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data coverage area on Vancouver Island

thao
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

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.

86 REPLIES 86

Korth
Mayor / Maire

If Data works on your phone (with husband's SIM) and your SIM doesn't work on either phone then it's a problem with PM service in the area, with your SIM card, or with your account.

PM/Telus network (or lack thereof) shouldn't be the issue, according to the coverage maps. 

SIM card hardware doed sometimes fail, though it's unlikely, and failure is usually all-or-nothing (because failure means no service at all). If you can still do Voice and Text with the SIM then you can be confident it's not the issue.

So the problem is likely your account. Maybe you just don't have any Data allocation. Login to your Self-Serve to confirm account status, then if there's still an issue (paid for Data but not getting any) you should msg the PM Mods or interact with that Simon chatbot thing.

Click here to send a Private Message to the Moderator Team

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

To go online:

 

My husband’s SIM works in either phone.  My SIM won’t work in either phone now.

GinYVR
Mayor / Maire

@AnnSwifi and cellular method are seperate and they don't affect one another even though they achieve the same goal. At this stage it is probably useful for you to take your phone in for servicing.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

But it goes online with wifi.

If the swapped Sims are still in its an issue with your phone. As in probably a hardware problem not software since you have the same phone.

 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

Cellular data stopped working on my phone again, but still working on my husband’s phone.

 

could a moderator please tell me if it could be caused by the SIM card?


Had you swapped the SIM's back again? The other night you seemed happy leaving it with the swapped SIM's.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Cellular data stopped working on my phone again, but still working on my husband’s phone.

 

could a moderator please tell me if it could be caused by the SIM card?

TracyBird
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I live inPort Alberni and haven't had any problems with my data usage. 


@Anonymous wrote:

@darlicious wrote:

@AnnS wrote:

I exchanged the SIMs between the 2 phones and the internet is working on both now, so I will be keeping the SIMs where they are.

 

Thank you very much for your help and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, trying to help me.  It was much appreciated! 


Happy simple phone swap takes care of the problem til you get another SIM card. Enjoy the island.


Why get another SIM? They're satisfied with how it is now. It's a bit of a mystery to me but they're happy so case closed.


Yes of course...wasnt thinking....a data swap between phones and it's like it never happened.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@darlicious wrote:

@AnnS wrote:

I exchanged the SIMs between the 2 phones and the internet is working on both now, so I will be keeping the SIMs where they are.

 

Thank you very much for your help and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, trying to help me.  It was much appreciated! 


Happy simple phone swap takes care of the problem til you get another SIM card. Enjoy the island.


Why get another SIM? They're satisfied with how it is now. It's a bit of a mystery to me but they're happy so case closed.


@AnnS wrote:

I exchanged the SIMs between the 2 phones and the internet is working on both now, so I will be keeping the SIMs where they are.

 

Thank you very much for your help and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, trying to help me.  It was much appreciated! 


Happy simple phone swap takes care of the problem til you get another SIM card. Enjoy the island.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

I exchanged the SIMs between the 2 phones and the internet is working on both now, so I will be keeping the SIMs where they are.

 

Thank you very much for your help and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, trying to help me.  It was much appreciated! 


As long as you're happy. It's quite interesting to me that swapping SIM's makes all services work in both. Whereas having your account and number and SIM in your phone does not.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I exchanged the SIMs between the 2 phones and the internet is working on both now, so I will be keeping the SIMs where they are.

 

Thank you very much for your help and thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, trying to help me.  It was much appreciated! 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

I’ve done it a few times, but I will do it again, exchanging SIMs between my phone and my husband’s.

 

If I replace the SIM, would I lose the bonus gift of 1 GB of data?


It doesn't affect the service.

I ask about switching SIM's to get what works and what doesn't. You seemed to have gotten a little confused last night. No doubt.

And then if you could report back your findings.

 

Or wait to hear from the moderator team and maybe they'll even instruct you to go get a SIM. You might even get a credit on your account for the purchase.

But I'm not convinced it's the SIM.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I’ve done it a few times, but I will do it again, exchanging SIMs between my phone and my husband’s.

 

If I replace the SIM, would I lose the bonus gift of 1 GB of data?

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

The SIM in my husband’s phone is working perfectly, incoming/ outgoing calls and internet working.

 

The SIM in my phone works for incoming/ outgoing calls, but has no internet access.

 

I believe the SIM needs to be replaced.  Can that be done?


Hey. Good morning 🙂

Could you re-verify your SIM in your husbands phone?

Could you re-verify your husbands SIM in your phone?

 

SIM's rarely need to be replaced. But yes. It's a simple matter of acquiring one and using the Change SIM feature in the self-serve.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

The SIM in my husband’s phone is working perfectly, incoming/ outgoing calls and internet working.

 

The SIM in my phone works for incoming/ outgoing calls, but has no internet access.

 

I believe the SIM needs to be replaced.  Can that be done?

Map of Canadian cellphone towers. Note that "coverage" is not as simple as drawing a radius around each tower, some are directional or multi-directional, some are blocked by surface terrain, some are surrounded by metals or dense materials or noise sources, etc. But you can click each tower icon on the map to see which radio frequencies it uses, and you can estimate real coverage by how closely they space the towers apart in dense areas, if that helps. 

