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Wind Mobile Experiences?

29K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  bunk3m 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm attracted to the oh Canada plan even at $45/mth unlimited data seems favorable. But what are your experiences? Coverage is limited and what are the consequences of drifting outside those areas. My main data usage would be streaming from my home HTPC @256kbs so I don't think throttling will affect me but I'd like to have at least 1GB/mth total.
Is there a thread for Wind feedback/rant?
 
#2 ·
I've been with Wind for about 18 months now. I've had mixed experiences. In some places I've seen dramatic improvements in coverage while others seem just as bad as when I joined. When I joined, it seemed as though they were handling most problems on the fly, but they seem to have stabilized and are operating more like a standard wireless carrier now.

You can look around this forum for feedback from a variety of viewpoints but I'd take everything with a grain of salt; as a new company they are evolving rapidly and many past problems are no longer a real issue.

Coverage is always the big question with Wind. You can check out this site to see crowd-surfed coverage in your area, as well as approximate tower locations, but the only way to really know is to actually try it out. If you stray outside the Wind coverage you will be roaming on Rogers. Here are the rates:
  • US/Canada Roaming- 0.25c/min: When outside a WIND Zone, receive a call or make a call to anywhere in Canada or the US– no extra long-distance charges apply.
  • US/Canada Texting – 0.15c/txt: Send a text message to anywhere in Canada or the U.S. while you’re outside a WIND Zone. Receiving text messages is always free.
  • Data Roaming- 0.10c/25kB: Ten cents will cover enough data for approximately two average web pages.
I wouldn't recommend any roaming data usage, but talk and text is not unreasonable.
 
#3 ·
I've been with WIND since they launched in Ottawa and I've been happy with their service here in therms of call quality and data speeds. The coverage in Ottawa is pretty good. It's actually better in some cases than what WIND's coverage map of Ottawa shows. For example there has been a good signal in Manotick for over a year, whereas WIND's map is still showing Manotick as a planned expansion zone.

As TorontoColin says, you should definitely disable data roaming on your WIND phone.
 
#4 ·
Been with Wind since December 2010. Using the Holiday Miracle plan. Add me to the list of people that recommend disabling data roaming on your WIND phone.

As TorontoColin mentioned, coverage is the biggest issue with Wind. They are improving (almost weekly). So people that post complaints of poor reception today, might have the problem fixed by next month... or not. Wind is concentrating on areas of higher density population first (logically).

As I mention to anybody that inquires about Wind's coverage, I say that it's like any start-up provider (or is like what Rogers was 10 years ago). Their coverage is getting better (at least in the Lower Mainland area), and is a bit sketchy in outlying areas, and almost non-existent outside of any major city. They will improve.
 
#5 ·
This is all great info. I'm just starting the 3rd year of 3 with Bell and I'm looking for the best voice/data plan for next year. Rogers has got the phone I like (Samsung Glide as I'm partial to sliders) but both Bell and Rogers believe 1 hr of TV is worth $1 (100mb) and that has got to change! I don't need their mobile TV feature just the bandwidth(@256kbs> 2GBmax) to stream from my IP at home.

Later this week I'll have a chat with the lad at my local Wind outlet and mabye try the stream.

Thx, I'll check back often
 
#6 ·
Joined in December 2010 with the $40 Holiday Miracle plan. Since I'm mainly in S. Ontario it's been a good experience for me.

Tethering to my table and e-reader has been a pleasant experience as well as the phone itself.

I would only be unhappy if I traveled more in Canada, outside of their towers.
 
#8 ·
I rarely leave the GTA, but my experience the few times I've visited Ottawa (and even through into Gatineau for quite a ways along the river) has been fine.

I have data roaming turned off, and I actually don't even roam at all.
I set my phone manually to wind and it prevents it from jumping to rogers automatically when it gets to 0-1 bars.
The only dead spots I've experienced were at DC-UOIT (a known dead zone since launch, despite being 'official' coverage area) and my basement.
I still get 0-1 bars in the basement, but if I'm standing in the right spot, it will go to 'no service'.
I suspect it's not location so much as the aluminum siding and deep basement working against me on two counts :p

The bulk of my data use is at work (lunch break, etc) and I've had a steady 1mbps + (1 during the busy times, as much as 2.5 at like 7am). Pretty much par for the course, given the closest antenna is 1km from there.
 
#11 ·
James thanks for the reply.

Please understand if I sound frustrated, its because been with Fido since 2004 and have had terrible experiences.

Fido has New City Fido for $35. Shows Zone from GTA all the way to Hamilton. But EVEN if you receive calls in Burlington, they charge you giving it different names, calling it airtime blah blah.

Its just gotten hard to trust any phone company.
 
#12 ·
I make calls form Burlington to Toronto using Wind and have never been dinged a dime.

