SECURITY OF SERVICE

[Luddite]

En français ci-dessous.

Given the glitches some have had with service disruptions from billing/porting/etc issues I had the following musings (or perhaps amusings?), all assuming the phone itself is not to blame for the problem, and you are not trying to deal with power outages.

A. MUST HAVE 100% UPTIME: If you are in this situation, my research indicates you will need, sad to say, your local landline (not cable) service. I understand it is by far the most dependable, plus if you use a line powered phone (one that does not need to be plugged into power) you will have service even during most power outages. The exception to this is for homes that have fibre optic service right into the home (FTTH). You should confirm it, but most FTTH installations have a battery backup to provide a few hours of line powered phone service.

B. It's ok to be down BUT ONLY hour, or two: You'll need a back up of some kind. If you have access to the Internet the easiest is a VOIP app for your phone; as I have posted elsewhere I like fongo.com because it provides free service to most of Canada and provides a phone number for incoming calls. Alternatively, you could use another cell phone provider; for optimum redundancy something on the Rogers network (I know we hate them BUT they have good national coverage and use different towers from Bell/Telus), or a provincial specific provider. If you have an unlocked phone, you only to need to swap the SIM card.

C. I can live a couple of days days without my phone: Lucky you! But seriously how many of us are really in category A or B. There are neighbours, friends, pay phones. Anyway, it appears that PM has you covered – have yet to learn of a longer outage.

Of course, if your phone is dead run out to the nearest store that has compatible phones (check postings on the Community if in doubt), swap out your SIM, and you're good to go.

Have a great day. 🙂

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Désolé, je dois Google traduit.

Compte tenu des pépins certains ont eu des interruptions de service à partir des questions de facturation / portage / etc J'ai eu les réflexions suivantes (ou peut-être amusings?). Tout en supposant que le téléphone lui-même est pas à blâmer pour le problème, et vous n'êtes pas en train de faire face à la puissance pannes.
 
A. DOIT AVOIR 100% uptime: Si vous êtes dans cette situation, ma recherche indique que vous aurez besoin, triste à dire, service fixe local (pas de câble). Je comprends qu'il est de loin le plus fiable, plus si vous utilisez un téléphone alimenté par ligne (celui qui n'a pas besoin d'être branché au pouvoir), vous aurez le service même pendant la plupart des pannes de courant. L'exception à cela est pour les maisons qui ont le service de fibre optique dans la maison (FTTH). Vous devriez le confirmer, mais la plupart des installations FTTH ont une batterie de secours pour fournir quelques heures de service téléphonique alimenté en ligne.
 
B. Il est autorisé à être en panne MAIS SEULEMENT heure ou deux: Vous aurez besoin d'une sauvegarde d'une certaine sorte. Si vous avez accès à Internet le plus facile est une application VOIP pour votre téléphone; comme je l'ai posté ailleurs j'aime fongo.com parce qu'il propose un service gratuit à la plupart du Canada et fournit un numéro de téléphone pour les appels entrants. Sinon, vous pouvez utiliser un autre fournisseur de téléphone cellulaire; pour la redondance optimale quelque chose sur le réseau de Rogers (je sais que nous les haïr, mais ils ont une bonne couverture nationale et d'utiliser des tours différents de Bell / Telus), ou d'un fournisseur spécifique provincial. Si vous avez un téléphone débloqué, vous ne avoir besoin d'échanger la carte SIM.
 
C. Je peux vivre quelques jours de jours sans mon téléphone: Lucky you! Mais sérieusement combien d'entre nous sont vraiment dans la catégorie A ou B. Il y a des voisins, des amis, des téléphones payants. Quoi qu'il en soit, il semble que PM vous a couvert - ont encore à apprendre d'une panne plus.
 
Bien sûr, si votre téléphone est tenu mort au magasin le plus proche qui a des téléphones compatibles (contrôle des affichages sur la Communauté si dans le doute), échanger sur votre carte SIM, et vous êtes bon pour aller.
 
Passez une bonne journée. 🙂

[Luddite]

Thanks @kav2001c.

