Cell Phones

Opinions on Freedom Mobile (Formerly Wind Mobile)

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  • Mar 13th, 2019 1:04 pm
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Banned
May 17, 2005
4845 posts
661 upvotes
I did try wind (two times) few years back (had them for few months each time) , did not work for me ... when they improve I consider to try again ...
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Nov 28, 2013
21330 posts
10938 upvotes
Oakville
Brettskii89 wrote: I just bought the iPhone 7 Plus in February, no point turning around and buying a brand new phone just to make this work. It should be working in this day and age. It’s not rocket science. Just another restriction on having a specific phone.
There were literally ZERO band 66 LTE networks in existence when Apple was developing the iPhone 7. Why should they have built support into their phone for networks that didn't exist yet? I understand that you're pissed, but a simple 10 second Google search before switching to Freedom would have saved you a lot of hassle.
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May 8, 2009
15560 posts
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Going to the Moon
MayorOfToronto wrote:
So you either sacrifice your wallet by paying double your monthly bill at RoBelUs or sacrifice your loyalty to Apple and get a cheaper LTE compatible android phone. Sell your iPhone and use the money you get from that.

And even if you decide to buy the new iPhone at full retail price.. I guarantee you it will be a lot more cost effective in the long run than switching back to RoBelUs.

Or you can get it on tab. Give yourself an awesome plan and a new phone for the same price as a shitty plan from the big 3 with your old phone.

The choice is yours. Lots of options. Like I said... Stop complaining and start finding solutions.
Agreed with @Gee that Freedom Mobile is not the solution. Also, your suggestion of taking a phone on a tab to an iPhone user is not gonna happen since Freedom Mobile doesn't offer iPhones.

Personally, I use Android myself. If I was told that the only way to get a phone from carrier with the carrier of my choice is by switching mobile operating systems, I'd be quick to dismiss such a suggestion.

There is no need for Freedom Mobile when there are other options such as Chatr/Public/Quebec plans/data only + app for talk & text/roam off a US carrier, etc.
Gee wrote: Freedom and solution can not be used in the same sentence.

It is not a solution when your phone drops calls or if you have no signal when you need to make a call.
+1 to that!
wearysky wrote: There were literally ZERO band 66 LTE networks in existence when Apple was developing the iPhone 7. Why should they have built support into their phone for networks that didn't exist yet? I understand that you're pissed, but a simple 10 second Google search before switching to Freedom would have saved you a lot of hassle.
Though this is true, customer could have tested a Freedom Mobile sim card at the store in their iPhone before deciding on "switching" to Freedom.
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Nov 28, 2013
21330 posts
10938 upvotes
Oakville
titaniumtux wrote: Though this is true, customer could have tested a Freedom Mobile sim card at the store in their iPhone before deciding on "switching" to Freedom.
Or, you know, just asked the salesperson either, if a Google search was too hard. :P
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May 8, 2009
15560 posts
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Going to the Moon
wearysky wrote: Or, you know, just asked the salesperson either, if a Google search was too hard. :P
Fact is, if I ran a Freedom Mobile shop, and I saw a customer walk in with an iPhone, I'd make sure they're aware that they'd only get 3G. Else customer is more likely to cancel and I lose the sale.

Good thing is I don't work for freedom, so they can do whatever the heck they want :-)
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Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 9, 2002
1956 posts
368 upvotes
Kitchener
Would any Kitchener Waterloo users on their LTE network care to comment briefly on their experience with the Freedom network nowadays? I've asked this before yes, but it's nice to get updates every now and then from actual users.
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Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
X-Nemesis wrote: Would any Kitchener Waterloo users on their LTE network care to comment briefly on their experience with the Freedom network nowadays? I've asked this before yes, but it's nice to get updates every now and then from actual users.
So I signed up on August 17 and have been quite impressed so far. For a more in-depth review, see my post here.

Basically, I've enjoyed the service so much that I changed to the promo 50 plan yesterday that is normally $59 and then used a friend's and family code and now pay $32.50/mth!

Yesterday I was out at Costco off of The Boardwalk and had great LTE coverage outside the store and dropped down to 3G inside.

Hope this helped.
Member
User avatar
Dec 20, 2006
225 posts
170 upvotes
soljah12 wrote: So I signed up on August 17 and have been quite impressed so far. For a more in-depth review, see my post here.

Basically, I've enjoyed the service so much that I changed to the promo 50 plan yesterday that is normally $59 and then used a friend's and family code and now pay $32.50/mth!

Yesterday I was out at Costco off of The Boardwalk and had great LTE coverage outside the store and dropped down to 3G inside.

