Google Fi Reviews?

[CBartowski]

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@TSlop wrote:

I switched from Verizon to use Fi to save a few bucks. I don't use much data and my 2gb small plan from Verizon was $55 a month and if I even used 2gb on Google it would be $45ish (taxes). With the 'Rona and myself working from home now, I might use 0.1gb a month. Having a bill for $25 instead of a straight $55 is nice.

Google usually gives Fi people some sort of gift every year. I think this year was a Home Mini (like $40?). I recently took a Fi survery from Google, and it sounds like they want to do more to get/keep customers, so I think more perks will be coming.

That being said, I'd consider switching back to Verizon if they had a "pay what you use" plan like Google. My service appears to be fine, but early after the switch, some text messages sent to me would be lost and I would never know unless someone asked why I didn't respond. I haven't had that happen for a long time now (that I know of....), but it is a complaint I've seen on the internet. The coverage is not as good as Verizon, but it does not bother me. I travel all over PA for work and I do notice less coverage in rural areas, but I find that acceptable since coverage is back when in a town/city. Let me just say I've never had a problem using the phone when I need to. I sometimes might not have coverage in the woods for work but I'll never know if Verizon would have either.

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The gift concept is interesting. If they had better service in rural areas I'd switch in a heart beat.

[Anonymous]

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@CBartowski wrote:

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@TSlop wrote:

I switched from Verizon to use Fi to save a few bucks. I don't use much data and my 2gb small plan from Verizon was $55 a month and if I even used 2gb on Google it would be $45ish (taxes). With the 'Rona and myself working from home now, I might use 0.1gb a month. Having a bill for $25 instead of a straight $55 is nice.

Google usually gives Fi people some sort of gift every year. I think this year was a Home Mini (like $40?). I recently took a Fi survery from Google, and it sounds like they want to do more to get/keep customers, so I think more perks will be coming.

That being said, I'd consider switching back to Verizon if they had a "pay what you use" plan like Google. My service appears to be fine, but early after the switch, some text messages sent to me would be lost and I would never know unless someone asked why I didn't respond. I haven't had that happen for a long time now (that I know of....), but it is a complaint I've seen on the internet. The coverage is not as good as Verizon, but it does not bother me. I travel all over PA for work and I do notice less coverage in rural areas, but I find that acceptable since coverage is back when in a town/city. Let me just say I've never had a problem using the phone when I need to. I sometimes might not have coverage in the woods for work but I'll never know if Verizon would have either.

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The gift concept is interesting. If they had better service in rural areas I'd switch in a heart beat.

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Quite often having two MVNOs like Fi and a Verizon MVNO is cheaper than just having Verizon postpaid, especially if you only need a backup for calls and texts in rural areas and not a heavy dependence on data. 

I have an iPhone XS Max which has eSIM support so if I wanted to, I could activate Google Fi on my eSIM (they're one of the few that actually supports eSIM outside of postpaid carrier plans and data only plans) and keep something like a Red Pocket CDMA (Verizon is coded as CDMA for Red Pocket's network options, Sprint is CDMAS, T-Mobile is GSMT, and AT&T is GSMA) SIM card for a couple bucks a month as my secondary provider. 

With my usage, this would cost me about $21 plus tax for Fi ($20 base plan and around 100MB of data usage would be $1) and I would add a Red Pocket annual plan with 100 minutes/100 texts/500MB of data per month for $60 up front ($5 a month). They also have a 500/500/500 plan for $8.25 a month if I needed it more frequently. 

I actually will do something like this if I ever get over my agoraphobia enough to travel since Xfinity Mobile would get pricy quick. 

[coldfusion]

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@CBartowski wrote:

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So I compared all the coverage maps and for the price of 55-60$ it looks like verizon has the best coverage at about the same price as the rest. I was hoping for a change but with as much woods time and travel as we like, its VZ for now.

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As somebody who regularly does outdoorsy things in the woods - and I mean deep woods, not a campground filled with travel trailers or perched on a tree stump 50 yards off a road for an hour - postpaid Verizon is still the best option for a single-carrier provider in rural areas both because of the overall strength ot their native coverage and their roaming agreements particularly with US Cellular. 

There are absolutely anecdotes that a different carrier (IME sometimes US Cellular, sometimes AT&T, rarely TMO, never legacy Sprint) will have better coverage in a given rural area but insofar as making an overall generalization it's tough to beat VZ.

[TSlop]

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@CBartowski wrote:

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@TSlop wrote:

I switched from Verizon to use Fi to save a few bucks. I don't use much data and my 2gb small plan from Verizon was $55 a month and if I even used 2gb on Google it would be $45ish (taxes). With the 'Rona and myself working from home now, I might use 0.1gb a month. Having a bill for $25 instead of a straight $55 is nice.

Google usually gives Fi people some sort of gift every year. I think this year was a Home Mini (like $40?). I recently took a Fi survery from Google, and it sounds like they want to do more to get/keep customers, so I think more perks will be coming.

That being said, I'd consider switching back to Verizon if they had a "pay what you use" plan like Google. My service appears to be fine, but early after the switch, some text messages sent to me would be lost and I would never know unless someone asked why I didn't respond. I haven't had that happen for a long time now (that I know of....), but it is a complaint I've seen on the internet. The coverage is not as good as Verizon, but it does not bother me. I travel all over PA for work and I do notice less coverage in rural areas, but I find that acceptable since coverage is back when in a town/city. Let me just say I've never had a problem using the phone when I need to. I sometimes might not have coverage in the woods for work but I'll never know if Verizon would have either.

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The gift concept is interesting. If they had better service in rural areas I'd switch in a heart beat.

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I'm not trying to get you to switch or anything, but for your (and myself's) knowledge, these were the gifts I could find. They do it around the end of the year holiday season. I joined Fi last year in October.

2019: Home mini

2018: Google photo book up to $9.99

2017: free in-flight wifi code

2016: $10 credit

2015: Lego charging stand and some cables

2014: Nexus 6 case, headphones and battery pack

I got a Mini for free with my Pixel 2, so it was nice to get a new 2nd gen Mini this year. I gave my old one to my brother-in-law.