Project Fi by Google • Hacker News Board

Re: Project Fi by Google

#371

Post by mr337 » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:51 PM UTC

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).

Do keep in mind they actively are against tethering, which stinks if your in a pinch and need internet for a laptop or w/e. Also afaik the phone you get from them can't really be used anywhere else. Other Sprint MVNO like ting won't accept RW phone. Maybe Spring themselves will but I'm currently in the process of moving and have a dud for a phone now.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#372

Post by MrUnknown » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:55 PM UTC

jamroom wrote: post #185

wiremine wrote: post #92

For those who don't want to read the FAQ or find the video incredibly unhelpful [1]: a. It only supports the Nexus 6 out of the gate. b. It automatically switches you to the "fastest" network available. Partners out of the gate are Sprint and T-mobile. Sounds like it prefers Wifi, then 4G LTE, and then degrades down to 3G or 2G. c. Pricing is $20 for unlimited talk (domestic) and text (domestic and international) and…

Just as a point of reference, this is about on par with AT&T family share plans - I pay $145 a month for 3 iphones, unlimited text and talk with 10 gigs shared data. With taxes and fees it comes out to right around $160 (which would be the same here if I used all 10 gigs). The down side is that I'm not refunded for any unused data, so I pay that every month. But we use a good chunk of it every month, so this wouldn't…

This whole thing makes no sense for me. I go through Cricket Wireless, which is $40/mo for unlimited minutes and 2.5GB of high-speed data (then throttled to pretty much useless). I would say is equal to their plan that has 2GB. I actually only pay $35/mo due to auto-pay, so even cheaper than their $40 and I get more data.

I don't see their offering as competitive at all.

edit: just saw the "plus taxes and fees" of which there is none for me. So, I pay even less now.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#373

Post by tarblog » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:55 PM UTC

Rainymood wrote: post #158

grecy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, and I always figured that's why they built Chrome. They needed the other browsers to step up their game, especially js performance so they could offer the kinds of web applications they wanted to.

And then .. no one did and now we're all stuck with Chrome.

Yes they did. Firefox, Safari, IE all stepped up their game. Mozilla is building Servo. Microsoft is building project spartan. The browser is incredibly competitive.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#374

Post by nevir » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:55 PM UTC

rlu wrote: post #363

wiremine wrote: post #92

For those who don't want to read the FAQ or find the video incredibly unhelpful [1]: a. It only supports the Nexus 6 out of the gate. b. It automatically switches you to the "fastest" network available. Partners out of the gate are Sprint and T-mobile. Sounds like it prefers Wifi, then 4G LTE, and then degrades down to 3G or 2G. c. Pricing is $20 for unlimited talk (domestic) and text (domestic and international) and…

Ahhh soooo annoying that it requires a Nexus 6. This sounds so awesome but I do not want a 6" phone. I'm hoping the next Nexus phone will have a smaller variant (and it will undoubtedly support Project Fi)

Agree.

Edit: Looks like the Sony Z3C is a (and the only?) contender!

---

But, I've also given up on that front. The last phone that was (barely) usable one-handed for me was the original Moto X. At this point, there is literally not a single phone on the market that (that I can find):

* Runs a recent version of Android (or iOS)

* Is * Has a recent/"fast" CPU/GPU

So, fuck it, time to give in and go with a phablet.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#375

Post by borgel » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:55 PM UTC

kissickas wrote: post #327

Someone1234 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am on T-Mobile and travelled outside the US late last year. First off, I just want to say, the "free tier" of international data is extremely appreciated for two important reasons: - Overage is literally impossible (i.e. no "bill shock"). - If you don't wish to pay, you get "something" for nothing. So, now, the "bad." The reality is that T-Mobile's free tier is incredibly slow like "my 56K modem was faster than thi…

Absolutely correct about restarting your phone. I even restart mine twice after I change SIM cards (not a T-Mobile guy). What's your experience with Google Maps at the free 2G speeds? That would be my first question when it comes to travel.

I used TMO's free international 2G (with a 2013 Moto X) in Japan for two weeks. Maps was not a problem. It was slower then I was used to over 4G, but certainly fast enough to look up transit directions and search for places.

