Freedom Mobile (was: Wind Mobile)

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by ZMan2k2
Thinking of jumping ship from Telus to Wind. Are there any major concerns I should have before I drop my bill from $80 with Telus to $40 with Wind? I live inner city, and work inner city as well. Are there any horror stories from the ranks of Beyond?

I went from 15 years with Rogers/$70 bills to Wind/$40 bills just 2 months ago (almost ~$300-$350 savings a year depending on what other charges I tack on), the amount of data is insane, for me the speeds aren't detrimental because I've never had LTE and I came from a first gen SGS (so pitiful) so it's all a huge upgrade with the Nexus 5 and Wind. It streams JTV/Netflix/Twitch without hiccups, so it's good enough for me as that is probably the most demanding thing I'd use my data for. Basically I get everything Rogers was charging me and x2 more really. I don't think I'll ever change back to one of the big three in the near future.

As for out of town I haven't really experienced it yet, we'll see once the first camping weekend of next year rolls around.

I did have an issue with roaming data when I went to Florida earlier this month, where the data didn't work at all even though I turned it on supposedly, but that might've been a good thing in a sense.

I don't work downtown so I can't really comment on service issues there, but when I did have a dinner or venue to goto in the core, all wireless services worked fine.

[eblend]

Originally posted by n1zm0


I did have an issue with roaming data when I went to Florida earlier this month, where the data didn't work at all even though I turned it on supposedly, but that might've been a good thing in a sense.
.

Not sure if you are aware or not, but data roaming can be setup on wind website as well as on your phone. Both would have to be enabled for roaming data to work.

[ZMan2k2]

Thanks for that. I went and switched last night, and tested the service for where I am the most today. I'm a letter carrier, and when with Telus, while streaming radio, I would get drops in signal so bad, I could almost predict when they would happen. I drove my route today (bad knee), and never once experienced a signal drop, not even a drop below 3 bars out of 4. Signal was strong in the depot as well, something when on Telus it had problems with too. Went to NorthHill today for physio, and didn't have a problem with signal either. The drop from LTE to 4G isn't a huge deal to me, as mostly what I do with data on my phone is either stream radio, or surf sites like beyond waiting for the wife to finish shopping.

One thing I'm noticing though, the battery life on my Galaxy Note 2 isn't as great on WIND so far, but I think it's because I had it on LTE/GSM/WCDMA auto connect. So it was constantly looking for an LTE signal. I since switched it off of LTE, and I'll see what the battery is like tomorrow. Would that make a difference do you think?

[n1zm0]

Originally posted by eblend


Not sure if you are aware or not, but data roaming can be setup on wind website as well as on your phone. Both would have to be enabled for roaming data to work.

I did it via sms and the website before I left, it kept saying this service is enabled or wait a few minutes, from the flight here to Houston nothing, 2 hour layover still nothing, by the time I got to Orlando and woke up the next day it still didn't work so I gave up. It was for the best though, US Airways in-flight wifi was enough as well as basically everywhere in Orlando has wifi.

[eblend]

Originally posted by n1zm0


I did it via sms and the website before I left, it kept saying this service is enabled or wait a few minutes, from the flight here to Houston nothing, 2 hour layover still nothing, by the time I got to Orlando and woke up the next day it still didn't work so I gave up. It was for the best though, US Airways in-flight wifi was enough as well as basically everywhere in Orlando has wifi.

Weird. I am terrified of roaming data so I have it disabled everywhere haha

[eblend]

Originally posted by ZMan2k2

One thing I'm noticing though, the battery life on my Galaxy Note 2 isn't as great on WIND so far, but I think it's because I had it on LTE/GSM/WCDMA auto connect. So it was constantly looking for an LTE signal. I since switched it off of LTE, and I'll see what the battery is like tomorrow. Would that make a difference do you think?

Don't know, I think I had mine set to that setting, never messed with it.

With my note 2, after using the phone for 30 min in the morning reading or gaming, a whole day at work (not much activity, few txts and check emails), and then another 30 min on train of use, I used to be around 60% after all of that just to give you an idea. Check your battery meter and see what is using all your battery.

[ZMan2k2]

Well, I switched it last night, to just GSM/WCDMA. I'm streaming the radio station that I listen to at work, remembering that I'm listening for about 4.5-5 hours a day. I started at 96% and at the 1:11:XX time mark on the radio, I'm at 85% battery. I think it made a difference. And the radio signal has been rock solid. Something that I couldn't say when I was on Telus. But that may have been tower saturation. I live 30 blocks from a Telus tower, and 2 from a WIND tower. I work about the same from the same Telus tower, and I'm 8 blocks from another WIND tower. So this should be my torture test to see how long the battery will last. I'm going to let it run until I get a low battery warning, and see the length of streaming time I'm getting. Should be a decent test.

