Google’s Project Fi: “I’d Switch To It If I Could”

Megalith

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Here’s a very positive review for Google’s cellular service program. Who is on Fi, and how do you like it?

…that's really where the value of Fi comes in. For about $20 a month, you get unlimited calls, unlimited domestic and international texting and WiFi tethering. From there, you'll have to cough up about $10 per GB of data, which sounds like a lot, but if you're using WiFi most of the time, that shouldn't be a big deal. And, best of all, if you're particularly stingy about your data use, Google will actually refund you the money for any unused data.
 
I have had Google Fi for about a month. It has been great so far. I highly recommend it. I have found that I don't use a lot of data since I have Wi-Fi at home, work, and many places around town. I have also really enjoyed the Nexus 5x as it has been a huge improvement over my HTC phone.
 
Excellent signal and speeds, proactive customer service.
 
If they allowed me to file for invite in my zip code, I'd have an invite and have their service. They choose not to want my money.
 
I'd be taking a serious look at it (and probably test drive it for a few months) if they offered GSM network access and it wasn't Sprint-based CDMA only. $10s of billions of dollars in annual profit for EACH of the major carriers, but they won't put up any towers where there's a crucial need: the rural Midwest. It's 2015, ffs. I dropped Sprint and went with Cricket (AT&T GSM) because I actually get usable signal now. There's no way I'm going back to anything that Sprint has a hand in.
 
Have had it for the last couple of weeks and it's pretty great, I'll suspend service after this first month and wait about 4 more mo,this till my contract expires with Verizon then move my phone number over to my Project Fi phone.

Recommended!
 
I'm a little confused.

Several carriers offer calling over WiFi. $20 a month is not that much cheaper then what T-Mobile offers for traditional cellular. We pay about $35 per phone. And there are prepaid phone companies that can get lower.

"Wi-Fi Tethering". What is this? If I'm on a WiFi why would I not be able to attach the other devices directly to the same WiFi? Is this for getting around authorized logins to a network?

I could understand, totally understand, if the service was free, but for $20 I'm trying to figure out how this makes sense. The article says this "disrupts the wireless carriers", but this service is using everyone else's infrastructure. That WiFi signal comes from somewhere. So they are charging 50% less, and have no infrastructure. So for the service to get better, who's going to pay for that infrastructure? Meanwhile, yes the wireless carriers are charging more, but they are creating the infrastructure from the ground up.

Part of what makes a cell phone so great is having redundant modes of communication.
 
I'd be taking a serious look at it (and probably test drive it for a few months) if they offered GSM network access and it wasn't Sprint-based CDMA only. $10s of billions of dollars in annual profit for EACH of the major carriers, but they won't put up any towers where there's a crucial need: the rural Midwest. It's 2015, ffs. I dropped Sprint and went with Cricket (AT&T GSM) because I actually get usable signal now. There's no way I'm going back to anything that Sprint has a hand in.

A bit off. The sim actually uses both Sprint and T-Mobile services and selects whatever (including wifi) is stronger at the time.

GSM/CDMA is also a bit off as the T-Mobile is a GSM provider. The card can handle both types of networks though.
 
I'm a little confused.

For normal use, ignore most of what you wrote. The phone uses the Sprint and T-Mobile cell networks. It's actually compatible with all the different networks, but at the moment they are not supported.

For the WiFi part, if you are in a basement that gets no Cell signal, this can use your WiFi instead.

So those check marks go into your 'more redundant' requirement.

Now the phone can use more than just your WiFi, it also can use any free WiFi in the area as well.

For all that 'tethering' talk, this is when your phone shares its data signal with other devices. When we travel I have my phone set up as a hot spot so that my Kid's can use the internet on their kindles or other electronics.

As far as cost, $20 a month plus whatever pre paid data. You get it refunded back. For most users this is going to reduce how much they spend dramatically. In your situation, $35 per month vs $20 is nearly cut in half... so I don't think you can say that is an insignificant amount.
 
Have had mine a month -- love it.

Got my first bill -- and even after financing (0%) my 6P... my bill was only $50. That's $20-30 less than verizon for the same damn thing.

Consider it beta for all intents and purposes -- but after I got the kinks worked out in a few hours it's been great!

I'd much rather give my money to google than Verizon.
 
I'm seriously considering it. Even with monthly payments on the new phones, it would cut my bill down to about a third of what I'm paying with Verizon. And the WiFi call/text means I won't keep randomly losing service in my house. I also like that they refund unused data. Verizon doesn't even let you roll it over.
 
I have an invite, but the current phones aren't terribly inspiring, already having the older N5, the n5x doesn't have a ton of draw. The 6's are too big.
 
