# Budget Phone Service



## HalfEatenPie (Aug 1, 2013)

So, a few of my friends were looking for a new cell phone service and came across this company.

While they only offer a single phone (Motorola Defy XT) they offer unlimited minutes, text, and data for 20/month.  

Seems like most of the time they utilize VoIP (WiFi calling) but at times when WiFi sin't available uses the Sprint Network (yeah no the best I know).  While it isn't the top of the line best phone, for 20/month (whereas I was previously paying 100/month for T-Mobile family plan) I wouldn't mind just picking this up.  

http://www.republicwireless.com

Anyone ever heard of them?  Anything to say about that specific phone?


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## MCH-Phil (Aug 1, 2013)

What phone are you coming from?

I've been following these guys from the beginning.  They have come a ways since they launched.  At that time they only supported the LG Optimus.

If you can work with the WiFi requirement then it's a great deal.  Sprint fallback is meh because if you don't have WiFi you likely won't have sprint coverage lol in my experience with sprint directly.


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## SeriesN (Aug 1, 2013)

Unlimited data? 0.o


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## MannDude (Aug 1, 2013)

I signed up for Republic Wireless beta but I dont know if my Wave started yet.


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## fapvps (Aug 1, 2013)

SeriesN said:


> Unlimited data? 0.o


Very slow unlimited data.

I have a new years special from MetroPCS for me and my wife. $30/month unlimited Voice,Text,4G LTE Data (4G Speeds for the first 250 MB and 3G Speeds after that). The phone is the Samsung Admire 4G, it is nothing special but it has a great battery and gets the job done.


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## MCH-Phil (Aug 1, 2013)

SeriesN said:


> Unlimited data? 0.o


All sprint data is unlimited, it's just a question of can you use it where you are and is it slower than dialup?


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## wdq (Aug 1, 2013)

I have been following these guys for a while now, but haven't used them. Another alternative with more phones is http://ting.com. They have a little bit more flexible plans, but still use Sprint.


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## SeriesN (Aug 1, 2013)

OBAMA PHONE! Can't beat free.


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## HalfEatenPie (Aug 1, 2013)

Haha well I'm no longer in the States so that doesn't matter (although I did just get a shiny new Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A).  

I knew Sprint's network was bad but is their "data network" really that slow?  Dang!  Anyone here have Sprint that can show us a speedtest or something?  Also, anyone know if it's possible to just bring your own machine?  Back in the States I had a HTC Sensation 4G which wasn't that bad (I got good use out of it).


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## MCH-Phil (Aug 1, 2013)

HalfEatenPie said:


> I knew Sprint's network was bad but is their "data network" really that slow?  Dang!  Anyone here have Sprint that can show us a speedtest or something?  Also, anyone know if it's possible to just bring your own machine?  Back in the States I had a HTC Sensation 4G which wasn't that bad (I got good use out of it).


I do not have sprint anymore because of their network.  Data speeds slower than dirt.  Sprint 4G is a joke.  I even had their airwave box at home because I got such horrible coverage.  That was supposed to route 3G data through the internet lol.  Somehow it was still slow with different phones.  I honestly went back to cricket wireless because their network in my area has been improved greatly and my data actually works now.


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## SeriesN (Aug 1, 2013)

HalfEatenPie said:


> Haha well I'm no longer in the States so that doesn't matter (although I did just get a shiny new Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A).
> 
> I knew Sprint's network was bad but is their "data network" really that slow?  Dang!  Anyone here have Sprint that can show us a speedtest or something?  Also, anyone know if it's possible to just bring your own machine?  Back in the States I had a HTC Sensation 4G which wasn't that bad (I got good use out of it).


Sprint ain't that bad. Hell, with boost mobile (Budget brand of sprint), you can stream youtube videos,


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## Francisco (Aug 1, 2013)

There's MetroPCS.

Both Karen & Anthony have service with them. The deals are quite good and they recently added SIM card support.

We pay $60/m on Anthony's plan and he gets unlimited in/out calling, unlimited calling to Canada, unlimited TXT and "unlimited 3G data"

. He rarely uses the data though so no idea how stable it is.

Francisco


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## SeriesN (Aug 1, 2013)

Francisco said:


> There's MetroPCS.
> 
> 
> Both Karen & Anthony have service with them. The deals are quite good and they recently added SIM card support.
> ...


