Cell Networks

[dunkalunk]

Freedom Mobile was supposed to upgrade to LTE in the region last month. In the market for a new provider. Can anyone on attest to the quality of Freedom service in the region?

[DHLawrence]

Don't bother. I can be sitting in my house and not get a strong signal. Go to Riverside Park and it disappears completely. It used to be good but degraded some time earlier this year. It dropped like a rock during a storm; I think one of their transmitters was hit by lightning and they didn't bother replacing it.

I switched back to Virgin Mobile only to find their signal had degraded too.

[jamincan]

I've been using Freedom and have actually noticed a marked improvement this year. I used to have some issues on the periphery of the city, particularly to the west, but it seems to be much less of an issue. Driving to and from work in Mississauga, I used to always lose my signal just west of Milton when going down the escarpment, but that no longer happens. Similarly, I used to have trouble getting a signal inside our office, but that is less of an issue than before, though it sometimes still happens.

That said, when I was on Rogers, the network reliability and quality was still noticeably higher, just not enough to justify spending twice as much per month. My plan (maybe all Freedom plans?) has free Canada-wide roaming so that I can still make calls even when beyond the Freedom network. I also use data-roaming which costs slightly more, but is still a lot cheaper than using the big three and improves the experience a lot more, though I find it sometimes seems not to work inexplicably. I wouldn't recommend it if you are heavily reliant on your phone and/or travel a lot, but for me, it works fine 95% of the time, and when it doesn't, it doesn't really phase me all that much. The savings are therefore way more important for me.

[Viewfromthe42]

I've used it for years. LTE does pop up on my phone. I think the most frustrating thing is that I'm often in heavily-used wifi areas (public or work), and whether it's Freedom or my phone, whenever there's a wifi connection, my phone seems to lose its cellular connection beyond edge-level. If I then lose wifi or turn it off, I'm stuck without data, and I need to reset my phone to get it to pick up the network again.

Like jamincan, when it works, I enjoy its cost. When it doesn't work, I definitely feel it's a nuisance and frustration. But not enough to bump my monthly costs.

[neonjoe]

I've been on Public Mobile for some time now, its Telus's Self Serve BYOD plan. From time to time they have sales come up where their plans are about $40/mo for 4GB and unlimited calling/text. (They do include things like anniversary bonuses and referral discounts).
Never had a problem with the service, works great everywhere. I've done speed tests on my iPhone with speeds over 100mbps on LTE.

[Coke6pk]

Even "Canada's Most Reliable Network" doesn't work in one corner of my living room... and when I sit in the Lazy-Z-Boy chair there my battery drains like crazy as it tries to find a Rogers signal....

And I don't live out in the middle of nowhere....

Coke

[Section ThirtyOne]

If you’re looking for reliability, Bell/Telus is the best hands down.

[bgb_ca]

I'm on freedom and it is fine for my needs. I get a LTE signal on my 2 year old phone (That is not band 66). Voice quality is not as good however than when I was on Telus. Works for my needs. My suggestion is to get a "Trial" sim, and test it out.

If you want coverage outside of the major centers of Ontario, I agree, get something on one of the robellus networks.

[dunkalunk]

What is a "trial" SIM?

[jeffster]

What is a "trial" SIM?

Get a SIM card ($10) and buy a months worths of service, if you like it, keep the service and port your old number over.

If you find that Freedom is crumby for your needs, you only wasted a little bit of month.