Terrible Reception in Vaughan, Oakville, Toronto

[mprrs]

On a trip to Ontario and just super disappointed how bad the so-called LTE service performs. I can barely load a simple text web page (like this forum) and I have not exceeded any data limits.

Public Mobile should be better than this. Perhaps I should switch back to Rogers.

[gpixel]

it says "your internet connection is very slow" 🤣

[darlicious]

@gpixel 

I believe @sheytoon confirmed prioritization does not occur among the flanker brands of bell and telus. But I agree that 3mbps is the best you can expect from pm's throttled 4G LTE data speed as some recent speed tests have shown. It was to my understanding that throttled 4G LTE data speeds should be a consistent 3mbps which they obviously are not.

Throttled 4G LTE speed tests....since these numbers seemed suspect by speed test chosen I retested using ookla below.

These tests seem more reliable but were variable in their results.

Tested the 3G network as well....

And again 3 hours later....

The 3G speed later at night was all over the place but faster for the most part. 10mbps on average being the data speed previously tested as most common....in Vancouver at least. Unthrottled 4G LTE data speed tests previously ranged between 30mbps and 60mbps.

[gpixel]

I think in Ontario PM is prioritized the least as most towers there are bell. so it goes bell, Telus, Virgin, Koodo, lucky and then PM. if the tower is oversaturated they will kick you off to a further tower. I also agree that the 3g data speeds are 💩 and inconsistent. the providers need to at least offer 3g speeds which are around 7-12mb. the throttle isn't even a throttle. it's capped... meaning it will not sustain 3mb, but 3mb is the maximum speed with varying factors potentially causing the speed to become even slower. for customers who are data users, this provider can be very frustrating.. I remember being on the 3g speed and I would have to go in and out of airplane mode or turn off/on my data just re-establish a connection.

[DDM69]

Switching back to Rogers would be a great idea..faster speeds yes, but still a weak signal in certain areas, amazing surprise charges on your bill, wonderfully long wait times to talk to someone that rarely speaks English and you get to pay twice as much per month. 

[JL9]

Yeah this has definitely thrown a wrench into many in Ontario unfortunately 😕

[softech]

@mprrs   Please note that LTE here is capped at 3Mpbs.  You could have better speed if you change your Preferred network to 3G ONLY / WCDMA Only.

Also, you are just visiting Ontario, so, I guess the important thing is how good the connection you have at your home city.  Each provider does have some "bad" spot here and there.  Sometimes it is just temporary due to equipment failure.  Sometimes are more permanent because of the towers location.  Important thing is, pick one that has the best connection at your usual locations.  

[hairbag1]

Recent storms may have affected service in that part of Ontario, as suggested by @darlicious.

If you are just passing through....what is service like at home and on the road ? 

Before threatening to go back to Rogers...think about why you left 'em in the first place.

I'd suggest you consider your overall PM experience...not just a trip to Vaughn. I live in BC and when I travel to Ontario, I have no complaints about service there either.

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@mprrs 

Public mobile's data speed for the 4G LTE network is throttled to 3mbps. Rogers and fido's service is not but chatr's is throttled. If you switch to the 3G network the data speed averages 10mbps - 12mbps+ depending on network traffic. 

If you experienced very low network data speeds in the last 2 weeks in Ontario its important to understand the recent storm and tornadoes had a major impact on the cellular networks with both infastructure and exceptionally high customer usage volumes that may have impacted your services.

[computergeek541]

---

@mprrs wrote:

On a trip to Ontario and just super disappointed how bad the so-called LTE service performs. I can barely load a simple text web page (like this forum) and I have not exceeded any data limits.

Public Mobile should be better than this. Perhaps I should switch back to Rogers.

---

Whether you've exceeded your data limits isn't a factor here as data would stop working completely if you've used it all.  As for performance not being up to par, it's possible that there could have been some network maintanance.  in the past, I've also experienced issues with data constantly disconecting or being almost unusable.   These issues usually fix themselves if the cause of the slowdowns was because of adjustments being made to the network.