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Google To Open Project Fi To iPhone, Samsung, and OnePlus (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the more-the-merrier dept.

Google's Project Fi mobile service will reportedly be adding support for Samsung, OnePlus, and iPhones. "More handsets from existing Fi partners LG and Motorola will also gain Fi support," reports The Verge. "The iPhone experience is apparently 'in beta,' which is a sign that users might run into bugs or be left without some of Fi's features." From the report: The lineup of "Fi-ready" compatible phones -- those that Google says have been fully optimized for the network -- is fairly short: Google is currently selling the Pixel 3, 3 XL, 2 XL, LG G7, LG V35, Moto G6, and Moto X4 (Android One edition) directly through its Project Fi website.

And although Google is apparently about to widen support and officially allow more devices onto Fi, those "Fi-friendly" phones will still offer the best overall user experience for subscribers, according to the report. It's not yet entirely clear what that means, but we should know more once Google makes a proper announcement. Either way, adding that pool of popular hardware will allow for many more consumers to give the service a shot and see if the pricing model and performance are preferable over Fi's larger competitors.

66 comments

  1. Vas is das Goooogle Fi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    no habla Google

  2. Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's Project Fi again?

    1. Re:Oh good! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      What's Project Fi again?

      A very good wireless service. Great prices, coverage everywhere.

      I've been using it since 2014 (I think) and I've got no complaints, except that sometimes on calls to certain Eastern European (Balkan) countries, there is like a 5-second delay, which makes it impossible to carry on a conversation. But usually if I just hang up and call again it works fine, and to be fair, it might have nothing to do with Google's service. Other than that, it's been the perfect service to me. Data is really cheap and you only pay for what you use, so often my monthly bill is less than I expected. I've moved a lot over the past few years and the coverage has been great in the Midwest, East Coast, Houston, and now California.

      You can only pay by automatic pay, and there are only certain devices that will work with Project Fi. I started with a Nexus 5, which was a very good phone and then went to a Pixel, which is also a very good phone except I hate that fucking notch.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not quite coverage everywhere. Where I'm located in central PA there's no T-Mobile or Sprint coverage worth while

    3. Re:Oh good! by spagthorpe · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I drove across Oregon a few months ago and had zero T-Mobile coverage across a good chunk of the state. Spotty in Northern California as well.

      --

      WWJD -- What Would Jimi Do?
      (Smash amp, burn guitar, take home the groupies)

    4. Re:Oh good! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Not quite coverage everywhere. Where I'm located in central PA there's no T-Mobile or Sprint coverage worth while

      I'm surprised. I spent time in State College last year and had no problem with Project Fi. Also, I drove straight across the state on I-80 and listened to Spotify the whole way on my Project Fi phone.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Oh good! by DrXym · · Score: 2
      I looked at the prices and *laughed*. $20 for calls and another $10 for 1GB of data up to 6GB after which it becomes "unlimited". So I could be looking at a monthly bill of up to $80. Plus all the bullshit taxes and fees on top.

      I can get unlimited calls and 15GB data for €15 prepaid in Ireland. No contract, no other charges. Roaming & data works in other EU countries too. What the hell is up with the United States when it comes to fucked up expensive mobile service?

    6. Re: Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Come to Indonesia, most expensive consumer telco is

      Rp75,000 (~usd5) for 4G 15gb, 100 mins all telco, xxx sms. Will kill your prepaid credit if you don't use a plan tho.

    7. Re: Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I am in places that have no T-Mobile or Sprint coverage, I can call or text because Sprint has roaming agreements with Verizon. Data is really slow, though. This is in Louisiana. YMMV.

    8. Re:Oh good! by LostMyAccount · · Score: 2

      What the hell is up with the United States when it comes to fucked up expensive mobile service?

      A couple of decades of phones subsidized by carriers and paid for via long-term contracts which include carrier locking of the device. A mash-up of carrier technologies also contributed to lock-in as I don't think it was until recently you could find a phone that would do CDMA and GSM, plus the CDMA standard didn't even have a SIM card you could swap.

      It may also be that the geographic size of the US actually makes carrier costs higher due to the larger number of sq. miles to cover, although you could counter this with the costs/complexity of setting up cell sites in old, densely populated European urban areas. In the US carriers can often just long-term lease ground in a parking lot or some other underutilized area.

