Community

svendiet · ‎08-25-2022

I used USA roaming twice this summer and I was not happy with the service. I regularly ie most of the time had no access to data. My route was I90 across New York state and in New England. Unless it improves k will not buy again. I will have to get a USA SIM card. Why is it so bad??

Kristowhy · ‎08-27-2022

@svendiet wrote:
That about sums it up. The data only sim was Sim2Roam bought on Amazon. Worked great with att. The PM roaming did not have phone service or data at same location when switched out.

Great, thanks for confirming @svendiet ! I assume this was all 4G/LTE network coverage?

So basically we have confirmed AT&T service coverage in those areas but PM SIM is essentially "dead" and not working when it should. Seems to me like prepaid roaming is broken for both Koodo and PM. 😐

svendiet · ‎08-26-2022

That about sums it up. The data only sim was Sim2Roam bought on Amazon. Worked great with att. The PM roaming did not have phone service or data at same location when switched out.

Kristowhy · ‎08-26-2022

@will13am wrote:
I think there might be issues with the Telus interface with the roaming partners. That is why I brought it up. This might be a relatively current problem. I do follow this forum quite regularly and in recent times, the number of complaints about US roaming performance has spiked. They must have done something recently that broke roaming.

Yes I have noticed a lot of complaints and issues here with US roaming over the past few months. It sounds like Telus needs to investigate this in more depth. Can you or anyone of the Oracles pass this along internally?

darlicious · ‎08-26-2022

That's starting to make a lot of sense. I'm trying to remember if only AT&T was being used by....

@mellondon when he was reporting issues or if he had tried T-Mobile at all? But I would say these issues with AT&T started around mid-june whereas T-Mobile seems unaffected. And some customers have said Shaw for example was able to connect no problem to AT&T and since all other providers use AT&T as a roaming partner in the US it seems like it might be just affecting telus, koodo and public mobile customers?

dust2dust · ‎08-26-2022

I would agree with these observations. I too wonder if the roaming agreements have been canceled after the 3G shutdown. Maybe AT&T has said see ya later...talk to us when you've caught up with us. We see this in Alaska in particular. AT&T is available. If even just texting and data. Not for us.

will13am · ‎08-26-2022

@Kristowhy wrote:
@will13am wrote:
That does not explain the poor performance. Data is on LTE. The only function that could be impacted is calling which is now only possible on T-Mobile 2G. I am wondering if there is some kind of problem with provisioning the roaming on the partner networks.
I think you may be onto something here @will13am

I just read about a user in the Koodo prepaid forum and your post immediately raised a flag. Check out the verbiage below. And much to my surprise, Koodo supports eSIM for both prepaid and postpaid accounts. If this Koodo user was able to use a local US AT&T SIM without issues in Alaska but then had NO service with Koodo, that seems to be a problem since he should be able to atleast get mobile data.

"I am on Koodo prepaid, and I have US roaming (data, voice, and texts) addons purchased and activated.
I am in Alaska (Anchorage) and my phone is not connecting to any network
(AT&T is available, but says can’t connect)
Phone is a Pixel 3A, with eSim card
Please help!"

I went into an AT&T store, and they tried one of their sim cards in my phone, and it worked, so it's not the phone itself. (the guy at AT&T didn't provide any help other than that).

I've tried rebooting my phone, disable and re-enabling the e-sim, and reset the apn's to default."

I think there might be issues with the Telus interface with the roaming partners. That is why I brought it up. This might be a relatively current problem. I do follow this forum quite regularly and in recent times, the number of complaints about US roaming performance has spiked. They must have done something recently that broke roaming.

Kristowhy · ‎08-26-2022

@will13am wrote:
That does not explain the poor performance. Data is on LTE. The only function that could be impacted is calling which is now only possible on T-Mobile 2G. I am wondering if there is some kind of problem with provisioning the roaming on the partner networks.

I think you may be onto something here @will13am

I just read about a user in the Koodo prepaid forum and your post immediately raised a flag. Check out the verbiage below. And much to my surprise, Koodo supports eSIM for both prepaid and postpaid accounts. If this Koodo user was able to use a local US AT&T SIM without issues in Alaska but then had NO service with Koodo, that seems to be a problem since he should be able to atleast get mobile data.

