Budget Phone Service

[HalfEatenPie]

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?  

 

[MCH-Phil]

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.

 

[SeriesN]

Unlimited data? 0.o

 

[MannDude]

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

 

[fapvps]

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.

 

[MCH-Phil]

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?

 

[wdq]

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. 

 

[SeriesN]

OBAMA PHONE! Can't beat free.

 

[HalfEatenPie]

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).  

 

[MCH-Phil]

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.

 

[SeriesN]

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,

 

[Francisco]

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

 

[SeriesN]

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

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

 

[Damian]

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.

 

[KuJoe]

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.

 

[drmike]

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.

 

[WebSearchingPro]

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.

 

[NathanielD]

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

 

[drmike]

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.  

 

[KuJoe]

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.

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.

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).