anyone have google project fi?

[sickmint79]

It's probably because hangouts uses data over cell service to make calls.

i was told a cell data rate would not count as a wifi call fyi.

so philippines wifi -> US: free
philippines cell data -> US: 12c/m
philippines cell voice -> US: 12c/m

 

[Chet Donnelly]

i was told a cell data rate would not count as a wifi call fyi.

so philippines wifi -> US: free
philippines cell data -> US: 12c/m
philippines cell voice -> US: 12c/m

When I was in Singapore last, I bought a prepaid SIM and popped it in my phone.

I was able to make calls to the US through Google Hangouts over the cell data connection for free, using the Hangouts Dialer.

 

[sickmint79]

When I was in Singapore last, I bought a prepaid SIM and popped it in my phone.

I was able to make calls to the US through Google Hangouts over the cell data connection for free, using the Hangouts Dialer.

maybe i was provided bad info. per https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/rates?hl=en&p=hangout
just a regular hangout to the US should be free, fi or not.

 

[sickmint79]

now that i've had some real world experience with this -

- after landing somewhere, it's started working in a minute or two after coming off airport mode.
- cell data in the philippines is rough. i was able to do most VOIP calls fine, from short status meetings to longer meetings, for free, although i was rarely primary talker.
- an evening catching up with a former coworker i had to do over regular cell.
- a coworker insists on using webex / shared video screen - i had to call over regular cell. i'm not sure how bad it actually was (he sounded fine to me.)
- in thailand now with better infrastructure, good so far, only been a few days but seems more reliable.
- in some countries apparently - like thailand - project fi is not allowed to do VOIP. like a phone carrier is not allowed to provide VOIP, which is what fi is here. so the workaround is to make a second google account, and switch to it in the hangouts dialer.
- on that note, the phone dialer will choose to make a VOIP call if you are on wifi and it thinks the signal is good enough. your hotspot and wifi indicator will show while dialing if a VOIP call is attempted.
- to force a VOIP call you have to download the hangouts dialer app. this is where you can switch to a second google account as well.
- the above is not particularly clear in the google FAQ. it also seems like something like the google pixel should come with the hangouts dialer installed by default.

 

[DEEZUZ]

Anybody have this? How long have you had it? How is it?

 

[DEEZUZ]

Looks like $120/mo for 2 people unlimited.

 

[Mook]

I've had it for years now. Its fine. Its nice to jump between networks and I do use it often. If you're a heavy data user, it kind of sucks unless you go unlimited but I rarely hit my cap so its never bothered me.

 

[Lord Tin Foilhat]

Anybody have this? How long have you had it? How is it?

its just sprint and tmobile i believe, so base it off their coverage

 

[Mook]

Sprint, TMO and US Cellular.

 

[sickmint79]

i've had it for years as well. it's not cheap data vs. say, a thai carrier, but it's awesome to just fly into a country and flip your phone on and the service works right after you land.

 

[Chet Donnelly]

I'm doing the AT&T prepaid plan....pay $300 ($25 a month) all up front for the year and you get unlimited talk/text and 8GB of data per month and it includes rollover data. Hard to beat that plan if you're using less than 8GB of data a month. Also switched my wife to this off of Project FI as it ends up being more for your money.

Pay As You Go, No Contract Cell Phones & Plans | AT&T Prepaid

Save more with AT&T Prepaid. Our plans include unlimited, high-speed data & 5G. Pay as you go for wireless service with no credit check & no annual contract.

www.att.com

 

[muskie]

I've had it about 3-4 years. As most said above data isn't cheap but I'm on WiFi all the time. Great when I travel and it says "Welcome to X Country" and it just kind of works. I can use WiFi when I travel for calls and its totally free.

Never have problems with coverage in the Chicagoland area but in some of the more rural areas up north it has been spotty. My bill is consistently around $60 a month and that includes the $15 a month for a phone. I usually use less than 2GB of data. What is nice is that I get a free Data SIM for my iPad that just uses my data. So when I travel I can use the iPad on Cellular and not have to have a separate plan all the time.