Who knows the quality of this service?

3/22/2016 4:52:38 PM

c'mon dawg

3/22/2016 6:02:22 PM

I hath wondered the same my brother.

How is thy service in Raleigh?

3/22/2016 8:35:11 PM

I've had it in Raleigh for about 6 months now, and other than some occasional weirdness when it's trying to switch between networks I've had no problems.

Call quality is on par with any other carrier I've used, and I've had no more dropped calls than with Verizon. The cost savings and ability to use a Google branded device (first in line for Android updates) makes it 100% worth any potential headaches.

3/23/2016 9:34:08 AM

Absolutely love it. I came from Sprint so it's not like a saw any dip in service (it's a combo of Sprint & T-Mobile), and the added Google tie in is great. Signing up, activation, payment, all really easy. Absolutely love the Nexus 6P -- nothing I don't like about the phone.

Will get a weird signal dropout here and there but that's atypical. Tying in everything to Wi-Fi (text, MMS, phone calls) when available is great too.

3/23/2016 7:55:13 PM

I've made my decision everyone

3/28/2016 2:20:04 PM

https://fi.google.com

i am surprised this hasn't received much attention.

thinking of switching. i currently have t-mobile's $30 plan which gives me 100 min talk, unlimited text, and 5 GB data. i only use 0.5-1 GB, but i almost always finish my 100 min and then use google hangouts for phone calls.

with Project Fi, my data will cost $5-10, plus the base price of $20 makes $25-30, which is a much better deal as i will have unlimited talk as well, plus the same data rate (1c/MB) in 135 countries. and they account for every 1 cent (1 MB) of usage, so you only pay for what you use.

Project Fi uses Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular, so i should have at least the same reception and coverage, and potentially much better, right?

and the best thing, i can get the Nexus 5X ($200/250 for 16/32 GB) very cheap if I activate Project Fi. (offer til 9/11) my Nexus 5 is 25 months old now and it loses charge quite rapidly relative to when it was new, and it heats up too, so i was thinking of getting a new phone anyway.

i only have one concern:

i wonder how permanent this Project Fi thing is... is it just experimental and might go away, or is it something they will nurture and grow? because if they decide to discontinue it, it might make it messy to go back to my carrier. (can i keep my number going back to t-mobile?)

actually, here is another concern:

Quote :

"What determines when Project Fi moves me between cellular networks? When multiple carriers are available, Project Fi will move you to the network that our analysis shows will be fastest in your current location, whether that is 4G LTE, 3G, or 2G. We’re constantly learning and improving, to account for factors such as newly-built towers or newly-available radio frequencies. And if your current network is providing weak or no coverage, we’ll adjust in real time to find you a stronger connection."

does that mean service might drop momentarily frequently when moving about as it switches between networks? how seamless is the switching?

anybody with experience who can answer my two concerns?

8/13/2016 9:31:44 AM

If you are interested in this, you should also look at Republic. They just announced the 3.0 plans and phones, and are now going BYOP. They have been doing WiFi calling a lot longer than Google, and the plans are cheaper. They are also headquartered on Centennial campus.

OEP if the hand off is like it is with Republic, then its almost completely seamless. Worst case you may hear a quiet click and have a slight change in audio quality.

8/13/2016 10:46:30 AM

^ hey thanks, i had no idea about Republic Wireless.

i have browsed their site for several minutes now. i can't see whose towers they use.

also, my phone (Nexus 5) is not in the BYOP list, unfortunately.

yes, their plans are way cheaper than any other provider. i can get 1 GB data and unlimited talk/text for $20, which is what i need. that would cost me $30 with Project Fi.

what i can do is get the Nexus 5X from Project Fi ($250 instead of $400 with Republic), activate it, use Project Fi for a month or less, and then switch to Republic.

do you have Republic?

8/15/2016 8:03:08 AM

I was with Republic Wireless for about 3 years, since their beta days. I really really wanted to love it. Yes, the cost savings were there, that's why I put up with all the headaches.

The biggest complaint I had was regarding the Customer Service. I consider myself pretty advanced when it comes to tech knowledge, so if I'm reaching out to a CSR, it's because I've done all the 'basic' stuff. Since RW doesn't have a phone number or chat, the only way to get help is open a help ticket. RW, in their search to cut costs, started a program where other RW users could start answering these help tickets, in exchange for free service. So every time I'd open a ticket, it would be answered with 40 or 50 year old people sitting on their couches with absolutely no idea what they were talking about. So frustrating and annoying. I'd even complain about this, and it'd get routed to these same people arguing how we're a community and that's how this community works, we help each other instead of bothering the RW folks. With Fi, I have instant access to a helpful CSR via phone, chat, or email 24/7. It's awesome.

