USA Add Ons - 4G Coverage?

[MB01]

Hello Community: Last year I went to the USA with an add on based on my 3G plan, and coverage was very poor. Public Mobile does advise that 3G is becoming unsupported in the USA, so this is fair.

What I want to check with the community is that if I upgrade to a 4G plan, will the USA add ons actually work?  They are based on AT&T and T-Mobile, so it should be very good. However, I want to check before I do this.

It is very unfortunate that Public Mobile does not support e-SIM. Last year my work around was to buy a Google Fi SIM in the USA, which worked very well, but you need an actual US address to register.

[MB01]

Makes sense what you say. I"ll dig around a little, but Ubigi sounds good as my trips to the US are annual one-offs, so its not so crucial to nail the single best dollar value.  Every few years I go international, and other plans may be worth investigating then.  I haven't been migrated to VoLTE yet, so my fingers are crossed it will come soon. I really appreciate your comments  - thanks.  It makes PM overall much better for me now that I understand this work-around for travel.

[DennyCrane]

I've never looked into Keepgo, but I'll do that. Mint was another option, but they only offered 3 month plans that were a bit more expensive. I started off buying monthly plans as needed from Ubigi, but now I actually buy an annual plan which is $68 USD and gets me 2GB per month. I like this because I live 10 minutes from the US border and make frequent day trips throughout the year, and this way i get US data for under $6/month USD. And then I usually do a couple long trips to California per year, and this covers me for that as well. 

I don't need my secondary provider for phone/text services, because I require continuity of having my regular phone number for those services. Up until my last long trip in November this worked great, but as of November I wasn't able to make phone calls roaming via PM because in California they had turned down their 3G network which was needed for phone calls. PM is now moving to VoLTE (and I've personally been migrated), so for my next trip I'll be able to rely on PM's roaming for phone calls as I'll be able to make calls over LTE, which is a huge win for me. 

[MB01]

That's awesome and helpful and now I understand much better (and thanks other responders trying to make that point). I totally missed the point on PM's  eSIM limitation.

Any reason you went Ubigi vs others like Keepgo?

[DennyCrane · Accepted solution]

If your phone has esim, think of if as a dual sim phone. You'd use the physical sim slot to access the Public Mobile network (and their associated roaming partners), and then you can use the eSim "slot" to access whatever secondary network you want.

When they say PM isn't compatible with eSim, they just mean that you can't get a Public Mobile eSim. There's nothing stopping you from getting an eSim from another provider to work in tandem with your Public Mobile physical sim. 

Just note that you have to set which sim you want Calls, Texts, and Data using. While you can change them on the fly, you can't have more than one sim set to a single service (Calls, Texts, Data) at a time. Like i said, i leave calls and texts on my PM sim, and the i set data to use my Ubigi eSim.

[MB01]

DennyCrane - just to ask further on you point: Somewhere in PM info I read that PM does not support eSIM, which I took at face value. Am I to understand that if you use a data only eSIM, such as your suggested Ubigi or another respondents suggestion of Keepgo, then PM will in fact work in tandem?  Thanks. Just want to make sure before I sign up that it will actually work! That would be a great solution for travel into US; and I guess elsewhere you can do that too, but with VoIP apps to cover text/voice needs since PM does not have an international Add On.

Thanks for your and everyone's help. This has been very informative for me.

[BKNS27]

@MB01 

I personal use the TextNow SIM for $0.99usd and connect to T-Mobile in 4G/LTE and 5G while I am in the USA.

[MB01]

Good tip thanks re esim thans. I will look into that. Another person commented on that too, so I need to educate myself on that option. I'm glad to hear you had a better experience than I did on roaming data. Maybe I just need to trust it and it will will be better next time! But I'll definitely check into the esim from secondary providor.

[MB01]

Yes thanks, that is true and a good suggestion - to down load maps. It works to a point. But you can't, for example, make queries - such as looking for or booking campsites, etc. It should not be this hard. It should just work because you paid for the coverage.  Google FI relies on the same network of AT&T & T Mobile. I guess that is what you sign up for with PM. Works great the rest of the time (in Canada).

