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Google Fi is expensive for individuals. Their initial premise was $20 base for unlimited text/phone and $10 / Gb. It was very naive of me to think that my avg p

Google Fi is expensive for individuals. Their initial premise was $20 base for unlimited text/phone and $10 / Gb. It was very naive of me to think that my avg phone bill would decrease a lot. But the data streaming adds up. You are better off in a group plan (unlimited data) with friends on TMobile. it ll cost you lot less.

chronic71819 7y ago
> Google Fi is expensive for individuals. Their initial premise was $20 base for unlimited text/phone and $10 / Gb. Pixel 3 user here. I pay $30/month on average. What on Earth are you torrenting on your phone? I've never used more than 5 GB data in a month. Just wait till you're back on wifi before watching YouTube...
- ARandomerDude 7y ago
  Completely agree. I work from home and I rarely user over 1GB. It's very cheap for me.
- leet 7y ago
  But Tmobile family plan costs you $30/month with unlimited data. I think it is crazy that we have to pay $10/ GB for data specially when I am traveling around the country with no wifi.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - UncleMeat 7y ago
    An individual tmobile plan that includes international support is $70 per month.
  - derekp7 7y ago
    The cheapest plan (essentials) is $60 for the first line. The second line is $30.
  - sliken 7y ago
    Which $30 unlimited plan? The grandfathered one with a max of 60 minutes of voice you get through walmart? I had a family plan through t-mobile and after years of getting more expensive per month (no enterprise discount, increasing number of taxes/fees, etc) I switched to google fi and halved my bill. Some tips for those trying to minimize bandwidth: 1) tell google phones to backup pictures/videos on wifi 2) preload maps for any cities you visit more than monthly 3) get a podcast app (if you listen) that preloads them when on wifi 4) get youtube red ($10 a month) for no ads, downloadable youtube videos, and downloading your top 500 songs. With the above, even when traveling quite a bit I average 1-2GB a month. I generally use nav every time I drive just to get the traffic info/warnings.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  I've never used more than 5 GB data in a month Good for you. I'm on WiFi at home and at work, and I just checked my bill and I used 5.53GB last month, and my wife used 9.72GB. I don't consider either of us to be heavy mobile users, especially since we can't get cell service in our home.
  - saltcured 7y ago
    Ha, I used 200 MB of LTE and 800 MB of WiFi in the last month. I have willfully pared down my phone's footprint, but I assume you must do frequent streaming on your phone and/or you have some apps really running amok? For cost-sensitive people who are content with T-Mobile networks and open to MVNOs, I suggest looking at Mint Mobile. The best ongoing rates are had when you buy in bulk: $15/20/25 for 3/8/12 GB LTE per month, as a 12-month package. It also has unlimited voice/sms, and it throttles rather than charging extra when you exhaust your LTE quota. Oh, and they also support T-Mobile's WiFi calling, so you can have phone service in your home without cell signal...
    - ineedasername 7y ago
      How's mint's coverage in the real world? I was checking out their map, but I never really trust those.
      - saltcured 7y ago
        AFAICT, it is identical to what a T-Mobile subscriber would see, though I imagine as a Mint Mobile user, we are deprioritized compared to the current high-paying T-Mobile customers in a congested cell.
        ineedasername 7y ago
        I use T-mobile now, so I suppose switching wouldn't be to much of an issue in terms of coverage. I'm currently grandfathered in on an old pay-as-you-go plan that gave 100 minutes a month (I don't talk on the phone much), unlimited texts, and "unlimited data" (5GB then basically nothing). However T-Mobile makes it increasingly hard to stay with that plan, like eliminating the ability to refresh your plan earlier than 30 days, and for the few times I use it as a phone the service is spotty-- full signal, data works fine, but it might take a few minutes for a call to connect, sometimes failing and requiring multiple attempts. Mint might be an improvement.
- berbec 7y ago
  Linux ISOs. What else do you torrent, sir???
- the_mitsuhiko 7y ago
  Since I effectively have no data cap I use north of 40GB on my phone without trying. A lot is from tethering though.
wavefunction 7y ago
I consistently had mobile monthly bills $30-$40 probably because my data usage was primarily in location with wifi. And whatever you don't use of that $10Gb gets rolled over to the next month which is not something TMobile will offer.
aidenn0 7y ago
My wife and I use ting which is also $10/GB and we have only once paid as much as our previous unlimited plan for a month. It is unusual for us to see a bill as high as $60.
- johnpowell 7y ago
  A few years ago I switched from Ting to MintMobile. I get 8GB a month for $20 a month since I pay by the year. Haven't had any problems with them.
  - bvandewalle 7y ago
    would you recommend MintMobile in the US? Seems almost to good to be true
    - axaxs 7y ago
      Not OP, but absolutely. Nice website, great plans, and it just works(on tmobile).
ericd 7y ago
shrug I average $30/mo on Fi, my phone is almost always on wifi. YMMV
reaperducer 7y ago
I've been keeping an eye on GoogleFi for a while now because I really hate AT&T. Every time there's a GFi announcement on HN, I take another look. It was more tempting when I traveled internationally more. But now I'm down to just a few trips a year, and I don't ever call home. So this GFi unlimited plan isn't cost-competitive with my AT&T plan when taxes are added. Maybe next time. It seems to be a good fit for certain profiles, and people on HN who have that profile seem to really like it. But it doesn't seem ready for mass adoption yet. It's certainly not the "disruptor" we'd expect from SV.
- bduerst 7y ago
  I switched to Fi from ATT precisely because international was such a PITA. Fi just "works" as soon as you land and it picks up the towers, which is a huge relief from having to call some robo-operator and pay $30 for some super limited coverage.

chronic71819 7y ago

> Google Fi is expensive for individuals. Their initial premise was $20 base for unlimited text/phone and $10 / Gb. Pixel 3 user here. I pay $30/month on average. What on Earth are you torrenting on your phone? I've never used more than 5 GB data in a month. Just wait till you're back on wifi before watching YouTube...