Why not get Spotmobile or simple mobile or go smart or ultra mobile or.... mehh, I can continue :


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## Damian (Aug 1, 2013)

I was initially interested in Republic Wireless but was pushed away by your only option being an archaic phone and the fact that they love to tell you that they expect you to use wifi, and will cheerfully kick you off if you use "too much" cellular network, but in absolutely no way and in no form do they what constitutes "too much". I can't really rely on them not spontaneously saying "OOPS TOO MUCH CELLULAR SERVICE *disconnect*", so no business from me.

I'm using Ting ( https://ting.com/ ), and just switched to it. My last bill with Verizon was $178.54 for the wife and I, with Ting, the monthly bill should be around $50-$60/month.

if anyone wants to try Ting, let me know. There's a referrer code you can use and we both get a $25 credit.


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## KuJoe (Aug 1, 2013)

I've been with RW since the beginning and I never plan to leave them. I pay $20/month for my plan and I paid $99 for the first phone (LG Optimus S) and the 2nd phone (Motorola Deny XT) was free. My wife got her phone (Motorola Defy XT) for free and she pays $29/month.

I rarely use it for calls (I have a MagicJack at home for calls) but I use it all the time for texting and data. In FL my connectivity was amazing but here in Denver it's pretty spotty but well worth the $19/month and I carry an AT&T GoPhone also which has full signal everywhere I go so I keep $10 on it at all times for emergencies or important calls (I have my Google Voice go to both phones).

I use about 1-2GB of data over 3G each month since I moved out here and use about 8GB over WIFI. My main reason for having this phone is E-mail, Google Maps, and Pandora (both are in constant use in the car). As long as my e-mail arrives within a minute of my PC getting it, Google Maps gets me from point A to point B, and Pandora doesn't need to buffer, I'm happy.


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## drmike (Aug 1, 2013)

I don't consider any of these re-occurring extortion plans as bargains.  They are bills and often preceded by long contracts that make marriage look short term.  

Heck, average mortgage lasts 7 years, but they hook and crook you for 2 years on a cell phone.  No thanks, I'll continue divorcing these slouches and their spy grids.

I keep a dumbo phone with pay as I go extortion just in case of emergency.   Everything else is VOIP style communications, IM, email, etc.

If I were road bound like I use to be, I'd be looking at Tmobile and AT&T here in the States.   Sprints network is shit and Verizon is equally as crappy in most places.  Real hard deciphering who is on what network with all the discount resell carriers.


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## WebSearchingPro (Aug 2, 2013)

Seeing the prices you guys post, I got lucky 25$/month on virgin mobile for unlimited data / texting + 300 minutes.

But yeah I noticed republic wireless a few years back and it seemed pretty interesting. The idea is great but the fact is - wifi drains battery so that may pose a larger problem for running VOIP on a cellular device like that. Then the fact you can get kicked for using too much cell data when wifi is unavailable which inevitably could happen during a crisis or internet outages.


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## NathanielD (Aug 2, 2013)

I have used Sprint services before and now currently using Republic Wireless services and they better then Sprint.


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## drmike (Aug 2, 2013)

WebSearchingPro said:


> Seeing the prices you guys post, I got lucky 25$/month on virgin mobile for unlimited data / texting + 300 minutes.


That Virgin Mobile deal was a really good one.


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## KuJoe (Aug 2, 2013)

WebSearchingPro said:


> Seeing the prices you guys post, I got lucky 25$/month on virgin mobile for unlimited data / texting + 300 minutes.
> 
> 
> But yeah I noticed republic wireless a few years back and it seemed pretty interesting. The idea is great but the fact is - wifi drains battery so that may pose a larger problem for running VOIP on a cellular device like that. Then the fact you can get kicked for using too much cell data when wifi is unavailable which inevitably could happen during a crisis or internet outages.


Back in FL I always had wireless disabled and even used tethering with my netbook while I was out. I would regularly use 6GB of data a month and that's when I was pushing 10x faster speeds than here in CO. They do have a "strict" TOS but it's not enforced unless you really abuse it, heck, they don't even track usage anymore last I checked.



buffalooed said:


> I don't consider any of these re-occurring extortion plans as bargains.  They are bills and often preceded by long contracts that make marriage look short term.
> 
> Heck, average mortgage lasts 7 years, but they hook and crook you for 2 years on a cell phone.  No thanks, I'll continue divorcing these slouches and their spy grids.
> 
> ...


