anyone have google project fi?

Mook

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Check android thread. Talked about a bunch.

Been on it for awhile now. Like Matt said, if you're a heavy data user you wont save much vs att, sprint, etc.

It uses TMO, Sprint and US Cellular towers so I'm rarely ever without signal. It does not aggressively switch carriers like Google claims, so its worth grabbing an app to manually jump when you need to.

It also tries to keep you on wifi as often as it can, but not always successful. My bills are never more than 50 a month and are usually more around 40.

You're locked in to google phones, however.

I have no regrets.
 

sickmint79

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Check android thread. Talked about a bunch.

Been on it for awhile now. Like Matt said, if you're a heavy data user you wont save much vs att, sprint, etc.

It uses TMO, Sprint and US Cellular towers so I'm rarely ever without signal. It does not aggressively switch carriers like Google claims, so its worth grabbing an app to manually jump when you need to.

It also tries to keep you on wifi as often as it can, but not always successful. My bills are never more than 50 a month and are usually more around 40.

You're locked in to google phones, however.

I have no regrets.

is this the case? i heard you have to *activate* it on those phones, but you could put your sim card in another device and use it.

what i'm really liking the idea of is it appears you can get off a plane anywhere in the world and ta-da you have phone service and data.
 

EmersonHart13

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I stumbled across this the other day.

:james:

I am losing my work phone and looking at what I want to do next. For now since work is leaving me the ATT phone I am going tmobile prepaid to bridge the gap for the interim.

Fi is definitely on my radar, we do a bit of traveling so I am enticed like [MENTION=341]sickmint79[/MENTION]
 

sickmint79

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Nope. FI is only available to nexus and now the pixel phones.

And ya, FI is a big deal for travelers.

i looked into this some more. you can get devices like iphones to work although there are some consequences. seems like you may or may not run into more problems internationally / would have to make sure your phone model handles a whole bunch of bands. i have an iphone5 and am due for something new and like life being easy to am looking at a new officially supported phone anyway.

http://www.provideocoalition.com/us...per-month-two-different-methods-consequences/

I stumbled across this the other day.

:james:

I am losing my work phone and looking at what I want to do next. For now since work is leaving me the ATT phone I am going tmobile prepaid to bridge the gap for the interim.

Fi is definitely on my radar, we do a bit of traveling so I am enticed like [MENTION=341]sickmint79[/MENTION]

my ibm plan was $50 and essentially was unlimited calling and data everywhere. that was the bee's knees.

i'm wondering if i want to dial into a conference call, is it free if i dial an international number still? or only if it's able to do some kind of voip version? i probably have country specific call in numbers i could use too but it would be nice to know i could just do anything and not have to worry about it.
 

Chet Donnelly

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My wife is on Fi and overall pretty happy with it. Only downside is your phone choices are limited.

If you stay under 5GB of data, the T-Mo $30 plan is the way to go. You port your number to Google Voice and you have unlimited minutes, text, and 5GB of 4g data for $30 a month.
 

EmersonHart13

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I was gonna say can you just do all your calls over wifi?

This guy talks about it: Project Fi has a powerful bonus feature hidden in plain sight | Computerworld

The phone call question

"Ah, but wait! A data-only SIM won't let you make and receive calls, will it?"

Technically, no (and thanks for the timely interjection!) -- but fear not, my friend, for all you need is the free Google Hangouts Dialer app to get around that restriction. Hangouts Dialer makes it possible to place and receive calls from your regular Fi number; it just uses data instead of regular cellular minutes.

As long as you have a solid connection, be it via mobile data or Wi-Fi, using Hangouts Dialer for phone calls should work flawlessly. I've been using the app to make calls in the car from my "data-only" surrogate smartphone, and people have actually remarked that the call quality sounds noticeably better than normal.

If you want to get really crazy, you can also use Hangouts Dialer to place and receive calls from an alternate number -- even while you're actively signed into the device. All you have to do is set up the free Google Voice service on a secondary Google account, then add that account onto the phone. Find that account in the settings section of the Hangouts Dialer app and just make sure the option for it to receive incoming calls is checked and active.

To place a call from that other number, open up Hangouts Dialer, tap the menu icon in the upper-left corner, and tap the circular avatar corresponding with the account you want. Any calls you place in Hangouts Dialer will now come from that account's associated number.

(And yes, that means you could actually use this method to keep multiple phone numbers associated with your phone -- say, a "work" number and a "home" number -- and be able to place and receive calls from any of them, anytime. Go nuts.)
[MENTION=5001]Ryan02Stang[/MENTION] Tmo is only good if you stay around here (I am about to switch off att to the tmo plan you speak of)... Sickmint and I are talking about this from the traveling perspective.
 

sickmint79

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hmm well point of clarity. unlimited talk in your country/USA.

looks like a USA call to thailand is some google hangout rate over wifi.
in thailand calling the USA via cell is 20 cents/min.
in thailand calling the USA via wifi, i assume is also hangout (i never use this stuff) appears free.
in thailand receiving USA cell is 20 cents/min.

pretty much always use hangout if not in the USA.

i wonder how well that works, i found different countries appear to have different popular apps and i think they prioritize service based on them. viber in the philippines, line in thailand... UAE blocks them (and wants you to pay for voip from their telcos) although you could use phone VPNs to get around them. wonder if they are friendly with fi.
 

sickmint79

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I can totally get by without making calls when traveling, because for me is pleasure travel. But being able to text and use data is huge. Looking stuff up and GPS is a big help to get around.

you can use google maps in an offline mode as well, if you're just navigating. i've had to make an occasional call to the bank (even when they knew i was traveling) to get some debit machines to work too.
 

