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OT - Google's "Project Fi"


darksabre

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I took the plunge and signed up for Google's Project Fi today. I came off of contract with Verizon quite a while ago but I haven't upgraded because my Galaxy S3 has been fine and my payments were acceptably low. 
 

I've been waiting to see how the beta testing of Project Fi went and apparently it went well. Google opened everything up today with a GREAT deal on the new Nexus 5X and 6P phones. 

https://fi.google.com/about/

Crunching some numbers worked out like this. 

Verizon was basically forcing me to pay for a 3gb data plan that I don't use. I'm on wifi all the time, so I'm averaging less than 1gb of data per month. Verizon's 1GB plan is $30/mo and I've been getting a "discounted" 3GB plan for $36/mo. So I had no reason not to take that plan. 

Service in total was coming to $62/mo after taxes and fees. 

 

Project Fi's data plans are incredibly good. You pay a flat rate of $10/GB per month and you get credited for whatever you don't use by the megabyte. So you basically get money back each month for whatever data you don't consume. On top of that, if you pay for less data each month and you go over, you get charged for the next GB of service, then refunded whatever you don't use of that. 

So in a nutshell, you only ever pay for what you use. 

So for me, I take the lowest plan at 1GB/mo, add in the service and a $5 protection plan, and I'm paying $35/mo + tax.  

 

Now, I could have opted to take the Nexus 5X on a 24 month payment plan where I wouldn't pay anything for the phone up front and my monthly payment for the phone would have been like...$8 and change per month. But I opted to just buy the phone outright for the greatly discounted price of $199 plus tax. That's $150 less than normal. 

This means that even if I don't like Project Fi, I can stop using their service after a month and take my discounted phone over to another carrier. I'm not locked into ANY contracts. 

$35/mo. What a deal. The phone pays for itself in 8 months just by lowering my plan costs. 


Google is only offering this deal until April 7th and it's "while supplies last". So if you're like me and not locked into a contract or anything and have been debating a new phone or switching service providers, you might as well jump on this. I've only heard GREAT things from my tech nerd friends who have been on Project Fi since the beta started. 

Edited by d4rksabre
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My Nexus 6 (and my wife's Galaxy) preclude me from taking a hard look at this, but from what I saw the coverage map looks like AT&T. That means large swaths of PA where I end up driving and riding are 2G. The web site mentioned two LTE networks, but didn't say which they were. Anyone know who the partners are?

 

EDIT: Nope, Sprint and T-mobile. I'm not sure they'd cover my usage very well.

Edited by MattPie
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I wish they had a wider variety of phones available, and it's always easy to make fun of Tmobile and Sprint networks...but that price, and more importantly the pricing model, is really tempting.


My Nexus 6 (and my wife's Galaxy) preclude me from taking a hard look at this, but from what I saw the coverage map looks like AT&T. That means large swaths of PA where I end up driving and riding are 2G. The web site mentioned two LTE networks, but didn't say which they were. Anyone know who the partners are?

 

The FAQ says Sprint and T-Mobile :)

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I wish they had a wider variety of phones available, and it's always easy to make fun of Tmobile and Sprint networks...but that price, and more importantly the pricing model, is really tempting.

 

The FAQ says Sprint and T-Mobile :)

 

Yep, figured that out after posting. I'm as bad as the media. :)

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How much better is the connectivity?   I looked closely at projectFi last year, almost took the plunge, but I love my Galaxy S6 too much to give it up and I don't have any issues with dead zones anywhere near where I live, except one rink where my kids occasionally practice... but I don't know a projectFi phone would help there anyway.

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Keep us posted D4rk, especially on call quality.  I think it's basically t-mobile + sprint towers.  I had a beta invite and have been tempted but with 6 devices on my plan (wife, kids, mil) and a relatively new phone I paid outright for, timing isn't great.  Added benefit for you is pure android.  I'm running 6.0 on a Motox and just chord cut TWC a couple months ago.  With the built in casting of 6.0, youtube red and a Tivo bolt, streams bounce from the phone to my TV over the network.  It's pretty slick, watched the TSN feed last night, was good.

