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I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

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Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#31

Post by sithadmin »

el_benhameen wrote: post #14
ndiscussion wrote: post #2

Google Fi sucks, it's way too expensive. The last several years have seen an explosion of MVNOs, mobile virtual network operators. I use Mint Sim and get 3gb LTE/month with unlimited talk and text, and unlimited throttled internet after the 3gb, for $15/month.

Are there any downsides to Mint? I thought I was getting a pretty good deal with t-mobile, but damn, $15 a month is pretty tempting.

I'll second that Mint is solid. They're a no-nonsense TMO-based MVNO. If you just need text, talk, and minimal to moderate data, and are okay with TMO's hit or miss coverage and iffy building penetration (which seems to have only improved moderately in spite of their band 12 LTE rollout), Mint is fine.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#32

Post by andrewvc »

mcrae wrote: post #17
faitswulff wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not T-Mobile?

TMO only gives 2G internationally which, while it doesn’t sound terrible, it ends up being unusable in practice. Your experience may vary though I guess.

Yes, can confirm. I can't actually load a webpage on their '2G' service anytime I travel to europe.

I suspect that their partners in europe throttle with an algorithm so aggressive it flat-out breaks TCP.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#33

Post by mcrae »

Despite everything else said, I’ve gotta say that there’s no better feeling than touching down in a new place, turning on your phone, and having it just work.

No stupid voip apps. No managing prepaid balances. No switching sims. Just direct dial and go.

Fi service is incredible for the mobile roaming alone and I’m not quite sure why nobody else can do it. I love it so much and it’s my favorite product. It makes a measurable positive impact in my life.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#34

Post by beaorn »

holidaygoose wrote: post #19
ndiscussion wrote: post #2

Google Fi sucks, it's way too expensive. The last several years have seen an explosion of MVNOs, mobile virtual network operators. I use Mint Sim and get 3gb LTE/month with unlimited talk and text, and unlimited throttled internet after the 3gb, for $15/month.

I'm perplexed. I can see hating them for other reasons, but expensive would not be the word I associate with Google Fi. I pay $22 including taxes/fees per month, but it's probably not a good carrier for people who watch a lot of video on their phones. * they're also probably one of the only honest carriers in terms of taxes/fees. My previous carrier had a much higher tax % which I thought was normal, but now I realiz…

agreed, it is so much cheaper than verizon for multiple phones on a plan. we don't use a lot of data, but its very predictable and cheap pricing if we are traveling and are using it. I've not had to deal with support often, so my experience has been positive.

My single gripe about Project/Google Fi is that sometimes I'm forced to use a 3rd party app (FiSwitch) for when it doesn't automatically switch to the best carrier for that area, but even with that the cheaper price is enough for me to stay. I still hope they improve the carrier detection issue though.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#35

Post by roland35 »

andr wrote: post #26

I had a few unsuccessful back and forths with different Fi agents about an issue, and after a couple of weird remarks, I developed the theory that first level agents get their performance scores penalized every time they escalate an issue. I would have them go through the same script over and over for over an hour, and even sometimes admit that I had an issue, but refuse to press that button. I have no hard evidence,…

That is interesting, I have never actually called them but have used the chat and email interface a few times with pretty good success. I wonder if there is any difference in how the different communication methods are scored?

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#36

Post by ForTheTimeBeing »

faitswulff wrote: post #9
buf wrote: post #5

I just traveled to Japan, the Phil, Bulgaria, San Francisco, and Boston without having to change sim cards or worry about my data situation. I'm going to keep it until someone else can do the same at a lower price.

Why not T-Mobile?

My wife and I just traveled to Korea and Japan for the better part of December. And I have a Google Fi plan while she is with T-mobile. My service was superior in several ways:

1. Better and more reliable coverage 2. Roaming surcharges for my (Google Fi) calls where less (albeit, nominally so) at $0.20/min vs $0.25/min 3. While she had some problems enabling her data, the transition of my service in this respect was absolutely seamless (and as just fast as here in the States) 4. Importantly, Google Fi supports tethering abroad whereas T-mobile does not

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#37

Post by sithadmin »

holidaygoose wrote: post #23
el_benhameen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any downsides to Mint? I thought I was getting a pretty good deal with t-mobile, but damn, $15 a month is pretty tempting.

Only two things I noticed when comparing on their website. 1) lock in contracts, and 2) they piggyback off the T-Mobile network while Google Fi dynamically uses the best of 3 networks. Otherwise seems like a pretty frugal option.

>they piggyback off the T-Mobile network while Google Fi dynamically uses the best of 3 networks

This happens only in theory, not practice with Fi. As a Fi launch customer that stuck with Fi through late 2017, Sprint (and later US Cellular) service was always terrible and frequently unusable, no matter what metro area I used it in. My experience improved dramatically when I just kept my Nexus device around as a spare, and moved my primary SIM to an iPhone, where it was permanently locked to using TMO.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#38

Post by dvtrn »

SamWhited wrote: post #30
drewg123 wrote: post #16

I'm going through something similar with Lyft. I got a new pixel phone, had to re-setup my account in an airport added my cards, and was unable to hail a ride due to some "oops, there was a problem, try again" error with both the cards I entered. That was 9 months ago. To this day, I've been unable to use Lyft, and I can't get anybody to really look at the issue. I'm not sure why they don't want to take my money, but…

Please look up information about Uber's business practices and don't use them. A few minor technical problems are nothing compared to how bad Uber is. Disclaimer: Austin resident who is still mad at both of them for all the massive lies they published all over the city and the huge amount of our money and time they wasted with their stupid campaign to not have to fingerprint drivers.

I remember that. It was my last year in Austin and I vowed to never use them either for that same reason and also this one:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2017-03-14/lege-f...

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#39

Post by dstaley »

Stories like this make me incredibly wary about the future of my Google account. I've been using it for almost twelve years. It has a copy of every photo/video I've taken for almost eight years. It's what I use to download apps, listen to music, and pay for things, and get around. I'd be absolutely devastated if I suddenly lost it. I've been planning for a while now a sort of contingency plan where I regularly backup my emails and photos, but from what I've read even that's difficult to do.

Re: I Can No Longer Recommend Google Fi

#40

Post by ronsor »

iandanforth wrote: post #29

The lede here is somewhat burried: "From what I’ve since learned, if a card in your Google Pay is stolen, or someone uses your Payments account fraudulently, or anything happens that leads to a security flag being raised, it can lead to your Google Payments account being frozen. ... If you can’t use Google Payments, you can’t pay for Google Fi This, fundamentally, is why I can’t suggest anyone use Project Fi anymore.…

This is a general issue with google. If their system decides it doesn't like you, then you're out of luck. You'll never get them to fix it.
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