Hope this helped.
This helps me too being in the area although I understand it's only a short term test and review of the service.
I don't however see the post you're referring to. If going by online research and user reviews alone, It would be quite difficult to justify switching to FM with so much negativity with regards to their service which can't be ignored.
At the end of the day I suppose the best test and review for me is to try it myself and for the areas I'm in and travel. Just sucks to wonder if it'll be good when I'm on a family plan and taking 3 other members with me...
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Dec 9, 2002
1956 posts
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Kitchener
Thanks soljah12, impressed to hear you were getting service INSIDE the Costco as I remember never being able to get it when they were only 3G.
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Jan 22, 2008
4175 posts
1483 upvotes
Calgary
Edmonton probably has the best Freedom coverage. Never had any issues anywhere in this city.
Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
Joe_Dirt wrote: This helps me too being in the area although I understand it's only a short term test and review of the service.
I don't however see the post you're referring to. If going by online research and user reviews alone, It would be quite difficult to justify switching to FM with so much negativity with regards to their service which can't be ignored.
At the end of the day I suppose the best test and review for me is to try it myself and for the areas I'm in and travel. Just sucks to wonder if it'll be good when I'm on a family plan and taking 3 other members with me...
That's weird, that post I linked has apparently disappeared and I can't see it anymore either.

Basically, I've been all over Kitchener-Waterloo and haven't run into any issues so far. Again, this is based on my usage and where been. I had heard terrible stories myself about Wind/Freedom Mobile and was pleasantly surprised so far.

This weekend I drive the back roads to Hamilton and had no idea where I was going and just followed the GPS. I was surprised that I didn't lose coverage, although I did drop down to 3G in some places.

When I was on Maple Grove Rd coming into Sportsworld Crossing from Hespler Rd, I did connect to LTE via a roaming partner. Then I connect back to Freedom before the police station.

Also, while inside Conestoga Mall, I had my phone with Telus connected to LTE-A and my Freedom LTE and ran a speed test side by side and the Freedom was just a bit faster at 65Mbps down versus Telus at 60Mbps down. This was on a Friday night around 7:30pm and the mall was fairly busy.

I live in Forest Heights in Kitchener and was surprised to find out I have LTE when I'm down in my basement even. Apparently I have a tower close to me. This is still surprising though as I have metal framing in my house and the Freedom signal is actually stronger than Rogers.

I've been downtown Kitchener during the day and Freedom absolutely destroys Telus and Rogers with their connection and speed.

While this is all great, it'll be interesting to see how the network holds up once more phones with band 66 LTE are out and more people use the network. Will the network become over saturated and too congested or will it continue to be great or even good. That's the real question for me.

Either way, I went all in and got their top plan right now with the friends and family discount so I guess I'm in for the long haul now and only time will tell.

Hope this helps a bit more.
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Dec 20, 2006
225 posts
170 upvotes
soljah12 wrote: That's weird, that post I linked has apparently disappeared and I can't see it anymore either.

Basically, I've been all over Kitchener-Waterloo and haven't run into any issues so far. Again, this is based on my usage and where been. I had heard terrible stories myself about Wind/Freedom Mobile and was pleasantly surprised so far.

This weekend I drive the back roads to Hamilton and had no idea where I was going and just followed the GPS. I was surprised that I didn't lose coverage, although I did drop down to 3G in some places.

When I was on Maple Grove Rd coming into Sportsworld Crossing from Hespler Rd, I did connect to LTE via a roaming partner. Then I connect back to Freedom before the police station.

Also, while inside Conestoga Mall, I had my phone with Telus connected to LTE-A and my Freedom LTE and ran a speed test side by side and the Freedom was just a bit faster at 65Mbps down versus Telus at 60Mbps down. This was on a Friday night around 7:30pm and the mall was fairly busy.

I live in Forest Heights in Kitchener and was surprised to find out I have LTE when I'm down in my basement even. Apparently I have a tower close to me. This is still surprising though as I have metal framing in my house and the Freedom signal is actually stronger than Rogers.

I've been downtown Kitchener during the day and Freedom absolutely destroys Telus and Rogers with their connection and speed.

While this is all great, it'll be interesting to see how the network holds up once more phones with band 66 LTE are out and more people use the network. Will the network become over saturated and too congested or will it continue to be great or even good. That's the real question for me.

Either way, I went all in and got their top plan right now with the friends and family discount so I guess I'm in for the long haul now and only time will tell.

Hope this helps a bit more.
Thank you very much, I appreciate the response and examples of where you've been and am also in the Forest Heights area so this is positive news and more feedback for me to make an informed decision moving forward.
Again, thanks for the post and feedback, with all the negative out there as I'd said previously it's nice to see some positive albeit limited in the amount of time you've tested the service, nonetheless given the area and your travel it does sound worth trying.
Member
Apr 20, 2015
226 posts
229 upvotes
Ottawa, ON
soljah12 wrote: So I signed up on August 17 and have been quite impressed so far. For a more in-depth review, see my post here.

Basically, I've enjoyed the service so much that I changed to the promo 50 plan yesterday that is normally $59 and then used a friend's and family code and now pay $32.50/mth!

Yesterday I was out at Costco off of The Boardwalk and had great LTE coverage outside the store and dropped down to 3G inside.

