Short term sim plan wanted

[Snake]

Hi, Im comming from the UK for a holiday for a month and want a sim plan, last time I was in Canada I bought a pay as you go plan from rogers and was stunned at the cost,

I am used to being able to walk in to a phone shop in the uk and get a pay as you go sim for free if you buy a £10 topup with it, (hey you can even get a handset top up and sim for about £30 all inc).

back to the point. I have been doing a bit of home work before I get there this time, and public mobile seems about the best option at the moment, I will be traveling from BC to Toronto so I dont want to get hit by roaming charges again (wasn't expecting that last time when Im staying in the same country, I done even get hit with roaming when Im in europ) 

I will be traveling in a camper so I want a reasonable amount of data and calls dont really care about texts, I also want to be able to call home.

The plans all say 3G, How good is the coverage when you are out the the citys?

Unlimited Canada wide talk? does this mean no roaming charges?

Any input appreciated.

Thanks

Mark

[Gregmt]

Public Mobile has no zones or roaming charges in Canada. You can travel all across Canada and use just the same no matter what province you are in as long as you have Canada wide calling in the plan. Some of Public mobiles plans only include within province calling . So if you go with a plan  for$25 for example and get a BC phone number then you will only be able to call numbers in BC while you are in BC. If you go outside BC with this plan then to make calls you will need a long distance add-on. Right now for $40 you can get 6GB of data , unlimited Canada calling and unlimited international texting. Most stores, like Walmart will carry the SIM cards for Public Mobile and activate it free for you and they will have top up cards for the plan you choose. Also you will need to provide an unlocked phone yourself as Public Mobile does not sell phones. You can check on their website to see if your phone is compatible with their network .

Hope  this was helpful. Happy traveling 

Cheers .

[Anonymous]

 @Snake 

And DON'T set up a credit card or autopay with it. Although your foreign one would preclude that problem.

[smp99]

Also should point out - if you run out of data, you will not be charged extra for data overage - data will simply stop. Calling and text will continue until 30 days is up. You could go into your account and add a data add-on - up to you. Same for long distance - no extra surprise charges if you run out.

[computergeek541]

Many appear to be confusing roaming with long distance.  None of the "Big 3" companies in Canada (Bell, Rogers, and Telus) charge for roaming anywhere in the country, on any plan.

Some of the Big 3 sub-brands do, or have had out-of-zone charges for some plans, but that still isn't actually considered roaming because you are still connected to the same network even when outside the included zone.

However, without Canda-wide calling included,  there can be long distance charges.  

Carriers such as Freedom Mobile do have specific roaming charges on some plans because they don't have a network across the entire country.

At Public Mobile, there are never any extra charges.  If something you try to do isn't included with your plan, it just won't work.

If you sign up to a plan with Canada-wide calling, you'll be set to use the service anywhere that there is signal on the Telus network.

[Lieux]

@smp99 the add-on for 8$ 200 minutes doesn't have international calls..just Canada US...

[smp99]

Hi @Snake 

SInce you are only here for a month referral credits won't do you much good since those are applied against your 2nd month.

1 - Get a SIM - if you can get it ahead of time even better - PM only deliver to Canadian addresses, so maybe a friend. Even if they forward it to before you leave. Otherwise go to a store when you land - Walmart, WOW mobile, LondonDrugs. You can activate in store and be up and running before leaving store

2- Pick a plan

All of these 30 day plans include unlimited Cda Wide calling and unlimited text. The only variable is the amount of data. 

4.5GB - $40

6GB - $45

8GB - $50  (this also inlcudes calls to the USA while in Canada)

3 - Get a Long Distance add-on to call back to UK. 200minutes $8 or 400minutes $15. pick one.

You should get good data coverage across the entire country - maybe not some backwoods campground - but if anybody else gets coverage, so will you. There are no zones with Public mobile.

Free SIM - only if there is a promo going on when you arrive, otherwise $10. The free SIM promos are ususally on weekends, announced on Fridays. But only about once every 2 months.

Don't worry about 3G - it is LTE capped at 3mbs up/down, perfect for emails, GPS and general browsing. 

Any more questions - just ask

EDIT - When I started my response, there were no answers yet - 🙂

[Lieux]

For your call to UK @Snake you will need the add-on...

In Canada Long Distance Add-Ons6

Any unused minutes will roll over to your next cycle.

400 International Long Distance minutes

Included countries: Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.

$15

And you can use it until it finished...

[Luddite · Accepted solution]

@Snake  PM acepts only Canadian & US credit cards and will ship a SIM only to a Canadian address. To pay for service consider buying vouchers online at https://www.ding.com or https://www.recharge.com/en/canada/public-mobile-top-up

if you have noone in Canada available to receive a SIM and don't want the aggravation of trying to find a shop that sells them, send me a private message and I will mail a SIM to you.

On 3G vs LTE I have used both and been perfectly satisfied with 3G. Be sure you have an unlocked phone compatible with PM's network: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Getting-Started/ta-p/162

[steff12321]

That's right, you will not get hit by roaming anywhere in Canada, and as long as you have a Canada-wide talk plan you can call all over the country. 

Public Mobile is probably your best option as you can get the SIM card for about $10 at a retailer on your arrival and buy a one-month plan. 

Couldn't agree with you more, the prices here for wireless services is atrocious compared to Europe. But it's a big country and the distance between towers and population coverage per tower is much lower, so it's understandable. Also we have one of the fastest wireless networks in the world (apparently). 

[Thecrimson1919]

Hi @Snake 

Public Mobile is a part of Telus Mobility and uses their towers. They are one of the Big 3 in Canada and share towers with Bell Mobility...another of the Big 3. Together they make up the largest network in the Country. Canada is spread out so there are areas where coverage can be spotty but it really depends on where you are going. Between cities/towns usually have good coverage. In the mountains for example it can be spotty but still decent.

Public Mobile technically uses the 4G LTE network but throttles the speed to about 3MB/s which is 3G speeds. I can run netflix on it at 720P with no issues. I don't pay for HD but I suspect you may drop to 720 with the 3G speeds but that is still excellent.

I love PM so far. I live outside Calgary....60km out in another town and I can run spotify in between with no issues since its still Telus.

EDIT: I Missed the roaming part but it has been answered below. I just wanted to Mention that the Bell/Telus coverage together is much better than what you would get from Rogers. Basically because the two joined forces to share the Network...unfortunately this partnership and further collusion are what make service so expensive in Canada.