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This is fantastic. The statements they're making about multiple networks providing superior coverage have rung true for me, personally. I've been a Project Fi
by mdip 10y ago
This is fantastic. The statements they're making about multiple networks providing superior coverage have rung true for me, personally. I've been a Project Fi user in Michigan since shortly after they announced its availability (I was in a well covered area for T-Mobile and Sprint and got in early on the invite list, I guess).
My parents have a home "up north" (the thumb area of Michigan) and I've had service with both T-Mo and Verizon since I've been spending a lot of time up there. Coverage from VZW/T-Mo, despite being vastly different networks, suffered from a large dead spot in Fort Gratiot and coverage on the property was also terrible (low lying, beach front property results in a very obstructed situation). I switched to T-Mo because I'd pick up Canadian towers on the property with Verizon which would cause me billing problems[1].
The statements they're making about choosing the best provider from multiple providers is not marketing. I get 4G coverage all the way up to through the most rural areas and can pull a signal on the property (2G, sometimes Canada, but it's there if I need it). T-Mobile and Sprint's network is different enough that no other MVNOs that I know of support both. Because Project Fi does, I get excellent coverage -- where T-Mo lacked, at least in the areas I travel, Sprint has a great signal and my 4G performance is so consistent that I haven't had occasion to even look to see if I'm in LTE or not (that would only happen when the music would stop or a browsing session would die -- "oh, I'm 2G/3G, no wonder!").
Nobody in my family has reliable service except for my wife and I (she's on Fi, now, too). The Wi-Fi features work seamlessly and are much more intelligent than I experienced on T-Mo. Due to one of my APs being wonky at home, Project Fi automatically uses 4G for calls when I'm attached to it. When I'm connected to my properly functioning AP, it uses WiFi (internet works on both, but no VoIP service from mobile phones has ever worked on the one). With T-Mo, I had to turn WiFi calling off because I'd just stop being able to make/take calls when connected to the broken router. It hands off calls without issue, as well (there's a brief period where audio is dead when this happens but I usually don't notice it).
It's a well thought out service and the pricing was perfect for me. I'm on WiFi 99% of the time and my mobile data is often below 1G/mo, however, with the work I do I can have a month or two a year where my data goes well beyond 6GB, so I always kept my plan at that level and just donated that money to T-Mo/Verizon. The prices aren't the lowest in the area when pre-paid offerings are included, but with the service being what it is, I'd pay more for this kind of reliability.
[1] T-Mo doesn't charge for Canadian data or texts and allowed WiFi calling (I'm not sure if Verizon does, yet, or not) so this resolved the problem for me. Coverage wasn't as good, especially a few years ago with 4G, but it was good enough.