Hope this helped.
Lol I did the exact same thing with my line and my wife's so we are both paying $32.50 a month for the $59 plan. Great deal!
Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
Pisidan wrote: Lol I did the exact same thing with my line and my wife's so we are both paying $32.50 a month for the $59 plan. Great deal!
I keep on being more impressed every day I keep using Freedom! Like right now I'm in my basement in Kitchener and I was on a Video over LTE call on Rogers. Suddenly I dropped down to 2 bars or 3G and lost the video call. Meanwhile, my LTE connection on Freedom was still staying strong with 3 bars of LTE.

If you have an LTE capable phone, I don't think you can go wrong with the promo 50 plan with 35% off!

As soon as Telus activates Video over LTE, I'll be dropping my Rogers line immediately!
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May 8, 2009
15560 posts
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Going to the Moon
soljah12 wrote: I keep on being more impressed every day I keep using Freedom! Like right now I'm in my basement in Kitchener and I was on a Video over LTE call on Rogers. Suddenly I dropped down to 2 bars or 3G and lost the video call. Meanwhile, my LTE connection on Freedom was still staying strong with 3 bars of LTE.

If you have an LTE capable phone, I don't think you can go wrong with the promo 50 plan with 35% off!

As soon as Telus activates Video over LTE, I'll be dropping my Rogers line immediately!
Even if Telus offers video over LTE, won't it remain an intra-carrier feature? As in a video to LTE call with a contact on Rogers would require using Rogers yourself?
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Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
titaniumtux wrote: Even if Telus offers video over LTE, won't it remain an intra-carrier feature? As in a video to LTE call with a contact on Rogers would require using Rogers yourself?
Most likely at first, but I would imagine maybe in the next couple years once CDMA is fully decommissioned and they start moving to 5G and away from 3G, they would improve functionality so it will work with all carriers... at least that's what I'm hoping for. If not, not a problem as I'll just move all of our lines from Rogers and Fido to Telus since I just have one line now with them and an EPP discount (30%).

At this point though, I've been impressed with Freedom and I'm really interested in seeing how their network handles more people subscribing to LTE plans and what their speeds and stability will end up being like long term. It'll be quite interesting as well to see when they go live with their recently acquired spectrum from Videotron.

Seems like Kitchener-Waterloo has either a strong LTE network deployment or very few LTE subscribers as Freedom has consistently been faster than our Telus and Rogers lines everywhere we've been in the area. Again, this is quite limited as I've only had Freedom now since August 17th.

I'm interested in seeing what the LG V30 will end up offering and quite excited to see what the Huawei Mate 10 offers this year and whether it'll come to Canadian carriers.
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Member
Jul 17, 2010
336 posts
136 upvotes
Toronto
I recently switched from 3G plan to LTE with an S8. However, in my current location (within the Home LTE Zone), I only get 3G speed.

I did a network search. I only have Home, and 3 Away Networks listed. I called customer service, they are giving me their typical speech that they are having network issue and will call me back within 5 days. I wonder if this is true? If LTE coverage is available in my area, should the phone show "Home LTE" when I perform a network search? I want to make sure they didn't screw up my account setting.
Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
js321 wrote: I recently switched from 3G plan to LTE with an S8. However, in my current location (within the Home LTE Zone), I only get 3G speed.

I did a network search. I only have Home, and 3 Away Networks listed. I called customer service, they are giving me their typical speech that they are having network issue and will call me back within 5 days. I wonder if this is true? If LTE coverage is available in my area, should the phone show "Home LTE" when I perform a network search? I want to make sure they didn't screw up my account setting.
I've had a couple account issues since joining Freedom on August 17th. For me, they did end up fixing my account issues and then I got a text message once things were fixed letting me know (happened twice so far). So that very well could be true.

When you login to your account, does it show that you have the LTE enabled and everything that is supposed to be activated with your plan is showing and enabled? Also, is your S8 from Freedom or is it unlocked and from another carrier? Do you have all the proper settings selected on your phone?
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Rogers: 100GB CAN/USA Infinite 2022 BF Deal ($55 + tax)
Member
Jul 17, 2010
336 posts
136 upvotes
Toronto
soljah12 wrote: I've had a couple account issues since joining Freedom on August 17th. For me, they did end up fixing my account issues and then I got a text message once things were fixed letting me know (happened twice so far). So that very well could be true.

When you login to your account, does it show that you have the LTE enabled and everything that is supposed to be activated with your plan is showing and enabled? Also, is your S8 from Freedom or is it unlocked and from another carrier? Do you have all the proper settings selected on your phone?
It works now. Looks like calling them did the trick.
Member
Oct 19, 2012
250 posts
126 upvotes
Burlington
js321 wrote: It works now. Looks like calling them did the trick.
Awesome! Let us know how you find their LTE network and your experiences.
Current Cell Plan
Rogers: 100GB CAN/USA Infinite 2022 BF Deal ($55 + tax)

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