Upcoming Changes to our Old Rewards Program

[HALIMACS]

Does this help @hTideGnow & @Public_Cust_17 ?   

https://www.whistleout.ca/CellPhones/Guides/freedom-mobile-coverage-map#:~:text=The%20Freedom%20Mobi....

[kb_mv]

@JohnDoe3 That 1.5GBPS is only the speed to the modem/router. Mine is in my laundry room and the whole house including 2 TVs, 2 phones and 2 computers are on a wireless network. A speed test on my desktop right now yielded 420 mbps. If you don't continue wired in your house the actual speed is much lower than 1.5 gbps.

[JohnDoe3]

I can certifiably say that every realtime online gaming system consumes less bandwidth than 4k streaming. 4k streaming is about the most consumptive activity that exists right now, outside of just trying to download the entire internet. Even at that, the 4 concurrent 4k streams would be not more than 80mbps, still monumentally shy of 1.5gbps. If anything, the best usecase for 1.5gbps is people working on distributed media where they have to move high volumes of enriched content between systems, at which point the bandwidth creates a much lower waiting time on transfer actions.

[Public_Cust_17]

@JohnDoe3  I would imagine a family of 4 concurrently streaming or game playing might consider this if they don't want buffering or problems in the middle of a game.

Marketing/Advertising usually says something to the effect of "speeds up to ###" but if you read the fine print there's always some weasel clause that says it's not guaranteed... so for the peace of mind or sometimes just the bragging rights some might be okay with forking out the cash if they can afford it.

[JohnDoe3]

This is correct. The tower sharing agreement requires telcos to make their towers available to other networks, but the other networks are not required to make the towers accessible to their own customers. Rogers roams on Belus because it gives Rogers coverage they wouldn't otherwise have, but Belus is everywhere, so they don't let their customers roam on Rogers towers. Apparently it saves money for Belus.

I had the same experience with camping. I can't connect, but buddies with Rogers connect no problem.

[JohnDoe3]

I find it baffling the offer of 1.5 gbps when a single teams call uses up only a few mbps, even streaming 4k only approaches 20mbps. What on earth are people doing with home internet that needs 1.5 gbps? Contrarily, good luck finding a low price on less speed. All the options for less disappear unless they come with usage caps.

[public_999]

Currently all of our lines are on Samsungs.....3 are Samsung Galaxy S21 Fe and 2 are Samsung Galaxy S23 FE. Only 1 of them was purchased through Freedom

[Public_Cust_17]

@public_999  see, now this is the kind of real world experiences I've been hoping to hear about!  The *signals can't penetrate a chain link fence* comments are opinions and the lowest form of human knowledge.. it would be great to know what model of phone you're using as that could be double checked to see what bands it's operating with.  Cheers!

[public_999]

Really, because it worked fine for me inside of an elevator last week in a GTA hospital.  Also, had great speed and signal at the home show inside of the Enercare Centre downtown TO this afternoon. Also have no problems inside the Scotiabank Arena at Raptors and Leaf games, so....? BTW anyone looking for home internet, Bell is offering up 1.5 gigabit service for $65/month at the homeshow

[mikasik2]

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@Wolfcore wrote:

Nah, it'll just be called FM propaganda by the same person who says FM has terrible service, but isn't willing to provide even the most basic of evidence to support their claims.

The irony makes me giggle 🤣

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Freedom signals can't penetrate a chain link fence

[Public_Cust_17]

@Wolfcore  if I could I'd Bravo this 100 times.. 😉

[Wolfcore]

Nah, it'll just be called FM propaganda by the same person who says FM has terrible service, but isn't willing to provide even the most basic of evidence to support their claims.

The irony makes me giggle 🤣

[public_999]

They actually utilize Bell, Telus, Roger's, and probably Videotron in Quebec now since same owner.  Public does not roam on Roger's.  My son went camping in a remote area with his buddies and only he had service. His buddies were on koodo and Public and had zero reception.  This post is probably going to be deleted now lol.

