In 2015 I decided to pursue financial independence. I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wanted without the stress of wondering if those things could pay my bills.
To reach my goal faster I decided to experiment and see if there were any expenses I could cut without negatively impacting my life and switching to Republic Wireless was the first change I made to accomplish that goal.
Previously, I was a die-hard Apple fanatic. I had to have the latest gadget and got so excited with each new release that I bought everything on pre-order regardless of the price. But when I took a second to look at my behavior…and how quickly that excitement evaporated after getting the ‘next big thing’, I decided to see if I really needed the latest tech trend to be happy. It turns out, I don’t 🙂 .
In addition to the initial purchase price, I was paying $90 a month for my phone service. I had heard about Republic Wireless from a few financial independence blogs I was reading and they all gave positive reviews, so I decided to try them out. My cell phone bill instantly went from $90 a month to $15, saving me $900 a year while having no negative impact on my life.
Now it’s been a little over 5 years and I’m still a happy Republic Wireless customer 🙂 so I thought it was time to finally do a proper review of the company with all that I’ve learned during the past half decade. Let’s get into it.
The Positives
In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m very happy with Republic Wireless. I wouldn’t have stayed with them this long if I wasn’t. When I find companies that I love and that I believe actually want to help their customers, I’m hooked.
The Price
I’ve recorded every dollar I’ve spent on this blog since 2014 and that includes my Republic Wireless bill. In 5 years, I’ve paid $1,163.90 for my phone service…Total! That same amount would have only paid for 1 year on my previous plan. In addition, Republic’s plans also happen to be month-to-month and flexible data-wise so I never felt tied down.
The Customer Service
Republic Wireless has phenomenal customer service. Every time I’ve had a question or issue, they respond quickly and get to the root of the problem. If anything needs to be fixed (as happened below), they take care of it. I trust them to actually put their customers first since that is what I and all of my friends and family that use their service have experienced.
Further, they also have a robust forum where you can see if others have found the answer to your specific question in the past. I’ve found that really helpful for troubleshooting very specific issues and it’s obviously easier than reaching out to customer support over the phone (I’m a millennial who hates phone calls…)
The WiFi First Data Model
In addition to people on the internet raving about Republic’s price and customer support, their unique data model also attracted me to them. In today’s world Wifi is EVERYWHERE – obviously at work, at home and even on planes. WiFi is constantly available and Republic Wireless took advantage of that fact in a way that saves your data and your wallet.
If WiFi is available, Republic Wireless phones use it – for everything – for calls, texts and obviously surfing the web. This obviously conserves the amount of data you use – to a shocking degree I found. Because of the amount of time I spent at work and home, my data use plummeted as a result.
This functionality also works if you’re on the move. For example, if I call my Mom while at home and then leave to take a walk: my phone calls her on my home WiFi and then as I walk outside of range it switches to a cell phone tower while I’m still on the phone. It’s a sweet feature that doesn’t negatively impact my life, but does save me money.
The Negatives
Previous Rural Data Connectivity
This negative actually doesn’t come from me. I’ve lived in or near major cities my entire adult life and never had an issue with Republic Wireless connectivity, even when I visit rural areas. However, I recommended Republic to a family member a few years ago who lives in…basically the middle of nowhere 🙂 and they let me know that the data they received wasn’t enough while out and about to keep them with the company, so they switched to another provider.
No harm, no foul but I wanted to give that caveat in case you live in a more rural area and are looking to join Republic. I’d suggest checking out their coverage map or even sending them a quick note to see what kind of data service you can expect in your area before switching. It’s also very possible they have expanded coverage since my friend had this problem since this was several years ago.
A 2015 Issue
I have only had a problem with Republic Wireless once – and unfortunately it was my introduction to their product. I originally received a phone that was not performing as it should. Specifically the camera took photos like it was from the 1800s (yes – I’m being overly dramatic).
I reached out to Republic’s customer support team, however ,and they helped me in every way they could. That initial drama culminated in them running multiple tests, changing a few things on their end and my phone miraculously starting to work correctly. Obviously that wasn’t a deal breaker since I’m still here 🙂 .
Features I Love
5 years is a long time and over that time, Republic Wireless has evolved as a company and a service. Here are the features they have that I’ve enjoyed the most:
Annual Plans
Last year Republic added annual plans to their roster. The fact that the service was month-to-month for years made me feel less tied down than I did previously when it was required to sign annual contracts at other carriers. However, when Republic introduced their annual plan, I didn’t feel trapped. They still provide monthly plans at a reasonable price, but if you switch to an annual plan, you get 2 months of service for free.
International WiFi
One perk of being a WiFi first product is the fact that my phone works on WiFi anywhere in the world – as in I can use it to call people over WiFi from my phone number from anywhere I have connectivity. The same goes for texts, so even when I’m out of the country, I don’t go completely radio silent. I’ve also found this saves a big chunk of change when I need to conduct business outside my home country.
Bring Your Own Phone
Another cool feature that Republic now provides is the option to bring your own phone to their service. No longer do you have to purchase one of their phones with special software. Now almost any unlocked phone will do.