[DennyCrane]

That's interesting because I've roamed along the west coast USA with both Telus and now Public Mobile (same network) for decades without issue. When i was with Telus i drove all the way down to southern Oregon and didn't notice many service gaps. Since being on PM I've primarily used roaming services in southern California without issue, but i don't know about Washington/Oregon. Maybe PM's roaming agreements are more limited than Telus', though that would seem odd to me as it's just a brand. 

Regarding e-sim you can get an esim plan from a secondary prepaid provider when roaming. I personally use Ubigi's esim for US data, and then PM roaming for calls and texts. 

[dust2dust]

For your future travels, using google maps, you can download map areas while on the internet somehow and then use them offline while not connected to anything. Turn on location services (GPS) and it will show you where you are on that offline map and move along with you. If you don't need a voice telling you to turn here and there with live directions or you don't care about live traffic updates then ... can you read a map? You can zoom in and out, you can rotate the map, you can get the same points of interest like restaurants etc in the area. Obviously only limited information if you click on one.

[MB01]

Yes thanks for that. I realize E-sim is unrelated to my problem.  It's only a side comment in case PM reads these threads.  It is an unfortunate restriction by PM because with it you could more easily travel & switch to another provider quickly & retain your number (like in Europe this is very easy). And yes, it is a stated PM restriction to not allow esim. I have not actually tried it because of this -  only physical SIMs, which work great but change your number. 

As far as data, it was NOT my experience that data worked when roaming. To put it bluntly, it was garbage on a road trip down the west coast of the USA. I literally almost never had it roadside.  I needed access to maps and so I broke down and got Google FI on a physical SIM that I bought at a Target, and it was magic (but you need a US address to register a SIM card, unlike most anywhere else in the world). It worked astonishingly well - I literally never again had limited service. Including on remote roads all the way back up the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Just my experience.

I appreciate everyone's input. Not sure I have a solution other than to try it again & trust PM may work this time. Seems like upgrading to a PM 4G plan will not change my chances.

[DennyCrane]

esim has zero relevance to your probem

If you can make calls on 4G/LTE (VoLTE) at home (some of us can now), then you'll be able to make calls with a roaming add on. Data and text always worked when roaming (with an add on).

[softech]

@BentoB you are lucky!!

if you ever test your roaming, let us know if VoLTE works on roaming on T-Mobile and AT&T 

[BentoB]

Thanks @softech!

I just joined PM yesterday. lol

I do believe VoLTE is enabled on my Pixel phone automatically as per the June 2022 software update:

https://9to5google.com/2022/08/23/google-pixel-volte-roaming-update/

[softech]

@BentoB

 do you currently has VoLTE ?  If you just joined in the last 2 or 3 weeks, the system could have enabled VoLTE for you already.   

Enable it on your phone and check.  If VoLTE works, then you can use VoLTE on your US roaming as well , which would help a lot and likely less trouble 

[MB01]

Ok thank you. That clarifies it better. I did not realize the 3G/US network note by Public Mobile was voice only - which it sounds like VoLTE will eventually fix.  However, I did have really bad reception (for data). Others I travelled with who had regular (ie. full feature) plans, had no issues. When I bought a Google Fi physical SIM, suddenly I too had great connectivity (again data). I would have thought that since Public Mobile is teamed with T-Mobile & AT&T, coverage should not be an issue since they are large carriers.

[BentoB]

Darn, I just switched to PM to make use of the USA addon, plus other things. I suppose service should be less spotty in metropolitan areas (e.g. downtown seattle, san fran, etc.)?

[MB01]

Thank you for this good suggestion. I'll look into it!

[dust2dust]

Again, the 3G here is UMTS for talk. That is what is no longer available in the states. The 3G speed is simply the data speed when on LTE. Your service is most certainly on LTE. It only drops to UMTS 3G when calling.