RW is month-to-month and doesn't have any contracts even if you wanted one. The first 6 months I had them they didn't even charge me and when they released their current phone they stopped billing me until I upgraded (which the phone was free and I had 1 year before I was required to upgrade).


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## concerto49 (Aug 2, 2013)

Motorola X just got announced. Might fit with your budget pricing.


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## KuJoe (Aug 2, 2013)

concerto49 said:


> Motorola X just got announced. Might fit with your budget pricing.


It looks like Motorola X is a phone. If not, link me to the service because I love carrying cheap phones.


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## DearLeaderJohn (Aug 2, 2013)

http://www.freedompop.com/

Saw that whilst reading Forbes the other day. Sounds interesting but I don't know much about it as I do live in the UK


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## concerto49 (Aug 2, 2013)

KuJoe said:


> It looks like Motorola X is a phone. If not, link me to the service because I love carrying cheap phones.


It's a phone. Just thought you'd need a phone along with the service


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## WebSearchingPro (Aug 2, 2013)

That freedom pop looks interesting

http://www.freedompop.com/phone

Looks like you get 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of data for free. As long as you stick to wifi you should be pretty much good.

What I don't get is why companies are either $50/month or $0/month - why can't there be something you know relatively cheap like $5/month for what freedompop gives for free.

I'd rather pay $5/month then having to worry about my phone company going out of business - these people seem to make money on advertising and gathering user data as you can take _surveys to pay for your service. _


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## Damian (Aug 2, 2013)

WebSearchingPro said:


> I'd rather pay $5/month then having to worry about my phone company going out of business - these people seem to make money on advertising and gathering user data as you can take _surveys to pay for your service._


That's why I quite like Ting: I pay for exactly what I use (within 'buckets') instead of being required to sign up for an arbitrary $xx-per-month plan that may come with values that i'll never use, like minutes.

Current Ting usage: 







"9 days left" because I had some wireless hotspots on the account before switching cellphones over. Messages and minutes are starting as-of 7/31.


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## WebSearchingPro (Aug 2, 2013)

My only issue with Ting is you pay $6/Month just to hold the phone in your hand.


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## Jade (Aug 2, 2013)

That's very cheap, especially for a cell phone provider.


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## ConnerCG (Aug 2, 2013)

I have the the old Sprint (VirginMobile, their prepaid arm) plan at $25/mo for unlimited txt / data / 300 minutes. They'll throttle you down to 256Kbps after 2560MB, I've had this happen once.  I push a couple GB of data through it to get my monies worth...    This isn't my primary phone, and I've considered RW, but we don't have a large enough WiFi foot print where I am...  

If your wondering about the network speeds --


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## Tactical (Aug 2, 2013)

Verizon is pricing sucks! I pay 170 a month for two phones and 1 gig of data shared between 2 phones its just to high. But provide the best coverage in the United States hands down.


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## ErrantWeb-Travis (Aug 3, 2013)

I'm currently using Virgin Mobile, I've been with them for a while now (years) I've had the LG Optimus, Motorola Triumph, HTC Evo 3d, and now the iPhone 5. I started paying $25/m when that's what the price was for the first two phones, then I got switched onto their new pricing with the HTC so $35/m, but now since I have the iPhone I'm paying $30/m. Sprint changes their network to give Sprint customers priority for data, first is Sprint, then Virgin Mobile, then Boost. With 3G where I'm at in a greatly populated area I get pretty _shit _3G speeds. Usually around 0.5mb/s-1mb/s. With LTE it improves greatly. The best I got was when I was up north:



http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/593108482.png

I've never had a problem with coverage like some were saying, but I was quite pleased with the new LTE speed, and even though it does not list me as being covered at all around my house, I still get it on the roads around here. So quite happy overall, and I'm glad knowing that everyone else that has a iPhone is paying 3x as much as I am.




SgtZinn said:


> Verizon is pricing sucks! I pay 170 a month for two phones and 1 gig of data shared between 2 phones its just to high. But provide the best coverage in the United States hands down.


 


I still liked the other day when I was in the back of a building in Dearborn, MI and I had 5 bars and my boss and another worker we're hovering on 0-1bar while they have Verizon. I laughed. 






ConnerCG said:


> I have the the old Sprint (VirginMobile, their prepaid arm) plan at $25/mo for unlimited txt / data / 300 minutes. They'll throttle you down to 256Kbps after 2560MB, I've had this happen once.  I push a couple GB of data through it to get my monies worth...     This isn't my primary phone, and I've considered RW, but we don't have a large enough WiFi foot print where I am...