[kav2001c]

For true emergency service you can always dial 911 from a cell phone

Regardless of whether you actually paid your bill or not

I would argue most people do not NEED 100% uptime, they just WANT 100% uptime

Oh & @Luddite hey the west coast people do not have access to a Bell landline usually 

[computergeek541]

---

@will13am wrote:

The ubiquitous landline from bell is still the gold standard for quality of service.  However, cellular service has become a close second to the point that I personally see little risk is replacing the landline with cell service.

---

Bell landline being the standard for reliable service may be true as a whole.  However, in my case, my cell phones have always been much more reliable (at least at home) than my Bell landline. My Bell home phone has been down a bunch of times over the years (due to bad outside wiring), so much so that even a Wind Mobile line that I had before had less downtime at that location.

Where I have noticed more failtures in service on cell phones compared to Bell landline would be in cases of severe weather.

[will13am]

The ubiquitous landline from bell is still the gold standard for quality of service.  However, cellular service has become a close second to the point that I personally see little risk is replacing the landline with cell service.  Since replacing the bell line with wireless home phones almost 5 years ago, I have never suffered any service disruption, not even for a minute.  I have a good UPS in addition to the backup battery on the cell unit to ride out most power outages.  

[youbme · Accepted solution]

I realise this thread is a few months old, but after @Luddite linked it in another thread I felt it important to "resurrect" it. I find it concerning how many of us rely on cellular service as a certainty for communication. Yes, most providers are quite reliable (I've never had any issues with PM coverage or service, nor issues with Virgin Mobile, SpeakOut Wireless or even AT&T down south). However, I've certainly found myself in places with limited or no service, run out of battery, and the often-ignored power outages (anyone remember the '98 ice storm?).

A good portion of Canada still lives in rural areas - myself included for the past couple years. I've quickly learned that a power outage can last for days, and generators can only provide for so long with limited output (unless you have the money for industrial grade, inline backups).

Aside from natural causes, I've always viewed my mobile device as a backup itself - first in line for emergency, but not the only option. We use our landline for the majority of our calls - thanks to TekSavvy, we only pay $28 (includes taxes) a month. Skype-to-go numbers to be able to call long distance via phone instead of internet (which can also be unreliable where we live - esp power outages).

So considering PM is still in Beta, I entered into this service knowing that I may need to do more troubleshooting than usual - fortunately that has not happened for me, but I have certainly seen issues on the forum.

Also, in the few months I've been here, things have gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better in terms of 1) fewer issues posted in the community, 2) much faster response times from community managers, and 3) improved self-serve experience (still needs work, but better than before).  The way I see it, with the type of community we have here and the philosophy that PM is expressing, things should continue to improve for the foreseeable future.

[Luddite]

I use VOIP from an iPod and the only complaint I get, sometimes, is the lack of full duplex. The way satellite calls to Australia can be and one must wait for one's turn before speaking. Not necessarily a bad way of communicatiing! 🙂

I await further comments, but nothing suggests old landline service (affectionately MaBell) is LESS dependable than cell. 

Do you have a honking great battery in case of power outages, or take them as a sign its time for a connection vacation?

[hunnybunny]

The only service disruption that i know of was last week and ever thing was up in running within a few hours. It was more up and down service and wasnt completely down at this time. Usually planned ones are annouced by pm early. This one wasnt and really out of the 5 years of being with the telus/koodo/pm families i have to admit thats not bad at all :).I wouldnt go with a bell phone now a days even if they paid me as well as voip but that last one is my own opinion lol

[Luddite]

Nor I; for the last 3 years both while on Telus and PM nary a problem with connections unless it was widespread and affected Bell and Telus.

[makkahn28]

That's True

I Must be Honest: So far, I haven't had any Disruptions at all, No Dropped Calls, or Any serious issues yet

Maybe I was Lucky

Picked an Awesome and Excellent Carrier, at the Right Time

I feel so Lucky

[Luddite]

Service disruptions have annoyed some users lately. Thought more info might be helpful. But hey, no one asked for it, so they can ignore it. Whatever floats their boat.

Alternatively, maybe some folks have other ideas on how to maintain phone service if PM is down sometimes, either them alone or us all.

[makkahn28]

????

What's with that message?