Upgraded my plan from 3G to LTE - my phone isn't changing over

[kathryncsms]

LTE is available in my city and I have tried rebooting my phone as well as removing and re-inserting my SIM card.

I went from a $25 plan to a $67 plan so that I will have LTE while I travel this month. After 2 days, my network hasn't changed over. 

How do I make this happen? For $67 I want LTE or I would like a refund but can't figure out how to actually problem solve this with Public. 

[sheytoon]

I can only speculate as to why they are offered. Telus has 3 tiers of brands: Telus, Koodo, Public Mobile. The higher tiers have full speed LTE, phone subsidies, physical retail presence, and call centre support. PM is designed to not steal too many customers from Telus and Koodo, while offering an alternative choice for those looking to save money.

They've marketed the plans as "3G" to offer a slower service. But Telus engineers don't want new customers on the actual 3G network. They prefer to have all customers using the more efficient LTE network. So the marketing team has a dilemma. In the end they decided they would continue calling it 3G, even though it's technically throttled LTE.

This introduces enough doubt in customers' minds about the quality of the network, so most people don't sign up with PM when they really should to save money. As you are discoving, the "3G" plans are good enough for almost everyone.

By the way, don't be confused with the term LTE+. This goes for you too, @geopublic. Both of PM's plans (3G and LTE) can utilize LTE+ equally.

If you're interested in technical details, LTE+ is just an indicator that refers to an active Carrier Aggregation scenario where more than 20 MHz of spectrum is being used by the phone. It's actually not a standard definition. Samsung started it and other phone manufacturers followed suit.

[kathryncsms]

@sheytoon Thank you for the clear explanation. In that case, why are both offered? And why is 3G (LTE+) offered so cheaply compared to the regular LTE if they are functionally the same? I admit my tech knowledge is casual at best and I am not overly familiar with how data is actually transmitted other than something about packets.

[sheytoon]

Hi @kathryncsms 

Although the throttled LTE is technically slower than normal LTE, in practical terms, 99% of data usage won't need the faster speeds and it won't be distinguishable by the user.

The throttled speeds (3 Mbps LTE) can play most videos, download photos, stream audio and support GPS navigation without any lag.

[kathryncsms]

@geopublic I have found that with slower network speeds the live updates for turns and such lag a lot. E.g. Google maps will still be counting down 60, 50, 40 m for a turn when in reality I have just passed by it. This makes travelling new places difficult and requires a lot of turning around and re-routing because my phone was too slow to update even while driving 50 km/h.

Maybe I am incorrect in thinking this is a network issue? 

Thank you for stating simply the LTE+ and LTE difference. I understand Public's organization now.

[geopublic]

@kathryncsms  Public Mobile for data uses LTE.

On 3G plans it's LTE+ (Throttled 3Mbps) and LTE plans  (Normal LTE speeds).

All 3G advertised plans use LTE+. That is enough spreed to run Google maps or similar with accurate results.

Judt curious, why do you think you need LTE to run maps? What map app are you using?

Also as others have mentioned it takes 48 hours to switch from LTE+ to LTE speeds one you change to an LTE plan.

[will13am]

@kathryncsms, it is a known behavior that when switching from 3G to full LTE speed plan or vice versa, the transition takes roughly 2 days.  If the condition persists, then you need to take it up with the moderator team to resolve. The moderator team can be reached via private message using this link.  Please include a detailed description of the issue and the required resolution. This will speed up problem resolution significantly. Refer to the following knowledge base link for additional information on contacting the moderator team.

[kathryncsms]

@sheytoon Can you explain why staying on a 3G plan while keeping LTE enabled won't be any different than having the build your own LTE plan please? The previous person said it is throttled at the 3G level... am I not removing this by upgrading to an LTE data plan?

[GinYVR]

@kathryncsmsAll users at Public Mobile with LTE enabled phones by default uses LTE throttled @ 3G speeds . You mentioned you are using 3G only in your first message, that means you didn't enabled LTE (you fixed that). If you have paid for the LTE plan with the Build your own plan, you should be getting unthrottled speed. However since lags has to do with network latency not speed, AND navigational software is not data hungry at all, you would not see significant difference EVEN if you use full speed LTE.

You broached the subject of false advertising.. If you look closely at Public Mobile's Plans.. I don't see any false advertising. In fact giving 3G speeds at LTE, lowers everyone's latencies.

[sheytoon]

Hi @kathryncsms 

All Public Mobile plans have access to the LTE network. The "3G" plans are using throttled LTE, while the "LTE" plans use full speed LTE.

I'd recommend you stay on a 3G plan and keep LTE enabled on your phone. It'll save you a lot of money and you won't notice any speed difference.

[GinYVR]

@kathryncsmsNo We all use LTE as default but at 3G speeds.. You mentioned initially you were using 3G only. If you get LTE via Build your own plan you are supposed to get full LTE speeds, AND IF you had enable LTE, that's what you have done after 1st message.

[kathryncsms]

@GinYVR The $67 plan I upgraded to isn't much cheaper than other companies. 

I don't understand what you're trying to say in your post other than to ridicule me with a lot of words and little helpful information. I am not on a 3G plan, I am on an LTE plan. I know 3G is slow. That's why I upgraded and increased my monthly cost by $40. I am surprised to learn that the LTE plan is throttled because they haven't advertised that anywhere. Instead, they advertise LTE on "Canada's fastest network" (Telus). My mistake for taking this to mean if I paid close to $70 I would get good quality speeds?

[GinYVR]

@kathryncsmsI don't know what you mean by "paying so much for better network".. Public is already one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) providers of data in the country. I am not sure where else can you get the service cheaper legally.

I don't know how you can't know it is throttled since all the plans with data "have so so so much data at 3G speeds". It is at 3G speeds but using LTE technology.

Getting full speed LTE will not be make much difference "accurate maps/driving directions that don't lag"

[kathryncsms]

@GinYVR Samsung A5 2017. Enabling LTE worked, thank you. Didn't know that they throttled LTE though... isn't that false advertising? Why am I paying so much for a better network I can't properly use? Kind of defeats the purpose of upgrading since I needed the faster speed for accurate maps/driving directions that don't lag.

This carrier confuses me so much.

[GinYVR]

@kathryncsmsWhat phone are you talking about? Have you enabled LTE on your phone? You do know Public Mobile typically runs on LTE network but throttled to 3Mbps right? Not just 3G unless your phone doesn't support Telus' LTE network or you manually force it to 3G mode.