The Wind website allows you to track data, calls and text messages along with the cost, if any.

Keep in mind that Wind has limitations when it comes to coverage so turn your roaming option to OFF.
 
#13 ·
I signed up in April of 2010. My experience with WIND has been pretty great. Only a few minor hiccups.

First, I signed up knowing right off the bat that they didn't officially have coverage in my area (Tuscany in Calgary). That said, I still get a decent signal (2 bars) at home; even in my basement. It only gets dropped when I'm in my laundry room. My only disappointment here is that they still haven't officially expanded to my area yet. This is likely because the only cell tower in the neighborhood is owned by Telus, and they can't get their antennas on there (see: tower sharing disagreements).

Next problem was that US roaming did not work. It absolutely refused to connect to T-Mobile when I was in Texas. When I contacted WIND, they recommended replacing the SIM card. I went into a store, it took about 2 minutes, and roaming worked fine on my next trip and every subsequent trip. My original SIM was white with an orange WIND logo. New one is mostly black with a white WIND logo. Since then, I've actually picked up a T-mobile SIM, which gives me unlimited talk/text/data for $3/day. That worked out much better for me, as my trips are usually pretty short, and I can use my phone's GPS tracking to get around without paying data roaming fees.

I once got a $0.15 text message charge when I was most definitely in the WIND Home zone. I was in a building where coverage was a little spotty, so my phone must have switched over briefly.

Call quality used to suffer (that weird half-duplex thing), but that's been gone for a long time.

Other than those things, I haven't had any unacceptable problems. No dropped calls. No loss of data except when my phone was acting up, not WIND's network. Signal strength in the malls could be better. I will lose signal when I'm in a big store like Old Navy, but I'm never actually using the phone at that time, so it doesn't bother me. Customer service has been really good to me. I strongly recommend calling during normal business hours, especially in the morning. Even better, their online "Live Chat" customer service is great because they'll email you a copy of the conversation. When I switched from the Holiday Miracle Plan to the Irresistible Plan (no longer available to switch to), I had them confirm that the features were identical, since I like to occasionally call/text the US, and use tethering.

At a fraction of what a similar plan would cost from Rogers, Bell, or Telus, I'm willing to accept that it's not "perfect" and that they're improving and expanding. The great thing is, as they expand, my existing plan just gets better and better because I'll be able to use my phone all around the country without incurring so much as a penny in additional fees.

So yes, I'm buying into WIND's "potential" but it seems like they're growing steadily, so there's not a lot to worry about.
 
#15 ·
I've been testing the service using a pay-as-you-go account. Taking the GO train from Burlington to Toronto daily with good coverage the whole way (may be one or two dead zones but found that was the case with Rogers as well).

I initially started with one of the least expensive Huawei phones to minimize investment in the event that I would discard the service after a month. This was a very bad decision, it was the worst phone I've ever used including the analog phones I used in the late 1990's. Switched to a Lumia 710, not sure I like Windows Phone OS but the quality is much better.

Overall I've been happy with coverage and call quality. Used the pay-as-you-go service in the us at $0.20/minute (great price compared to Rogers) with no problem.

My experience with Wind's customer service has however been less positive. When trying to purchase the 710, I couldn't find a store which had one in stock in Burlington. One store never seemed to be open, even after I called to verify that they would be open.

I tried ordering on their web site only to get a credit card processing order (3 different cards). I order things regularly from other sites with no problem. Called Wind as directed by the web site only to be told there must be a problem with my cards. When I tried to order on the phone they kept directing me to a store and wouldn't take an order but couldn't tell me which store would have the phone - just that all the stores "stocked phones".

I called support two other times. In all cases someone picked up quickly but in the end was unable to assist either because they didn't understand english or just didn't know what to do. Seems that when they get to a point that they don't know what to do they either put you on hold and never come back or just hang up.

Based on the poor customer service I've decided to keep my family's lines with Rogers (about $200/month).
 
#16 ·
I've been on Wind since Aug 2011. I've been very happy. I live in the GTA. I've not had any more issues than I had with Fido. I like the fact that I have an unlocked phone and can switch out SIM cards when I travel. I own the phone. Good bye to the out of control and out of this planet usury rates from Fido. I pay $29 for unlimited data, voice and text in the wind zones. The only downside is the network isn't as large so I sometimes get roaming charges on Rogers GSM network.

I was with Fido from the late 1990s. Fido was great until they were bought by Rogers. Then the pricing was increased and customer service went down the tubes. They didn't care about grandfathered plans, added surcharges etc. etc. Oh, if you don't like our new plans .... screw you. Go to somewhere else. And by the way you have another x years on your plan and you have to pay y to get out of your plan.

Those that complain about customer service at Wind, I agree. It isn't the best. But it hasn't been anywhere as bad as Rogers.
 
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