I was particularly excited about this new offering because my phone was turning five years old and on its last leg. It had deep scratches on the screen (my bad – I’m clumsy) and only held a charge until 62% when it would promptly shut off 🙂 . Maybe I should have replaced it when that started happening, but it wasn’t that annoying since I rarely leave my house these days and always have an outlet handy so I didn’t see the point.
But once I saw Republic has this feature and an unlocked phone I was lusting after (a Moto G Stylus) was only $270 (now $240!) for a 48MP camera, 128gGB of storage and a 2 day battery life, I knew it was time to make a change. My old phone must have agreed with my decision because the day I placed the order my power button popped off – never to be seen again. What timing!
Luckily I quickly received my new phone and porting over my sim card and phone number were a breeze (I also love the phone 🙂 ). Definitely an awesome feature that expands the type of hardware you can use on this service.
Conclusion
So that’s me celebrating over 5 years of being a happy Republic Wireless customer. I’ve really enjoyed my time with them and can say they are my favorite phone company. I’m curious to see what further evolutions they make to their product, such as global data coverage *hint hint Republic* 😉 ? I want that functionality when international travel is allowed again, but for now I’m completely satisfied.
What’s your favorite phone company?
Cool. You convinced me. I’m going to give these guys a try. Other have recommended that Google phone service, but a lot of the reviews seemed to have a problem with the coverage….well that and the taxes and fees of the big carriers. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there.
I’m not trying to convince anyone, but I’m happy to hear it 🙂 . Let me know what you think of them! And of course 😉 .
I recently switched from a legacy t-Mobile pay-per-minute, $3/month with no data to Tello on their $5/month/500mb of data plan. I’m almost always near Wifi and use Google Voice for all of my calls/texts/etc., so I didn’t really need more than data. However, I’m looking at switching over to Redpocket to get on a better network than Sprint’s, which seems to have less-than-ideal coverage in my area.
That’s awesome – I haven’t heard of Tello or Redpocket! Also thank you for the reminder that I need to figure out how Google Voice works 🙂 . Let me know what you think of the new service – I’m curious to find if there’s a better solution for rural areas.
Hi Ocho,
I’m a fellow Tello user (and love their $6/month service plan)! Not sure if you’re aware of the recent T-Mobile/Sprint merger (https://blog.tello.com/news/tello-and-the-t-mobile-sprint-merger/) but this may solve your coverage issue, albeit a few months down the line.
Thank you for sharing Emily!
I’m aware of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger but impatient. It seems like Redpocket is just *slightly* cheaper to have a little bit of minutes with the data. I truly only use the data, but it would be nice in a pinch if Google Voice wasn’t working well to have access to some cell minutes.
I also use Republic! I am mostly very satisfied but don’t have quite the same glowing recommendation. Like you said, I have issues when in a rural area, like my godmother’s farm in the Eastern shore of MD, or while hiking in mountains (PA, NC, and ME so far, none of which have been super in the wilderness). It does trouble me a little bit because I worry I wouldn’t be able to contact people in an emergency, but I’m usually with other people who have service those times so it hasn’t been an issue so far. And, those times are infrequent enough that it doesn’t justify me paying at least double for Verizon (the only network that works in rural MD). My bigger concern is that I have experienced issues with group texts in which I received them wildly out of order and sometimes never received a particular message. I think when that started earlier this year it was a larger issue that customer service was working on and it mostly went away, but I don’t fully trust the service – it has happened once or twice since it was officially resolved.
I also really like the Moto G6 I got when I switched to Republic Wireless – I think it was only $140 since it was used and they were running a promotion.
Thank you for your insight! Sounds like rural areas are still an issue and totally fair – you want to be able to call when it counts like in an emergency. I haven’t had trouble in rural areas, but I’m barely there for long and usually staying with someone with Wifi so I might just not notice.
I had that group text issue for a few days years ago, but they fixed it. Have you contacted them to say it’s still happening after whatever fix they did? That sounds annoying and I would imagine they can fix it.
And that’s an awesome price for that phone – I’m jealous!
Phone contracts are one of those expenses with which people seem to suffer excessive lifestyle inflation. Certainly due to how great Apple/Samsung/Google are at advertising their (admittedly) very fancy phones to us!
Wireless Republic isn’t available in the UK but we’re pretty lucky here as we have a great variety of competitive mobile networks to choose from. My contract with Sky Mobile costs £36 ($47) per year for 1GB of data and unlimited calls/texts. (Bonus: I can trade my unused data in for free movies!). This totally makes me sound like a shill but I’ve been with Sky Mobile for over 5 years and highly recommend them to any of your UK readers!
Fair – I fell for that trap myself…even though I was a part of the advertising industry and knew how that worked *facepalm*. And yeah y’all seem to have some awesome low-cost options over there! I haven’t heard of Sky Mobile before and trading unused data for free movies sounds like the perfect service for me! I’ll keep it in mind if I’m ever in the UK for a longer period of time. And no worried about sounding like a shill 😉 – I’m all about passing along recommendations for great companies. Thank you!
