I know what you’re thinking: Is she switching because Fi looks like Financial Independence? Sadly, no. I’m not that shallow π . Also strangely, the internet doesn’t know what the Fi in Google Fi stands for. I suspected it was related to Wi-Fi, but then went down a rabbit hole and discovered that the “Fi” in that doesn’t have a specific meaning either.
Anyway! Enough about the weird things I have time to research in retirement. After over 5 years with my beloved Republic Wireless, I am switching it up and moving to Google Fi!
Why Am I Changing Phone Services?
International Data
I had always planned to move to Google FiΒ when I retired because I want to be a global nomad and have data access from the moment I land in a new country. I’ve done the individual sim card game in the past and it bit me in the ass.
So I looked for a way to have data anywhere I go and discovered that Google Fi is currently the only service with reasonably priced international data that many of my friends also use and recommend. But now you might be wondering: Why is she switching now when international travel is still up in the air for 2021?
Republic Wireless Was Acquired
This sums it up:
Well shiiiiiit pic.twitter.com/b5E4Og0LOo
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) March 10, 2021
Republic Wireless was sold to Dish. Yes – the same Dish that provides those weird satellites on people’s houses for out-of-date cable packages. It sounds like such a promising partnership π . As a result of this announcement, I decided to nope the fuck out despite not knowing when I will be traveling internationally in the near future.
One thing that exacerbated this itch for change was that I had service issues in Atlanta during the month we were there:
Hi there! Please feel free to DM us so we can look into this for you!
— Republic Wireless (@republicwirelss) April 19, 2021
I was originally concerned this was related to the acquisition, but it turns out that the cell tower closest to me was just down for some reason…random, but possibly fortuitous (or I took it as such). While Republic Wireless customer service was super awesome and responsive, I took the outage as a sign that it was time to leave.
Call me a pessimist (it’s funny because it’s true), but I’ve seen too many companies I’ve worked with and worked for go to shit because of acquisitions that I no longer stick around to wait for the dust to settle. I’m not about that noise. When I find a service I love, I shout about it from the rooftops and enjoy it while it lasts.
However, nothing lasts forever so I’m also always ready to run for greener pastures if necessary. Maybe I should make #NoLoyalty t-shirts or something π .
How Does Google Fi Work?
Flexible Plans
Google Fi includes flexible plans similar to what I loved about Republic Wireless. You pay a base amount and then pay for the amount of data you need at $10 per GB. You can add more data at any time for the month depending on your needs.
International Data
And that $10 per GB includes all international data locations they support, which covers 200+ countries:
Group Plans
To make things even cheaper, they also offer Group Plans (or “Family Plans” if you prefer π ). This is the plan my partner and I chose so I guess we’re a family now and can’t break up because of this unbreakable contract…just kidding π . Plans are month to month and can be cancelled at any time without a fee or paused for up to 3 months at a time.
The Cost
I currently pay $25/month for my Republic Wireless plan with 1GB of data. With Google Fi I’ll pay $28/month and have data that works almost anywhere in the world. Sounds like a fair trade to me for an extra $3 a month π .
How Did We Get Free Phones?
Google Fi is currently having a wild promotion where basically all of the phones they offer are free. I assume they’re trying to clear inventory before new phones launch for 2021, but what they’re offering still sounds a bit out there. Check out the full details here. In my case for example, they are offering the usually $299 Moto G Stylus for free. I would get to have two of my favorite phones for the price of one π !
However, this particular free phone is broken into two sections of discounts. They take $250 off the phone cost and after I port over my number and stay for 3 months they give me a $49 statement credit. Other discounts are similar – they take off the price of the phone minus $49 and then give that $49 to you as a statement credit. This includes $700 off the more expensive phones they offer – Wowza!
Anyway, I assume this convoluted plan is so people don’t just churn phones, but it’s simple enough. Overall I’m not actually out any money, I get a new phone and all the features of an international data plan. Wins all around!
Any Caveats?
It took us a while to get through all terms and conditions that required acceptance before purchase because a few were sketchy and needed to be researched before we agreed to anything. Luckily, my partner is careful and awesome like that. One of those things was a clause about Google Fi storing wifi network passwords.
