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How can i check my existing plan data speed

fulgorre
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

So Im looking at potentially upgrading my plan. I have the plan from a few years back when i switched from freedom mobile i got $120 for 3 months /w 12GB of data divided over those 3 months.

 

Seems like all PM plans say 3G speed - are all their plans like that?  I tried to check if my plan is any different and it doesnt list any data speeds.

 

Is there a way i can check or all the plans the same data speeds and all im picking is cost and data cap?

11 REPLIES 11

Korth
Mayor / Maire

@fulgorre wrote:

So Im looking at potentially upgrading my plan. I have the plan from a few years back when i switched from freedom mobile i got $120 for 3 months /w 12GB of data divided over those 3 months.

 

Seems like all PM plans say 3G speed - are all their plans like that?  I tried to check if my plan is any different and it doesnt list any data speeds.

 

Is there a way i can check or all the plans the same data speeds and all im picking is cost and data cap?

Your existing plan is $120 90-day 12GB 4G ($114 with AutoPay).

The closest equivalent from PM's Plans is $40 30-day 4GB "3G Speed" ($38 and 4.5GB with AutoPay).

 

The "3G" vs 4G speed difference isn't noticeable for the things most people do most of the time online. If you stream video higher than 1080p 30fps the 4G is better. If waiting ten seconds for a large operating system update every few months isn't for you then "3G" isn't either.

 

If you use AutoPay then 13.5GB "3G" vs 12GB 4G at same price. Only an issue if 4GB each month isn't enough (and if 4.5GB each month is enough).

 

The 90-day 12GB provision is spread over 90 days. It could be used evenly over three months or it could all be used up in one afternoon.

I have a friend who uses almost no data most of the time, but every few months he uses a ton of data over a weekend of vacationing. This sort of 90-day plan would work out better in this example than half-wasted 30-day data provisions plus an as-needed pile of data add-ons.

 

Finally, there's the non-Data parts of the plan. PM's $40 plan is Unlimited Canada-Wide Talk, Unlimited Canada/US/International Texts (and MMS attachments). Maybe your existing $120 plan is as good, maybe not, maybe it doesn't even matter because of your particular calling/texting habits.

 

And you already know this is a "grandfathered" legacy plan. You can always switch away from it, you can never switch back to it. To be honest, I'd hang onto it until the (ever changing) in-market PM plans finally offer something which is decisively better in some detail which I find actually relevant - but maybe those details are already relevant to you.


@Helpershelper wrote:

PM connects to the same LTE towers that you would normally connect to if you were a Telus customer as an example. PM just gives you data at a reduced speed, I haven’t noticed a difference really and you can’t beat the price.


Telus speeds are the same. Most of their mobile data plans are what they call "4G HSPA+" - upper-capped at 3Mbps, just like Public Mobile (and Koodo, Bell/Virgin/Lucky, Chatr). Customers can get full 4G LTE/LTE-A (and now also 5G, in some places) only if they pay extra for a plan with "4G Speed".

 

Pings and latencies and jitter on this "3G Speed" are all based on 4G. So internet is snappy and responsive. The only downsides from the slower data throughput is a limit on video streaming density ("3G Speed" only supports up to a little less than 1080p at 30fps in practice) or very large downloads (which most people would do rarely if ever on a mobile device) - or P2P filesharing (which is just a dumb thing to do on a mobile device).

 

4G (and 5G) speeds are ludicrous with the puny handful of GB provided on most mobile data plans. There's little point in having an unthrottled uncapped speed (or in paying extra for it) when it can drain your entire monthly allocation in just a few minutes. (Which is exactly what often happens when people run speedtests on their unthrottled mobile data.)

