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Phones & MyTab

Frequently Asked Questions



If you don’t want to read the details, skip straight to our Recommendation



Freedom Mobile for those that don’t know is the new carrier released by Shaw Communications after buying Wind Mobile.

So one can essentially say it’s Wind Mobile however keep in mind that Shaw is heavily investing into this new wireless carrier to really bring value to subscribers.

Freedom Mobile has over 1 million subscribers and comes in as the 4th largest carrier in Canada after the big boys.

Time will only tell if it has what it takes to compete with the big 3.

Shaw officially took over Wind Mobile on March 1, 2016 and they renamed it to Freedom Mobile in November 2016.

The launch of Freedom’s 4G LTE service, of which coverage has been a hot topic, was also launched in November 2016.

Coming up on their 4 year anniversary, a lot has changed since they originally launched.

They now offer ‘unlimited’ plans like the other carriers, however reception and coverage still seems to be a hot topic.

Freedom has also added a 5G section on their website and rumours are that they will be competing in getting spectrum to launch 5G service once available.

Freedom Mobile Coverage

When it comes to coverage with Freedom Mobile, they originally used to break out their options as either on the Home network, Variable network or Away network.

They now break out their network as Freedom and Freedom Nationwide.

Freedom:

Usually when you’re in major cities and the provinces which they have coverage in which is Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, access all the features available in your plan.

Freedom Nationwide:

Usually where Freedom does not have coverage which is outside major cities and you flip to a partner network, access almost all of the features of your plan, the major limit being data.

So Is Freedom Mobile Reception Any Good?

Sometimes it’s hard to get 4G reception – This is standing in the core of Toronto however we’re only able to achieve 3G service

Pros

Works pretty good if you’re in city centres

4G LTE seems to be working well in city centres

Price for the coverage is great if you rarely go outside of the Home area

December 2017: TTC Subway Platform & Some Tunnel Coverage – Seriously? Yes! – Freedom Mobile now works on every single TTC subway platform, including new line 1 extension platforms. It also works in the tunnel on the Yonge line between Bloor Street and King Street as well as from around the new Downsview Park station all the way north to the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre station!

Cons

f you travel between city centres i.e. Toronto to Ottawa there will be dead zones and roaming charges in between the two cities

Go to the cottage often? Or Blue Mountain? Good luck getting reception

4G LTE network still needs work outside of the city centres

According to the Freedom Mobile website, over 1.3 million Canadians will get access to fast LTE data in 2019.

In addition, they’ve also started to push their roll out of Extended LTE which is their Band 13 LTE (700MHZ low-band spectrum).

What Extended LTE means is you should get stronger coverage in areas where you currently get just ok coverage as this spectrum has a better ability to penetrate walls.

This should also help Freedom expand their network further. Extended LTE is available in the GTA – if you’ve noticed a difference let us know in the comments below!

So how is Freedom Mobile LTE?

Freedom Mobile’s LTE coverage has definitely already come a long way compared to when they first launched.

LTE coverage is now standard anywhere they offer service on their network so that’s a good step.

So is it any good you’re probably wondering? While many forums online have both good and bad reviews, our own internal testing results are below!

Freedom Mobile Speed Tests

While there are various speed tests on forums showing download speeds of 100 Mbps, we were never able to reach speeds that great while doing tests around the City of Toronto, however we did come close!

What we found was a range of of upload and download speeds, with average speeds and coverage being quite reasonable.

The highest download speed we achieved was 62.8 Mbps which is quite good – we think the value for your money is amazing here with the data options Freedom Mobile provides if these speeds were consistent across all areas.

It’ll be a little while until that network consistency is reached however Freedom Mobile and parent Shaw have been putting a concentrated effort on developing the network and increasing coverage.

Here are screenshots of 6 of our speed tests:

Freedom Mobile Plans

Freedom Mobile has recently introduced the Digital Discount.

Before you review their plans, the Digital Discount is $5 per month off the regular price of eligible in-market plants.

Activate a Pay After or Pay Before service

Set up pre-authorized payments

Use the Digital Discount code

Voila!

Freedom Mobile offers the following ‘Big Gig Unlimited Data’ plans.