We were concerned they would use this to provide wifi access to other customers based on how the sentence was written…which they should be in court over I would hope. But after doing some digging, it looks like they just keep a separate database of free public wifi networks, like those available at libraries, to share with users.
The other sections that gave us pause was one talking about saving a customer’s location data and routing all our internet traffic through their Google VPNs for “safety”. It sounds like Google will know even more about me – if there isn’t anything they don’t already. Oh well – that’s their burden to bear. If you’re concerned about these types of things, I suggest (as always) that you carefully read all terms and conditions and do your research before signing your soul away π . It all seemed pretty standard for a phone contract these days and we decided it was worth it in the end.
What Am I Doing With My ‘Old’ Phone?
So what will I do with my belovedΒ Unlocked Moto G Stylus that I bought from Amazon in October? Selling it of course π . As I’ve written about before, I like to sell my old or broken electronics to subsidize future purchases. It’s just hilarious that ‘old’ is 7 months at this point, but sorry phone – I’m abandoning you for your slightly younger twin brother π . I might keep both phones for a hot second to see if that’s helpful in some way, but this is the plan – wipe the phone and sell it online for cash.
Conclusion
So that’s why after half a decade, I am switching up my phone provider. I’ll let you know how I like Google Fi and what the set up, service and customer service are like after I have a year with them under my belt. In the meantime, I hope this was helpful in showing what other types of phone service options are out there. Happy hunting!
What phone service do you use? How do you like it?
There is no bigger hole in my personal finance resume than my phone bill. I’m still with Verizon after many years, for a variety of reasons (some valid, some not). There must be some emotional connection to having non-brand name cell phone providers when I was younger, and equating that to being poor. I’m not sure. A lot for me to unpack haha. That said, I am happy with them, even if I know I should change it.
Impersonal, if it helps, you can use iPhones with Google Fi now. There are one or two quirks (e.g. you have to check your voicemail in the Google Fi app, not the Apple voicemail location), so they say their iPhone support is still in beta, I believe. But Iβve used an iPhone with Google Fi for almost 2+ years now and it works great and itβs inexpensive. Hope that helps βΊοΈ
Haha no worries – I’m sure all our PF resumes have holes π . And if you’re happy then the extra money sounds worth it to me – in case you need outside validation about it π .
I use Ting Mobile and my monthly bill is about $18 with 1 GB of data used. I switched from Google Fi to Ting after realizing that I didn’t travel outside of the country, but if I traveled more internationally then I would stick with Google Fi. I have a Google Pixel 2. It was the best Android phone when it came out, in my opinion.
That’s awesome! And good to hear more about the Pixel – I went back and forth with getting that or the Stylus.
I was with Verizon for 15 years but I switched to Google Fi in 2017 and liked it just as well… But then I switched to Mint Mobile last year and it month. sense to me because I’m pretty much always on WiFi anyway so I can pay $15/month. I actually went with a 20/month plan because I wasn’t sure and it was only $240 FOR A WHOLE YEAR, so I went for it
Made sense, not month sense… π€£π€£π€£
That’s awesome!! I’ve been hearing good things about Mint Mobile. If we settle down in the US it might be time to re-evaluate my phone once again π .
I’m team FI! I’ve never paid more than $28 a month and sometimes I squeak by at $25. I don’t travel very much but the one time I went to Mexico it was awesome to get off the plane and just have my phone work.
FYI you can use an iphone on Google Fi. It doesn’t have all of the cool wifi switching that you get with Android but it’s still pretty slick. At the time I joined they were offering a $200 service credit for anyone with an iphone. It took quite a while to burn through $200 at the rate of $25 per month! I had some coverage issues on my really old iphone 6 but once I switched to a (used) iphone 8 I never had a problem again.
Great to know – thank you!
TracFone is a great deal and offers the ATT & Verizon networks, but offers nothing outside the USA. My partner and I use Google FI and we love how it works when we’re out of the country.
I haven’t heard of them – thanks for the tip!