[Public_Cust_17]

@ComicCuriosity  if you don't mind.. what area are you in GTA, Montreal, Barrie, London.. etc.  I don't wanna know where you live but a general area would be good to know.  🤔

[HALIMACS]

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@Public_Cust_17 wrote:

@HALIMACS  I can tell you but then I'd have to k*ll ya.. it's a big secret..  LOL  jk, of course!

Neither they or PM are BBB accredited What does BBB accreditation have to do with anything - it's a user-paid service and unreliable, IMHO.  and both have low rating with FM @ 1.7/5 and PM 1/5 stars. You do need to be in FM's or Fizz's serviced areas to go with them which I am so that would work *for me*.. again, I'm only doing my own homework here.

Both PM & FM have horrible reviews on Trustpilot mostly centred around sh!tty customer service and lack of support This, i agree with, but fully knew when signing up with PM.  Truth be told, it's been seamless for several users, which is not something I can say with prior mobile service providers.  (esp Bell...)  but rarely do people go on a site like that to praise customer support and except for a few days back when I joined PM and changed plans did I have problems were I was without my phone (a couple minor issues over the years that were mostly just an inconvenience) so what to take from those I don't know.  I do know that FM changed ownership after the Rogers/Shaw merger as that was mandated as a condition of the merger in order to maintain an air of *cough cough* competitiveness in the Canadian market.. ha ha ha Indeed, LOL on that ...

I did learn that as far as coverage goes FM did change their business model on July 24, 2023 to include all plans on their nationwide data at no extra charge as well as implementing 5G.  There's quite a lot of info on Wikipedia regarding their history and I know my son in law was with them about 3 years ago and they were completely inadequate for anyone that went out of their service area which caused him to incur roaming charges that could be costly so back then it would've been a hard no!

I really have learned a lot in the past few days and I think if PM rewards stay the same then it almost makes sense to try out them or Lucky, Chatr or one/all of the other ones that are out there. If I'm not satisfied I can always come back to PM (or Koodo for that matter as they have a $15 plan too) and what am I missing out on.. my $0.75 reward for a month or two if I decide to come back.  My biggest decision here isn't really the cost of the plans it's value for the money I'm spending.  That's a great point - I've read many saying they'd 'pay more' in spite of PM just to move, yet they qualify that with improved service or features with the other provider, which is essentially why they'd be paying more so it's not comparing apples to apples.    If I find something that can provide better value I'll stick with it and if not I'll be back and you guys will have to put up with me again.. lol

I have until May until the change kicks in and who knows what can happen by then. I have lots of minutes and data (even before the loyalty bribe) that I've accumulated over the 6 years here so I'll just burn through that in the meanwhile without worrying about keeping it as a safety net for the future.  This seems to be becoming the trend, even among those initially saying they're 'just leaving regardless'.  Once the dust settles, most figure they'll at least take some time to assess and exhaust any existing benefits before porting out.  May as well take it to them prior to leaving ...

I'm also going to reach out for friends and families for personal experiences with other providers that are comparable to what I may expect (there's no sense in reading about some dude in Cold Lake Alberta's experiences). I have been with other providers before but after being here for 6 years that's like a lifetime for infrastructure and technology so it'll be like a blank slate to work with.

Cheers and I hope this answers your question.  🙂    Great insight, thank you!!!  

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[Public_Cust_17]

@saturna  Hey, thanks for that list of bands that your friends phones are utilizing! I double checked my phone on gsmarena.com under the network drop down and those are all covered!  🙂

[Public_Cust_17]

@HALIMACS  I can tell you but then I'd have to k*ll ya.. it's a big secret..  jk, of course! Neither they or PM are BBB accredited and both have low rating with FM @ 1.7/5 and PM 1/5 stars. You do need to be in FM's or Fizz's serviced areas to go with them which I am so that would work *for me*.. again, I'm only doing my own homework here. Both PM & FM have horrible reviews on Trustpilot mostly centred around sh!tty customer service and lack of support but rarely do people go on a site like that to praise customer support and except for a few days back when I joined PM and changed plans did I have problems where I was without my phone (a couple minor issues over the years that were mostly just an inconvenience) so what to take from those I don't know.  I do know that FM changed ownership after the Rogers/Shaw merger as that was mandated as a condition of the merger in order to maintain an air of *cough cough* competitiveness in the Canadian market.. ha ha ha 

I did learn that as far as coverage goes FM did change their business model on July 24, 2023 to include all plans on their nationwide data at no extra charge as well as implementing 5G.  There's quite a lot of info on Wikipedia regarding their history and I know my son in law was with them about 3 years ago and they were completely inadequate for anyone that went out of their service area which caused him to incur roaming charges that could be costly so back then it would've been a hard no!

