, it seemed like an upgrade, but after reading some posts on this forum, it seems that everyone who got their plan before a certain date has LTE data. This means I would be downgrading my internet speed? Currently my phone is old and does not support LTE but I am looking to upgrade soon and would prefer higher speeds over slight increase in bandwith.

Is this true about the LTE vs 3G speeds on "grandfathered" plans and am I missing some other more subtle changes?

Thank you.

[srlawren]

@John_Dobski meaning the capped speed on the "3G" speed data plans is the same 2.5 Mbps speed for both uploading and downloading.  

[closng]

Hi @John_Dobski,

The speeds ranged from 20Mbps to 60Mbps, depending on location and phone based on the speedtest ran on my parent's phones with the plan, which should be consistent with any other Public Mobile plans with LTE speeds.

[John_Dobski]

Thank you for your reply, @srlawren. What do you mean by "in either direction"?

[John_Dobski]

Thank you for your reply. @closng. Do you know what are the LTE speeds?

[mimmo]

@srlawren. I only brought up the rewards because if they were not on a rewards elgable  plan, getting rewards  could have helped make the decision to switch.  But as mentioned above this is a loyalty plan so the point is mute.

[closng]

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@mimmo wrote:

@John_Dobski  I am not sure if your current plan is eligible for rewards or not. (not sure when the new reward plans came into effect)  if it is not then by upgrading you will get an additional $1 off for each year with PM, which means as of today you will get an additional $2 off based of you being with PM for 2 years. 

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To answer your question @mimmo, yes, that plan is eligible for rewards, as my parents have that plan and they do get both loyalty and referral rewards.

[srlawren]

@mimmo I don't know the exact date, but it was some time in January 2015; any plan obtained before that is a legacy/pioneer plan, while anything after that time is a pick-and-pay plan which is eligible for rewards.  That said, I don't think @John_Dobski was asking about rewards, but rather about data speeds and amounts.

[mimmo]

@John_Dobski  I am not sure if your current plan is eligible for rewards or not. (not sure when the new reward plans came into effect)  if it is not then by upgrading you will get an additional $1 off for each year with PM, which means as of today you will get an additional $2 off based of you being with PM for 2 years. 

[closng]

Thanks @will13am for clarifying and @srlawren for correcting me, I've updated my post to reflect this.

[srlawren]

@closng @will13am note that the upload speed on the "3G" data plans is also capped at 2.5Mbps, not 0.5Mbps.  It was 0.5 at first, but after enough of us complained, PM raised it to 2.5Mbps in either direction.

[will13am]

Some clarification is warranted here.  All the plans are LTE plans.  The 3G data speeds are LTE connectivity with speed capped at 2.5 Mbits/s download.  The difference is that all data plans enjoy the better latency offered by LTE. 

[closng · Accepted solution]

Hi @John_Dobski,

Yes, you are correct that your current grandfathered plan with 1GB data is at LTE speeds. The new $90 1.5GB plans are capped at 2.5Mbps down/up speeds. 

If you value faster speeds over the amount of data, then I would keep your current plan, especially since you will be upgrading your phone soon.