6 ms·

Yeah, except they leak customer data regularly and have offshored tons of customer service to India -- including onboarding. When I tried to sign up, they didn

Yeah, except they leak customer data regularly and have offshored tons of customer service to India -- including onboarding. When I tried to sign up, they didn't know what an esim was and wanted my SSN, along with other data that could easily be used to steal my identity. I don't want to spend my days arguing with people, definitely not about the existence of esim; but I did that day. It went all the way up their customer service management chain. T-Mobile is also completely hit or miss with service. If you are in a location where it works, fine. Good luck if you travel. If you can tolerate T-Mobile, Google Fi is better in almost every way security wise -- and I am very anti-google services these days. It uses the T-Mobile network. As for me? ATT has provided the best service of any carrier while traveling, so I will use them. When I need security, I flip on my VPN.

hypothesis 3y ago
> If you can tolerate T-Mobile, Google Fi is better in almost every way security wise -- and I am very anti-google services these days. It uses the T-Mobile network. Be careful there, because T-Mobile rot spreads to any downstream MNVO. Sim-jacking is still possible and data breach is happening above Google Fi level. There were articles about that IIRC.
quanticle 3y ago
ATT has provided the best service of any carrier while traveling, so I will use them. Really? My experience with AT&T while traveling has been pretty awful. In the US, in rural areas, Verizon is better. And outside the US, Google Fi gives you international data roaming as part of the base package. One of the reasons I switched to Google Fi is because it's so much better when traveling.
- jen20 3y ago
  I used Google Fi for a while, and while I'd love to use them as a primary carrier again, I can't until they choose to support add-on SIMs for watches. As a Google Fi and YoutubeTV customer, I cannot wait until I no longer have to give AT&T any money at all.
  - judge2020 3y ago
    The only thing with Fi is that it is T-Mobile, and you'll always be in a lower priority block of customers compared to people paying for T-Mobile directly, which mean you'll see slower traffic in congested areas at peak times (including e.g. during rush hour traffic).
    - horsawlarway 3y ago
      If you're travelling, I find it hard to beat Fi. You literally land in a new country, turn your phone back on and you get a "Welcome to [country] - your data rate is the same" message almost anywhere. Personally - I've flown from Taiwan to Brazil to Amsterdam and then back to the US and I don't have to think about my phone. It just works. --- Outside of the travel use-case, I would also probably pick something else, but if I know I'm going to be travelling, I'll switch back to Fi.
      - zamnos 3y ago
        With eSim and the Airalo app, international travel is fairly painless. It costs a few bucks and a couple minutes to setup (which can be done while waiting at the airport to leave) to get a data-only sim for your destination county. If you're paying for an expensive domestic account for international reasons instead of a cheaper $40/mo eg Mint mobile plan, it might be worth investigating theirs plans to see if it would end up saving money, given your travel requirements.
        horsawlarway 3y ago
        Fi is $40 a month for the more expensive plans, plus $10/gb until the plan hits 10gb, at which case it's free but they might throttle. And the key thing is I just don't have to think about it. I can't forget to register a new account, I don't have to worry about esoteric sign up requirements for certain countries (ex: Brazil wants a CPF for fucking everything), and I can't get stuck without a connection and then not be able to setup the next step.
      - withinboredom 3y ago
