When to buy US Addon ?

[PPL]

I will be heading down to US next month.
My question is when is the right time to purchase the addon?
Do I do it beforehand in Canada or upon arrival in the US?
If I purchase now, will the system ask for the travelling dates to figure out when to activate?
Thanks in advance.

[PPL]

A friend on Fido traveled along had no outage with the data.

[zhadj030]

@PPL thanks for taking the time to post an update. It should be helpful for anyone in the future when they think about getting the plan. And hopefully any problems get fixed in he future .

[PPL]

I had my trip last week. Purchased the plan the day before with $20 fund without a glitch.
I needed to turn off my iPhone7+ and reboot in order to get the roaming started (upon returning to Canada the reboot was not needed however).
I got LTE (AT&T or T-Mobile) for the most part in Orlando. Texts and calls both worked well.
To my dismay, Data stopped working after 4 days which was not good despite only used 200/250MB.
It was quite inconvenient to say the least. It barely connected back to Public Mobile webpage but so slow it was not enough to post a query here in the forum.
Here it is for anyone interested.

[srlawren]

@jaswest2754 thanks for the info, I'm going to look into Freedom Pop as another possible option.  🙂

[jaswest2754]

I use freedom pop in the states for day trips. It takes work to set it up and is only data on HSPA but it's free so I don't care. But for longer trips I set up my wife's phone with PM roaming and forward my number to hers. Then I have data and she has complete cell phone service.

[CHIA]

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@srlawren wrote:

@CHIA I haven't tossed away my Roam Mobility SIM card for just that reason.  I have a dual-SIM phone, so I keep it in the second card slot, disabled, and ready if I ever need it for a day trip.  

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I also have a Roam sim, guess that's just the way it is for now.......at least we have options 🙂

[srlawren]

@CHIA I haven't tossed away my Roam Mobility SIM card for just that reason.  I have a dual-SIM phone, so I keep it in the second card slot, disabled, and ready if I ever need it for a day trip.  

[CHIA]

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@srlawren wrote:

@CHIA unfortuantely, PM has recently rejected that very idea:  http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Public-Lab/US-talk-text-data/idi-p/130622.  Maybe down the road, but not any time soon.

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Thanks, had not seen that. I guess the masses want/need the vacation type add-on more than us day trippers.

The plans they offer are fair and not having to swap sims is nice, but $8, even for just texts adds up, especially if only used for a few hours at a time.

[srlawren]

@CHIA unfortuantely, PM has recently rejected that very idea:  http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Public-Lab/US-talk-text-data/idi-p/130622.  Maybe down the road, but not any time soon.

[CHIA]

Wish they had a daily add-on like Roam Mobility though......I often go down for shopping, but don't need 10 days, need individual days. PM add-on is great for vacations, not ideal for those of us who do day trips.

[henrylum]

I also tried it last week and I purchased a data add-on a day before I left for US. It works when I got to US and enabled data roaming, and I see that it roams to TMobile first and falls back to AT&T depending on where you are.

It woud be nice if you can schedule the add-on to be activated on a particular day like Roam Mobility so that I don't have to doing everything the day before I take off. It's very nice to not have to switch SIMs anymore!

[daredogg]

@PPL that would be a great feature... what date do you want to activate add-on?! Especially if you're scrambling to catch your flight, and don't have time to enable before leaving.

Good idea to ask the community for advice... I see a lot of great advice has been shared already.

[srlawren]

@PPL experience has varied a bit and seems to depend on phone.  Some phones seem to connect automatically and have no issue.  Other folks have had to manually choose AT&T or T-Mobile network in their network settings in order to receive service.  

You should be fine with your plan to purchase the add-on the day before you leave for the USA, that's a good plan.  You shouldn't need a computer.  Just remember that if you are having trouble getting service once you arrive in the USA, try manually choosing AT&T or T-Mobile.  If you're not sure how to do that, let us know your phone's brand and model, and your OS version (e.g. if you're on an Android phone, are you on Android 7, Android 6.0.1, Android 5.1.1, Android 4.4.4, etc, or if you're on an iPhone, is it running iOS 10.2, 10.0, 8.2, etc).  Then we can help provide some direction.

