data coverage area on Vancouver Island

[thao]

Hi, I'm from Nanaimo, Vancouver Island. The coverage map shows network is available here, but is data also covered here too and other places where there's network?

A rep from another phone company here said although the coverage map shows it's available on Vancouver Island, but he's had public mobile customers come to him informing that they get no reception here.

[Anonymous]

---

@AnnS wrote:

I switched the SIM cards.  Both work online now!  Do you know why?

Both made out going phone calls.

Thanks everyone for helping me!

i couldn’t test texting, since I have never sent a next and don’t know how to.

---

And then you switched them back and things are working? Sometimes a simple fix is in fact to just remove SIM, wait a minute or two and then re-insert. That and a restart.

[AnnS]

I switched the SIM cards.  Both work online now!  Do you know why?

Both made out going phone calls.

Thanks everyone for helping me!

i couldn’t test texting, since I have never sent a next and don’t know how to.

[computergeek541]

---

@AnnS wrote:

I have never made a call.  If it’s long distance, do I dial 1 first?  I tried calling and heard long distance charges may apply.  100 min. monthly is anywhere in Canada, isn’t it with long distance charges?

---

"Long distance charges may apply" is a generic message heard by all customers of all Telus brands if a long distance call is placed and the 1 is not dialed before the area code.  Public Mobile doesn't have pay-per-use charges for anything.  Your plan having Canada-wide calling doesn't mean that a call isn't long distance. Either way, that message can be ignored or if you dial the 1 before the area code, you won't hear that mesasge any longer.

[Anonymous]

---

@AnnS wrote:

I have never made a call.  If it’s long distance, do I dial 1 first?  I tried calling and heard long distance charges may apply.  100 min. monthly is anywhere in Canada, isn’t it with long distance charges?

---

I don't know what plan your husband has but your plan is Canada-wide. Yes. Use the 1. That message you heard is meaningless. But just dial it, it rings, answer it, say yup uh huh, hang up. All less than a minute. So you'll have 99 minutes left.

Then try it the other way around.

Have you swapped the SIM's yet?

[AnnS]

I have never made a call.  If it’s long distance, do I dial 1 first?  I tried calling and heard long distance charges may apply.  100 min. monthly is anywhere in Canada, isn’t it with long distance charges?

[Anonymous]

---

@AnnS wrote:

Are you saying I shouldn’t switch SIM cards, since you crossed the tests out?

i am in Sidney, BC.

i have never sent a text and don’t know how to.

i haven’t made outgoing calls, but I have been getting unlimited  incoming calls, since I prefer them.

---

No no. Please do. I crossed it out after noticing you said you were going to test both SIM's in both phones.

Use the other phone you have right there. Call your phone from it. Call that other phone from your phone. Likewise with text. Text each other.

What network name is showing at the top of your phone screen?

[AnnS]

Are you saying I shouldn’t switch SIM cards, since you crossed the tests out?

i am in Sidney, BC.

i have never sent a text and don’t know how to.

i haven’t made outgoing calls, but I have been getting unlimited  incoming calls, since I prefer them.

[Anonymous]

---

@AnnS wrote:

Thank you very much.  That was very helpful.

---

Test #1: Put your husbands SIM into your phone and see if data will work

Test #2: Put your SIM into your husbands phone and see if data will work

Also, are calls in/out working? Texts in/out working?

How far south on the Island are you?

For Apple folks: is there a data quantity block option?

[AnnS]

It now says current period 89.7 KB.

it still won’t go online.

i will try switching the SIM cards in both phones.

[AnnS]

Thank you very much.  That was very helpful.

[GinYVR]

@AnnS 

Go to Settings -> Cellular scroll to the end of the page like this:

Reset iOS cellular statistics

[AnnS]

Do you mean at self serve site to reset usage statistics because I don’t know what button you mean?

[GinYVR]

@AnnSYou can Reset Staistics by scrolling to the end of that page and tap on the button.

Without swapping SIM cards we won't know if it is the problem with Public Mobile or your phone. Since Public Mobile doesn't have any support, we are just normal users with no knowledge of your account info other than what you tell us. Diagnoises need to be DIY.

[AnnS]

I didn’t swap SIM cards.  My husband’s phone is also with Public Mobile.  He hasn’t used the phone to go online or any phone calls.  So I tried his phone on cellular data and was able to go online with it.

My phone will not go online.  I use it for incoming calls mainly.  I cannot get online with it here in BC, but I did try it in Ontario and I could get online.

In Ontario, I have not used the data much, next to nothing.

I have not used the 250 MB or the bonus GB, so I should be able to get online but I can’t.

In a prior reply, I copied and pasted my usage.

How do I clear the “odometer” reading of current period 1.6 GB and roaming 41.8 KB and why are the numbers so big, since I’ve used the cellular data for next to no time and never had roaming turned on?