I wonder what carriers people had before, did they have AT&T/Spring bend over and take it, level of pricing/data usage, or did they have T-mobile/MetroPCS/Cricket/etc, in the "eh $40/month use as much data as you think you need, we will slow you don't but never charge you any more.
 
A bit off. The sim actually uses both Sprint and T-Mobile services and selects whatever (including wifi) is stronger at the time.

GSM/CDMA is also a bit off as the T-Mobile is a GSM provider. The card can handle both types of networks though.

Not even close to being off...I don't need to talk about T-Mo being GSM instead of CDMA because T-Mo's coverage is even worse than Sprint's.
 
The wife has it with her Nexus 6 and loves the hell out of it. I was skeptical on it switching the different networks and WiFi, but we've never had any issues with it at all.

Considering selling my Nexus 4 and buying a 5X just so I can get on Fi (already received my invite, but can't use it due to not having the right phone).
 
I'd be taking a serious look at it (and probably test drive it for a few months) if they offered GSM network access and it wasn't Sprint-based CDMA only. $10s of billions of dollars in annual profit for EACH of the major carriers, but they won't put up any towers where there's a crucial need: the rural Midwest. It's 2015, ffs. I dropped Sprint and went with Cricket (AT&T GSM) because I actually get usable signal now. There's no way I'm going back to anything that Sprint has a hand in.

I used to have Sprint in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. Never again.
 
Not even close to being off...I don't need to talk about T-Mo being GSM instead of CDMA because T-Mo's coverage is even worse than Sprint's.

I have significantly better coverage by T-mo than Sprint. YMMV of course....and I'm probably not in as rural a location as you (I am 1 mile from a Roller Coaster park) :)
 
I'd love to switch to Google Fi. Don't care about data, but $20/mo for text/voice would be a killer deal. Unfortunately I don't like the phones they use. Too expensive.
 
my co-worker just switched to Google Fi, I'm off contract with verizon, so I'll let him be my test case for the next month or two while I decide. I'm still using a samsung galaxy S4, so I'm due for an upgrade.
 
sounds kind of interesting but I get unlimited data with the first 5GB at LTE speeds and 100 min for $30/month on the TMobile/Walmart plan. Don't see any reason to switch
 
sounds kind of interesting but I get unlimited data with the first 5GB at LTE speeds and 100 min for $30/month on the TMobile/Walmart plan. Don't see any reason to switch

Been using this same plan for a few years now and loving it. I just use hangouts dialer if I need to make a call.

Recently joined Ringplus as my second line when I saw the holiday deal they where offering. It's a unlimited Ringplus to Ringplus voice and text, 1400 minutes of voice, 1400 text and 1200mb of data + tethering for only $0.00 a month using the Sprint network.:D
 
I've been using Project Fi for about a month with no issues. I cant bring my phone into work and love the integration texting and hangouts.
 
I prefer finnish 4G LTE 100Mbit unlimited everything for $20'ish a month. :)
 
I been using Fi since July. Its been GREAT so far. I do the 2GB pre-paid plan and hardly go over it...actually they usually end up refunded me $5 to $8 a month as I don't use all 2GB (yes...thats right...they refund you what you don't use).

I live in a area where both TMobile and Spring have pretty good strength (Indianapolis area) and hardly see it dip to 3G and only once I saw dip below 3G. It also does a great job scanning for open WIFI networks and joining them (it does have a pre-req list to make sure the open WIFI network will be suitable before fulling joining to it).

I went on a cruise late summer and was in Canada for a bit and it had no problem there. Best part about it too...I wasn't raped with International Data Charges. They do charge you extra...but its the same price as the US data rates...it just doesn't count towards the 2GB I put in a month. I am more than ok with that...as I ended up paying $2 bucks or something when I was in Canada for the 2 days.

Highy recommend it!
 
I've been on Fi for not quite a month yet. Had no problems; everywhere I went I was on T-Mobile GSM. (I installed an app that shows which carrier Fi is using at the moment.) Last Friday I got an email from the Fi support staff saying they were sending me a new SIM card, as my current one "has an issue that prevents it from accessing the full Project Fi network", and I would get a $25 credit on my next bill as an apology. I wondered what the issue was, as I hadn't run into any lack of coverage anywhere.

Then, the next day, I went somewhere else, somewhere I hadn't gone before since getting Fi, and had no coverage. Only while I was inside the place; I guess T-Mobile's signal can't penetrate that particular building? Apparently the "issue" with my SIM card is that it doesn't jump to Sprint. I'll be back there late next month and will have to watch how my phone reacts with the replacement SIM.