There are a number of plans that include a variation of talk, text and a huge amount of data.

In terms of pricing, again this is the cheapest out of all carriers for this combination of data and talk!

Price Talk Text Data Nationwide Data Big Gig Unlimited 10 GB

$50 per month

$45 per month if you bring your own phone $0.05/minute Unlimited Global 10 GB 1 GB Big Gig Unlimited + Talk 10 GB

$60 per month

$50 per month if you bring your own phone Unlimited Unlimited Global 10 GB 1 GB Big Gig Unlimited + Talk 12 GB

$70 per month

$55 per month if you bring your own phone Unlimited Unlimited Global 12 GB 1 GB Big Gig Unlimited + Talk 15 GB

$75 per month

$60 per month if you bring your own phone Unlimited Unlimited Global 15 GB 2 GB Big Gig Unlimited + Talk 25 GB

$90 per month

$75 per month if you bring your own phone Unlimited Unlimited Global 25 GB 2 GB Big Gig Unlimited + Talk 30 GB

$115 per month

$100 per month if you bring your own phone Unlimited Unlimited Global 30 GB 5 GB

Freedom Mobile also offers the following ‘Freedom’ plans.

Price Data Nationwide Talk Freedom 250 MB

$15 per month

Same price if you bring your own phone 250 MB 100 minutes for calls to Canada – Unlimited Incoming calls Freedom 500 MB

$25 per month

Same price if you bring your own phone 500 MB Unlimited to Canada – Unlimited Incoming calls Freedom 1 GB

$25 per month

Same price if you bring your own phone 1 GB $0.05/min for calls to Canada – Unlimited Incoming calls Freedom 2 GB

$40 per month

Same price if you bring your own phone 2 GB + 3 GB Bonus Unlimited to Canada – Unlimited Incoming calls Freedom 5 GB

$50 per month

$45 per month if you bring your own phone 5 GB + 3 GB Bonus

500 MB for Nationwide Unlimited to Canada – Unlimited Incoming calls

Freedom Mobile also offers savings if you add multiple lines to the same account.

They call this their ‘Better Together Savings’.

The lines have to ‘qualify’ to be bundled, which we suggest you call and discuss with customer service, but just so you have an idea the savings are:

2 Lines: $2 off per month per line

3 Lines: $3 off per month per line

4 Lines: $4 off per month per line

5+ Lines: $5 off per month per line

Pros

All plans offer very good value for the monthly fee

Unlimited data however they will cap the data to 256 kbps download and 128 kbps upload once you use the allotted amount

Cons

Once you’re outside of the Freedom area you have much less data to use

No roaming option to extend your plan for $7 – $12 per day the way Rogers and Telus offer – ‘Roam Like Home’

Freedom Mobile Phones

Limited Time BYOP Offer:

Bring Your Own Phone and save an additional $10 per month for 12 months on any Big Gig or Big Gig + Talk Plans

Here are the phones that Freedom Mobile offers:

iPhone 11

64 GB

128 GB

256 GB iPhone XR

64 GB iPhone Xs

64 GB

256 GB

512 GB iPhone Xs Max

64 GB

256 GB

512 GB iPhone 8

64 GB

256 GB iPhone 8 Plus

64 GB

256 GB iPhone X

64 GB

256 GB Google Pixel 2

64 GB

128 GB Google Pixel 2 XL

64 GB

128 GB Samsung Galaxy Note9 Samsung Galaxy S9 Samsung Galaxy S9+ Samsung Galaxy Note8 Samsung Galaxy S8+ Samsung Galaxy S8 iPhone 7

32 GB iPhone 7 Plus

32 GB iPhone 6S

32 GB iPhone SE

32 GB iPhone 6

32 GB Sony Xperia XZ2 Sony Xperia XZ1 LG V30 ThinQ LG G7 ThinQ LG Q Stylo + LG X Power 3 Motorola Moto G6 Play Motorola Moto E5 Play LG G Pad IV 8.0 Haier PCD Z219 Samsung Galaxy A8 Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra Sony Xperia XA2 Samsung Galaxy Xcover 4

What is MyTab?

Simply put, you can decide how much you want to pay upfront for a phone and put the rest of the phone cost on your ‘Tab’.

