mweiner Report post Posted July 11, 2017 I'm using the Google Project Fi Network for my cellphone and data. Has anyone else had experiences, good or bad with this out on the road? In the city or on the main highways, this has NOT been a problem. We live in Los Angeles and I've never had a connection issue. Traveling on main roads in the state has been very good as well. In case you were not aware, Google constructed their own network by marrying three network services together on one network.... T-MOBILE, Sprint and US Cellular. It's supposed to be very robust with US Cellular covering the remote areas while T-MOBILE and Sprint handles the metro areas... This fall, I'm going to put this to the test on a cross country trip that will take us 7,500 miles. I've got friends with Verizon and while it's an excellent service, it doesn't work everywhere. Cell service is not totally guaranteed. SO, if you've had any experience in remote areas, please let me know.. Thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 11, 2017 Cell service is not guaranteed by any service. Let us know how this service goes. I have never heard of it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 11, 2017 Bill, really?? You've never heard of Project Fi?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 12, 2017 11 hours ago, MWeiner said: Bill, really?? You've never heard of Project Fi?? Yes, really! Pretty sure that's why I posted that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 12, 2017 OK, as a matter of sharing information, here's a link to what it's all about. I've been using them for one year now and my cellphone expenses have been substantially lower... maybe you and others could benefit from this. The only thing is it only works with limited phones that you get from Google. I was leaving a lot of money on the table with unused data... Project Fi only charges for data you use and refunds you every month if you are under your allotment.... better than roll over minutes...it's an actual cash discount each month. Conversely, if you go over your data plan, they charge you accordingly. Overall though, I was paying a lot more per month for "unlimited data" that I actually never used.... I recently inquired about Verizon.. they wanted $45 per line for four phones and $180 per month for two phones unlimited..... really? I was paying a similar amount to T-MOBILE.. My average bill from Project Fi for two phones is around $100 per month.. Even with the cost of purchasing new phones, Project Fi was still less expensive overall... kinda like getting the phone for no additional charge. We'd all like to think we're getting the best engineered price for our dollars, but, in many cases this just isn't so. Hope you take the time to learn about Project Fi....it may save you a few bucks. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Fi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rpelatt Report post Posted July 12, 2017 Sounds interesting. However I came across this article that was interesting as well. https://www.forbes.com/sites/shelbycarpenter/2016/09/27/revew-30-days-google-project-fi/#12c1b8961625 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 12, 2017 Yeah, Project Fi is not for everyone. If you are a really heavy data user, the costs can get pretty pricey. There's no ceiling on data, it's $10 per GB with no upper limit. Most people though don't use excessive data, in fact, more people than you might think pay for unlimited plans and never use the full potential. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted July 13, 2017 If you stream a lot as I do, 10 gig hardly last 3 days, in that case you will be looking at $100.00 per month, believe I will stick to my unlimited data plan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 13, 2017 YES, if you stream that much data....it pays to be on unlimited...I agree 100 percent. I may decide in the future to go with Verizon... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted July 13, 2017 I have unlimited data on Verizon with a MiFi and cell phone for a total of $108 including taxes. I have used between 15 and 35 gigs per month since I got the plan in Feb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mweiner Report post Posted July 13, 2017 How many phones on your plan? One? YES, I've heard very good things about the Verizon hot spots... Verizon told me recently that with two phones unlimited it would be $180/ month. At my current rate on Project Fi, that would be an address 8 GB over my current plan of 4 GB per month or a total of 13 GB... We don't use a consistent 13 GB of data per month...so, I'm not sure it would be financially advantageous for our situation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted July 13, 2017 So I have a truly unlimited 4G LTE Sprint MiFi (stand-alone) for $45/month. I have the AT&T Mobley "unlimited 4G LTE" (22GB unthrottled) for $22/month I also have 2 Verizon phones that share 4GB of data. I can turn that up or down to whatever level I need on a monthly basis should I ever be in an area where neither AT&T or Sprint worked. I easily use 40+ GB/month and I don't stream any TV or similar shows but I use You Tube to find out how to fix stuff and some entertainment. Since I full time, this is my only connection to the outside world (plus my DirecTV, of course) so I use these connections for everything. The TV's and satellite receivers are connected to allow updates