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I've been very interested in this project ever since I first heard of it a few months back. I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread to see if it's a smooth transition. My phone should be paid off in about 5 months and then I'm free to leave TMobile if this service works out

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Sounds like what Republic Wireless has been doing for a while. I'm still on their $25 unlimited data plan, but it goes to the $15 base plus $10/GB plan in July.

 

It's similar to Republic, but with the addition of a second carrier's towers for (hopefully) better coverage, and of course the unquestionable intangibles that come with the Google brand. 

 

My phone shipped today and it's already on schedule to arrive by FedEx ground by end of day tomorrow. I took the "free 3-5 day ground shipping" option and it looks like that will be more than surpassed. Hopefully I'll have some updates for you guys on Friday. 

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It's similar to Republic, but with the addition of a second carrier's towers for (hopefully) better coverage, and of course the unquestionable intangibles that come with the Google brand.

 

My phone shipped today and it's already on schedule to arrive by FedEx ground by end of day tomorrow. I took the "free 3-5 day ground shipping" option and it looks like that will be more than surpassed. Hopefully I'll have some updates for you guys on Friday.

Yes, please do provide updates. I'm going to have to buy a new phone soon, and I figure I might as well shop around for a new provider if it turns out that I can do better elsewhere.
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It's similar to Republic, but with the addition of a second carrier's towers for (hopefully) better coverage, and of course the unquestionable intangibles that come with the Google brand. 

 

My phone shipped today and it's already on schedule to arrive by FedEx ground by end of day tomorrow. I took the "free 3-5 day ground shipping" option and it looks like that will be more than surpassed. Hopefully I'll have some updates for you guys on Friday. 

 

I'm interested in hearing updates re: reception, both inside buildings  and in non-urban areas.  I'm using Virgin Mobile.  They use Sprint's network.  Love the pricing, not fond of reception in large buildings and non-urban/suburban areas.  A bit hit or miss out in farm country or along the lake.

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Did you activate it yet? Was there any hiccup retreiving your number? How do you like the Nexus?

 

(I might be more excited about this than you are.)

 

I'm up and running on the data/wifi. My phone number hasn't transferred yet. They said it might take a day or two. Plus I think I might have an issue with needing a PIN for my Verizon service that I'm pretty sure I don't know about. I provided a PIN for the transfer but I have no idea if it is correct :bag: So we'll see if a problem of my own making causes some hiccups with getting the number transferred. In the meantime I just have both phones active. 

 

Getting the Nexus set up today was great. I'm very happy with it. The UI is much better than what I was dealing with on my Galaxy, probably due to a slightly larger screen and a newer version of Android OS. It's also crazy fast. 

 

I have not tried out the fingerprint security yet.

 

I'm going to have to buy all new charging/data cables. These LG phones use USB-C format cables, which are a new plug format. My old micro-USB cords are all useless now, which stinks because I have like 4 of them distributed around all the places I plug my phone in.  :(

Edited by d4rksabre
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For reference, I went from Android 4.4.2 KitKat to Android 6.0.1 Mashmallow (which released the 0.1 updated today) and woaahhhhhhh.

I really like the google voice search functionality. I can just sit on my couch ask google stuff without lifting a finger. 

Also Google Now is super cool. Read up on that if you have a chance.

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For reference, I went from Android 4.4.2 KitKat to Android 6.0.1 Mashmallow (which released the 0.1 updated today) and woaahhhhhhh.

 

I really like the google voice search functionality. I can just sit on my couch ask google stuff without lifting a finger.

 

Also Google Now is super cool. Read up on that if you have a chance.

My phone upgraded to Marshmallow this morning and man, it's so much smoother. Feels like I got a new phone.

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This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

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