Receive SMS while Aboad?

[Michelyne]

Will Public Mobile SMS work internationally in any of its packages? I understand that I can send internationally while I am in Canada.

But, will it work if I leave and go abroad (Not USA, other countries)?

Thanks for any advice from your experience.

[mimmo]

I believe one of the issues for needing sms abroad is for 2fa.  so this requires the canadian number to have service to receive the sms.   The only way to accomplish this is to leave the sim in canada and go the iphone route as mentioned or the sms forwarding route (android).  

[hairbag1]

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@Triguy wrote:

You won't be able receive texts abroad except in the US.  You could use Wi-Fi apps like Textnow or purchase a local sim.

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@Michelyne...

I also can vouch for the free voip app TextNow. You get a free Cdn phone number and as long as you have wifi...this app works great to send / receive texts or calls...for FREE. Seems like there's free wifi in most restaurants, cafes and resorts. Before covid, we used it to travel to Mx ...worked great.

Hey...did I mention it's ..free.

Safe travels wherever you go. 😷

[darlicious]

@Michelyne 

You could also travel with a mobile hotspot like this one...

https://m.glocalme.com/US/cloudsim/u2

[whyveeare]

@Michelyne 

Do you use an iPhone?  If so, use the Text Message Forwarding function.

 https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208386 

For this , you will need an extra iPhone to leave at home plugged in with your PM SIM card inside.  It can be any old iPhone with iOS 8 or higher (I use an old iPhone 4s).  Since both iPhones are using the same Apple ID, all messages show up on both phones (including SMS texts and iMessages) and you can reply from either phone.

I can also vouch for TextNow.  Set up a free number, then just before you leave Canada, call forward your PM number to your TextNow number.  This way people can still call on your PM number but it will ring on your TextNow app on your phone.

[darlicious]

@Michelyne 

Depending on how long you plan to travel it may be better to get a local sim as most countries around the world have much cheaper prepaid plans than Canada. You can always suspend your pm account for up to 90 days ( reactivation is recommended by day 85).

[mimmo]

@Michelyne   what i did in the past is before leaving home put my sim in a spare phone and installed a sms forwarding app (to email cant remember if it could forward to another tel number) and i also forwarded my calls to my fongo number

for the sms forwarding to work the spare phone and sim need to be plugged in and turned on.  call forwarding is network based and does not have this requirement 

[RosieR]

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@Michelyne wrote:

Will Public Mobile SMS work internationally in any of its packages? I understand that I can send internationally while I am in Canada.

But, will it work if I leave and go abroad (Not USA, other countries)?

Thanks for any advice from your experience.

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Hi @Michelyne no, it will not work.

[Triguy · Accepted solution]

You won't be able receive texts abroad except in the US.  You could use Wi-Fi apps like Textnow or purchase a local sim.