I'm guessing your on Optimus V? Was a great phone by the way. Don't switch to RW. As noted they randomly will decide your using too much data. I was thinking about switching to them for a while. I would say wait until your covered with LTE by Sprint and just upgrade your phone. Virgin Mobile is really the leader when it comes to prepaid phones, they have the iPhone 5 and some great Android phones. LTE just really makes the Virgin Mobile network amazing, there's no need for AT&T's fastest LTE network when all you really need is 5Mb/s maybe. For random app downloads, instagram posts etc the network is doing well.  RW also overchages for their crappy old android phones, what I'm guessing is in August / September they will be releasing a new phone and that's why they keep spamming me trying to get me to sign-up for this one with special deals. Just wait and stick with what you got


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## Zach (Aug 3, 2013)

$200/4 Phones:


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## MannDude (Aug 3, 2013)

Hmm, I wonder if I can get away with using my S3 for free. Ditch the contract. Use a google number or something, I'm typically around wi-fi anyway. The money saved may be worth not having service when im out of the house, camping, or something. Hmm.


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## KuJoe (Aug 8, 2013)

So I went to check out Ting to get an estimate of how much I would save with them and even if I add $50 to my monthly bill I still get:

*Looks like you belong in the 2% who would not save with Ting.*


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## atho (Aug 8, 2013)

This is my Sprint from South Jersey. (3g) This is best out of 10 attempts. Good thing Sprint tells us we have a clean network with no issues here!


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## drmike (Aug 8, 2013)

In defense of Sprint, they are rolling out massive upgrades to their cell installations.  Still stuck with prior generation rollouts that were supposed to be done this year and won't until 2014 at least.

Softbank is investing a fortune and seems to be very wide 4G upgrade.  That's their new next generation rollout that will go through 2018 by my estimate.

Why are Sprint towers so dang slow?  Heck if I know.   Usually comes down to SLA/QoS controls to control the trickle of people connected to the tower.  I suspect they don't have enough fiber / bandwidth at many prior installations.  Couple that with a host of "unlimited" users and it's resource contention issue.

I know a bit of this as some work I do involves cell site upgrades for a variety of companies.


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## ComputerTrophy (Aug 10, 2013)

Just so British people don't miss out here, check out http://giffgaff.com/. Like Tesco Mobile, they piggyback on O2's network.

For £10 a month get:

500 UK minutes

Unlimited UK texts

1GB internet

Free to giffgaff

 

For £12 a month, get 250 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited Internet (no tethering :c).


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## drmike (Aug 10, 2013)

Gosh @InvokeVM-Kelvin  those are nice / incredible prices for cellular considering what idiots pay in the United States.


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## ComputerTrophy (Aug 10, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> Gosh @InvokeVM-Kelvin  those are nice / incredible prices for cellular considering what idiots pay in the United States.


The catch is that you either wait a one to three business days from a reply from GiffGaff staff should you have any problems, or you are assisted by a very large and active consumer-driven forum.

The consumers are actually rewarded for spreading the word and helping out people on the forum.


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## ihatetonyy (Aug 12, 2013)

MVNOs are nice for getting cheaper deals - their plans are mostly cheaper than their host carriers.


T-Mobile has its venerable $30/mo 100 min/Unl text/5GB data plan; after 5GB you get throttled (not an MVNO, so kill me - it does include LTE, though..)
If you go T-Mobile, you do get the added chore of finding an AWS phone if you want 3G unless you're in a rebanded area

Voyager Mobile has unlimited everything for $40/mo (with LTE service, Sprint)
Solavei is an T-Mobile multi-level marketing cult MVNO that has unlimited everything for $49/mo; if you indoctrinate others, you can theoretically make money (rumored to have LTE)
Chit Chat Mobile is a little more flexible (and a little more expensive) with base $9/mo or $19/mo packages + data bolt-ons (3G or LTE, Sprint)
Expo Mobile looks promising but they're dragging their damn feet to launch
There's some AT&T ones too that I won't list because I'm too lazy. HowardForums has a specific board for these sorts of packages and there's a comparison website, too; they're both good resources.



buffalooed said:


> I know a bit of this as some work I do involves cell site upgrades for a variety of companies.