- ilikehurdles 3y ago
  For coverage it’s Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile. So maybe it was awful compared to Verizon, but it can be worse. I remember a doctor friend I was hiking a mountain with (La Plata, a 14k ft peak in Colorado) who took a patient call at the very summit. As a tmo customer I know I’m essentially off-grid in much of the country when I’m outside many metropolitan areas. But tmo is great for traveling internationally.
- survirtual 3y ago
  I've been to every state in the contingent US, most many more times than once, and spent most of my time in rural areas / wilderness. Verizon was poor during the time I had it. I forgot what triggered switching from them but I didn't last long, had to switch to ATT. I switched to ATT because my Tesla uses them and I noticed it almost always had service in remote areas when I did not. Haven't needed to switch since. ATT has a great plan for the Americas, south America is all covered, Canada is covered, and many other places. It worked really well for me in Brazil. That said, when I start traveling to Europe and Asia more, I may switch back to Google Fi. For domestic use, while traveling / on the road a lot? I would rate as follows: ATT > Google Fi > T-Mobile > Verizon Keep in mind, if you are mostly stationary it is better to use the carrier known for good service in your fixed location.
toomuchtodo 3y ago
If I have to pick between T-Mobile and Google, I pick T-Mobile. Google is going to kill Fi and Voice one day, T-Mobile is not. T-Mobile has some customer service, including stores, Google has none. Was able to migrate a physical SIM to an eSIM in a store in ~30 min. You can even move your Google Voice number to a T-Mobile DIGITS number for similar functionality. (T-Mobile customer for 2+ decades, least terrible option imho) EDIT: > Google Voice app may be slow but it does work every time Until it doesn't! Fair critique though. I can also recommend the "Unlisted" iOS app for this purpose.
- dmitrygr 3y ago
  > You can even move your Google Voice number to a T-Mobile DIGITS number for similar functionalit You had my interest...till i read the reviews of the DIGITS app on the app store. 1.9 average, most complains about it not working at all. Google Voice app may be slow but it does work every time
manuelabeledo 3y ago
> As for me? ATT has provided the best service of any carrier while traveling, so I will use them. I'm curious about your reasons to say that AT&T provides the best service "while traveling". I'm guessing it would be domestic travel, because AT&T roaming charges are the second highest among the big three (I believe Verizon is actually even more expensive). I was a customer and an employee of AT&T for a while, and I find T-Mobile to be better in almost every aspect, except perhaps for coverage in very rural areas, which I don't mind. T-Mobile 5G coverage and speed is also significantly better.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  Do you mean international charges? I thought roaming has not been a thing for a decade. Many ATT plans include usage in all of the western hemisphere, excluding the Caribbean islands. And for countries not included, it is $10 per day ($5 for other lines on your plan) up to 10 days in a billing cycle, and after that it is free until the next billing cycle. Not the cheapest (I think T-Mobile has international at $5 per day), but not terrible either for a quick jaunt somewhere and not having to worry about SIMs or changing phone number or whatever.
  - manuelabeledo 3y ago
    Right, roaming as in international roaming. I’m on T-Mobile right now, and the plan equivalent to the one I had with AT&T (all inclusive and unlimited data), does include 5GB of international data per month. AT&T was $10, even for employees, so not a great deal for frequent travelers.
  - matwood 3y ago
    Basic international is included on most t-mobile plans.