I’m being irrational about changing from T-Mobile (my parents are on my plan – again, excuse). Looking at these plans, I might have to reassess!!! It was news to me that they support iPhones – yay!!!! Maybe your upcoming service review will give me the final push π
Well that service review isn’t coming out until I’m with them a year, but when it does I hope it helps π .
Wow, that’s awesome. But I’m not leaving Republic Wireless yet. (My unlimited plan is free… Heh heh heh.) If they ever kick me out of this free program, then I’d probably switch.
Mrs. RB40 needs a new phone, though. Her old Moto E is terrible. It’s so slow. She pays about $11 per month so it’s hard to move on.
FREE?! How’d you manage that?? And wow $11 a month is wild π !
I was one of the very early affiliates for them. And one of the perks was free unlimited service. Forever? I suspect Dish might cut this perk at some point…
I’ve used Google Fi for over 5 years. Your articles about Republic Wireless made me consider switching, even getting their SIM, but never actually bothered to switch. The monthly bill is rarely over $25 currently.
I was excited to see that their service and data would work in Japan. However, it did not work at all the entire time I was there and ended up using a portable WiFi service instead. Maybe it has improved since then, but I would make sure to have a backup plan.
That’s awesome about your bill! And oh no about service in Japan – did you contact them about that?
I contacted them before going to make sure that everything was set up properly and they confirmed that it would work. No luck though once there. I did not contact them about it afterwards.
I did contact them about a year ago when I forgot the passcode to my Pixel. It turns out that they have no way of bypassing the passcode (yay, secure!), so it’s a good idea to regularly back up all the photos and other data on the phone. Most, if not all, can be set up to be saved and backed up in the cloud. I was losing it though since I had not set all of that up and had had the phone for a long time. Luckily, I remembered the code after 20 times – thank goodness there’s not a 3 try limit. I have since downloaded everything from the phone and turned on backups.
Thanks for the run down of Google FI and why your making the switch. I’m still on Verizon paying $58/mth with an owned (and old) iphone and no contract. I’ve been meaning to switch to an MVNO or cheaper provider for SO long! Just haven’t gotten my lazy butt around to it yet. Thanks for the reminder and kick in the rear. I may look into this as I need a new phone soon as well. Love reading about your adventures in early retirement, by the way π
Yeah if you’re interested it’s a great time to switch with all their phones being free. And yay – so happy you’re enjoying the updates!
Awesome post! I’m curious, how were you burned with international SIM cards? I’ve only used them once or twice but haven’t had issues as of yet.
I currently use Tello (ATL-based company) and since I’m typically on wi-fi for most of the day and make wi-fi calls (through WhatsApp, Google Voice, etc.) I elected their 100 min, unlimited text & 500 MB data plan for drumroll….. $6 + taxes. I love it. There are a ton of great, cheap plans out there so it baffles me when someone pays $100 for their phone monthly.
We used WorldSIM for a New Zealand trip and it worked really well for us. I’d use them again, if we didn’t end up switching back to Google Fi from Red Pocket. It would depend how long we’d be out of the US, I think.
Well it was like a decade ago, but basically I kept running out of text capabilities and data when I needed them most (which you could argue is my fault lol…). It wasn’t as convenient as I was hoping and getting a new sim every time I hopped to another country (which was every few weeks) was a pain. And oh wow $6 is super impressive!
We switched to Google FI when I retired in late 2019. As you said, it is perfect for international travel. I loved being in New Zealand and texting for free and paying the same penny per MB of data. We kept our old phones at the time and had no issues transitioning. We couldn’t do WiFi calling with the older phones but it wasn’t too big a deal. I got a free Motorola G Power in December. $100 immediate discount and $149 in credits. My favorite thing though about Google is the pay-per-use on the data. Since we are mostly home I have mobile data off and just rely on Wifi. When I need data we turn it on. So each month I think we only use about $3-$4 of data, not the full $10 of data.
That’s awesome! And great to hear about the pay-per-use on data. I thought that was the case, but couldn’t find that info on the website when I flipped through. Wasn’t sure if they removed it, but so glad to hear that’s not the case!