The 2nd big thing that drove me away was Fi's international data roaming. I started a new job where international travel will be frequent, so this was a huge plus.

After a couple of months with Fi, my bill only went up about $10. For me, having access to 3 cellular networks instead of 1, being able to actually talk with a CSR when there's a problem, and the extra perks like having immediate android updates and international data coverage are well worth this minimal price increase.

8/15/2016 8:12:41 AM

^ thanks for the informative post. i must ask, though, did you have to contact RW CS often? if so, for what? and since you are tech-savvy as you said, that means the issues must have been intractable enough, so it is imperative i know. also, if that was a while ago, do you know if they have worked out the kinks you were encountering?

i just read their wiki entry and it says they have added t-mobile since May 2016, so now they piggyback on two networks (other being Sprint).

according to Consumer Reports, they were (in 2014) the top-ranked prepaid provider... they must be doing things right also, aside from having low rates, i suppose.

8/15/2016 11:31:38 AM

The map is showing only 3g service to my house??

8/15/2016 1:26:23 PM

^ Project Fi or Republic Wireless?

Former uses Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular, and latter uses Sprint and T-Mobile.

If it is showing 3G only, that means those three networks only have 3G in your area... which carrier do you use? (I assume you get 4G at home with your carrier)

8/15/2016 1:32:42 PM

I was looking at Project Fi

I have Verizon, but have definitely picked up Sprint LTE here too.

8/15/2016 1:48:23 PM

Firstly, Republic Wireless uses Sprint OR T-Mobile, not both. If you are on the new 3.0 plans, then you are using only T-Mobile. If you're on the 1.0 or 2.0 plans, then it uses Sprint. They hope to add Springt by the end of the year, but I am doubtful and wouldn't bet on it.

There have been a plethora of problems. The biggest was a call-delay bug that after you left wifi and went back to cell, you had to either wait ~5 min or re-boot your phone in order to place a call. They actually gave me a free upgrade to the 2014 Moto X because of all the problems, and while this helped, it still was not great.

There was also lots of problems with text messages not coming through, or the same message coming through 20 times, and lots of missed calls when I was at full signal. One of the biggest annoyances was that any picture messages sent (using the stock app) were always so blurry the receiver could barely tell what it was. Their compression algorithm was to blame. I'd open a help ticket, which wold get routed to a stay-at-home dad customer, who would send me a how-to page on how to send a mms message

I loved RW in the beginning because it was crazy cheap, $19 for unlimited calling, text, and data. It was ok to live with the hiccups. I was even in the customer testimonials video that was on their homepage for forever. Then they released their 2.0 plans, which of course raised the prices, but didn't give any extra benefits. Now they've raised their prices again, again offering nothing extra, and I realized I could have something much more stabler and reliable for only a bit more. If you're one of those crazy penny-pinchers, then go for it. I just got sick of the problems and lack of support, and it wasn't worth the $5-10 a month in savings vs another carrier.

Fi is in no way perfect (it is a 'Project' after-all). But for my needs (i'm on wifi all day long and travel internationally) Project Fi is perfect. If RW is perfect for you, then go for it.

[Edited on August 15, 2016 at 3:28 PM. Reason : Spelling is hard.]

8/15/2016 3:27:05 PM

^ hey, thanks for the continued help in my decision, i really appreciate it!

one last question before my i make my decision -- i posted this a few days ago:

i wonder how permanent this Project Fi thing is... is it just experimental and might go away, or is it something they will nurture and grow (and make it not a "project" anymore)? because if they decide to discontinue it, it might make it messy to go back to my carrier. (can i keep my number going back to t-mobile?)

have you heard/read/researched anything in that regard?

8/16/2016 10:22:16 AM

your guess is as good as mine. The fact that they have added 2 additional carriers recently, US Cellular in the US and Three abroad, is a good sign. Check out this reddit thread.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectFi/comments/4wj091/is_project_fi_here_to_stay/

8/17/2016 10:58:42 AM

^ thanks a lot!

8/17/2016 9:39:33 PM

I am gonna switch

Just trying to decide if I should get the Nexus 5X 32 GB for $250. Offer is until Sep 11.