What do you think of the content over at S4GRU? I've always wondered how accurate their data is.


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## drmike (Aug 12, 2013)

S4GRU... looks interesting and 16k members.   I'd say real info there mixed in.

Sprint is going to (by my estimate) maybe a big splash in the next 12 months.  There are tons of tower upgrades going on.   Tons of oops, this is overdue, fell between cracks, has to be done this week work showing up with what I know of / about.  It's a 3+ state area with many millions of people.

With the Softbank money, investment, etc. they are going to get both unrealistic and competitive with 4G upgrades.   I don't see Sprint being able to upgrade at pace it appears they want to now (rapidly on calendar) cell tower wise.  It's good news to the contractors who do the work and go between other outsourced entities though (yeah it's crazy everything outsourced land sadly).


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## TheHackBox (Aug 12, 2013)

Ok I'm going to blow your minds. First of all I shall start with my Ting usage (current phone is a LG Viper LTE so I can have LTE )

Without taxes it comes to $17.00 a month. Next Phone of choice is the iPhone 3GS on Airvoice Wireless (AT&T MVNO). I put $10 in my account every 90 days and I get 165MB of data (fine for me) and talk is 10c/minute, SMS is 10c/message. My last phone of choice is the LG Optimus S activated on Selectel Wireless (Verizon MVNO) and I put $10 in it and it never expires. Rates for Selectel are 5c/minute, 5c/SMS, 5c/MB. Considering my market is heavily Verizon around here, I am never without coverage anymore.


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## Mr. Obvious (Aug 12, 2013)

Bleh, I wish I had sprint coverage for Ting here..I'd switch in a damn heartbeat.

But no.

The boonies has no coverage.


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## Damian (Oct 10, 2013)

THREAD RESURRECTION: *GO GO *_!!_

Here's our Ting usage for a full month with four devices (3 cell phones and a home phone connect):







$59 plus tax? Hell yes. I we paid $230 a month plus tax for this same approximate service with Verizon. Sprint's coverage is weak but it hasn't been an issue with us thus far.


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## drmike (Oct 10, 2013)

What is Ting charging for their home phone service?   Couldn't find that on public sales site.

$59 bill sounds darn nice actually for 3 mobile and 1 home phone!


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## Damian (Oct 10, 2013)

It's $6 per month regardless of device type, then it comes out of a singular post-paid usage pool. Cell phone? Home phone? Wireless 'hotspot'? Doesn't matter, $6/month.

When the bill gets generated tomorrow, i'll post a better screenshot depicting the price breakdown.

Another good thing: the support. Call them, and an actual live human being will answer the phone within a few rings and will actually be able to help you. Don't want to call? Open a support ticket, and you'll get help within the same day, usually within the same hour. And that help via ticket will actually be helpful too, none of that "erm, well, give us a call" business. 

The entire service is really awesome. My only issue thus far: it's on Sprint, who continues to have the wimpiest network in the United States when you're outside of a metropolitan area.


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## drmike (Oct 10, 2013)

Incredible Damian!

$6 + use in whatever grouping you end up in for use right?   Totally usage based?

Support sounds awesome... My kind of company.

Are their account setup/origination fees?  How about taxes and ugly surcharges?


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## wdq (Oct 10, 2013)

I'm currently a Sprint customer and I'm seriously considering moving over to Ting. Have you had any issues with Ting other than Sprint's coverage (which is actually good in my area, LTE is slowly unofficially rolling out.)


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## nunim (Oct 10, 2013)

I have had Sprint from 2007-now (SERO Plan), and I never had problems with the quality of their network.  From the swamps of Florida to the Colorado ski-resorts to the forest of the Pacific Northwest I always had service, now their customer service is a different beast entirely but I haven't found any major telco that has good customer service.  

I don't understand the idea behind the Wifi only calling, are you really in areas with open wifi that often?  What about in the car?  When you're out of town etc..  If you just use wifi get yourself a prepaid phone with a SIP client or Skype.  I've got Wind Mobile now, they're a newer player in the Canadian market and although their "4G" is really HSDPA+ their prices are half of what the big 3 charge.  The one thing I don't understand here is paying for voicemail, I guess I just thought of it as a given with any phone these days.


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## KuJoe (Oct 10, 2013)

My service (RW) is on the Sprint network and I regularly find myself without service since moving to Colorado so I carry a 2nd pre-paid AT&T phone since it works everywhere. I'm hoping a phone upgrade will fix the problem but we'll see.


