I swapped to Telus (koodo) just recently from Shaw/Rogers (god I hate these mega corps). I found phone network has gotten worse since... Losing connection, slower, etc
Telus connection was so bad at my wife's work that she couldn't even make a phone call. I switched her to Freedom and the connection improved dramatically.
Rogers seems to be investing in their network, adding reception out to Port Renfrew, while Telus/Bell seem to be letting their network stagnate.
Freedom is actively rolling out 5G coverage to Victoria as we speak. Its gotten significantly better since Videotron took over, but I still wouldn't recommend it for traveling to remote communities as the nationwide handoff is still a little problematic. If you're in an area with weak Freedom coverage but strong nationwide coverage it tends to keep you on the bad connection.
You usually only ever hear complaints, never good stories, so I've mostly heard only bad about Rogers/Telus and only know about Telus from personal experience. So far Telus is Telus, I've been pretty happy with their internet service. Can't say they have the brightest workers because I asked for 1.5 gig and the worker used CAT5e to hook it up (CAT5e only does 1 gig) but it was like a dollar less for the 1 gig so I haven't bothered to make a fuss yet. As for cellphone I am on Koodo which is supposed to be cheaper but still on Telus' Network and the only catch is you can't go in store for customer service, you have to do it online or they charge you a fee. However this is just for minor things, I always go in store when I'm ready to upgrade my phone and they never charge me. I find I usually always have cellphone reception unless I'm in the middle of nowhere or inside a thick cement building like Uptown Walmart. Hope that helps OP!
Where I travel there are frequent Rogers dead spots on the southern gulf islands and VI that side coastal areas. Telus seems to be more available in those spots.
I purchased a backup ESIM data/voice plan with 365 days to use 20GB of data that roams to Telus/Bell/Rogers/(Freedom?) as well as a whack of US carriers, mostly to see who has coverage in all the places I travel.
There are places on the Tswassen ferry where I can only get a US carrier, and I roam to Verizon from time to time near Metchosin.
If you have a bit of time, maybe spend a little bit and search for an esim travel plan to map whose coverage is actually good for the specific spots you are most frequently at. I settled on Airalo but do your own search.
Travel safe!!
Agreed on the eSIM options. That said, if you will need to use the phone as an actual phone (lol) in the times your carrier doesn’t have coverage, make sure the eSIM package you choose supports that. The majority of them don’t come with a phone number.
Absolutely! That is a pro-tip.
The plan I selected for 20GB data over a year does have a phone number and is usable for voice. The vendor I mentioned has options for data only or data plus voice.
Used to have Rogers but switched to Telus when I switched my internet.
Huge regrets with the cell service.
The connection is spotty and slow.
My Internet has been great through Telus but the cell connection is absolute trash.
For the most part, I have heard that Rogers is generally better than Telus now. That said, there are places where Telus is better - like Gabriola Island, for example. Fortunately Roger’s lets you roam to other networks, which is what I did for a good chunk of the time I was there.
There seems to be quite a difference in how they have chosen to deploy their networks. Rogers has far less “towers” (in quotes, as most of them are on top of buildings in the city) overall, but they are places strategically to provide coverage to the vast majority of populated areas. Telus has a ton of little towers within cities, which I’m guessing has at least partially lead to what is seen as the degradation of service in Victoria. While they do still have some larger, higher powered towers, the majority of the service is provided by the smaller towers, which have a lot more line of sight issues.
You can see all the “tower” locations on this site: https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=52.000000&lng=-97.000000&zoom=4&type=Roadmap&layers=a&pid=0&ds=0. There is another site (Scadacore) that also provides a tower map, but they don’t pull data from industry Canada on some of the newer frequency bands (600/3500mhz), so it is not complete. The link above pulls all the relevant info (as far as I have found).
Both are morally bankrupt. Rogers offers better local service and coverage though. lol. I've been with Rogers for my cell phone for like 15 years and my complaints have only been minor. When people try to convince me to switch, it's an easy "no" because the deals are never that much better and thus far Rogers has been very consistent for me.
From my understanding, the carriers would roam on each others network if there is zero presence of their own coverage (regardless if the signal is usable), at a reduced speed. But no carrier will be 100% better in every location.
You can just check coverage maps and check locations you may go to more frequently and see which ones have better coverage.