Chet Donnelly

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I was gonna say can you just do all your calls over wifi?

This guy talks about it: Project Fi has a powerful bonus feature hidden in plain sight | Computerworld


[MENTION=5001]Ryan02Stang[/MENTION] Tmo is only good if you stay around here (I am about to switch off att to the tmo plan you speak of)... Sickmint and I are talking about this from the traveling perspective.
I've never had issues as long as I'm on an interstate or in an urban area. In rural Wisconsin I get no service, not even Edge. But driving from Phoenix to San Diego I had reception the whole time.

In regards to traveling, I used Hangouts in Singapore and Mexico and it was no different than when I'm home, in terms of texting and calling.
 

EmersonHart13

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you can use google maps in an offline mode as well, if you're just navigating. i've had to make an occasional call to the bank (even when they knew i was traveling) to get some debit machines to work too.

I know. I like the ability to look up restaurants and attractions. I'm bad at strictly scheduling vacation and we just do stuff on the fly.

I've never had issues as long as I'm on an interstate or in an urban area. In rural Wisconsin I get no service, not even Edge. But driving from Phoenix to San Diego I had reception the whole time.

In regards to traveling, I used Hangouts in Singapore and Mexico and it was no different than when I'm home, in terms of texting and calling.

Around here meant the good ole US of A. I meant travel out side of the states.
 

transmaxed

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[MENTION=483]transmaxed[/MENTION]

Sorry to bump this week old thread but wanted to post my thoughts. I have had Google Fi for over a year now. I switched from AT&T. Pretty much what everyone said is true. I have been very satisfied with the service and my phone bills have averaged $45 a month with tax, which is less than half what I was paying with AT&T. However, your monthly costs are completely driven by how much data you use. I am on Wi-Fi all day at work and at home, so I only use 1-2GB of data a month. The plan is very simple, $20 for the line, and then $10/1GB of data. And it counts it to the MB, so if you use only 455MB you will only pay $4.55. If you go over its the same thing, $10/GB, absolutely no fees.

As already mentioned the 1 downside is you are limited to Google's phones, as far as I know.

Overall, I highly recommend Google Fi if you plan to get a new phone anyway.
 

sickmint79

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so i eventually got the thread, didn't recall what i learned in this thread, and just used the faq and used it like normal. the faq basically says "want a call over wifi? just use the dialer like normal" https://fi.google.com/about/faq/#wifi-connection-and-calls-5 it says there will be a wifi icon at the top of your screen - but there always is. the reality is the wifi icon/name show up on the dialer face like in the middle of your screen, instead of the top bar (which is how i read that.)

there's also a "wifi vs cell" faq entry here - https://fi.google.com/about/faq/#wifi-connection-and-calls-4 which basically says "fi chooses best experience" - i'll take free but good enough experience over pay though.

i'm in the philippines and most homes have pocket wifi/cell data hotspots, including my airbnb. it's varying janky quality, slightly better than the last time i was here, but doesn't get too usable until the evening. in any case i was on 2 conf calls today via the regular dialer, one it chose to go over wifi, one it did not.

the phone did not come with the hangouts dialer installed, nor is it explicitly stated on that faq (as i think it should be) that you should use the hangouts dialer to force voip calls. i surely spent $5-10 already here on voice calls though, i bitched to support and said they should make the faq clearer and they said they would provide a refund. my phone and account are clearly at least 24 hours out of synch, as they are showing very different data usage at the moment.

the quality is noticeable from voip vs. voice, the voip has some fuzz going on in it. both are usable though. i have now had calls us-australia, us-philippines, turkey-us, philippines-us, and been happy overall. i've now downloaded the hangouts dialer to force wifi calls in the future, which my pixel did not come with installed by default.
 

Chet Donnelly

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I cancelled my wife's Project Fi and got her on the T-Mo $30 plan, with her number ported to Google Voice. The calling over Hangouts has become reliable enough for me to think she'll be ok with it.

I've never had issues with my calls going from the cellular data connection to wifi while on a call through Hangouts.
 

Lord Tin Foilhat

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I cancelled my wife's Project Fi and got her on the T-Mo $30 plan, with her number ported to Google Voice. The calling over Hangouts has become reliable enough for me to think she'll be ok with it.

I've never had issues with my calls going from the cellular data connection to wifi while on a call through Hangouts.
It's probably because hangouts uses data over cell service to make calls.
 
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