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I’m traveling to Paris in a couple weeks, and I’ve been trying to figure out my best bet for mobile internet while I’m there. It seems like Verizon wants to charge me 10 bucks per day, which is about the same as any of the numerous mobile 4G international hotspot rentals charge. Is signing up for Google Fi and buying a cheap 4G hotspot an option, or do they discourage that sort of thing? I’ve been able to find shockingly little information about it on the internet, which leads me to believe it’s not really an option, but I figured I’d ask anyway.
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Aug 6, 2018 00:14
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 00:31 |
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Molten Llama posted:Data-only SIMs can only be added when you have an active Fi voice line. Thanks for this info! I've done a little more research and found what seems like a good workaround. Apparently, as long as I have an active Fi voice line, I can order data-only SIM cards and pop them into mine and my wife's iPhones and use them for everything except making phone calls/SMS. This seems like the best option for me. As far as I can tell, I have three options for this trip: 1) Use Verzion's international plan at a rate of $20/day for me and my wife's phones. PROs: Easiest, least effort option. That's it. CONs: Most expensive option. Uses the data from our regular plan, so very likely we go over our monthly data allotment and have to pay even more. TOTAL COST: At least $200, probably a little more. 2) Rent an international hotspot. PROs: Pretty easy to use. Less expensive than option 1. CONs: Most hotspots limited to 500MB/day high speed data, then they limit you to 2G. We won't be able to use our phones to make calls without installing some kind of VoIP app. Another device to have to carry in order to have any sort of connectivity. TOTAL COST: Roughly $100, probably like $125 after taxes, fees, etc 3) Buy a Nexus 6 and use Google Fi PROs: Able to use our own iPhones for everything except calls (using the Fi Data sim card). Also will have a phone to make an actual call with if necessary. Buying the phone will mean I will be able to use this method again for future trips (assuming that Fi continues to support the Nexus 6). Don't have to worry about my high speed data being limited. CONs: Higher upfront cost to have to buy the additional phone. A lot of SIM-switching to do? TOTAL COST: Big question mark here - guessing about $150? ($110 for nexus 6 off Swappa + $20 for month of voice service + $20 for 2GB of data) Am I missing any other hidden charges or "gotchas" that would make this not work, or financially not viable? Does Fi charge any other sorts of startup fees or cancellation fees? Or am I really looking at a cost of $20 + $10/GB for using it for just one month?
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Aug 6, 2018 17:06
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Ha, that's funny. For me, the fact that people won't be able to get in touch with me is a PRO, not a CON. Also, I can give a select few people the number to my Fi Phone for emergencies, I guess. I thought about doing the "buy a SIM card locally" thing, but I did that during my trip to Italy a few years back and it was terrible. The SIM took like 5 tries to activate, and when it finally did, my phone kept jumping from network to network, never even gave me great service on any of the networks it was on, and drained the battery super fast. I realize this is one anecdotal example and there's a very good chance that my experience would be better this time, but it really made me wary of relying on that again. One other question - if a phone is Google Fi compatible, does that automatically mean it will work internationally? Are there any Google Fi phones that WON'T work internationally? I had been looking at a Nexus 6 for $110, but I found that the Nexus5X is also compatible with Fi, and I can get one of them for $85. EDIT: And as long as I've already basically made this decision, anyone have a referral code they want me to use? OldSenileGuy fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Aug 6, 2018 |
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Aug 6, 2018 18:01
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I just bought a Nexus5X off eBay for 80 bucks. Plus I've had 30 bucks from HQ winnings (  ) sitting in my PayPal account for months, so real out of pocket costs for the phone was about 50 bucks.Also, last chance for someone to give me their referral code before I ask someone from my office.
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Aug 6, 2018 19:47
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canyoneer posted:TTR540 I got you, but it might not go through since I'm only using it for a month. I just looked at the terms and it says something about how you'll get the credit after two billing periods. Sorry!
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Aug 6, 2018 19:59
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Am I crazy, or is there not a way to order 2x Data SIMs at once? It seemed like you could only order them one at a time, so I placed two separate orders on Monday. Now it looks like they won't arrive in time for my trip. So I want to order 2 more with expedited shipping, but I don't want to have to pay for shipping twice for what amounts to sending 2 tiny pieces of plastic.
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Aug 8, 2018 20:35
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The regular voice/SMS/data SIM card I got, now that it has been activated in a Nexus phone, should work totally fine in my iPhone, even internationally, correct? I had intended to keep that SIM in the Nexus and just use the Data SIMs in my and my wife's iPhones, but FedEx seems to have lost one of the Data SIMs, so I'm left with just one Data SIM and one Voice/SMS/Data SIM.
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Aug 14, 2018 18:01
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Now that they are officially supporting iPhones, what are the biggest obstacles to getting the full experience on iPhone? The way I see it, there are currently three big iPhone shortcomings: 1) Inability to do network switching. 2) No visual voicemail. 3) Flaky MMS support for texting with people who don’t use iMessage. Which parties have to make an agreement to get these things working? It seems to me like 2 and 3 can be fixed by Google making an agreement with the carriers to change/update something? But 1 seems like Google probably needs Apple to program something into iOS to allow for network switching? Can the network currently even be manually switched on an iPhone? Or is it something that’s just not technically possible with current iPhone hardware?
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Nov 29, 2018 07:07
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I'm probably greatly oversimplifying this but: Once T-Mobile and Sprint merge, would Google Fi phones still need to jump between them? Or would they make one unified network, and the Fi phones would just jump between the T-MoSprint network and the US Cellular network?
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Sep 4, 2019 19:59
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Does Fi do deprioritization/throttling of data when there’s network congestion right from the start? I’d be using it with an iPhone if it makes a difference. I’ve had Visible for a few months, and while I love the price and the ease of billing, it is endlessly frustrating when I’m in an area with full bars and still can’t get any service just cause it’s crowded. Probably doesn’t help that I’m in NYC.
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Oct 21, 2019 19:33
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Motronic posted:You're not gonna want to do that. Yeah, I know this. I’m basically looking at it as an MVNO that uses T-Mobile’s network. In theory, I’m ok with this, as long as they don’t deprioritize you from day one. If they DO, I’ll probably just call it quits and switch back to regular old Verizon. It’ll be more expensive, but at least I’ll know I’ll be able to count on having a connection wherever/whenever I need it.
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Oct 22, 2019 16:21
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Takoluka posted:If you're just looking for a T-Mo MVNO, you should just get Mint Mobile. I’m not specifically looking for a T-Mo MVNO. I’m interested in Google Fi because I’m not a super heavy data user AND I like the flexibility/ease it offers for international travel. But I don’t want that flexibility to come at the expense of my day to day usage.
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Oct 22, 2019 16:45
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Of course, I JUST switched to Unlimited data starting in March. And now I'm stuck at home for god knows how long using almost no data. I thought about switching back, but the bill is confusing and I fear by the time my metered plan kicked back in I'd be back to going out in the world and using data again.
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Apr 13, 2020 22:46
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 00:31 |
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How is Google’s spam call filtering service? I’ve been getting a lot of spam/robocalls lately so I want to start using it. However, I’ve also been getting a lot of calls from delivery people who no longer ring the buzzer, they just call me when they get here and leave the delivery in the lobby. So obviously I need to make sure I’ll still get those calls. Does spam filtering have some list of known spam numbers to block? Or does it just block any number that’s not in my address book or call history?
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May 16, 2020 17:31
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