[SpeedIllusion]

This is making me consider Wind:
http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/12/18/wi...or-mobilicity/
If this goes through, Wind can run dual cell technology and get LTE speeds of 42.2Mbps

[ZMan2k2]

Originally posted by ZMan2k2
Well, I switched it last night, to just GSM/WCDMA. I'm streaming the radio station that I listen to at work, remembering that I'm listening for about 4.5-5 hours a day. I started at 96% and at the 1:11:XX time mark on the radio, I'm at 85% battery. I think it made a difference. And the radio signal has been rock solid. Something that I couldn't say when I was on Telus. But that may have been tower saturation. I live 30 blocks from a Telus tower, and 2 from a WIND tower. I work about the same from the same Telus tower, and I'm 8 blocks from another WIND tower. So this should be my torture test to see how long the battery will last. I'm going to let it run until I get a low battery warning, and see the length of streaming time I'm getting. Should be a decent test.

Yes, I know, I'm quoting myself, but I thought I'd give an update to the test. I screwed up. I plugged headphones into the phone, and my PowerAmp app started, stopping the streaming radio. But I got about 6.5 hrs or streaming, and left with 39% battery. I can confidently say, turning off LTE was all I needed to do to improve battery life. That's the only change I made, and it made a world of battery life difference.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by SpeedIllusion
This is making me consider Wind:
http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/12/18/wi...or-mobilicity/
If this goes through, Wind can run dual cell technology and get LTE speeds of 42.2Mbps

HSPA+ has theoratical 21Mbps, i never see any beyond 6.

[mr2mike]

Consider the slimbean rom if you have a android. Excrllent rom.
Slimrom.net

[Phihalo]

Guys, the wifey wants a nexus 5. If I use my fido account to get the phone, can she use that on the WIND network or I'll need to have it unlock?

[mr2mike]

Just got word that Wind has unlimited talk, text and data while roaming in the US for $15/month extra.

Excellent for those travelling. Slap that on and you're good to go. Remove it when you get back home.

For those wondering, my bill with this added on would be $50/month+tax.



WIND is the first Canadian carrier to give you true mobile freedom in the USA. Get unlimited data, talk and text while roaming in the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for only $15/month.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Phihalo
Guys, the wifey wants a nexus 5. If I use my fido account to get the phone, can she use that on the WIND network or I'll need to have it unlock?

Nexus always comes unlocked.

You do save $250 when you sign up with a new Tab-24 plan and you get to use Fido dollars compare to buying it out right from Google Play.

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by mr2mike
Just got word that Wind has unlimited talk, text and data while roaming in the US for $15/month extra.

Excellent for those travelling. Slap that on and you're good to go. Remove it when you get back home.

For those wondering, my bill with this added on would be $50/month+tax.



WIND is the first Canadian carrier to give you true mobile freedom in the USA. Get unlimited data, talk and text while roaming in the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for only $15/month.

I thought WIND had crazy charges in Canada if you were outside your "zone"? Am I thinking of someone else? Because if so, I am switching. I currently pay $100/month for unlimited talking in Canada w/data and 200 minutes long distance to the US.

[mr2mike]

No you are correct. Apparently, this is only for US roaming. It would be an insane game changer if it was for Canadian roaming too.

But they've standardized their roaming to Europe and other countries too.

[Dren]

Great service in the USA...worked well!

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Dren
Great service in the USA...worked well!

I assume they struck an agreement with T-Mo. I have a T-Mo sim for US travel @ $3 a day. But paying $15 a month is definitely cheaper than pay as you go route.

[benyl]

Pity they don't have LTE. I'd really consider switching if they did now that you can use you iPhone on their network.

[benyl]

Originally posted by Xtrema


I assume they struck an agreement with T-Mo. I have a T-Mo sim for US travel @ $3 a day. But paying $15 a month is definitely cheaper than pay as you go route.

I went and got a T-mobile hot spot. You can buy packages for $15 for 1GB / 7 days pay as you go (doesn't renew).

I then use data with the hotspot, use google voice for out going calls. I can see who call me while away and I just don't answer and call them back from by Gvoice number. I can still get imessage and send replys. Texts, I do the same as phone calls and use Gvoice to reply.

It works awesome as both my wife and I can use the same hotspot and data so I don't have to pay for roaming on either phone.

Best of both worlds. Of course, this really only works in 3G / 4G areas. 2G is fucking useless with Gvoice.