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I signed up for Fi when it came out. I knew about the policy regarding primary usage in the US, that’s stated clearly in the terms of service. I traveled for si
by gregjor 5y ago
I signed up for Fi when it came out. I knew about the policy regarding primary usage in the US, that’s stated clearly in the terms of service. I traveled for six years with Fi as my backup service — I usually got a local SIM everywhere I stayed for more than a week. Local service is almost always cheaper than Fi. I could get Fi notifications and check voicemail online. Google never shut me off. I was usually in the US for a month every year.
I sympathize with the OP’s circumstances. It would be nice if Google customer service could make exceptions. But I would never rely on that. I never rely on any single service working all the time everywhere. Two phone numbers, multiple email addresses, two bank accounts. US companies are rarely set up to deal with expats, nomads, or anyone living outside the normal lines.
- enos_feedler 5y agoSame. I use verizon as primary and google fi for backup and international travel. Dual esim. Dont even use the fi number for anything. What you can try to do is get a data only sim (up to 4 free with fi) and leave the primary active in the US and just travel with data sims
- gregjor 5y agoI would use Fi for internet service for the time it took me to get off the plane and buy a local SIM. I freelanced for US companies while living abroad so a US number was important. I didn’t necessarily have to answer it right away.
- hackernewds 5y agoThe hurdle of moving everything to a new sim could be a hassle, but being locked out of services tied to your number and 2FA is pretty debilitating. Continuity is the main reason I use Fi
- gregjor 5y agoMoving what to a new SIM? Smartphones store contacts in the phone and cloud, not on the SIM card. If you’re going to live overseas and need a US number get a phone that supports dual SIM cards. Most of the newer iPhones support either two nano SIMs or built-in eSIM plus physical SIM. Takes a few seconds to set it up. TOTP 2FA (Authy, Google Auth, etc.) does not need cell or internet, it’s time-based. SMS 2FA is harder to accommodate, for that I suggest a US number with Twilio that you can forward to any number in the world.
- lbotos 5y ago> Smartphones store contacts in the phone and cloud Whenever I set up a second sim on my iphone I lose most of my contact details so somehow they seem to still be tied to my sim?? (I have no clue)
- gregjor 5y agoThat’s something you can control, look it up and get your contacts moved off the SIM card.
- cge 5y ago> I could get Fi notifications and check voicemail online. I used to do that as well, and still have Google Fi, but aggravatingly, all its integrated features fell victim to Google's butchering of messaging services. You can no longer get or send SMS via hangouts, and can no longer get voicemail notifications online: both appear to require that you be actively connected to mobile service, like every other provider. Considering that these were major selling points, it's particularly annoying that they just disappeared.
- gregjor 5y agoYou can get voicemails with the Fi mobile app. Fi isn’t the best solution for everyone. You can find other services if you need a US phone number that can forward and receive SMS. I used Twilio too. I needed a US number that my customers could reach me on wherever I was, in case of emergencies, because I do a lot of system admin and infrastructure work. The OP had a different problem: cheap roaming and calling back to the US.