I'm not sure what service(s) you are planning to purchase, but here's a few notes for the specific services:

- if you are buying the US Roaming Talk add-on or a bundle that includes talk, nothing beyond what I've already said should be required.  You will get unlimited calling back to Canada and to USA phone numbers as well

- if you are buying the US Roaming Text add-on or a bundle that includes text, nothing beyond what I've already said should be required.  You will get unlimited international texting including back to Canada and to US phone numbers and international numbers as well

- if you are NOT buying a US Roaming Text add-on or a bundle that includes text, then you will still be able to receive text messages while in the USA, but will not be able to respond to them via text.

- if you are buying one of the 3 US Roaming Data add-ons or a bundle that includes data, then please make sure you also have the "Data Roaming" option turned on in your network settings, or else you will not get any data service if it's turned off.  Don't worry about overages or unexpected bills upon your return or your next billing cycle--PM is entirely prepaid and will never surprise you with overages even if you leave data roaming turned on while in Canada.

I think that's about it.  If you have any other questions or concerns please don't hesitate to bring them up!  Have a safe and enjoyable trip!

[diveman]

I Purchased the add on while in the States with my phone over wifi. It took effect immediately. No issues whatsoever and upon my return there were no issues. Just follow the instructions and all will be well. 

This was 3 weeks ago. 

[ShawnC13]

@PPL  what difinitive answer are you looking for?  If there are issues afterwards.  I think it if there is it is a case by case thing.

The difinitive answer is it becomes active the day you purchase it.

Here’s how the U.S. Roaming Add-ons work:

• All U.S. Roaming Add-Ons will last 10 days. This 10 day period will begin upon payment of the Add-on and will end 10 days after this date.
• You can choose an Add-On with just one of the services or a combination. We want to ensure that you only pay for what you need. Keeping this in mind, we are offering a range of U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, all with great value. For example, the U.S. Talk, Text and Data Bundle works out to just $2/ day for the 10 day period!

[CJ_2017 · Accepted solution]

Purchased the U.S. Talk, Text and Data bundle for $20 on the same day I left Canada to travel to the US. Once in the US I changed the network setting to T-Mobile and enabled data roaming.  The APN setting was not changed and remained set to Public Mobile.  No issue with the bundle.  I was able to make calls, text and use data.  The addon was active on the same day it was purchased.  There was no option to specify a start date.

[zhadj030]

I mod has been already tagged, so the definitive answer will come tomorrow when they respond.

And yes let us know about your experience,hopeffully there should be no issues

[PPL]

Thanks for all the quick replies!
Still no definite answer...anyone else?
Especially...how was the experience doing the addon after crossing the border with the phone alone and no computer? Can it be done?

The good part is my trip will be for 7 days and I will do it one day in advance.
Will have 2 days upon return to see if there is any glitch.
I certainly will post my experience.

[Luddite]

@PPL My understanding: it begins the day you add it.

[ShawnC13]

There have been many reports of no issues after using the roaming addon as well.  Make sure you follow the double step procedure.

You will need to select the addon pay for it.  That money then goes into availalbe funds you will then be required to go into selve serve and purchase the addon with the money in the available funds account.  Also make sure your cellular roaming is turned on as well as data roaming.  You may also have to manually select the network once you are in the states

[zhadj030]

thanks @ShawnC13 for the answer.

It kind of feels risky, there are some poeple complaining that the addon didnt work once they crossed, so it could be an issue if you have a system glitch and the service wont activate

[dearmusic]

You might also want to make sure the add-on glitch is fixed too... Many people had problem where their account closed pre-maturely after purchased the US roaming add-on...

[ShawnC13]

@PPLI actually believe it is 10 days from date of purchase but am not sure.  @Saray_O are you able to fill us in on when the addon starts?  Sorry Saray for the early tag and not enough research

ETA I did find the answer and for future reference here is the thread announcing it http://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Announcements/U-S-Roaming-has-arrived/m-p/94947#U94947

Here’s how the U.S. Roaming Add-ons work:

• All U.S. Roaming Add-Ons will last 10 days. This 10 day period will begin upon payment of the Add-on and will end 10 days after this date.
• You can choose an Add-On with just one of the services or a combination. We want to ensure that you only pay for what you need. Keeping this in mind, we are offering a range of U.S. Roaming Add-Ons, all with great value. For example, the U.S. Talk, Text and Data Bundle works out to just $2/ day for the 10 day period!

[zhadj030]

@PPL I never tried this before, but from reading in the community, the add-on starts kicking in the moment the phone onnects to an US tower near the border. 

But I would assume a week in advance sounds about good, to avoid anything