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Project Fi by Google

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Re: Project Fi by Google

#111

Post by ikeboy »

nrahnemoon1 wrote: post #14

In their FAQ they haven't addressed the security issues when connecting to public WiFi hotspots. The user's traffic would be flowing unencrypted, easily accessible to strangers. I wonder if they'll be providing free VPN service when connected to public WiFi.

>When Project Fi automatically connects you to an open Wi-Fi network, we help protect your data by sending it through a secure connection, known as a Virtual Private Network (VPN). This secure connection protects your data from being looked at by other users on the open Wi-Fi network.

https://fi.google.com/about/faq/#wifi-connection-and-calls-2

Re: Project Fi by Google

#112

Post by rhino369 »

DaNmarner wrote: post #63
kirinan wrote: post #8

This is insane. I can't think of an industry that google is not trying to compete in. Auto industry, space industry, internet of things industry (Nest), internet/media industry, cable/internet provider industry, automobile industry, robotics industry, software industry, smartphone industry, pc industry now the telecom industry. I'm starting to expect Google to launch an airline here pretty soon. How can they possibly…

This is just another manifestation of software eating the world. What makes Google competitive in any industry? Its talent in software.

>What makes Google competitive in any industry?

Having a goose who lays golden eggs (search + adsense) to subsidize development?

Re: Project Fi by Google

#113

Post by eli »

luu wrote: post #46

Who handles support for this? Is it Google, or one of the carriers that Google's using? Who do you talk to if the handoff between carriers doesn't quite work? I've skimmed the FAQ and I didn't see that listed in there. For context, I use Google Voice, and while it's really nice in a lot of ways, it has some unfortunate bugs that have persisted for years that it seems impossible to get support for. I no longer uncondi…

The typical MVNO model would be for Google to handle all the support. I agree that end-user support does not seem to be one of Google's strengths.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#114

Post by EwanG »

yellowapple wrote: post #74
higherpurpose wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a good point. It's one thing to offer "unlimited data" for a fixed price - which is about ideal for a consumer, but that doesn't exist anymore. What you get is a fixed amount of data for a fixed price. But the provider has an incentive to make you use as little as possible, to increase its profits. But if instead you get the data returned to you, or you pay a reasonable amount by the MB, then the provider has…

> It's one thing to offer "unlimited data" for a fixed price - which is about ideal for a consumer, but that doesn't exist anymore. Yes it does; both Sprint and T-Mobile offer it (alongside their respective non-unlimited plans). The fact that Google Fi doesn't despite using those two carriers as its "partners" is incredibly disappointing.

To Be Clear, they offer it, but T-Mobile will throttle your speeds after a certain number of megs. Sprint also used to do so, but apparently has stopped doing so due to a need to try to get folks to at least check them out.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#115

Post by devindotcom »

_stephan wrote: post #9

The body font ("RoboDraft", #757575) is somewhat unreadable (not enough contrast) on a Chrome/Windows 7 machine with a 1920x1200 display.

Yeah. Google's renderer seems to make things a bit lighter, making it really really hard to target a basic width.

Obligatory Raster Tragedy link: http://www.rastertragedy.com/

Re: Project Fi by Google

#116

Post by ah- »

The big thing about this from my perspective is that it abolishes roaming. One plan, and you pay the same whether you use it in your home country or anywhere else. I'm not aware that anybody else is offering that, especially not at that price.

As a German living in the UK i currently juggle two SIM cards, and whenever I fly back home I have to mess with the data flatrate there since it's worth activating the monthly flatrate plan even if I just use it for a day. And then I have to make sure that I don't forget to cancel the flatrate when I leave again. Not to mention that this means I have two phone numbers, and I'm not reachable on at least one of them all the time.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#117

Post by eli »

kqr2 wrote: post #34

Republic Wireless has been doing hybrid wifi / cell calling for some time: https://republicwireless.com/ Their unlimited 3G plan is $25. Republic Wireless is owned by Bandwidth.com which also manages Google Voice numbers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandwidth.com

So has T-Mobile. Any sufficiently fast wifi network becomes a mini network tower. It's a great idea.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#118

Post by codezero »

yellowapple wrote: post #107
tomhschmidt wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This plan actually makes no sense. Overage charges are the same rate ($10 / GB), so why am I buying a "plan" at all? Why don't they just charge $10 * x gigs / month instead of all this buying / refunding business?

Or better yet: why aren't they offering an unlimited data plan like what T-Mobile and Sprint (Google Fi's "partners") already offer? Why aren't they even at least going with T-Mobile's approach of "throttle the connection once you go past your data cap, but don't charge overages"? It's like they're taking the best things of both carriers - their unlimited data plans - and pretending those things don't exist, that the…

My best guess is that these carriers regret offering unlimited data.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#119

Post by maxerickson »

tomhschmidt wrote: post #93
MBlume wrote: post #40

"We refund the data you don't use" is basically a way of saying "you pay by the megabyte for the data you do use" -- which is actually really great, I've been frustrated that everyone's settled on "all-you-can-eat" data as the standard, it doesn't align incentives well at all. And they really are refunding it: if you use 1.2GB per month, it doesn't matter whether you sign up for 2, 5, or 10GB, your bill comes out exa…

This plan actually makes no sense. Overage charges are the same rate ($10 / GB), so why am I buying a "plan" at all? Why don't they just charge $10 * x gigs / month instead of all this buying / refunding business?

I expect that it is prepaid and that they will require you to prepay an amount that matches your typical usage in previous months (based on whatever method of measuring).

Re: Project Fi by Google

#120

Post by devindotcom »

amalag wrote: post #23

This is doing the same things as Republic Wireless. Calls and texts over wifi to keep their carrier costs down. RW is cheaper at $10 a month without data and $25 for unlimited 3G. With RW you need their customized android phone but they are cheap. $650 for the phone is steep (or a credit pull).

True except if it's really just 3G that's not enough for some people who like to stream video and audio - ideal bitrates probably can handle it, but not realistically.

That said, anyone streaming Netflix on their LTE connection is going to want unlimited data to start with, so neither is a good bet.

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