I have been with Republic Wireless for about as long. I am still with it. And plan on staying. I live in a big city. The service is pretty horrible in rural areas.
I think we have to embrace the inconviences in order to save money.
Also, another big negative is I am unable to sign up for venom with this carrier. I called republic about it and the number is not recognized as a regular cell phone.
This happened with a couple of other things. Just the other day I couldn’t sign up for Thornton’s rewards (gasoline). It wouldn’t accept my cell number.
Good to know about rural areas – I’m in them so rarely it hasn’t been a problem for me. I usually have service like 90% of the time in the middle of nowhere. That’s weird about your cell number – I’ve never had that problem. Did customer service say what it could be? I signed up with venmo and all my reward cards with mine no problem. Let me know what they say about the fix – I’m curious.
For those in rural areas where Verizon is the only coverage option, I’d highly recommend Visible Wireless, a Verizon MVNO. The plans are unlimited everything, and if you get a party going (like we did, our household of 3 + Nana), it’s $25 per line per month. We dropped our internet (previously had satellite and it was absolutely awful) and now use our phones as hotspots. So now our household total for cell + internet is $75/month.
Oh cool – that sounds like an awesome option! Thank you 🙂
I’ve been using the similar service, Ting, for awhile now. I was on a shared plan with my sister and still saved a lot of money. Ting basically charges you for what you actually use, so my bills tend to be around $20. And since my work reimburses up to $30 for cell phones, most months it’s free! I had a couple of months where I was using the phone to call into meetings because the county didn’t make webex available to the public, but I solved that with VOIP. Sounds like Republic has that built in? That’s pretty sweet.
Also, holy posts Batman! You’re not bored in retirement already are you? : p
Love it! RW used to charge you only for what you use too – I enjoyed those days 🙂 . My bill was $10-15 instead of $25. Nice hack on the work cell reimbursement! I will be googline VOIP, but that sounds like something I’ve seen on my phone soooo yes lol?
And noooo these were accidental occurances lol. Back to once a week! I just wanted to post this one and last week’s while they were relevant instead of waiting until my posting schedule was clear in mid-November 😉 . Definitely not bored over here – still doing too much in fact and working hard to have more #SlugLife.
Love this article. It definitely feels so freeing to not have to worry about a phone bill (which can get so expensive!!)
I’ve been using AT&T – $300 for the year with 8 GB unlimited text and talk and 5G! They’ve given me $50 credit when I first started with them so it will be $250 for this year! I don’t think a lot of people know about this right now but they do advertise it.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And that sounds like a sweet deal with AT&T. I hadn’t heard of that.
I was using republic wireless for years but for me, the service wasn’t great and I wanted an iPhone. I ended up with xfinity mobile and I’ve been really liking it. Usually it’s between $7-$28/month depending on how much I binge my data.
Oh no on the service! Was that in a rural area or a city? The iPhone thing is the reason I most often hear people didn’t want to switch 🙂 . I didn’t know xfinity had a service like that. How is their customer service? Having them as a WiFi provider made me swear them off for life, but I’m curious if that’s the case across the board.
FYI Republic Wireless is adding Apple phones to their service.
Also, I would like to mention a great feature that they offer: Extend Home. This gives you cell phone service on your home phones (cancel that landline!). The home phones continue to function even if your cell phone is discharged, damaged, lost, etc. You can make calls independently and even call each other. This is great if you are out somewhere with your cell phone and have family at home. They can continue to make and receive calls – even to/from you. There is no monthly charge for Extend Home. You do have to buy an adapter, which is normally $49. Right now until 12/31/2020 it’s on sale for $29. What are you waiting for?
Awesome!! I didn’t know that. And that extend home feature sounds cool for people with landlines (I don’t know any of those people personally besides my Mom…) Are you asking what I’m waiting for? Or Nate 🙂 ?
I loved this article, I learned so much from it. I’m on Mint Mobile in my first month. Relatively cheap, but looking for more savings, so I may be going to Republic.
So happy to hear it was helpful! Let me know if Republic is less than Mint – I looked at their website quickly and the prices look similar.
Thanks for writing this post! If all goes as planned, this will save $100/yr switching from Google Fi to Republic Wireless.
Been reading the posts in order over the last couple months and really enjoying reading about the journey!
That’s awesome!! And I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying it 🙂 .
I’ve been with Republic Wireless since 2002. When I started I had to sign up and wait for Beta Wave to open. LOL. I’m on my third phone only because I’ve chosen to upgrade. Customer service is phenomenal. I’m one happy customer. Glad you joined the Republic.
Oh wow! You’re a real OG – that’s amazing 🙂 . So glad you’re still a happy customer! I’m loving it too.
Because I have no electronic devices that need wifi besides my phone, I find it more cost effective to pay for unlimited data on my phone and not buy internet for my apt. Work provides internet in the office, and when I’m home I read a book instead.
Smart!