"I am on Koodo prepaid, and I have US roaming (data, voice, and texts) addons purchased and activated.

I am in Alaska (Anchorage) and my phone is not connecting to any network

(AT&T is available, but says can’t connect)

Phone is a Pixel 3A, with eSim card

Please help!"

I went into an AT&T store, and they tried one of their sim cards in my phone, and it worked, so it's not the phone itself. (the guy at AT&T didn't provide any help other than that).

I've tried rebooting my phone, disable and re-enabling the e-sim, and reset the apn's to default."

Kristowhy · ‎08-26-2022

@svendiet wrote:
If their partner is att there should be no problem as the cottage I stay on the coast of Maine att is very good and the data only sim worked great on att. Something else I guess

You should get and use a US SIM until Telus gets VoLTE working for PM. It's not worth the frustration and hair loss IMHO. 😉

Just to clarify things here, you purchased a data-only US SIM (which one?) card and that worked perfectly on AT&T network, however, the PM SIM card which had US data roaming enabled/purchased was unable to connect to and use the AT&T network?

If you are getting good coverage with AT&T on a 3rd party SIM, your phone is fine and this seems to suggest that PM roaming is not working correctly or perhaps de-prioritization is happening as @will13am suggested earlier in this thread.

will13am · ‎08-25-2022

It just occurred to me, all roaming traffic is routed back through the home network. So this discussion can go down a completely different rabbit hole now.

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

Unlike Canada the possibility does exist that AT&T and or T-Mobile have put Public Mobile customers that are roaming on their network on a lower prioritization like they do for resellers in the US which they're allowed to do unlike in Canada.

Thus giving Public Mobile customers poor service than prior to the decommissioning of the 3G network because now all the customers are on the 4G LTE network because 5G is sharing the 4G LTE infrastructure and 3G customers were forced on to the 4G LTE network so there's a heck of a lot more traffic down there.

will13am · ‎08-25-2022

@Outdoorsman wrote:
@will13am well maybe I can explain like this,the last 10 years before I retired I worked for shared services Canada they did most of the IT for the government and when a service aggrement was in the last year of it's contract with a company,if a piece of equipment was on it's last leg it wasn't replaced very quickly which resulted in poor performance to whatever that piece was used for it happened enough that It was expected and that is what I think is happening here poor maintence ,now I worked for them as an electrician and I don't pretend to be an IT specialist but I did help solve my fair share of issues,anywho it's just my opinion

Are you suggesting that AT&T and T-Mobile put Public Mobile customers on network gear that is ready to fail? The network is the network. If we are roaming on these partner networks, we should in general be connecting to the same gear that their own customers access. We can be traffic shaped to death based on service agreements but that should have nothing to do with connectivity. No connection = no service.

Timer · ‎08-25-2022

@darlicious

your right, it's too expensive,, and also there too many apps can be getting to works by Wi-Fi for free and anywhere can found free Wi-Fi... but peoples want a easy to pay more.

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

@Outdoorsman

Oh I agree with you on that one. That's why I think no effort has been made to improve 3G service in Canada at least. Because I do believe Telus will be implementing VoLTE service sooner rather than later so why fix complaints about poor reception with the 3G network in certain areas of Canada when they're about to solve it by implementing VoLTE.

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

@Timer

Yes there are cheaper options for US service but for those who need to use their pm number or are only stateside for less than 7 or 10 days it's less hassle to just buy an add on.

For those with the $60 plan... At the time it was only $10 more for the US roaming portion of that plan even now it's still a bargain. Well the current $50 10 GB plan no longer has unlimited US calling but the $60 Canada US roaming plan has 8 and 1/2 GB of Canadian data and 2GB of US roaming data and unlimited calling to the US within the US and unlimited texting within the US for $10 more.

Nobody offers a plan like that the big three only want to offer gigantic 50 GB plans that most people don't even come close to using. It's all about the ARPU as the big three try to pull the wool over the statistician's eyes.

