Testing in a 3g/4g area before switching

[lindamac43]

Okay smartypants on here.. Question for ya.

Friend lives in area of Nova Scotia that has 3g/4g coverage only. Also.. No Telus towers.  Telus/Public use Bell towers in NS as does the NS cable provider Eastlink.  She is currently with Eastlink.  Has no connectivity issue with Eastlink (Bell towers) BUT I said "hey you can save $20/month with Public." 

So she signed up for a plan and rec'd the physical SIM.  She popped it into a Galaxy Note 8 that I loaned her and is running both phones for a few days to see if any diff in connectivity. 

Note... In her home, just 2 bars signal strength. 

She is having MANY issues with the Galaxy/Public SIM. Calls that don't Ring thru at all.  Calls that just disconnect after, say, 10 mins or so. Calls where her voice just totally garbled the disappears.  

Needless to say, she is ready to just suck it up and stay with pricier service. Before she does that, however, thought I would check here. 

Thoughts? 

[lindamac43]

Wow!  She will be glad to hear that.  

[lindamac43]

I think you and RavingRaven nailed it.  I checked and Eastlink DOES have VOLTE SIM for iphone 6...which is why her iphone works just fine there.  And I don't see my old Note 8 on the Volte-supported list.  thank you both !!

[Phil_Adelphus · Accepted solution]

@lindamac43 VOLTE", why would her 6s work so well with current provider (our local cable co, Eastlink

Perhaps Eastlink enables VoLTE on the iPhone 6S (apparently it is capable) but PM only brought in VoLTE earlier last year and starts with the iPhone 8.  

[Phil_Adelphus]

@lindamac43  An iPhone 6S would not be VoLTE enabled so calls would be limited to 3G.  Perhaps there is no 3G service where you are?  Does your own phone work on VoLTE assuming it is new enough and provisioned for it by Public Mobile?   The USA has already done away with 3G and Canada is expected to follow suit so anyone without a VoLTE phone will eventually have issues in Canada too although hopefully that is at least a couple of years away.

[lindamac43]

It is an iphone 6s.    So, if neither that one nor the Note 8 has been "enabled for VOLTE", why would her 6s work so well with current provider (our local cable co, Eastlink)?

[lindamac43]

good morning!  it is an iphone 6S.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@RavingRaven   She should leave the PM Sim card in the iPhone to test and check that she remains on LTE during calls rather than dropping down to HSPA

The VoLTE thing was where I was going too but @lindamac43 said the sim is not working for calls at all in the iPhone, only texts.  Unless the iPhone is pre iPhone 8 it should be VoLTE capable. 

[RavingRaven]

@lindamac43 

This sounds like your friend is in an area with a weak 3G signal (HSPA). If the phone being used is not one Public Mobile has chosen to enable VOLTE for then she will have trouble sending and recieving calls. Testing with the Galaxy Note 8 (unbeknownst to you) was flawed as I doubt it's been enabled for VOLTE.

What model iPhone does she have? Public Mobile's VOLTE is supported most iPhones as long as it's not too old. She should leave the PM Sim card in the iPhone to test and check that she remains on LTE during calls rather than dropping down to HSPA. (WiFi has to be turned off.) This will confirm that VOLTE is working on her iPhone. She can try testing again.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@lindamac43   Since the sim isn't working properly in the other phone probably best to have her contact customer service if she wants to try and get it working, via private message here 

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

[lindamac43]

It is set at "GSM/HSPA/LTE".  There is nothing "higher" in the menu. 

I got her to put new SIM in her iPhone.  She restarted phone.  But all she could do was text.  Could not make or receive calls. 

[lindamac43]

Ineresting.  But, Eastlink get her to restart her phone when she has been away from home so that it will connect to the Bell tower for better connectivity.  I tried to get her to do that with the loaner phone but manually selecting a network was not an option...it kept defaulting to Public.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@lindamac43   Since she is running two phones I think, what happens if she switches sims?  Is the Note 8 set to 4G/LTE or 3G?

[Handy1]

@lindamac43  I’m in Nova Scotia and have been with both Telus bell Koodo and PM and there  is no difference I can get 5G service all through HRM and 4 G signal is strong in rural parts from Yarmouth to Chester and from Amherst to cape  breton . And all small towns in between such as pugwash new Glasgow pictou . You won’t be disappointed join PM and start saving right away and I promise you will never look back 

[computergeek541]

Eastlink doesn't use Bell towers, except when roaming.  Eastlink has their own network which would explain why the coverage is different than when Public Mobile is being used.