ARandomerDude 7y ago
Completely agree. I work from home and I rarely user over 1GB. It's very cheap for me.
leet 7y ago
But Tmobile family plan costs you $30/month with unlimited data. I think it is crazy that we have to pay $10/ GB for data specially when I am traveling around the country with no wifi.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- UncleMeat 7y ago
  An individual tmobile plan that includes international support is $70 per month.
- derekp7 7y ago
  The cheapest plan (essentials) is $60 for the first line. The second line is $30.
- sliken 7y ago
  Which $30 unlimited plan? The grandfathered one with a max of 60 minutes of voice you get through walmart? I had a family plan through t-mobile and after years of getting more expensive per month (no enterprise discount, increasing number of taxes/fees, etc) I switched to google fi and halved my bill. Some tips for those trying to minimize bandwidth: 1) tell google phones to backup pictures/videos on wifi 2) preload maps for any cities you visit more than monthly 3) get a podcast app (if you listen) that preloads them when on wifi 4) get youtube red ($10 a month) for no ads, downloadable youtube videos, and downloading your top 500 songs. With the above, even when traveling quite a bit I average 1-2GB a month. I generally use nav every time I drive just to get the traffic info/warnings.
reaperducer 7y ago
I've never used more than 5 GB data in a month Good for you. I'm on WiFi at home and at work, and I just checked my bill and I used 5.53GB last month, and my wife used 9.72GB. I don't consider either of us to be heavy mobile users, especially since we can't get cell service in our home.
- saltcured 7y ago
  Ha, I used 200 MB of LTE and 800 MB of WiFi in the last month. I have willfully pared down my phone's footprint, but I assume you must do frequent streaming on your phone and/or you have some apps really running amok? For cost-sensitive people who are content with T-Mobile networks and open to MVNOs, I suggest looking at Mint Mobile. The best ongoing rates are had when you buy in bulk: $15/20/25 for 3/8/12 GB LTE per month, as a 12-month package. It also has unlimited voice/sms, and it throttles rather than charging extra when you exhaust your LTE quota. Oh, and they also support T-Mobile's WiFi calling, so you can have phone service in your home without cell signal...
  - ineedasername 7y ago
    How's mint's coverage in the real world? I was checking out their map, but I never really trust those.
    - saltcured 7y ago
      AFAICT, it is identical to what a T-Mobile subscriber would see, though I imagine as a Mint Mobile user, we are deprioritized compared to the current high-paying T-Mobile customers in a congested cell.
      - ineedasername 7y ago
        I use T-mobile now, so I suppose switching wouldn't be to much of an issue in terms of coverage. I'm currently grandfathered in on an old pay-as-you-go plan that gave 100 minutes a month (I don't talk on the phone much), unlimited texts, and "unlimited data" (5GB then basically nothing). However T-Mobile makes it increasingly hard to stay with that plan, like eliminating the ability to refresh your plan earlier than 30 days, and for the few times I use it as a phone the service is spotty-- full signal, data works fine, but it might take a few minutes for a call to connect, sometimes failing and requiring multiple attempts. Mint might be an improvement.
berbec 7y ago
Linux ISOs. What else do you torrent, sir???
the_mitsuhiko 7y ago
Since I effectively have no data cap I use north of 40GB on my phone without trying. A lot is from tethering though.

wavefunction 7y ago

I consistently had mobile monthly bills $30-$40 probably because my data usage was primarily in location with wifi. And whatever you don't use of that $10Gb gets rolled over to the next month which is not something TMobile will offer.

aidenn0 7y ago

My wife and I use ting which is also $10/GB and we have only once paid as much as our previous unlimited plan for a month. It is unusual for us to see a bill as high as $60.

johnpowell 7y ago
A few years ago I switched from Ting to MintMobile. I get 8GB a month for $20 a month since I pay by the year. Haven't had any problems with them.
- bvandewalle 7y ago
  would you recommend MintMobile in the US? Seems almost to good to be true
  - axaxs 7y ago
    Not OP, but absolutely. Nice website, great plans, and it just works(on tmobile).

ericd 7y ago

shrug I average $30/mo on Fi, my phone is almost always on wifi. YMMV

reaperducer 7y ago

I've been keeping an eye on GoogleFi for a while now because I really hate AT&T. Every time there's a GFi announcement on HN, I take another look. It was more tempting when I traveled internationally more. But now I'm down to just a few trips a year, and I don't ever call home. So this GFi unlimited plan isn't cost-competitive with my AT&T plan when taxes are added. Maybe next time. It seems to be a good fit for certain profiles, and people on HN who have that profile seem to really like it. But it doesn't seem ready for mass adoption yet. It's certainly not the "disruptor" we'd expect from SV.

bduerst 7y ago
I switched to Fi from ATT precisely because international was such a PITA. Fi just "works" as soon as you land and it picks up the towers, which is a huge relief from having to call some robo-operator and pay $30 for some super limited coverage.