Timer · ‎08-25-2022

Hi @darlicious

it's too expensive,, other option get from amazon for USA Prepaid Sim Card very cheap price,

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

@Timer

Other than fizz and ICE mobile pm is the only prepaid provider offering US Roaming and fizz offers their US Roaming without any voice services. They also have an obligation to offer service to customers with the $60 Canada/US Roaming plan. While it is problematic for the price it's still very reasonable given your only other option is a minimum of $110/month or $12/day on top of your monthly plan amount. Only videotron caps roaming at $100/month.

Recent reception issues aside....?

Outdoorsman · ‎08-25-2022

@will13am well maybe I can explain like this,the last 10 years before I retired I worked for shared services Canada they did most of the IT for the government and when a service aggrement was in the last year of it's contract with a company,if a piece of equipment was on it's last leg it wasn't replaced very quickly which resulted in poor performance to whatever that piece was used for it happened enough that It was expected and that is what I think is happening here poor maintence ,now I worked for them as an electrician and I don't pretend to be an IT specialist but I did help solve my fair share of issues,anywho it's just my opinion

Timer · ‎08-25-2022

Hi @darlicious

i don't know if there everyday reporting complain about U.S Roaming Add-ons, so why PM not bring VoLTE, or shutdown until bring VoLTE..

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

@svendiet

Your mobile network setting was 4G/3G/2G (autoconnect)?

svendiet · ‎08-25-2022

I tried both.

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

I would have to say the majority of recent complaints have been with connecting to AT&T.

Edit:

T-Mobile's 4G LTE coverage on the eastern seaboard is much more comprehensive than AT&t's.

@svendiet

Do you have AT&T manually selected or are you relying on the automatic selection setting in your phone?

Timer · ‎08-25-2022

@svendiet

my be a chance to get some credit back for those Add-ons has a issue not working and then can be check in your account if it's not used then will getting credit to be apply to your account to use for next cycle payment.

contact support team by CS_Agent

will13am · ‎08-25-2022

@Outdoorsman wrote:
@will13am yes you are right about the data it shouldn't effect service I just wonder how it all effects the service agreements they had with their partners AT&T and T-MOBILE

I don't see how shutting down the 3G network should have any effect on service agreements as far as data is concerned. There might be a technical problem in the background somewhere. If you look through the community posts, the complaints about roaming performance was very recent. The complaints were actually calling focused. Personally I had issues with connecting to AT&T.

darlicious · ‎08-25-2022

@svendiet

We had a regular complain that his reception in upper New York state, Michigan and Pennsylvania was terrible whereas other states have been reported to be barely affected by the shutdown. Check the linked map in this post for the LTE and 2G network coverage in your area in the US.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/US-Roaming-Add-ons-Decommissioning-of-US-...

svendiet · ‎08-25-2022

If their partner is att there should be no problem as the cottage I stay on the coast of Maine att is very good and the data only sim worked great on att. Something else I guess

svendiet · ‎08-25-2022

I purchased one in early July and another in mid August. In July I actually purchased a data only SIM card that connected to att and just used that most of the time. It was really good for 25$.

Outdoorsman · ‎08-25-2022

@will13am yes you are right about the data it shouldn't effect service I just wonder how it all effects the service agreements they had with their partners AT&T and T-MOBILE

will13am · ‎08-25-2022

@Outdoorsman wrote:
@svendiet hi it is mainly because of the 3g shutdown in the US I would suggest a US sim card next time, if you want to try for a refund

you need the help of a service rep
There are two ways to contact a customer service agent , open a ticket through Simon here https://publicmobile.ca
Or private message them here
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user

That does not explain the poor performance. Data is on LTE. The only function that could be impacted is calling which is now only possible on T-Mobile 2G. I am wondering if there is some kind of problem with provisioning the roaming on the partner networks.

Timer · ‎08-25-2022

@svendiet

when you did purchase it those Add-ons.

svendiet · ‎08-25-2022

I had heard this about the 3G. It’s too bad because here my phone is mostly on lte