 

https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html

 

At a glance, it seems like Nanaimo has lots of Telus towers with pretty decent coverage across multiple frequencies so Voice and Data services shouldn't be problematic most of the time in most Nanaimo areas.

 

I'd suspect hardware failure or software misconfiguration on the problematic phone.  Maybe it's got a dead speaker/mic component or has been dropped on its antenna chip one too many times, maybe it's got some sort of bad app or weird legacy APN or VPN or proxy junk lurking somewhere in Settings.

Remove the SIM card and restart the device, maybe wait a few minutes, reinstall the SIM card and restart again, this should force the device to scan operators and connect with the correct network settings. Maybe a simple restart and/or toggling Airplane Mode (and/or system updates) would be enough to getit working. But having the SIM card out lets you test it on another phone so you can identify whether the problems are based on the service or on the phone. PM can fix problems on the network or billing, they can't fix problems on your phone. 

Joelkim
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I live in the middle of Vancouver Island. This area has the full coverage, but at my home, I can see 1 antena and sometimes switch to 3GB even I'm not in a small city. 

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

Working with 2 identical phones and 2 SIM cards is making me more confused.  I’m now wondering if I imagined both phones working online, since they are not now.

 

Sorry for not making it easy to help me.

 

i will try communicate with a moderator tomorrow.

 

maybe there is something wrong with the SIM card.


It's just going step by step methodically.

1: Husbands phone: calls in/out, internet - ok good...we have a base line...if

2: your phone: calls in/out, internet - we think there's a problem with the internet

3. your SIM in husbands phone: calls in/out, internet - verifies your SIM if his phone works for data

4. your husbands SIM in your phone: calls in/out, internet - verifies your phone if everything works

 

Of course both phones with wifi off/data mode on.

Check for all the latest updates and the carrier profile. Check for a VPN having been configured at some point. Reset all network settings.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Working with 2 identical phones and 2 SIM cards is making me more confused.  I’m now wondering if I imagined both phones working online, since they are not now.

 

Sorry for not making it easy to help me.

 

i will try communicate with a moderator tomorrow.

 

maybe there is something wrong with the SIM card.


@GinYVR wrote:

@darliciousIF a SIM card is not fulling seated, the OP will not be able to get service wholesale not just getting voice.


Fair enough it was bit of an afterthought....since it seemed unusual that the sim cards worked the other way around. They could switch phones....if it was necessary but doesn't sound like it if texting doesn't even occur. Thanks I will file that tidbit away not to used in this context again.....or maybe I should say gracias @Anonymous @GinYVR  lol

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I am confused.  I will work on it again tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the time you took to help me.  I appreciate it!

@darliciousIF a SIM card is not fulling seated, the OP will not be able to get service wholesale not just getting voice.


@AnnS wrote:

I switched them back and now the same problem as before, so I switched them again.  Only one phone goes online.

 

i appreciate everyone for trying to help me.  I will switch them again, but may have to accept that only one of the phones will go online.


You may need to make sure the sim card holder is clean...free of dust etc...and gently clean the sim cards with alcohol swab or compressed air something along those lines. And check that your SIM card is in correctly some models of phone don't fit the sim card in snugly...they can be a little loose like the Samsung S7.

GinYVR
Mayor / Maire

@AnnSWhen both phones are working, did you make sure that wifi are off on both phones? Your situation right now is confusing. IF you can narrow down that your Public Mobile SIM card is not working correctly & consistently, I would suggest contacting the Moderators using the ? and SIMon on the lower right hand corner to see if there is an issue on their end. However if the issue is the hardware not being consistent, it might be worth while to get your phone checked at an Apple Store.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@AnnS wrote:

I switched them back and now the same problem as before, so I switched them again.  Only one phone goes online.

 

i appreciate everyone for trying to help me.  I will switch them again, but may have to accept that only one of the phones will go online.


Wait.

So you switched SIM's from one to the other and you said data on both worked.Yay.

Then you switched them back and the old result returned. Makes sense.

Then you say you switched them again and now you say only one phone will work?

 

If your husbands SIM worked in your phone then your phone seems fine.

If your SIM works in your husbands phone then your SIM seems fine.

AnnS
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I switched them back and now the same problem as before, so I switched them again.  Only one phone goes online.

 

i appreciate everyone for trying to help me.  I will switch them again, but may have to accept that only one of the phones will go online.

Anonymous
Not applicable

@darlicious wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@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.


Geez....i suggested/asked if you removed your SIM card 3 hours ago....i went to make dinner and six pages later....anyhow happy your all up in running and that's what's important. Enjoy the island I love it over there. Check out the murals in chemainus, the world's biggest hockey stick in Duncan and who knows maybe you 'll see a whale on the ferry (You know in the ocean while you are on the ferry) I've been here almost 30 years and I still haven't seen one!


Some years ago I saw a small pod of Orca's close to the rocks at the north end of Active Pass.


@Anonymous wrote:

@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.


Geez....i suggested/asked if you removed your SIM card 3 hours ago....i went to make dinner and six pages later....anyhow happy your all up in running and that's what's important. Enjoy the island I love it over there. Check out the murals in chemainus, the world's biggest hockey stick in Duncan and who knows maybe you 'll see a whale on the ferry (You know in the ocean while you are on the ferry) I've been here almost 30 years and I still haven't seen one!

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