An Edmontonians Freedom Mobile Review
I’ve been following Freedom Mobile’s (formerly Wind Mobile) journey since its early conception in 2008. I was rallied behind the war cry of the countless Canadians fed up with the price gouging of the Big Three and Freedom’s promise to dethrone them, sounded quite promising. But, in my eye’s, Freedom didn’t become a viable alternative until the Shaw acquisition in November of 2016. Over the course of several months, Shaw began pumping large sums of money into expanding and upgrading their once legacy (3G) network, to high speed Long-Term Evolution (LTE). This has finally allowed a once struggling company, to become Canada’s fourth largest national carrier with well over 1,000,000 subscribers.
I spent better part of November, pondering with the thought of jumping ship to join Freedom Mobile, but was led astray by countless negative reviews spread across multiple social forums. I have to admit, at first I was a little off put by claims of spotty coverage and voicemail issues, but I decided to give it a fair and unbiased chance. So late last Friday I popped into Londonderry Mall to visit my local Freedom Mobile booth and fifteen minutes later, was on my way to experiencing “THE FUTURE” of Canadian wireless.
“Kill Two Bird With One Stone.”
With my freshly unlocked iPhone 6s (previously locked to Telus) and a Freedom Mobile LTE sim card, I decided to put the network through its paces and at the same time, get some holiday shopping done.
First stop, West Edmonton Mall: then, off to Kingsway Garden Mall: finally, a quick detour at Southgate Mall. As I travelled across our fine city, I kept a watchful eye on the reception of my phone.
At some varying locations, my reception did dip to two or three bars, but for the majority of my travels, it stayed at a consistent four bars (full strength). I was surprised to find that, NOT ONCE DID I LOSE SIGNAL; NOT EVEN WALKING THROUGH THE CONGESTED MALLS.
Testing
To really see the limits of the network, I sought for the deepest part of West Edmonton mall, where I could run a few test.
Phone Call
I received a phone call from my mother, regarding a last minute gift suggestion for our neighbours, and was shocked by clarity and crispness of the voice I received.
Texting/iMessage
All went through without a hitch and I experienced no problems with iMessage activation. My tip to those that have reported this problem, is wait until the porting of your number is complete before trying to activate iMessage.
Internet/Data
I received three bars of LTE reception and ran a speed test.
12.8Mbps Download
1.05Mbps Upload
Their network is fast enough for most applications and satisfied my browsing needs with speed.
Final Thoughts
For those that are thinking of switching to a viable alternative to the “Big Three,” Freedom is the perfect choice. It offers a robust and ever expanding network, for a fraction of the cost competitors are willing to charge. Throughout my week of use, I have not experienced a single problem with Facetime, iMessage, Data, Voicemail or Calling. Every feature has worked flawlessly in my case.
Stay tuned for more articles regarding Freedom Mobile in the coming weeks!