hypothesis 3y ago

> If you can tolerate T-Mobile, Google Fi is better in almost every way security wise -- and I am very anti-google services these days. It uses the T-Mobile network. Be careful there, because T-Mobile rot spreads to any downstream MNVO. Sim-jacking is still possible and data breach is happening above Google Fi level. There were articles about that IIRC.

quanticle 3y ago

ATT has provided the best service of any carrier while traveling, so I will use them. Really? My experience with AT&T while traveling has been pretty awful. In the US, in rural areas, Verizon is better. And outside the US, Google Fi gives you international data roaming as part of the base package. One of the reasons I switched to Google Fi is because it's so much better when traveling.

jen20 3y ago
I used Google Fi for a while, and while I'd love to use them as a primary carrier again, I can't until they choose to support add-on SIMs for watches. As a Google Fi and YoutubeTV customer, I cannot wait until I no longer have to give AT&T any money at all.
- judge2020 3y ago
  The only thing with Fi is that it is T-Mobile, and you'll always be in a lower priority block of customers compared to people paying for T-Mobile directly, which mean you'll see slower traffic in congested areas at peak times (including e.g. during rush hour traffic).
  - horsawlarway 3y ago
    If you're travelling, I find it hard to beat Fi. You literally land in a new country, turn your phone back on and you get a "Welcome to [country] - your data rate is the same" message almost anywhere. Personally - I've flown from Taiwan to Brazil to Amsterdam and then back to the US and I don't have to think about my phone. It just works. --- Outside of the travel use-case, I would also probably pick something else, but if I know I'm going to be travelling, I'll switch back to Fi.
    - zamnos 3y ago
      With eSim and the Airalo app, international travel is fairly painless. It costs a few bucks and a couple minutes to setup (which can be done while waiting at the airport to leave) to get a data-only sim for your destination county. If you're paying for an expensive domestic account for international reasons instead of a cheaper $40/mo eg Mint mobile plan, it might be worth investigating theirs plans to see if it would end up saving money, given your travel requirements.
      - horsawlarway 3y ago
        Fi is $40 a month for the more expensive plans, plus $10/gb until the plan hits 10gb, at which case it's free but they might throttle. And the key thing is I just don't have to think about it. I can't forget to register a new account, I don't have to worry about esoteric sign up requirements for certain countries (ex: Brazil wants a CPF for fucking everything), and I can't get stuck without a connection and then not be able to setup the next step.
    - withinboredom 3y ago
ilikehurdles 3y ago
For coverage it’s Verizon > AT&T > T-Mobile. So maybe it was awful compared to Verizon, but it can be worse. I remember a doctor friend I was hiking a mountain with (La Plata, a 14k ft peak in Colorado) who took a patient call at the very summit. As a tmo customer I know I’m essentially off-grid in much of the country when I’m outside many metropolitan areas. But tmo is great for traveling internationally.
survirtual 3y ago
I've been to every state in the contingent US, most many more times than once, and spent most of my time in rural areas / wilderness. Verizon was poor during the time I had it. I forgot what triggered switching from them but I didn't last long, had to switch to ATT. I switched to ATT because my Tesla uses them and I noticed it almost always had service in remote areas when I did not. Haven't needed to switch since. ATT has a great plan for the Americas, south America is all covered, Canada is covered, and many other places. It worked really well for me in Brazil. That said, when I start traveling to Europe and Asia more, I may switch back to Google Fi. For domestic use, while traveling / on the road a lot? I would rate as follows: ATT > Google Fi > T-Mobile > Verizon Keep in mind, if you are mostly stationary it is better to use the carrier known for good service in your fixed location.

toomuchtodo 3y ago

If I have to pick between T-Mobile and Google, I pick T-Mobile. Google is going to kill Fi and Voice one day, T-Mobile is not. T-Mobile has some customer service, including stores, Google has none. Was able to migrate a physical SIM to an eSIM in a store in ~30 min. You can even move your Google Voice number to a T-Mobile DIGITS number for similar functionality. (T-Mobile customer for 2+ decades, least terrible option imho) EDIT: > Google Voice app may be slow but it does work every time Until it doesn't! Fair critique though. I can also recommend the "Unlisted" iOS app for this purpose.

dmitrygr 3y ago
> You can even move your Google Voice number to a T-Mobile DIGITS number for similar functionalit You had my interest...till i read the reviews of the DIGITS app on the app store. 1.9 average, most complains about it not working at all. Google Voice app may be slow but it does work every time

manuelabeledo 3y ago

> As for me? ATT has provided the best service of any carrier while traveling, so I will use them. I'm curious about your reasons to say that AT&T provides the best service "while traveling". I'm guessing it would be domestic travel, because AT&T roaming charges are the second highest among the big three (I believe Verizon is actually even more expensive). I was a customer and an employee of AT&T for a while, and I find T-Mobile to be better in almost every aspect, except perhaps for coverage in very rural areas, which I don't mind. T-Mobile 5G coverage and speed is also significantly better.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
Do you mean international charges? I thought roaming has not been a thing for a decade. Many ATT plans include usage in all of the western hemisphere, excluding the Caribbean islands. And for countries not included, it is $10 per day ($5 for other lines on your plan) up to 10 days in a billing cycle, and after that it is free until the next billing cycle. Not the cheapest (I think T-Mobile has international at $5 per day), but not terrible either for a quick jaunt somewhere and not having to worry about SIMs or changing phone number or whatever.
- manuelabeledo 3y ago
  Right, roaming as in international roaming. I’m on T-Mobile right now, and the plan equivalent to the one I had with AT&T (all inclusive and unlimited data), does include 5GB of international data per month. AT&T was $10, even for employees, so not a great deal for frequent travelers.
- matwood 3y ago
  Basic international is included on most t-mobile plans.