Trouble is, they are only nested in areas that have a considerable population density. If you look at their coverage maps, coverage is available throughout most of Canada, but their "unlimited" zones (what they refer to as home zone) is limited. Their "away" zone, they charge a flat fee for each service you use, such as texting, data , voice. Think of it just like roaming on a foreign network, which is weird nowadays as roaming is considered as your communication option outside of Canada, but certainly not within. Perhaps this is how they keep their margin low and can offer such attractive prices.
I love the idea of having unlimited data no matter where I am in Canada. In particular, two things come to mind. No overage charges and being able to remain connected no matter where I am. I would love to post in real time when I am in the bush, which I have in the past, but sometimes it's hard to do. Coverage is sometimes spotty. Data might drop, the iPhone that I currently use, on occasion in poor signal areas, comes back and says "cannot send message". Not often, but it happens.
Now imagine if your paying for the roaming data access, at $1/mb. These sort of inconsistencies might cause a bit of stress. I know, it's not a lot but it does add up if you were planning on being out for a while, wanted to download or upload large emails or stream something like video. It all adds up.
Very recently I became aware of the fact that the material on some websites that the vendors produce, might not necessarily reflect the actual usability of devices in certain areas.
I have a friend who messages me every so often, I told him that I was getting a new tablet with 4G / LTE service capabilities. He asked which carrier I was going to go with. I told him that I was still trying to work it out but mentioned Wind, with hesitation, knowing that they have limited coverage for their "unlimited" services.
He was quick to point out that they underestimate and understate their coverage to ensure that potential fringe customers are reduced at their checkouts. He gave a great example, having been with Wind for a short period of time, he noticed that once he left Barrie, northbound on Hwy 400, his Wind network switched to the "away" provider (roaming) about 2km north of Horseshoe Valley Road. Ok, so now he was paying per use for all services. He was heading to Coldwater and the phone only clicked back once to Wind, albeit for a few moments, then flicked back to roaming on the other network.
Coldwater had no Wind coverage. None. Zilch. Or at least he thought. He remembered me telling him about the repeater option for fringe areas, something that was a modest investment, but frankly he needs to be connected, like me, for work related purposes. He got himself a AWS (LTE) booster from Ebay at a reasonable price, considerably lower than retail. He played around with the external directional antenna, finding a sweet spot and within a few seconds the system made contact with the Wind service and there you have it! Wind service was online.
The blue dot at the top of the map below represents my friends relative location. The blue outline towards the bottom represents the typical extent of the signal.
So, if network coverage is a concern and you need it, don't give up right away and hand your money over to the major carriers. Do a bit of research. You might be able to stretch that dollar and stretch that signal!!
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