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## nunim (Oct 10, 2013)

KuJoe said:


> My service (RW) is on the Sprint network and I regularly find myself without service since moving to Colorado so I carry a 2nd pre-paid AT&T phone since it works everywhere. I'm hoping a phone upgrade will fix the problem but we'll see.


From what I read RW coverage isn't exactly the same as Sprint, although their website is down right now so it's hard to do  more reading.  I don't have data to back it up but when comparing with family members and friends I've found that CDMA network coverage is inferior to GSM networks.   It's never a bad idea to have a backup phone on a separate network as network wide problems are not unheard of, as Canada saw yesterday with Rodgers Wireless.


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## KuJoe (Oct 10, 2013)

nunim said:


> From what I read RW coverage isn't exactly the same as Sprint, although their website is down right now so it's hard to do  more reading.  I don't have data to back it up but when comparing with family members and friends I've found that CDMA network coverage is inferior to GSM networks.   It's never a bad idea to have a backup phone on a separate network as network wide problems are not unheard of, as Canada saw yesterday with Rodgers Wireless.


I think it's because I only have the single band version of the Defy XT.


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## nunim (Oct 10, 2013)

KuJoe said:


> I think it's because I only have the single band version of the Defy XT.


That could be it, some bands don't propagate nearly as well as others, this is the only downside to WindMobile but I am hopeful for the coming spectrum auction.  It could be also be that you don't benefit from Sprint's roaming agreements and other contracts.  It's crappy that the only phone they offer has such an old version of Android and no hope of an official upgrade, I was disappointed my Optimus L9 only had 4.1.2, I couldn't imagine still using 2.x.  What kind of data connection do you get?  Sprint's speed and latency was always acceptable to me.

I do wish that all providers had WIFI calling, I wouldn't mind using it when roaming or out of the country. I can always use Skype but I think it would be nice to have my number on the caller ID.  Is there a lot of open free WIFI in CO?


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## KuJoe (Oct 10, 2013)

nunim said:


> That could be it, some bands don't propagate nearly as well as others, this is the only downside to WindMobile but I am hopeful for the coming spectrum auction,  but it could be also be that you don't benefit from Sprint's roaming agreements and other contracts.  It sucks the only phone they offer has such an old version of Android and no hope of an official upgrade, I was disappointed my Optimus L9 was only 4.1.2 I couldn't imagine still using 2.x.  What kind of data connection do you get?  Sprint's speed and latency was always acceptable to me.
> 
> I do wish that all providers had WIFI calling, I wouldn't mind using it when roaming or out of the country. I can always use Skype but I think it would be nice to have my number on the caller ID.  Is there a lot of open free WIFI in CO?


2.x is fine with me, I had 4.x on my tablet and didn't notice any difference except for using Chrome. Speeds in CO are horrible (<1Mbps) but it's consistent and stable enough that I can do about 500MB over Pandora in the car a week and I can use Google Maps and check my e-mail whenever I need to but in FL it was much better (>3Mbps) so I could do a few GB a month tethered to my laptop. I only use WIFI at home and work since it kills the battery pretty quickly.

I use Google Voice as my primary number so it rings on both of my cell phones and either my work or home phone depending on the day and time.


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## nunim (Oct 10, 2013)

KuJoe said:


> 2.x is fine with me, I had 4.x on my tablet and didn't notice any difference except for using Chrome. Speeds in CO are horrible (<1Mbps) but it's consistent and stable enough that I can do about 500MB over Pandora in the car a week and I can use Google Maps and check my e-mail whenever I need to but in FL it was much better (>3Mbps) so I could do a few GB a month tethered to my laptop. I only use WIFI at home and work since it kills the battery pretty quickly.
> 
> I use Google Voice as my primary number so it rings on both of my cell phones and either my work or home phone depending on the day and time.


I would imagine it's much easier to setup a good cell network in a nice flat place like Florida because the signal will travel farther.  I don't miss it FL, I'm sure I will once winter actually starts, but I know no place will ever be like it   I figured that the WIFI would chew through the battery very quickly, I wonder why they only offer a single device? T-Mobile has made it work with multiple devices.

It's an interesting idea but outside of places with city-wide WIFI like San Francisco I don't see it being practical. For only a few dollars more per month you can have access to a nation-wide network and and a greater variety of devices, without having to worry about getting cut-off for using too much cell service.


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