I really have learned a lot in the past few days and I think if PM rewards stay the same then it almost makes sense to try out them or Lucky, Chatr or one/all of the other ones that are out there. If I'm not satisfied I can always come back to PM (or Koodo for that matter as they have a $15 plan too) and what am I missing out on.. my $0.75 reward for a month or two if I decide to come back.  My biggest decision here isn't really the cost of the plans it's value for the money I'm spending. If I find something that can provide better value I'll stick with it and if not I'll be back and you guys will have to put up with me again.. lol

I have until May until the change kicks in and who knows what can happen by then. I have lots of minutes and data (even before the loyalty bribe) that I've accumulated over the 6 years here so I'll just burn through that in the meanwhile without worrying about keeping it as a safety net for the future.

I'm also going to reach out for friends and families for personal experiences with other providers that are comparable to what I may expect (there's no sense in reading about some dude in Cold Lake Alberta's experiences). I have been with other providers before but after being here for 6 years that's like a lifetime for infrastructure and technology so it'll be like a blank slate to work with.

Cheers and I hope this answers your question.  🙂

[saturna]

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@Shan_Bhai wrote:

You ought to consider grabbing a SIM card from the new provider and giving it a shot for a month or two. If it doesn't meet your expectations, you can always switch back to PM and still get into new rewards. Your loyalty points are already forfeited anyhow. It seems that new PM customers receive special offers tailored just for them. Hence, there's no harm in giving it a try.

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For me and my use case it makes more sense to do the trial concurrently. I still have some available funds and old data add-ons to use up at Public Mobile. I'm not just forfeiting these. So, essentially, until May or when funds are used up (whichever comes first) I'll be switching around SIMs. If there's another provider that has equal or better coverage than PM, and comparable to better pricing, I'll be porting out. If the comparison results are inconclusive, I'll continue my tenure here. Should PM chose to sweeten the deal a bit (I don't believe that they'll reverse the decision, but we can always hope that they come up with a better bribe than unusable data), I'm still a legacy customer.

[saturna]

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@HALIMACS wrote:

@Public_Cust_17 , not having first-hand experience myself, what were you able to find out?

Is Freedoms coverage at least as good as the worst of the big 3?

is it truly only an urban/suburban area provider?

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It's been said multiple times: It depends on where you are. And what phone you are using.

Freedom was not available in my area (about 70'000 people) for the longest time. In 2018 they announced that they would build their native infrastructure in the area. They went live in late 2019. They had to iron out some kinks, and like any other provider, there still are occasional dead spots.

We've had local friends who were early adopters. At first their service was so-so. They upgraded to phones that have B4. B7, B13 and, most importantly, B66 and the improvement was staggering. For them Freedom clearly outperforms Telus in reliability, not to mention the price point.

In our area all four networks have overall reasonable coverage, but all of them have blobs of abysmal to no service, even close to the centre. The friends mentioned above had started out with Telus, moved to Fido, to Bell, Rogers, Koodo. They have been happy Freedom customers for 4 years or so - because it is rock solid for them where they use their phones. Nationwide switches them seamlessly to "roaming" on the big 3 networks (mainly Rogers) when they are out of native coverage.

On the other hand, some other friends tried Freedom for a couple of months last year and moved back to Fido, because the later works better for them.

Porting to Freedom only makes sense if you live in their native coverage - you can't port a number from outside of that area. They also can, technically, terminate your service if you are not using your phone on the Freedom network the majority of time.