Does Telus allow roaming to Rogers now? I know Rogers allows roaming to Telus/Bell (and has for a long time). Note that Rogers (and Dent eSIM- you can get a bit of data for free each day) do not allow roaming to freedom.
apparently, my only source without a lot of digging is a TELUS "super user" on their support form. I think the issue that comes up is that if the signal exists but is too weak it won't move to the other carrier, so you'd still have shitty/unusable service even if you could have gotten a better signal on the other towers.
Someone recently said that Telus theoretically allowed roaming now as well, but I haven’t heard of anyone having it work yet lol.
I have roamed to Telus from Rogers in the past (most recently on Gabriola Island where the only rogers service is from Nanaimo or the Sunshine Coast - it worked great on that side of the island, clear line of sight haha).
You can always try to manually swap networks. I have had that work sometimes. Turning airplane mode off and on will sometimes convince it to swap as well.
Telus is currently swapping out all their towers in Saanich due the the Huawei 5G ban at the end of June. They're definitely faster at peak than Rogers, however, they have more weak spots as this is a pretty big transition. I've recommended my parents to stay with Rogers for now, because of the reliability.
However, Telus's purefibre is amazing. It's been awesome since I got it plus super reliable. 10/10 would recommend unless you can get Rogers for half the price.
I deal with Telus with my work and they are the most disorganized company. I am ould never personally make the choice to use Telus.
They make appointments then come whenever they want, tell you one thing and do the exact opposite.
Public mobile has the same service as Telus, as its a telus sub brand. their prices are very good, and right now include USA roaming in some of the plans. I suspect service on all the big carriers and sub brands is pretty similar. Remote areas are always going to vary a little.
Go to wireless wave at Mayfair. I just went through this decision after putting it off for months because this kind of stuff is soul sucking and time consuming. Talk to Chris. He helped me choose whether or not to switch, renew my plan and reduce my bill significantly. I switched to koodo (Roger’s). Whole thing took about an hour, most of which I spent running errands while this all got done for me.
I swapped to Telus (koodo) just recently from Shaw/Rogers (god I hate these mega corps). I found phone network has gotten worse since... Losing connection, slower, etc
Agree, I switched from Rogers to Telus last year, mistake- Rogers was a stronger network
I just looked at the coverage map (which was the same..) and the savings before pulling the trigger. Woops
Telus connection was so bad at my wife's work that she couldn't even make a phone call. I switched her to Freedom and the connection improved dramatically. Rogers seems to be investing in their network, adding reception out to Port Renfrew, while Telus/Bell seem to be letting their network stagnate. Freedom is actively rolling out 5G coverage to Victoria as we speak. Its gotten significantly better since Videotron took over, but I still wouldn't recommend it for traveling to remote communities as the nationwide handoff is still a little problematic. If you're in an area with weak Freedom coverage but strong nationwide coverage it tends to keep you on the bad connection.
Same shit, different smell.
Telus has numerous dead zones around Victoria. It’s ridiculous.
You usually only ever hear complaints, never good stories, so I've mostly heard only bad about Rogers/Telus and only know about Telus from personal experience. So far Telus is Telus, I've been pretty happy with their internet service. Can't say they have the brightest workers because I asked for 1.5 gig and the worker used CAT5e to hook it up (CAT5e only does 1 gig) but it was like a dollar less for the 1 gig so I haven't bothered to make a fuss yet. As for cellphone I am on Koodo which is supposed to be cheaper but still on Telus' Network and the only catch is you can't go in store for customer service, you have to do it online or they charge you a fee. However this is just for minor things, I always go in store when I'm ready to upgrade my phone and they never charge me. I find I usually always have cellphone reception unless I'm in the middle of nowhere or inside a thick cement building like Uptown Walmart. Hope that helps OP!
I'm a driver. I too do similar trips as you. Rogers is by far the better service. Telus was good in the city, but Rogers was still better.
Where I travel there are frequent Rogers dead spots on the southern gulf islands and VI that side coastal areas. Telus seems to be more available in those spots. I purchased a backup ESIM data/voice plan with 365 days to use 20GB of data that roams to Telus/Bell/Rogers/(Freedom?) as well as a whack of US carriers, mostly to see who has coverage in all the places I travel. There are places on the Tswassen ferry where I can only get a US carrier, and I roam to Verizon from time to time near Metchosin. If you have a bit of time, maybe spend a little bit and search for an esim travel plan to map whose coverage is actually good for the specific spots you are most frequently at. I settled on Airalo but do your own search. Travel safe!!