With MyTab you pay the remaining balance owning on the phone by adding a monthly payment for 24 months.

Freedom never had 2 year contracts which was a bonus however most other carriers have now gone to the same model as Freedom where you essentially pay off the phone over 24 months.

BYOP: Keep in mind that you can also Bring Your Own Phone!

You will also save $120 ($10 per month for 12 months) when you activate your own phone on a new line on a Big Gig plan in-store.

You can use any compatible phone you may already have or you can purchase a used phone as well to be used on the Freedom network.

If you’re looking to purchase a used phone, our friends at Orchard sell used iPhones (and some Samsung models).

They’re based in Toronto, ship the same or next day and offer a 90 day money back guarantee!

You can also check out Kijiji and the other online marketplaces.

Home network selected and Away networks appearing on iPhone

Pros

You get to decide how much of the phone you want to pay off each month

They have the latest Apple, Samsung and Huawei devices which are absolutely beautiful

Cons

None really as long as you understand that paying $0 today doesn’t mean a free phone 🙂

So is Freedom Mobile worth it?

In our opinion, having a fourth major carrier in Canada is great for competition.

The plans Freedom Mobile offers, especially the Big Gig plans provide the most amazing value for money available in the market.

The fact that they now offer iPhones is amazing.

The reception may not have been the greatest when they launched but we’re hearing it’s getting better and better, especially if you’re based in a core city.

Overall, we think Freedom Mobile is an excellent choice!

Recommendation

Great for those who want large amounts of data Good for those who are usually in the city/close to the core Cheaper than the big 3 (on a straight up plan for plan basis)

Any downsides? Who is Freedom Not For?

If you spend a lot of time at the cottage or in rural areas if you’re on the road a lot travelling between larger cities and smaller towns If reception is imperative to your job function, such as for salespeople where a missed call can be detrimental

Then Freedom Mobile is NOT for you as reception is still spotty and you will presumably get irritated – wait until their network gets better.

Frequently Asked Questions About Freedom Mobile

When is VoLTE coming to Freedom Mobile?

Well to start with VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE meaning phone calls will go through the 4G LTE network instead of the current 3G.

On August 13, 2018, Freedom Mobile tweeted that VoLTE is now available on the LG G6 and G7 devices and claiming to provide ‘noticeably clearer and reliable voice calling.

Definitely an exciting milestone forward. We’ll keep this page updated as they’ve stated that they’ll be making VoLTE available to other devices.

Hoping the iPhones, Samsung S9 and Note 9, Google Pixel and HUAWEI P20 amongst other devices get this capability soon!

Does Freedom Mobile offer prepaid service?

Yes, Freedom Mobile does offer prepaid service.

Go to the Freedom Mobile website and enter your IMEI number in their Bring Your Own Phone compatibility checker.

If you’re phone will work on their network, the next step will allow you to order a sim card for free.

The sim card should arrive in 4 – 5 business days, after which you can activate it on Freedom Mobile prepaid service.

Why is Freedom Mobile so cheap?

Since Freedom Mobile is a new entrant into the space and competing with the Big 3 Carriers is no easy task, it seems like they are using lower price points as a tactic to help increase the amount of subscribers.

The lower price does not relate to the quality of the network by any means, Freedom Mobile is heavily investing in bettering their network.

One big difference however is their coverage area and what is considered covered in your plan or your home area vs what is considering roaming or your away area.

See the coverage maps above to get a better understanding of how Freedom Mobile coverage works.

Does Freedom Mobile sell the iPhone?

Yes, Freedom Mobile now sells the iPhone and carries various models (Initially when they launched they did not).

Do the iPhone 8 and iPhone X work on Freedom Mobile?

Yes, all iPhones now work on Freedom Mobile

Does Freedom Mobile have LTE?

Yes, Freedom Mobile does offer LTE service. As per the Freedom Mobile website, LTE started rolling out in stages in Fall 2017 and is available in all major cities.

See the orange shading in the above coverage maps to see where Freedom Mobile LTE service is already available.

What’s the Freedom Mobile Customer Service number?

You can contact Freedom Mobile at 1-877-946-3184 from 8 AM to 10 PM local time 7 days a week.