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How is Google Fi? Is it a full replacement for Verizon and others?

by minton 9y ago

dgacmu 9y ago
Yes. It's basically an MVNO that resells on Sprint, TMO, and US Cellular, while trying hard to keep calls and data going over WiFi. As a consequence of that, it only works on newer phones that can do fast handoff between WiFi and cell. I use it. It works pretty well. My wife is still on Cricket and she got better coverage in the mountains of Colorado this summer, but I've been happy everywhere else. The pricing is very as-you-use it, which works well for some people and not as well for others (it's great for people who use very little data but want flexibility; the international data roaming is amazing; it's more expensive than other plans for multiple-GB/month users). I put together a spreadsheet (copyable, google sheets) for comparing price vs GB/data used when I was trying to figure which carrier to use. If it's useful - https://da-data.blogspot.com/2015/10/comparing-prepaid-cell-plans-public.html https://da-data.blogspot.com/2015/10/comparing-prepaid-cell-... (Updated: I just updated the pricing, since it was getting a little stale.) (Ob disclaimer: I'm part time at Google, but have no beans in the cellular stuff.)
dminor 9y ago
Under the hood it uses Sprint and T-Mobile's cell networks, so you're not completely free of them. But otherwise, yes it's a great replacement and the billing/plan is much better than the regular carriers.
modeless 9y ago
Absolutely. It uses T-Mobile's network most of the time and T-Mobile has improved a lot in the past few years. Sprint and US Cellular are good fallbacks for rural areas. Another perk is unlimited international data roaming at the same price as regular data, and at decent speeds too. Billing is simple, support is great. The one downside is data is a bit on the expensive side. But since you actually pay per GB, the GBs are yours. There are no arbitrary limits or throttling that I'm aware of, tethering is allowed, etc. Also you don't have to predict your usage ahead of time to choose a plan. You only pay for what you use no matter how much or how little. Disclaimer: I work for Google (but not on Fi)
- throwawayjava 9y ago
  > Another perk is unlimited international data roaming at the same price as regular data, and at decent speeds too. IMO this is the killer feature rather than merely a perk. Otherwise, in most of the country, you're basically just paying quite a bit more for a slightly better payment experience and equivalent actual service. (I'm a Fi user).
  - radicaldreamer 9y ago
    Also, you can order up to 9 other data sims which share the same plan at no extra cost. This allows you to utilize a cellular iPad or other devices with worldwide LTE data.

How is Google Fi? Is it a full replacement for Verizon and others?

by minton 9y ago

How is Google Fi? Is it a full replacement for Verizon and others?

Yes. It's basically an MVNO that resells on Sprint, TMO, and US Cellular, while trying hard to keep calls and data going over WiFi. As a consequence of that, it only works on newer phones that can do fast handoff between WiFi and cell. I use it. It works pretty well. My wife is still on Cricket and she got better coverage in the mountains of Colorado this summer, but I've been happy everywhere else. The pricing is very as-you-use it, which works well for some people and not as well for others (it's great for people who use very little data but want flexibility; the international data roaming is amazing; it's more expensive than other plans for multiple-GB/month users). I put together a spreadsheet (copyable, google sheets) for comparing price vs GB/data used when I was trying to figure which carrier to use. If it's useful - https://da-data.blogspot.com/2015/10/comparing-prepaid-cell-plans-public.html https://da-data.blogspot.com/2015/10/comparing-prepaid-cell-... (Updated: I just updated the pricing, since it was getting a little stale.) (Ob disclaimer: I'm part time at Google, but have no beans in the cellular stuff.)

dminor 9y ago

Under the hood it uses Sprint and T-Mobile's cell networks, so you're not completely free of them. But otherwise, yes it's a great replacement and the billing/plan is much better than the regular carriers.

modeless 9y ago

Absolutely. It uses T-Mobile's network most of the time and T-Mobile has improved a lot in the past few years. Sprint and US Cellular are good fallbacks for rural areas. Another perk is unlimited international data roaming at the same price as regular data, and at decent speeds too. Billing is simple, support is great. The one downside is data is a bit on the expensive side. But since you actually pay per GB, the GBs are yours. There are no arbitrary limits or throttling that I'm aware of, tethering is allowed, etc. Also you don't have to predict your usage ahead of time to choose a plan. You only pay for what you use no matter how much or how little. Disclaimer: I work for Google (but not on Fi)

throwawayjava 9y ago
> Another perk is unlimited international data roaming at the same price as regular data, and at decent speeds too. IMO this is the killer feature rather than merely a perk. Otherwise, in most of the country, you're basically just paying quite a bit more for a slightly better payment experience and equivalent actual service. (I'm a Fi user).
- radicaldreamer 9y ago
  Also, you can order up to 9 other data sims which share the same plan at no extra cost. This allows you to utilize a cellular iPad or other devices with worldwide LTE data.