I was very satisfied and would gladly use them again. Having transit directions made spontaneous travel much easier.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#376

Post by tshtf » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:57 PM UTC

With Cricket Wireless (https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans), I can use the vastly superior AT&T network and spend $60/month for 10GB of data, plus unlimited voice and text.

This would cost $120/month on Project Fi, and I'd be forced to use T-Mobile and Sprint, both of which have inferior coverage in the US.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#377

Post by Casseres » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:58 PM UTC

adamrt wrote: post #331

peferron wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The T-Mobile plan only offers you international data if you pass a credit check. I applied twice, once by phone and once in-person at a store. I got rejected twice. I have excellent credit and suspect the issue is something stupid like my first name being misspelled (something I experience a lot). However T-Mobile employees immediately enter stone wall mode and it's completely impossible to debug the issue. Probably…

I have this plan and never did a credit check. Maybe I was grandfathered in though. I've had t mobile for 2 years now.

T-Mobile uses the same name ("Simple plan") for their different offerings, one of which is international roaming with a credit check. I tried to get this plan, and T-Mobile wasted hours of my time and money on satellite phone calls to them and royally pissed me off with their extremely incompetent support. Apparently I was given the wrong plan when I signed up initially in the US, and then they tried changing my plan to the correct one, but it never worked. I wouldn't touch T-Mobile with a 10 foot pole.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#378

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 8:59 PM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #319

Someone1234 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am on T-Mobile and travelled outside the US late last year. First off, I just want to say, the "free tier" of international data is extremely appreciated for two important reasons: - Overage is literally impossible (i.e. no "bill shock"). - If you don't wish to pay, you get "something" for nothing. So, now, the "bad." The reality is that T-Mobile's free tier is incredibly slow like "my 56K modem was faster than thi…

Where did you travel to? When we went to France, I got great speeds (almost 3G-ish) roaming on several providers there (IIRC, SFR and Bouygues) in all sorts of locations, including very remote ones. In the end, we paid $40 (all for calls @ $0.20/min) for 3 weeks of near-normal usage with 2 iPhones. To me that's very much a game changer - previously I paid double that same amount as an accidentally access charge (forg…

> Where did you travel to?

It was this cruise but in reverse (Aruba last, cayman first):

When I paid for data I got good 3G or 4G speeds. With free data it was incredibly slow, like sub-56K modem slow, even at the same ports as the 4G speeds with paid.

Here's a YouTube video someone else took which accurately represents my experience:

https://youtu.be/PISKCPFu3iU?t=26s

It takes a minute to load Gizmoto's homepage.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#379

Post by Someone1234 » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 9:02 PM UTC

kissickas wrote: post #327

Someone1234 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am on T-Mobile and travelled outside the US late last year. First off, I just want to say, the "free tier" of international data is extremely appreciated for two important reasons: - Overage is literally impossible (i.e. no "bill shock"). - If you don't wish to pay, you get "something" for nothing. So, now, the "bad." The reality is that T-Mobile's free tier is incredibly slow like "my 56K modem was faster than thi…

Absolutely correct about restarting your phone. I even restart mine twice after I change SIM cards (not a T-Mobile guy). What's your experience with Google Maps at the free 2G speeds? That would be my first question when it comes to travel.

> What's your experience with Google Maps at the free 2G speeds?

"Unpleasant." What I'd strongly recommend is to download the map using offline maps before you leave. If you wait for Google Maps to download the data over the 2G/free tier you'll be in for a very long (10+ minute) wait.

I did not do offline maps before I left, but mostly we were on tours so we didn't really need them. But if I was e.g. exploring a city or doing something on my own, you'd definitely want to do offline maps if you wanted to use Google Maps on their free tier.

Re: Project Fi by Google

#380

Post by mcpherrinm » Wed, Apr 22, 2015, 9:02 PM UTC

bko wrote: post #338

laurencerowe wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is charging a significant markup over T-Mobile's existing rates ($30/month for 5Gb vs $70/month through Gooogle.) So Fi is really only interesting for people doing significant international roaming.

Where did you get your numbers? T-Mobile site says 1 GB of 4G data with unlimited talk and text for $50 a month. 5 gigs of 4G data is $70 http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/individual.html

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

If you scroll down, there's:

$30 per month — Unlimited web and text with 100 minutes talk 100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5GB at up to 4G speeds

I'm considering switch from that plan to Google Fi for Canada data.