[Handy1]

@hTideGnow  True but I whole heartedly believe if freedom ever gets to the maritimes the plans they offer will be same across the board for all like it is now . No special  treatment for just one province I mean it’s freedom that’s shaking up the whole game with 50GB $34 plans from the start . They are the leaders and rock stars trying to make and drive the celll plan landscape . We all have been benefiting from there trickle down success and I want to join the winning team one day 

[hTideGnow]

hi @Handy1 it is a funny county, Quebec only plans. But not just PM, other carriers offer cheaper Quebec plans too 😞

[Handy1]

@HALIMACS  Yea you’re right I believe they have the coverage here . But don’t offer services to us poor ole maritimers , I hold out hope they will one day .then I won’t ever bet jealous of the Quebec only plans that PM offers anymore either because they directly tend to compete with those Quebec only offerings we routinely see have to stand on the sidelines in “ awe “🫢 

[HALIMACS]

There’s no freedom availability in the Maritimes … well there we have it then.

I’ve never gone looking, but I assumed they would have coverage there.

so then, they really are only a more major urban and suburban service provider, I mean who cares about the Atlantic provinces, right 🫤

[Ybgfl7]

Good idea though I'm confident I will never deal with Telus or any of their subs again and I will NEVER recommend them to anyone else. It never hurts to test the waters, though. I know all of the Big 3 are straight-up awful and I'm fortunate to be in a position where it's more about the principle of the move than the money (though I do appreciate a deal). I'm infuriated with how they've been disingenuous in their (lack of) communication and roll-out of this switch, particularly for those who are already hurting more than they have been due to our present economy. It's just such a sketchy move and I'm willing to vote with my dollars, even if it costs me.

It was particularly snide of them to offer up points for making the optional switch (that they made very clear was optional) and then pull them out from underneath when they forced it. Probably so they could look good "we gave you the chance!" but they didn't let anyone make an informed decision. Poor decisions and customer service all around. I never expected it to be stellar (they mostly rely on the backs of their customers anyway - it'll be interesting to see the fall-out of that when knowledgable long-time customers leave) and you can never actually talk to a human if you wanted to but this just goes above and beyond.

[Shan_Bhai]

You ought to consider grabbing a SIM card from the new provider and giving it a shot for a month or two. If it doesn't meet your expectations, you can always switch back to PM and still get into new rewards. Your loyalty points are already forfeited anyhow. It seems that new PM customers receive special offers tailored just for them. Hence, there's no harm in giving it a try.

[dabr]

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@public_999 wrote:

The one, as far as I'm concerned, big negative with the annual prepaid plans is the lack of a decent rate for international calling and is $1.50 per minute.  Monthly plans get access to more reasonable pay per use rates for international calling.  For example 15 cents per minute to US if your plan doesn't already include US calling or you don't have a monthly addon for unlimited US calling.

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@public_999     Yep, there will definitely be some trade offs to consider.  That's the one thing I'll miss (if/when, depending on what happens) about PM is the available discounted international mins without expiry (for now?) that I've either purchased or been gifted.

OTOH, I've not really needed to use those minutes very much as Whatsapp is mostly used to keep in contact with family/friends abroad and other customers rely on apps like Textnow.

[Handy1]

@Ybgfl7  I think those that dump on freedom mobile say so from long ago before they started offering national plans . And frankly jealous freedom not offered to them . Like me I’m jealous there’s no freedom mobile in the maritimes or I would try them out in a heart beat . What’s to lose not like they going to price hike my plan by $7 

[ComicCuriosity]

I just signed up. Great or even better cover than Telus so far. 

[Ybgfl7]

This is so helpful, thank you! I'm trying to figure out where we're moving all of my family's accounts and it won't be to Telus or a subsidiary of theirs. I've been back and forth with support and they've basically told me "tough luck". I'm over it. I was considering Freedom but wasn't sure about coverage. This puts my mind at ease.

[Shan_Bhai]

I use Freedom connection and can attest that their network coverage matches that of the Big 3 providers. In fact, they utilize Rogers for their national network coverage, and AT&T and T-Mobile for coverage in the US. So far, I haven't encountered any coverage issues while traveling.

[HALIMACS]

@Public_Cust_17 , not having first-hand experience myself, what were you able to find out?

Is Freedoms coverage at least as good as the worst of the big 3?

is it truly only an urban/suburban area provider?