as well as using the WiFi to keep the phones and phone apps up-to-date so I don't eat up the 4GB on my Verizon plan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Now for the gotcha part of Unlimited data plan of Verizon. The Plan promises 22 gig unlimited at 4g lte, then falls over to 3g for the rest of the billing cycle. This doesn't sound to bad, until gotcha takes over, you are only allowed 10 gig per hotspot, and every device is considered a hotspot. Just before the 10 gig hits on your hotspot, you are warned on your primary account that you are close, then when it hits, 3g kicks in, doesn't seem too bad until you have to open a web page, go make a pot of coffee and drink half of it, then come back just in time to see the webpage finish loading. I live on the same hilltop that the Verizon tower is located, 300 yards away, Ookla speed test shows 17 to 19 meg both down and up before 3g kicks in, after it kicks in 50 k down and up, dial up modem is faster. And strangely I went 27 days last month before this happened, only three days till the cycle started over, but 6 days into the next cycle with no streaming this cycle, 6.54 gig already accrued, almost as though something has triggered and data seems to be going into thin air. The first two months, everytime I looked at usage, zero usage showed at anytime in the month, with a message to stream all you want, you have Unlimited data. Just today I learned that Verizon did not measure usage for the first six weeks, probably just to sucker us in as there was a thirty day trial period that we could revert back to the old plan if we were not satisfied with the new plan with no penalty. So now back to reality, I am currently looking for someone with a Sprint Mifi to test my location for signal. Bill when will you be coming back through B"ham.? Sorry for the long vent, but I despise a LIAR. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Kay, thanks for posting the information about Ookla. Now all I need is some time read over things and to play with it. Appointment in Gaffney next week to have some items checked(always like another set of eyes look over things from time to time) and get the coach ready for a few more runs over the white lines. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted July 21, 2017 Between the line Rich, not over them. By the way, thank you for your help and support with the seminar. Although the crowd was small, there were some great questions and I learned a lot from the learned folks. Doug had said that Jason might be comfortable before a group. I felt like he did well and will be a great asset to FMCA. Now you and Lois keep it between the line and be safe. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigbillsd Report post Posted November 17, 2017 I just got back from a 5 month trip around the US attempting to use my project Fi phone, it did not have service all to often for me. Works great in the cities, but we rarely camped in a city. My ATT Mobley worked 99% of the time no matter where we were! I was VERY impressed, including 24x7 streaming from our out the front windshield camera. The FI phone seemed to use the ATT hotspot for calls sometime, but not as often as I think it should have. And there appears to be no way to force it to use Wifi for calling. I did find an app to force the phone to any of the other carriers when I had no signal, but often the other two carriers had no signal either. I am keeping the ATT $20 a month unlimited and canceled my T-Mobile (completely freaking useless most places we camped) and purchased the new FMCA Verizon offering. Here is where we went... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted November 17, 2017 Sounds about right to me! And just think, you get to pay WAY too much for this lack of service! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plustgraaf Report post Posted November 26, 2017 I've been fulltiming for two years now. We have 2 phones on Verizon and one on Project Fi. In that time we have been perhaps 2 places where there was no cell service of any kind on any of the phones. We have been in perhaps 6 places where data service was unusable on Verizon. In maybe 2 of those, I got at least some data on Project Fi. But we have been in a dozen or more places where Project Fi data didn't work, but Verizon did. And almost all of these places were commercial campgrounds, not boondocking. I would expect boondocking to have even worse results on any cell phone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted November 26, 2017 That's a lot of perhaps and maybe's and almost's but I think we agree that Project Fi is not as good as most commercial cellular services. It certainly is not if you compare the outrageous price of Project Fi to every other service. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigbillsd Report post Posted December 13, 2017 I personally think the Project Fi phone is very inexpensive. I keep the mobile data portion turned off unless there is nothing else to use and I need to access the internet right then. That keeps my bill at $22 a month for the phone. Most of the year I am in San Diego and it works great there. As I said in a previous post, it wasn't too good when traveling around the US. If there was a way to force it to use WiFi (from one of my hot-spots) it would be awesome. Unfortunately the folks at Project Fi says that's not possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
