back to article Fee, Fi, bring your own one... Google opens up Project Fi to mobes built by Apple, LG, Samsung

Google has loosened its stranglehold on Project Fi, expanding its US cellphone network service beyond its own handsets to competitor smartphones made by Samsung and Apple. But, be warned: check the supported features before you sign on. And also ask yourself if you want to jump on a network run by one of the hungriest personal …

  1. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge

    T-Mo uses 2 + 4 for primary urban bandwidth and sprinkles 12, 66, and 71 around as needed. Sprint is 25, 26, and 41. Google must not be liking Sprint much if they tell people they should have 2 and 4.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      When I last used Fi, before it started making a periodic clicking sound on all incoming calls and disconnecting within 1 minute, I never once saw myself connected over Sprint - it was always T-Mobile. Unless things have seriously changed over the past three years, Sprint just has virtually no coverage.

      Google never could help me with the aforementioned clicking-and-then-disconnect problem at the time, which both my mother and I experienced, so we had to drop them. Shame that, too. My monthly bill was usually less than $30, and hers was rarely over $25. I do wonder if they ever improved the call latency issues though.

  2. rosmith
    Meh

    Sprint is 25, 26, and 41.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Remember to get the correct model...

    For the Samsung phones, make sure that you either get the universal US model ('U' suffix) or the Canadian model ('W' suffix) since the US carrier branded models typically lock out other carriers' LTE bands and often lack support for rival 2G/3G protocols.

  4. MadocOwain

    No HTC?

    I'm a bit surprised no HTC phones are on this list, given their Google affiliation..

  5. gormful

    Good news

    Project|Google Fi is cheap, and has hassle-free international roaming and hassle-free support. Here in the US, Fi is a steal: $20/month for unlimited talk/text for the first line, $15/month for each additional line, $0 for a data-only SIM, and $10/GB/month (with a refund for unused megabytes!). The service works in almost every country in the world. And the Fi app has a dedicated button that dials tech support, where friendly agents speak unaccented colloquial English and solve your problem without trying to upsell you.

    I've used Fi for several years, but I've never recommended it to my friends because the phones have been so flippin' expensive. This is good news.

    1. Twilight

      Re: Good news

      >>>I've used Fi for several years, but I've never recommended it to my friends because the phones have been so flippin' expensive. This is good news.<<<

      Generally true but the Moto models were much cheaper than all the others.

  6. hellwig

    Great if you don't need data.

    If you use 6GB or more a month, this plan is actually as or even more expensive than plans from T-mobile and the like.

    Sigh, what is the point of all these fancy new networks they keep rolling out if they try to penalize you for using them?

    I'm sticking with my un-throttled T-Mobile plan. I used 30GB+ last month. I don't even consider WiFi unless my cell signal is bad.

  7. Twilight

    no WiFi calling on iPhone?

    I fail to understand the lack of support for WiFi calling on iPhones. My iPhone currently has WiFi calling with AT&T. And why no international hotspots for iPhones? That seems to make even less sense.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: no WiFi calling on iPhone?

      Maybe Google wants to get iPhone owners in the door on Google Fi, and hope they will trade them in for a Pixel once people notice those features are missing and Google says "oh hey, this Pixel here supports those features".

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