Service Areas

[Molly11]

Previously in several spots here in Vancouver Island I am unable to use my PM Data which means there is no service via closest towers.. Tjis is a minor inconvenience.  But I trip planning heading out via the southern route across the Canadian prairies or through Washington State, Montana and Utah.  This concerns me.  It seems Telus has a monopoly on the West Coast and probably across Canada.  I guess I should start with Question.  Is there any one in Utah or Montana National Parks that can provide info.  Re if or how well PM is working in these areas?!

[Molly11]

Yup, makes sense.  Thank you!

[Molly11]

Yes, thanks!  Sounds like a local prepaid SIM card will be more reliable than roaming using public mobile.  Thanks for the info.  

[Molly11]

Thank you!  Yes, good suggestion probably easiest to pick up a local prepaid sim or sim.  The public mobile 15 day plan worked great recently for visiting my daughter in the States.  Thanks for help!

[Molly11]

Thank you!  Sorry for slow thank you!  Really appreciate your detailed easy to follow directions. with wifi turned off and making a call the LTE is still operating.  Great help!!

[hairbag1]

@Molly11 

for optimum experience...make sure volte is enabled on your cell phone. For iPhone...go in to settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > (Make sure Roaming is selected) > Voice & Data LTE / VOLTE.

To confirm, turn OFF wifi and make  a call...does phone drop to 3G or stay on LTE ? As long as its stays on LTE, you should be fine. Otherwise talk in US using T-Mobile in rural areas can be...frustrating at least. It'll work in larger centers but diminish rapidly as you move away from city.

If you travel southern Trans-Canada route...you should experience short sections of no service as you go over  the higher mountain passes (no cell towers or electric power to them up there !) Salmo to Creston is a good example...as you leave Salmo, cell service drops off about 5 miles west east of town as you go up the pass. Then no service for about 30 - 45 minutes until about 5 miles west of Creston. After that...should be fairly reliable service until rural eastern Manitoba.

[softech]

@Molly11   you need a romaing addon to use the service in US

With 5G enabled (you can still connect to LTE or 5G network even you are on a 3G or 4G speed plan), the data connect should be much better)

Roaming voice can be a concern , but again, if your phone is VoLTE enabled on PM's profile, that could be much better now, too

For data only, you can also consider those local data prepaid sim or eSIM solution there.

[Handy1 · Accepted solution]

@Molly11  Washington state can be problematic from reports of other users . For now US roaming can be hit or miss . All you can do is get a US roaming add on . Hope for the best , if it just doesn’t work for you while you’re away you can ask support for refund . Also you could just get a local prepaid sim card in the US and not have to even worry about it .

[dust2dust]

You will need roaming add-ons to call in and out, text out and use cell data. You can receive texts without an add-on. Coverage is outside the responsibility of Public when roaming. Rural areas are usually dodgy. Check coverage maps from T-Mobile.