[GinYVR]

@AnnSIf you swapped your SIM card into your husband's phone and can get online (assuming wifi is off) that means there is a problem with your cell phone not Public Mobile.

The 1.6Gb is like a odometer.. it means your phone used 1.6Gb of data before you last reset it. It is only for your own benefit, not service provider use that data.

[AnnS]

Thanks.  I booted the phone and I still couldn’t get online.

My husband has the same kind of phone with Public Mobile, so I just checked to see if I could get online using it and I could.

His phone says current period - 35.7 MB and current period roaming - 0 bytes.

My phone says current period 1.6 GB and current period roaming - 41.8 KB.

We both have roaming turned off.

i have only used my phone for incoming calls, so is that what the 1.6 GB represents?

[GinYVR]

@AnnSCan you swap the SIM card to another phone to see if it is a phone issue? Did you change any of your plan settings etc before moving out to BC?

[computergeek541]

---

@AnnS wrote:

The phone is fine, but I cannot use the data to go online.  Is roaming needed?

---

No. Roaming happens when you connect to a different carrier's network.  Anything else isn't considered roaming.

[AnnS]

Thanks for all the replies.  I will reboot my phone.

[dabr]

---

@AnnS wrote:

The phone is fine, but I cannot use the data to go online.  Is roaming needed?

---

No, roaming is only needed when you are outside of Canada, ie: US. 

[darlicious]

---

@AnnS wrote:

What is strange is that the phone works, even though I’ve only used it for incoming calls here in BC.

I tried the cellular data in Ontario and it worked, but not here in BC.

I have never sent a text, so don’t know how to test that.

I had it set as the region - Ontario but recently changed it to BC to see if that would help, but it didn’t.

I believe you need to keep your region set to Ontario. I haven't used my pm phone on the island yet but have used it when I was with telus with no real issues  other than the odd deep valley here and there. It is entirely possible to pick up U.S. providers on the southern half of the island as you are at or below the 49th parallel . If your settings are correct and you have already rebooted your phone, removed SIM, tried airplane mode using the lost/stolen feature in your account is often effective in restarting your data. Just did it for the bf an hour ago.

---

[AnnS]

The phone is fine, but I cannot use the data to go online.  Is roaming needed?

[computergeek541]

---

@AnnS wrote:

What is strange is that the phone works, even though I’ve only used it for incoming calls here in BC.

I tried the cellular data in Ontario and it worked, but not here in BC.

---

@AnnS 

There are no differences n data settings no matter where you are using your Public Mobile service.  There isn't any reason for any of your services not to work in BC, as long as you're connected to Telus Mobility network.  

If you have plan that only has provincial calling, you'll only be able to make outgoing calls to BC phone numbers while you're in BC. For incoming calls, it never matters where you are in Canada.

If you're on a plan with Canada-wide calling, outgoing calls to any Canadian phone number could also be made.

As for that on-screen message about reasons for data not working, those get displayed if you connect to Wi-Fi and refresh the previous webpage that didn't load when you last tried to use your mobile data. It usually means that the Public Mobile system thinks that you have run out of data (although I know that the usage amounts that you showee us earlier say otherwise).

[AnnS]

What is strange is that the phone works, even though I’ve only used it for incoming calls here in BC.

I tried the cellular data in Ontario and it worked, but not here in BC.

I have never sent a text, so don’t know how to test that.

I had it set as the region - Ontario but recently changed it to BC to see if that would help, but it didn’t.

[GR]

@AnnS they're all the same, if your phone works in Ontario it should work on Vancouver Island and anywhere else in Canada! 

[AnnS]

Could someone tell me their settings if they use an iPhone SE that will go online in Vancouver Island?   I’m a visitor here.  I am from Ontario.

[AnnS]

This shows how much data I have remaining -

Voice Minutes

Name	Voice Limit	# of Minutes Used	Remaining Minutes	Status
100 Minutes Canada-Wide Talk	100	0	100	Active

Data & Data Add-Ons

Name	Data Limit* (MB)	Data Used** (MB)	Remaining Data (MB)	Status
1GB Promo	1024	0	1024	Active
250 MB at 3G speed	250	0.003	249.997	Active

[AnnS]

Yes, I meant SE.

I am using an unlocked refurbished phone, that I bought online.  

The Cellular Data Network shows personal hotspot APN - isp.mb.com

i have had incoming phone calls only.

Under Cellular Data it shows -

current Period 1.6 GB

current period roaming 41.8 KB

I have roaming shut off.

[GinYVR]

@AnnSIf it is an iPhone SE and you have one of the later iOS then you don't need to worry about the APN, that's only for Android phones.

For iPhones make sure you don't have any Profiles installed if you are coming from other carriers like SpeakOut https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/iphone/iph6c493b19/ios

[AnnS]

I used the data before in Ontario.  My phone is an iPhone SL.  I will check the link you gave me though.  Thanks.