Also, I got the Fi LEGO-like phone stand. :D
 
I just (last week) migrated my wife. Have not really experienced much, yet. Signal wise it has been working well.

I like the ability to get refund on Data and the low cost.
 
I'd be taking a serious look at it (and probably test drive it for a few months) if they offered GSM network access and it wasn't Sprint-based CDMA only. $10s of billions of dollars in annual profit for EACH of the major carriers, but they won't put up any towers where there's a crucial need: the rural Midwest. It's 2015, ffs. I dropped Sprint and went with Cricket (AT&T GSM) because I actually get usable signal now. There's no way I'm going back to anything that Sprint has a hand in.

They use Sprint and Tmobile.
 
Got the Nexus 6 when it was $300 off and have used it with Project Fi for the past couple months. It has been great to compare it directly with my Verizon phone side by side to really see which service worked in the places I actually go. I used almost a gig of data just doing speed tests the first week! It has been good for me. I will be cancelling my Verizon once my contract expires.
 
Okay, I'm eligible for Project Fi. But, honestly I don't see how it really benefits me. Or that it'd benefit me enough that I'd pay $20/month plus bandwidth.

I can already tether to my phone to use it as an internet access device. Sure, I don't do it wirelessly, nor do I share. I don't need to.

I have a wifi network at home that people can hook into. And I simply don't share when abroad.

I'm sure somebody gets value out of this. It's just, *I* don't appear to be one of them.
 
I totally would be on Fi if I had a nexus, but I don't, and I can't see myself getting one in the near future.
 
I'd be taking a serious look at it (and probably test drive it for a few months) if they offered GSM network access and it wasn't Sprint-based CDMA only. $10s of billions of dollars in annual profit for EACH of the major carriers, but they won't put up any towers where there's a crucial need: the rural Midwest. It's 2015, ffs. I dropped Sprint and went with Cricket (AT&T GSM) because I actually get usable signal now. There's no way I'm going back to anything that Sprint has a hand in.

They actually use a GSM provider, T-Mobile as one of the two networks. I have been using Fi since it came out and absolutely love it. I find paying much less because I usually have wi-fi almost everywhere I go. Also, since Android automatically logins you in to known free wifi's and pushes it through their VPN, I find myself using less data when I'm out.

I had a few hiccups in the beginning, which I would expect to exist in a brand new product, but the support team has been nothing short of fantastic and super attentive to helping me with any issues I run into using it.
 
I see no reason to switch. I hear reports of dropped calls.

I'm currently on T-Mobile's $30 unlimited web plan. For $30 I get 5GB of 4G speeds and then unlimited 2G speeds plus 100 minutes of talk time and unlimited texting.

I offset the limited minutes by using VoIP (usually via Google Voice).

With my data usage, if I went with project Fi, I'd be paying $40-50 per month.
 
I currently have T-mobile, despite a Fi invite, for the simple reason that Fi's data costs are relatively punishing and have no upper-bound limit. Sure, if you barely use any data, Fi provides a good - perhaps even great - deal for basic calling. However, if you want to have more than 2GB available to you etc...you're likely better off with certain T-Mobile, Sprint, or MVNO plans.

I really hoped that Fi would be massively better performing/value, as Google Fiber, Gmail, and some other Google products were at their releases, but they missed the opportunity by not having a reasonably priced yet "unlimited" data plan - especially one that didn't give a fuck about tethering, nor pulled "for the customer benefit" shit that violated Net Neutrality like zero-rating preferred content. Why they simply became another lukewarm MVNO and didn't offer anything for the users most likely to be interested in/request invites to Fi etc...I'll never know.
 
Okay, I'm eligible for Project Fi. But, honestly I don't see how it really benefits me.
I'm sure somebody gets value out of this. It's just, *I* don't appear to be one of them.

What do you pay now for your voice/text and data?

The big thing I'm hoping this project pushes is to have more carriers enable cell/voip switching on their networks.
 
I just started month 3 on Fi. It's been pretty good. I like that ALL of the cellular service goes through WiFi when available. It's the first time I've ever had full signal in my own home and at work.
 
What do you pay now for your voice/text and data?

The big thing I'm hoping this project pushes is to have more carriers enable cell/voip switching on their networks.

My phone is a company phone. IIRC it's something like $80 with all the charges and everything.


Plan Includes

1500 Shared Anytime Minutes
Any Mobile, Anytime
Nationwide Long Distance Included
Unlimited Night & Weekend Mins. Included
Nights: M-Th 7pm-7am Wknd: F 7pm-M 7am
Call Waiting
Three-Way Calling
Voicemail
 
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