Three months with Public Mobile: Glad I switched

I made the swap to Public Cellular again in early December 2024, and up to now, I’ve been fairly happy with the service.

Public Cellular is owned by Telus and runs on the Vancouver-based nationwide telecom’s wi-fi community. Whereas Public is technically in the identical tier as Rogers’ Chatr and Bell’s Fortunate Cellular, one factor that stands out about Public is that it gives 5G information speeds whereas others solely provide 4G.

That was what initially drew me to Public Cellular. The 5G information, coupled with the worth pricing, made it a prime contender for me throughout Black Friday once I was on the hunt for a brand new wi-fi supplier.

Why I left Koodo

Previous to Public Cellular, I used to be with one other Telus flanker model, Koodo. I wasn’t dissatisfied with Koodo’s service, particularly since I used to be nonetheless rocking one of many supplier’s 5G plans from before it stopped offering 5G.

I additionally had a Koodo perk that boosted 5G data speed from the default 250Mbps speed cap to 500Mbps. Whereas that technically meant my Koodo information was sooner than my Public Cellular information, I haven’t observed a lot of a distinction in real-world use. I’m additionally unsure I ever hit the 500Mbps cap once I was with Koodo.

Anyway, I finally determined to go away Koodo as a result of it hiked prices in October 2024. I wasn’t notably happy that my invoice went up by $5/mo, particularly once I knew there have been higher gives on the best way. So when Black Friday offers arrived, I assessed my choices and selected Public Cellular. I signed up for Public’s $35/50GB 5G plan with Canada/U.S./Mexico roaming built-in. (On the time of writing, Public had the same plan but with 60GB of data accessible.)

Since making the swap to Public initially of December 2024, I’ve been greater than happy with my service, particularly since I’m saving virtually $20/mo in comparison with what I used to be paying earlier than. Telephone name high quality has been nice, although I don’t usually place calls.

Public’s 5G information labored properly in Ontario

Additional, information speeds have been glorious. More often than not, I discovered I used to be getting over 150Mbps and sometimes I hit (and typically barely exceeded) the 250Mbps pace cap. Whereas 250Mbps may not sound nice — particularly when many individuals have 1Gbps dwelling web — I discover that it’s greater than quick sufficient for the issues I truly do on my telephone.

It’s uncommon that I obtain large information whereas on the go, and I not often use information to stream video, maybe a holdover from the times when carriers provided small information buckets at larger costs. As a substitute, most of my information use is break up between streaming music or podcasts, shopping social media, utilizing Google Maps navigation, and hot-spotting my laptop computer so I can work on the GO practice. All of those actions labored properly, and I haven’t had any points but.

The vast majority of my information use was concentrated the place I reside in Hamilton, Ont., in addition to alongside my commute to and whereas on the MobileSyrup workplace in Toronto. Up to now, I’ve observed sign points whereas using the practice with different suppliers, like Rogers-owned Fido. With Public, my connection was robust, secure and usable all the best way from Hamilton to Toronto and again.

Moreover, Public Cellular labored properly for me once I acquired out of city Ontario. On journeys to go to household close to Newmarket and Orillia, I additionally didn’t have any important points, although, in some situations, my information speeds weren’t pretty much as good as at dwelling. Nonetheless, it was greater than usable.

Sadly, I haven’t ventured outdoors of Canada but this 12 months. I usually go on a pair work journeys to the U.S. every year, so subsequent time I’m overseas, I’ll take a look at out the roaming options and write about that have. With out testing, although, I can spotlight the advantages of built-in roaming: massive financial savings. Koodo prices $14/day for U.S. roaming, and with my work journeys lasting on common three to 5 days, that’s $42 to $70 saved.

RCS issues

Whereas I typically had a very good few months with Public, not the whole lot was excellent. I solely had one important subject — Wealthy Communication Providers (RCS). RCS, for these unfamiliar with the time period, is Google’s replacement for the SMS and MMS texting standards. It additionally recently expanded to iPhones with iOS 18.

After switching to Public Cellular, my RCS chats turned considerably much less dependable, and I’ve had a number of incidents the place I didn’t obtain texts, or messages I despatched didn’t undergo. Nevertheless, I’m unsure whether or not in charge my issues on Public, Koodo, Telus, Google, or Apple.

This subject primarily occurred between my spouse and me — she makes use of an iPhone with Koodo and I exploit a Pixel. Again once I was on Koodo, we didn’t have any points with RCS, the issues began after I moved to Public. Proper after the swap, there have been a number of days the place my RCS was completely damaged, however after some Googling, I used to be capable of repair it by clearing information within the Messages app.

Regardless of that repair, I nonetheless have intermittent issues with RCS and I haven’t been ready to determine whether or not it’s a problem with Public, whether or not one thing broke once I switched from Koodo, if there’s an implementation subject someplace in Telus’ community, if it’s an issue with Apple’s integration, or if it’s Google’s fault.

Nothing is ideal

Whereas that was the one actual downside I had, there are a few different caveats value highlighting which may influence Public’s suitability for some individuals.

First, Public Cellular doesn’t promote telephones, so for those who’re seeking to get a brand new telephone from a service, Public gained’t be an incredible match for you. (That mentioned, I’d strongly suggest comparing the cost of an outright phone purchase with a Public plan to the price of financing the identical telephone from a service. There’s an opportunity it’ll be cheaper to purchase it outright and get an inexpensive plan from Public.)

Subsequent up, Public Cellular has restricted buyer help choices in comparison with different suppliers. It’s largely arrange as a self-serve mannequin utilizing the Public Cellular app. Koodo doesn’t have an app to check with, however Public’s app may be very corresponding to Koodo’s self-serve net portal. The Public app lets me handle and alter my plan and add-ons, view my utilization, fee historical past, make adjustments to my account, view my rewards and extra. Talking of rewards, Public has a points program, which is good, although many long-time Public prospects have been frustrated by recent changes to the rewards program. Prospects earn factors by means of referrals and by paying their invoice, and might spend factors on invoice credit, add-ons and extra.

When you do need assistance, prospects are directed to make use of Public’s help paperwork and group boards to kind out points. Past that, Public gives a customer support chat possibility and the power to submit service tickets. The restricted help choices could be a giant turn-off for some prospects, so it’s value flagging it.

This additionally implies that switching to Public Cellular may be completely finished on-line from the consolation of your private home, for good or in poor health. I already wrote about my experience switching to Public, which was typically easy however with a number of hiccups.

Total, my expertise with Public Cellular has been fairly constructive up to now. It’s not an ideal service — does such a factor even exist in Canada? — but it surely does provide higher worth plans than most different suppliers. When you’re superb with a few of the trade-offs, like slower 5G speeds or restricted buyer help, then Public is a implausible possibility and can seemingly prevent some cash in the long term. I’d suggest Public to any value-focused Canadians in search of 5G plans with built-in roaming and who have already got a smartphone they need to hold utilizing.