For roaming, on T-Mobile, as so far known, talk needs to use their old 2G because their 3G UMTS is no longer operating. But text and data will work fine on LTE.

Adding - volte IS data on LTE. We haven't heard yet whether those that have volte here have roamed yet and whether they use volte and whether they might also use AT&T in addition to the current T-Mobile.

[MB01]

Thank you for your comments. I posted a reply about the 3/4G thing also made by another person. Hopefully that clarifies why I'm asking.

Also, several people have commented on VoLTE - thank you everyone who posted that. Helpful. Does not cover data though, so I'm still trying to solve that problem.

[MB01]

Thank you for your comment re: 3G & 4G.  What I am referring to is this note by Public Mobile (please see below). Since I travelled to the US last year after this date, I assumed my extremely spotty connectivity was due to the fact I had 3G (I realize this is an artificially throttled to 3G plan). What I am wondering is that because of the note below from public mobile, if I upgrade to a Public Mobile 4G plan, will my US connectively be better?

"Important: Important: As of February 22nd, 2022, United States (U.S.) carriers have started turning down certain 3G/HSPA networks. As a result, customers using U.S. roaming add-ons will be impacted by differences in coverage or service quality (including 9-1-1 calls) when roaming in the U.S. Customers may also experience changes to services such as welcome messages, voicemail notifications, usage notifications for voice, notifications when trying to make an international call, interactive voice responses (IVR), as well as the ability to set up voicemail while in the U.S. This shutdown will not impact your service in Canada."

[BKNS27]

@MB01 

IT doesn't matter if there is eSIM.  It is up to T-Mobile what is available on their system.

[computergeek541]

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@softech wrote:

@MB01 Google Fi support eSIM? if so, then PN uses physical sim and let others use the eSIM 

And look like VoLTE is now enabled on US roaming as of a help article this afternoon 

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VoLTE while roaming in the US has been available since February 22, but only if the Public Mobile account has VoLTE already enabled and if the device is VoLTE capable. As of now, only some accounts have the feature turned on.  VoLTE while roaming  won't function if the update to the specific account hasn't yet been made.

[softech]

@MB01 Google Fi support eSIM? if so, then PN uses physical sim and let others use the eSIM 

And look like VoLTE is now enabled on US roaming as of a help article this afternoon 

[Aiden]

You mentioned e-sim

does your phone support 2 sims? Either 1 psychical and 1 esim or 2 esim? 

what I have done is bought an esim from Keepgo using referral for bonus data

setup that esim as data only

signed up for a free Fongo number that I call forward my PM number to

so when I go to us, my Keepgo esim takes over and I use it to call/receive calls using the Fongo app and iMessage works as my txt (it doesn’t send/receive regular txt but that’s ok for my use cases)

just an alternative since Keepgo let’s you choose T-Mobile or ATT and if your phone also supports 5G you get those speeds too

[dust2dust]

The 3G or 4G information is about speed. You are almost certainly using 4G already just throttled speed.

We don't yet have new information about AT&T and VoLTE but T-Mobile still works as they have for a while. Data and text should be fine. Talk needs the old 2G network. Coverage is up to the roaming provider not Public. 2G is even less. Your phone needs to be able to switch down or also able to manually switch.

Until we hear more results about using VoLTE there.

[hTideGnow]

hi @MB01 

VoLTE roaming could have arrived: 

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte

add

How does VoLTE impact US Roaming?VoLTE Roaming services are now available in the US enabling Public Mobile customers to place and receive calls over the LTE network. If there is no VoLTE coverage or if customers don’t have a VoLTE-Roaming enabled device, customers will continue roaming on the 3G/HSPA network. 

[umnikke8]

Service will work in the US regardless of plan, somewhat spotty however. It will use whatever it can find of the 2G network for calling and use the 4G network for data. VoLTE has just started rolling out so you will soon be able to use that in the US as well. To reiterate, it doesn't matter if you have a "3G" or "4G" plan you use the same networks.