Google's Wireless Service Project Fi Announced

[WhiteMaze]

The implementation of having your phone in the cloud and then tunnel all communications to another device like your smartphone or tablet is a brilliant idea.
Same said about the way it jumps between different networks like 4G and Wifi.
What sucks is the pricing and the phones that support it (currently only the nexus 6).
I am anticipating that this either drops it's price or someone else does something similar (Apple, existing telco, startup, etc...) but with a lower price.
That would certainly be revolutionary.

This.

 

[stanleyopar2000]

Link. Did you know your Nexus 6 is capable of Google's new wireless service?

 

[Nathan Drake]

I'd kill for a plan like this tbh. The plans here are absurdly expensive. The only good plan I've come across was an employee-only plan from Koodo. Otherwise, it's a complete ripoff here. The CRTC really needs to intervene and lower the prices. In the USA, some plans give you unlimited data for $35/mo, while I pay $40/mo and have a dismal 300MB.

If Google brings Fi to Canada, I'll gladly ditch my Alcatel for a Nexus 6 and I'd sign up for this immediately.

If you can find a plan in the US that offers unlimited data for $35/mo, I'd love to know which it is. The cheapest I've found unlimited is through my current plan, and my line is still $50/mo. I mean, most major US carriers don't even offer unlimited data anymore likely because it just isn't as profitable as bleeding people dry with over priced 1GB and 2GB plans. For reference, this is basically all there is left for unlimited data plans in the US. The cheapest there is the exact price I'm paying, except only for a single phone. My plan is only cheaper for me because it's a two line plan being split down the middle with another person. Maybe, just maybe, there are some employee plans with those small handful of carriers that could drop unlimited data plans to around the $45/mo price point, but as you know that would only cover a very small percentage of available job positions and only in the particular phone sales market.

Don't get me wrong, your plan absolutely sucks. Even the shitty 1GB plans here are gold compared to what you pay or what basically amounts to unlimited nothing and barely enough data to periodically stream music for most of a month.

 

[jefffisher]

this sounds like a great deal depending on how much data you use, it's cheaper than any of the major networks unless you're on a family plan.
it's basically https://republicwireless.com with a different phone and less plan options but more international options and added t-mobile network.
i don't use any data at all unless i need gps so i'd be sold if it wasn't for the nexus 6 requirement.

 

[Azel]

Well here in france I pay 15.99-19.99€ a month, 20gb on 4g network, unlimited text, mms, call time, and decent wifi coverage on the street since anybody's router acts as an hotspot (if your dsl contractor is "free mobile")
I can even call phone lines in the us, germany etc, event if I go to germany (I live near the border, I have 35days of coverage for free each year included in my subscription...(and 35 other days in other countries, but a law will make this free for everybody soom in Europe)

reading up on north american situation makes me realize I'm super lucky though...

 

[Crisp Cookie]

Interesteing, only a littele strange that the logo looks like a lock.

 

[FusionGamer]

I'm amazed that people actually use their cellular data, even when they have routers.

I use Wi-Fi 99% of the time so this plan works out for me.

 

[rdurbin]

I'm amazed that people actually use their cellular data, even when they have routers.

I use Wi-Fi 99% of the time so this plan works out for me.

same for me. I even disable data usually and just use wifi. The only thing I noticed that data is required for at least on android is picture messaging. It doesnt work with wifi. On average I use only about 0.1 gb a month. So the option to pay almost nothing for data plan does sound very nice.

 

[Nathan Drake]

I'm amazed that people actually use their cellular data, even when they have routers.

I use Wi-Fi 99% of the time so this plan works out for me.

same for me. I even disable data usually and just use wifi. The only thing I noticed that data is required for at least on android is picture messaging. It doesnt work with wifi. On average I use only about 0.1 gb a month. So the option to pay almost nothing for data plan does sound very nice.

Plenty of people don't have very reliable wifi service. For me, my internet suffers from slowdowns, random shutdowns, etc. After awhile, it just gets easier to use mobile data. Besides that, if you actively travel almost anywhere, odds are your data will be far faster than whatever wifi you may be able to leech off of for one block at a time. I mean, as someone that travels for hours on public transport when I go anywhere outside of about a 30 block radius of my home, a good mobile data plan is beautiful. With unlimited data, that means if I'm on a bus for an hour, I can easily just load up some Netflix without worry. It doesn't require preparation by downloading a show in advance at home, and it's quick and simple.

All in all, there are a lot of benefits to mobile data. Hell, even if I'm just on my college campus, the internet often cuts out when too far between buildings, and some buildings just don't have wifi that reaches more than a few inches beyond the walls of the building in question. That means if I'm going somewhere on campus and want to check my phone for social media or whatever, the easiest way to do it is via mobile data.

Hell, with unlimited data, I could make a reliable wireless hot spot if I wanted to making it so my laptop could effectively be used fully anywhere I go that I get a cell signal.

Honestly, it sounds like you two just don't go much of anywhere, or only travel between two locations with a short commute where having data is a kind of a non-issue. That's not a bad thing, but it really isn't that hard to see how people can go through quite a bit of data.

 

[nl255]

The implementation of having your phone in the cloud and then tunnel all communications to another device like your smartphone or tablet is a brilliant idea.
Same said about the way it jumps between different networks like 4G and Wifi.
What sucks is the pricing and the phones that support it (currently only the nexus 6).
I am anticipating that this either drops it's price or someone else does something similar (Apple, existing telco, startup, etc...) but with a lower price.
That would certainly be revolutionary.

I am sure the device checks will be cracked like a walnut fairly quickly (they almost always are) and it will be made available as an installable .zip for other phones.

 

[Dax_Fame]

... Yep... keeping my current set up... don't know why I thought this was going to be something different, but I guess wasn't the only one.

 

[dubbz82]

What I am more interested in is the coverage, I assume they are going to rent towers and such from already established networks but who exactly?

From what I read elsewhere, they're leeching off T-Mobile and Sprint's towers, so coverage should be reasonably good.

In the USA, some plans give you unlimited data for $35/mo

Yes and no. With T-mobile for example, you DO have unlimited data, but they'll throttle you down pretty hard on most plans after you hit certain amounts of data usage (although they do offer a true unlimited 4g plan, it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 dollars a month). I think Sprint has an unlimited data plan as well, but it's also somewhere in the same price range.

 

[kristianity77]

glad I've stopped paying through the nose now for mobile. In the UK, I pay £3.75 a month and it suits me fine. 200 minutes, 300 texts and 250 mb data. With wifi pretty much anywhere you go these days I don't see the reason to pay more. Put your films, music, TV shows etc on a micro sd and your away. WhatsApp for all comms and your done.