@fulgorre if you want more data then I would say switch. most people don't need full LTE unless you are streaming 1080p video, which you don't need on a small screen. then you have the ability to move up and down plans every 30 days or sooner, without the commitment of sticking to a plan for 90 days


@Helpershelper wrote:

PM connects to the same LTE towers that you would normally connect to if you were a Telus customer as an example. PM just gives you data at a reduced speed, I haven’t noticed a difference really and you can’t beat the price. I would warn you not to run speed tests as you will waste your data. Since you will be connecting to Telus towers rest assured, you’re getting the best data speeds. Your plan’s data is prepaid for 30 days and you’re paying for that cap of 1 GB as an example. If you buy a data addon then that data rolls over until you finish it.


That information doesn't apply to this customer.  @fulgorre has an old plan that includes data without the 3Mbps speed restriction. Also, this member's plan data isn't for a 30 day duration, but rather a 90 day duration. The data can be used in any usage pattern that the customer wishes over those 90 days.

 

As for Speedtest wasting data, this app will use signficant amounts of data with a full speed LTE plan that this customer has. However, for customers on a "3g" plan, the data used by this app when connected to the LTE network is almost negligable (in my opinion) when the speed is 3Mbps.

Helpershelper
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@fulgorre 

 


PM connects to the same LTE towers that you would normally connect to if you were a Telus customer as an example. PM just gives you data at a reduced speed, I haven’t noticed a difference really and you can’t beat the price. I would warn you not to run speed tests as you will waste your data. Since you will be connecting to Telus towers rest assured, you’re getting the best data speeds. Your plan’s data is prepaid for 30 days and you’re paying for that cap of 1 GB as an example. If you buy a data addon then that data rolls over until you finish it.


@fulgorre wrote:

So are all PM plans just at 3G?  Was my plan an exception to the usual rule? Is there a way to take a 3G plan and make it full LTE?


Sorry, but no. The speeds on the current plans are set in stone.


@LurganIeUk wrote:

@fulgorre wrote:

Is there a way i can check or all the plans the same data speeds and all im picking is cost and data cap?


Get the OOKLA app or go to their site and test the speed on your device. 

 

 

Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 5.08.24 PM.png


I just did this and used up nearly a 1GB of my data!  I didn't really, but with a fast connection, it wouldn't be hard to do.

 

@fulgorre 

Shawnc13 was mentioning a previous offer to Freedom Mobile customers. That offer was for the Fall Promo 2016 plan, although the timing was different. If that's the plan that you have, it's indeed has full LTE speed. Your plan details not stating any speed does also confirm this.

Unfortunately all the new plans being offered are LTE throttled to 3g

LurganIeUk
Mayor / Maire

@fulgorre wrote:

So Im looking at potentially upgrading my plan. I have the plan from a few years back when i switched from freedom mobile i got $120 for 3 months /w 12GB of data divided over those 3 months.

 

Seems like all PM plans say 3G speed - are all their plans like that?  I tried to check if my plan is any different and it doesnt list any data speeds.

 

Is there a way i can check or all the plans the same data speeds and all im picking is cost and data cap?


Get the OOKLA app or go to their site and test the speed on your device. 

 

 

Screen Shot 2020-10-17 at 5.08.24 PM.png

fulgorre
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

That makes sense and is along the lines of what i assumed. Your first example of the full LTE is what my plan shows. Thanks for clarifying that.

 

So are all PM plans just at 3G?  Was my plan an exception to the usual rule? Is there a way to take a 3G plan and make it full LTE?

ShawnC13
Oracle
Oracle

@fulgorre wrote:

So Im looking at potentially upgrading my plan. I have the plan from a few years back when i switched from freedom mobile i got $120 for 3 months /w 12GB of data divided over those 3 months.

 

Seems like all PM plans say 3G speed - are all their plans like that?  I tried to check if my plan is any different and it doesnt list any data speeds.

 

Is there a way i can check or all the plans the same data speeds and all im picking is cost and data cap?


I am pretty sure those offers were for full speed LTE.  If your data is listed like the highlighted below you have full speed LTE 

ShawnC13_0-1602978379721.png

 

If it looks like this then you have throttled LTE to 3G speeds

 

ShawnC13_1-1602978545955.png

 

 

 


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