8/19/2016 5:26:54 AM

I have the 5x and really enjoy it. I came from the 2014 Moto X.

I absolutely love the finger-print reader on the back. I won't be able to not have one going forward.

8/19/2016 9:34:01 AM

I currently have my first smartphone ever, the Nexus 5, which I got in July 2014.

I absolutely love it, it is near perfect. So I know the 5X will be at least just as good. And I have the screaming orange color (Google calls it "Red"), which I love as it is unique. Have not seen any phone (or case) of the same or similar color in 2 years with anybody else, even though i live and work on a massive uni campus.

It still works well, but battery lasts about 50% as long compared to when it was new, and sometimes it tends to heat up. I also dropped phone and cracked screen a couple of months ago. I can get kits to replace battery and screen for [well] under $100 combined. Don't know if i should do that or get the Nexus 5X.

I think I should do both maybe, so that when I sell the 5, I can get a good price for it?

Or I can get a new Nexus 5 32 GB off Amazon for $200, my wife just did a month ago. Mine is the 16 GB model, and for 2 years I have regretted not paying $50 more and getting the 32 GB model ($400 vs. $350).

Grrrr... don't know what to do.


[Edited on August 19, 2016 at 11:59 AM. Reason : ]

8/19/2016 11:41:57 AM

I pulled the trigger and ordered a 32 GB Nexus 5X in Quartz (white) through Project Fi!

I wanted to get the Ice color, but that's sold out. I found it on eBay for $280 though, but thought it is much better to get it directly from Google.

Arriving Monday!

8/26/2016 8:53:20 PM

Welcome!

Reddit has a pretty good Forum on Project Fi that might be worth checking out, there's several Fi employees who will regularly post on it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProjectFi/

Good thinking with buying from Fi directly. If something goes wrong with it, it'll be much easier to get a repair/replacement.

8/27/2016 5:00:18 PM

I had a number of problems. Mostly not getting my messages after being on my iphone. calls were getting dropped and being on there calls being on wifi still kind of sucked.

the Fi support was pretty cool...got a number of months for free.

im back on verizon prepaid on my iphone.

8/28/2016 7:38:32 PM

^^ Thanks, and thanks for the link! Received it on Monday, but forgot last week to order a screen protector. Ordered one yesterday and paid 2-day shipping (more expensive than case+screen protector!) so it is coming tomorrow. So painful not to be able to hold or touch the phone!!! Had to do 2-day shipping because my automatic T-mobile monthly charge is on Friday, so I want to switch over tomorrow latest.

Will hit you up if I have any queries


^ Hmmm... well, will just have to see how my experience goes! Hopefully with a brand new phone that is approved for Fi (Nexus 5X) there will be less/no issues?! Thanks for the input!

8/31/2016 1:04:36 PM

I think Im going to switch to this in a week or two....mostly for the Wifi calling and that I can tether without rooting (currently on Cricket which doesnt offer tethering on the 6P even if you paid for it). Main thing I have to figure out is keeping my GV number (which I basically use as an alias) and my real number (as the one that gets ported to Fi). Anyone have any luck transferring their GV to another google account? How did it work after you switched to Fi?

9/1/2016 5:46:16 PM

it's on baby!

9/2/2016 3:01:06 AM

The network switching is failing me miserably lately. Where I'm living atm, it wants to latch onto T-Mobile despite the slowest signal ever. I manually force it to sprint and I've got almost full lte

10/10/2016 11:56:31 PM

I haven't had too much trouble with it, just the occasional need to manual switch if i'm in a new area.

Also, Fi announced family plans. Data is the same price, but any additional family members the talk & text is only $15.
https://fi.google.com/about/plan/

10/13/2016 3:17:33 PM

ok so how do you see which network your phone is connected to (and then how do you switch manually?)?

i can't see that anywhere on my phone.

10/13/2016 4:43:10 PM

I'm taking the plunge into Fi this week.

I currently have the grandfathered unlimited Verizon plan, but they upped our bill $40 per month to try to get us to leave, so we are. We currently use about 50GB per month with 2 phones (but that's bc we never bother with wifi). Trying to completely change our habits and hoping we can manage with maybe 5GB max with Project Fi.

Worse case is that we go back to the new VZ plan. Also, excited to try out the Pixel XL!

2/20/2017 7:41:32 PM

its not really saving you unless you use less than 3gb

2/20/2017 8:53:57 PM

^^

Here is my referral code: 1PU0KN. We both get $20 if you use it and stay on for min 30 days

2/20/2017 9:50:09 PM

I would avoid Sprints network unless you like them AOL.com dial in speeds.

