250BB Automatic Top-up Bonus

So it's confirmed that data is at 3G speed, not 4G. Koodo should definitely mention that on the site!

Thanks Sophia!  This is useful.  
 

Being 3G raises another Question.  

I currently have a Booster with about 700 MB’s  of 4G data left..  If I were to change my plan so that I can get the 250 mb bonus, would I be able to control which data pool I am utilizing?   For example, 3G is okay for brousing and checking email, but if I were to need to play a video, I might want to use my 4G booster data.

Haha wow you ask some great questions. The truth is I don’t know. But I asked our liaison again, this time it might take a little longer to get back to you - I would imagine they will have to do some research themselves 

The way it has worked in the past is that when your baseplan is renewed after 30 days, your plan allotment gets used first  and when those minutes/data are exhausted, the booster kicks in. So if the system has not been changed, your first 250MB will probably be at 3G, then 4G  coming out of your booster.

I have several data boosters running at the same time that were bought an sale at various times. Which one gets picked seems to be random.

Right, but my question would still be whether when you chance your plan, your boosters get downgraded to 3g as well or whether they still remain true 4g speed. 

My husband is on the Public Mobile $15 plan and doesn't miss 4g, but then again he doesn't watch videos on it either 😀

Thanks!  As much as I would like to have the 250 MB’s bonus, I I will pass.  Though I do not do things like play videos very often, for the few times when I might have a need, I want to make sure I have access to the 4G data bucket.

I just hope that any new boosters you purchase after this will still be 4G. Koodo seems to be messing a lot with speed lately, now they make a distinction between 4G and 4G LTE even in their postpaid plans.

It seems they are determined to switch prepaid to 3G only so hopefully you are stocked up on 4G boosters 😀

Hopefully, your prediction is not correct.  Unfortunately, as you have pointed out, When you look at what has happened in the postpaid market with 3G plans, speed limitations, minimum plan amounts to buy phones, the telcos are definitely trying to push customers up the pricing ladder.    Thus, It is possible you are correct.  I could see Koodoo potentially limiting the boosters you can buy on lower price prepaid plans to try and push folks like me with $15.00 base plans up the pricing ladder.  Should they do that, I would definitely have to reconsider how much I really want data.  I would never buy a 3G booster, I would simply do without or perhaps upgrade my wife’s post paid talk and text plan and tether her data. Would be interesting to know how other Koodoo prepaid users would react. 

As the market eventually shifts towards 5G, providers and customers are going to need more capacity. At 5G speeds, users are going to consume much more quickly if not careful.

Trimming back the “freebies” to a lower speed is a time-honoured tradition.

Prepaid data is fine for occasional use, checking email or shopping, but forget about heavy media consumption. Boosters (now 4G, eventually ???) are  already outrageously expensive.

Much better off with a post-paid if data is that important.

That is a good point.  Most Koodoo users likely are somewhat occasional users.  Myself, I am averaging about 30 megs per 30 day cycle ( most I have ever used is 150 in a 30 day cycle since becoming a Koodoo customer a year ago).  Changing my plan and signing up for Automatic Top-Up would effectively make my 4G booster unavailable to me.  Might as well use up my 4G booster first since I have paid for,  it then reevaluate before purchasing another.  Must admit though, if I had the 250 bonus, I probably would use more data, just not sure how much more.

Also agree that the data boosters are not cheap, but the fact that they do not expire makes them worth it for small users.

I was on prepaid since it came out (had an account number that started with 2xxx). I ported to postpaid only very recently with a plan I couldn't resist.

I must say though that once you HAVE the data, you actually find ways to use it too 😊

Our liaison at Koodo is still busy finding some answers that weren't addressed yet, but I doubt even they can make long term predictions where prepaid is heading in the long run, speed wise.

The bright’ n shiny thing people will want is 5G and lots of data for media. Postpaid will end up like “party lines” at the dawn of rolling out universal phone service, where several subscribers shared a line at reduced cost.

So although @BobTheElectrician already provided some well informed answers, here the official ones from Koodo:

- Is the Bonus data for signing up to Auto-Top-up 3G or 4G?

Bonus data will be given at whatever speed the purchased price plan is on (eg. 3G price plan bonus data will be 3G only, 4G price plan bonus data will be 4G only)

- What happens to existing 4G boosters?

Boosters will automatically throttle to the customer’s purchased plan speed. If a customer decides to switch from a 4G plan to a 3G plan with existing boosters still on their account, the remaining data will be throttled to 3G.

- Is it possible to choose which speed you want to use if you have a 3G plan with a 4G booster. 3G for browsing but then switch to 4G for streaming?

Unfortunately no, boosters will automatically throttle to whichever speed a customer’s price plan is currently on. Customers will not have the option to switch speed tiers based on their data activity.

Whow!  Thanks Sophia, am I ever glad I asked these questions before doing a switch.  I would be one unhappy customer if my 4G booster that I paid top dollar for suddenly got throttled to 3G.  I never dreamed that they would go this far.  Koodoo should change their website so that this clear to future purchasers, or they are likely going annoy customers.  This information makes my decision real easy.  I will keep my current plan.   Hope this information will help other customers too,

They did say that they're going to update the FAQ with that information, so we can thank you for asking the questions. Even though the answers make me really sad as well!

Thanks for clarifying this, Sophia!

Data boosters automatically throttling to the base plan’s speed seems reasonable, and explains why Koodo removed all 4G and LTE verbiage from the data boosters page.  Atleast I/we now know that the 4G/LTE plans are “up to 100Mbs” per Koodo’s FAQ and fine print.

Definitely not changing to the new “3G” plans, which interestingly enough are currently priced identical to Public Mobile!

The 4G and LTE verbiage is back.  That is good.  Hope it stays.

Do not agree that it makes any sense that a 4G booster would cost the same as a 3G booster (unless you are a Telus shareholder).  You can move down the Telus food chain to Public Mobile if you want 3G boosters (at much cheaper cost).

The verbiage has disappeared again.  The marketing folks cannot seem to firgue out what their offerings should be concerning boosters.