Iβm on my sisterβs T-Mobile unlimited data plan, so I have 2G data everywhere and full US service on a Miami number over wifi… from here in China! Skype is awful sometimes, so itβs amazing to have the ability when it comes to US banking and other errands. (I just responded to text about a storage unit from a company.) I keep the US SIM on an old iPhone so I donβt have to switch constantly. (Since EVERYTHING is done over the phone in China, I keep my Chinese SIM in my newer phone.) Itβs 25/month.
It sounds like youβve found a great system! Iβll keep it in mind for if or when I need to branch out π
That’s a super cool hack! And happy to share π .
I used Google Fi for four years and was really happy with it. It switched to local networks seamlessly as I traveled internationally. Through a similar promotion at the beginnning of 2019, I got a new Moto G6 for $18.41. They were offering a trade-in credit for your previous phone, plus a service credt. At the end of 2019, I switched to Red Pocket and am currently paying $8.25/mo for 500 minutes/Unlimited texts/500 GB data. I rarely use data aside from short excursions outside the home or more far-flung travel. Once we start travelling internationally again, we plan to switch back to Google Fi.
Oh cool – I haven’t heard of Red Pocket before! Thanks for sharing.
Great read! I always look forward to Tuesdayβs. I just started using Mint Mobile $30/month-unlimited text/talk/data. Love it so far.
Oh wow – I’m so happy to hear that!! And awesome about Mint Mobile – I keep hearing great things.
Tuesdays not Tuesdayβs. Sorry long day!
I tried Republic Wireless when they offered 6 months free (4 years ago). It was spotty even for text messages (all over the West coast). Then I switched to Google Fi and have been happy with it.
I also worked for DISH in Denver for 5 years when they were at the top of their game. Good times. Now they are struggling to keep up with the market by acquiring new technology.
Oh no I’m sorry to hear that! I never had an issue in Seattle. I’m glad to hear you’re liking Google Fi and so random and cool about DISH!
We’ve been with google Fi for years but thinking about privacy and etc. I was thinking of going down to a cheap flip phone and getting a tablet. International travel would impact this choice but at this point we don’t have plans for that in the near future. Of course I do love some of the features that come with the invasion of my privacy….health trackers, map features and etc. so sometimes I think we should just surrender to the lack of privacy. I always told my kid, only do things on the internet you would be willing to do standing on the street corner.
Google Fi user here for a little over a year. Was awesome for traveling. My wife and I used the service when we traveled to 9 different countries over the course of two months on our way to Australia. The service worked perfectly everywhere. However just know Google Fi isn’t for long term international use π We planned on living in Australia for a year and around month 6 Google Fi let us know they were turning off our data unless we pinged a cell phone tower in the US. This data problem was solved with a Skyroam hotspot but wanted to share our story for any long term travelers out there. And yes, we still use Google Fi today π
I do almost the opposite of you. Getting wifi at my house is so expensive, I instead don’t have any wifi, pay my $70/ month for unlimited data with my phone, and just use it as a hot spot the very few times I need internet. I don’t have a computer or a tablet, I do all my internet stuff via my phone. To have cheep wifi here would be $60/ month, so even with a “cheep” phone plan it would still be more expensive to do both wifi and cell than just doing my unlimited cell phone. The downsides of living alone and having no one to share internet bills with.
Makes sense. Which phone carrier has $70 unlimited data? I’ve only seen it $100+.
I understand that Fi uses wifi hotspots for mobile data service as well as T-Mobile and co cellular data networks. What I’m confused about is whether it does this even when you have Wi-Fi turned off on your phone.
I pay $25 total for 12GB and unlimited text and talk on US Mobile. For my son, it’s $20 for about half the data. I’m thinking of doing a month on an eSIM with Google Fi for an international trip but I doubt I will keep it as I don’t think I could get as good of a deal as I am getting with US Mobile on my data plan. Maybe someday I’ll be rich enough to have the kind of plan all the other adults in my life seem to afford LOL…. just kidding. I could pay but I choose NOT to! I’d rather take a trip!