2/20/2017 10:05:38 PM

^^^
We payed $185 per month for VZ (but I could expense half of that). We'll be paying ~$85 for Fi if we use 5GB and I can expense all of it.

^^ I already signed up an everything... checking if I can do it retro

[Edited on February 20, 2017 at 10:08 PM. Reason : up]

2/20/2017 10:06:41 PM

^ no worries if you can't

***************************************

For anybody who wants to move to Fi in the future:

Here is my referral code: 1PU0KN. We both get $20 if you use it and stay on for min 30 days

Thanks!

2/21/2017 11:42:46 AM

verizon single line unlimited is $60, 2x for 55, 3+ 45/line.
sprint unlimited is like 90 for 4 lines
tmo is similar structure to vzw

projectfi seems like a terrible option in comparison, especially if you regularly use 50gb, which is unreal. I can't imagine a phone being the most convenient way to consume that much content but to each their own..

2/21/2017 1:32:34 PM

If you can expense $120 then I'd definitely do the VZW unlimited...if not you'll have to decide if saving $35 is worth dealing with Fi instead of having VZW unlimited.

2/21/2017 2:20:00 PM

We used less than 3gig last month combined.

2/21/2017 2:56:49 PM

^^ We figured that we would try this and attempt to not be on our phones as often as we have been. Sort of a self-imposed punishment for being on our phones too often. So why no save a little money (hopefully) and have "fun" trying out a new service? Another thing I like about Fi is how clear they are with billing, no contracts, and when we travel we can have wifi calling and international data for $10/GB - which may come in handy over the next year or so as we are trying to travel more.

Activating today

2/21/2017 3:48:47 PM

Quote :

"verizon single line unlimited is $60, 2x for 55"

Where did you get those numbers from?

https://www.verizonwireless.com/plans/verizon-plan/

2/22/2017 11:14:46 AM

Quote :

"The unlimited data prices below include the discount for having Auto Pay and paper-free billing. The discount is $10 for multi-line and $5 for single line plans. Single line: $60/month for unlimited data (with Auto Pay and paper-free billing) + Line access fee(s) + Taxes & fees. Multi-line: Starts at $100/month for unlimited data (with Auto Pay and paper-free billing) + Line access fee(s) + Taxes & fees"

2/22/2017 3:18:29 PM

I told my sister about it and she went to the store and that's the rate they gave her and friend. I dunno if it's a loyalty discount or what

2/22/2017 8:20:57 PM

I'm not sure the worth. Neither Sprint nor T-Mobile are everywhere. This is why Sprint roams on Verizon and T-Mobile roams on AT&T.

Does Project Fi still support roaming? My searching seems to suggest that Project-Fi users get access to similar roaming agreements as both Sprint and T-Mobile. As such, their phones will roam onto either Verizon OR AT&T if needed. It isn't clear how much data roaming is available, but what this basically means is that a Project Fi device will always have service as long as any tower from any network is in range. Which makes it absurdly powerful if you go odd places in your travels and absolutely need your phone to work.

3/2/2017 2:11:44 PM

Quote :

"Project Fi device will always have service as long as any tower from any network is in range"

I feel like we'd already know about this if it was the case...

3/2/2017 2:54:59 PM

It seems to be an unadvertised feature. But, users are certainly reporting domestic roaming. Of course, it would be presumably limited by Sprint and T-Mobile's roaming agreements, where Sprint doesn't allow some regions to roam because the roaming bills would be too high.

3/2/2017 11:22:36 PM

I'm far from an expert in this space, but if there was one phone to rule them all I figure I'd have heard of it.

[Edited on March 3, 2017 at 1:10 AM. Reason : And it wouldn't cost $20/month.]

3/3/2017 1:07:55 AM

Yes, Fi supports roaming in every situation I have come across (although at times it just voice and not data). Before the US Cellular agreement, my Fi phone used to roam on Verizon while I was back home in rural eastern NC.

3/3/2017 8:23:57 AM

^Ugh yea this is one thing that pisses me off about RW. They apparently lost their roaming agreement with US Cellular, so when we travel back home to Scotland Neck and other parts of Halifax, Northampton, etc. I get zero service aside from WiFi. It wasn't always like that, but at least we don't live there anymore.

3/3/2017 9:52:48 PM

They don't have Verizon or AT&T there?

3/3/2017 11:58:46 PM