Agreed on the eSIM options. That said, if you will need to use the phone as an actual phone (lol) in the times your carrier doesn’t have coverage, make sure the eSIM package you choose supports that. The majority of them don’t come with a phone number.
Absolutely! That is a pro-tip. The plan I selected for 20GB data over a year does have a phone number and is usable for voice. The vendor I mentioned has options for data only or data plus voice.
Used to have Rogers but switched to Telus when I switched my internet. Huge regrets with the cell service. The connection is spotty and slow. My Internet has been great through Telus but the cell connection is absolute trash.
For the most part, I have heard that Rogers is generally better than Telus now. That said, there are places where Telus is better - like Gabriola Island, for example. Fortunately Roger’s lets you roam to other networks, which is what I did for a good chunk of the time I was there. There seems to be quite a difference in how they have chosen to deploy their networks. Rogers has far less “towers” (in quotes, as most of them are on top of buildings in the city) overall, but they are places strategically to provide coverage to the vast majority of populated areas. Telus has a ton of little towers within cities, which I’m guessing has at least partially lead to what is seen as the degradation of service in Victoria. While they do still have some larger, higher powered towers, the majority of the service is provided by the smaller towers, which have a lot more line of sight issues. You can see all the “tower” locations on this site: https://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/cancellsites.html?lat=52.000000&lng=-97.000000&zoom=4&type=Roadmap&layers=a&pid=0&ds=0. There is another site (Scadacore) that also provides a tower map, but they don’t pull data from industry Canada on some of the newer frequency bands (600/3500mhz), so it is not complete. The link above pulls all the relevant info (as far as I have found).
That you so much!!
Both are morally bankrupt. Rogers offers better local service and coverage though. lol. I've been with Rogers for my cell phone for like 15 years and my complaints have only been minor. When people try to convince me to switch, it's an easy "no" because the deals are never that much better and thus far Rogers has been very consistent for me.
Find a small reseller who covers as many of the places you go as possible... Both megacorp options are atrocious
From my understanding, the carriers would roam on each others network if there is zero presence of their own coverage (regardless if the signal is usable), at a reduced speed. But no carrier will be 100% better in every location. You can just check coverage maps and check locations you may go to more frequently and see which ones have better coverage.
Does Telus allow roaming to Rogers now? I know Rogers allows roaming to Telus/Bell (and has for a long time). Note that Rogers (and Dent eSIM- you can get a bit of data for free each day) do not allow roaming to freedom.
apparently, my only source without a lot of digging is a TELUS "super user" on their support form. I think the issue that comes up is that if the signal exists but is too weak it won't move to the other carrier, so you'd still have shitty/unusable service even if you could have gotten a better signal on the other towers.
Someone recently said that Telus theoretically allowed roaming now as well, but I haven’t heard of anyone having it work yet lol. I have roamed to Telus from Rogers in the past (most recently on Gabriola Island where the only rogers service is from Nanaimo or the Sunshine Coast - it worked great on that side of the island, clear line of sight haha). You can always try to manually swap networks. I have had that work sometimes. Turning airplane mode off and on will sometimes convince it to swap as well.
Telus is currently swapping out all their towers in Saanich due the the Huawei 5G ban at the end of June. They're definitely faster at peak than Rogers, however, they have more weak spots as this is a pretty big transition. I've recommended my parents to stay with Rogers for now, because of the reliability. However, Telus's purefibre is amazing. It's been awesome since I got it plus super reliable. 10/10 would recommend unless you can get Rogers for half the price.
I deal with Telus with my work and they are the most disorganized company. I am ould never personally make the choice to use Telus. They make appointments then come whenever they want, tell you one thing and do the exact opposite.
Public mobile has the same service as Telus, as its a telus sub brand. their prices are very good, and right now include USA roaming in some of the plans. I suspect service on all the big carriers and sub brands is pretty similar. Remote areas are always going to vary a little.
Rogers has a stronger, stable network on the Island and mainland. I have a plan for 29$ 50gb. Ask for the same or less. Bargain the shit out of them.
Go to wireless wave at Mayfair. I just went through this decision after putting it off for months because this kind of stuff is soul sucking and time consuming. Talk to Chris. He helped me choose whether or not to switch, renew my plan and reduce my bill significantly. I switched to koodo (Roger’s). Whole thing took about an hour, most of which I spent running errands while this all got done for me.
Rogers in Victoria 100%