    9. Re:Oh good! by atrex · · Score: 1

      Project Fi can be a little iffy at times. But, compared to just T-Mobile (which I used to be on) it stands a bit higher on the coverage map. And they've designed it so that it can use Wifi to supplement it's coverage quite well (Pixel phones also come with Google's "Wifi Assistant" which will auto-connect to verified open wifi networks and use a Google VPN to secure your traffic). T-Mobile also had a wifi calling option, but, I didn't have that great an experience with it in practice.

    10. Re:Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no.. but uscellular works there. There are 3 not 2 carriers with Fi.

    11. Re: Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      switch to uscellular... there are 3 not 2 carriers on Fi

    12. Re:Oh good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A very good wireless service. Great prices, coverage everywhere.

      LOL, no fucking way. T-Mobile has better coverage and costs a lot less. I pay $60/month for two lines on T-Mobile One which gives me unlimited everything, none of this paying by the gig or throttling bullshit that Google does. For a similar plan on Google Fi, it's $135/month and they throttle you after 15GB. That's just fucking lame.

      Not to mention it's Google. Do you really want to hand them that much more personal data? I'd rather have that data split up into small, mostly useless chunks among multiple corporations instead of handing my whole life over to just one.

    13. Re:Oh good! by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      T-Mobile has better coverage and costs a lot less

      Since Project Fi goes over the T-Mobile network, and the Sprint network, and the Cellular One network, it has at least the same coverage as T-Mobile.

      For a similar plan on Google Fi, it's $135/month and they throttle you after 15GB.

      There's no throttling on Project Fi, and my monthly bill comes to $40. And there are no additional fees. The bill is the bill.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. I'm all for this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    There have been ways to "hack" a phone onto the Fi network but none of the ways to my knowledge have worked 100%. I would be really interested in this. I was going to leave AT&T for Spectrum phone but they do not support BYOD yet.

    1. Re:I'm all for this by Travis+Mansbridge · · Score: 3, Informative

      Fi uses Sprint and T-Mobile towers as well as wi-fi calling, with software covering seamless hand-offs between these (and providing a secure VPN to make use of Google's list of "trusted" public open wi-fi networks). Without the software you can use the network on T-Mobile (or probably Sprint) towers with any Android phone compatible with T-Mobile's bands, but you won't get wi-fi calling or the other benefits.

    2. Re:I'm all for this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can also use any iOS phone compatible with the T-Mobile or Sprint bands, but you won't get WiFi calling or other benefits. I know because I have been using an iPhone SE on Fi for two years. Although, I did activate Fi on a Nexus 6 which is still listed on the account (and kept in a drawer).

  4. Network Handoff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    In case anyone was wondering why phone selection is limited: Fi's SIM card has two profiles for quickly moving to/from T-Mobile and Sprint, and wi-fi also.

    Why is Project Fi only available on select devices?
    These devices are the first smartphones that support our network of networks. They work with the Project Fi SIM card, which supports multiple cellular networks, and have a state-of-the-art cellular radio tuned to work across network types.

  5. Good news everyone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally, Google Fi is supported on my phone too after all this time lol.
    wtf is google fi?

  6. Too expensive by zoid.com · · Score: 1

    Project Fi is too expensive for a family plan. Four of us get unlimited data for $40 / line. And believe me, teenage kids know how to use data. If it was just me then it would be ok.

    --
    Zoid.com
    1. Re:Too expensive by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1

      Data usage charges caps out after 10GB ($100) for the two of us, with a base fee of $20 + $15 monthly. With no bogus mobile extra fees.

      Although the data charging cap might be higher with more users.

    2. Re:Too expensive by wirelessjb · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Teens know how to use data but they can be taught to conserve it as well. We use the Project Fi family plan with 2 teenagers. The kids get 3GB/month for free, and anything over that comes out of their piggy banks. Don't tell them, but we're actually putting the money in envelopes and we'll give it back to them when they graduate. They haven't had to pay too often - they quickly learned the cost of streaming YouTube over cellular data. They have also learned to use the Fi app to monitor their usage, and how to use Android settings to automatically restrict apps from using background data, and other useful life skills like that.

    3. Re:Too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Data usage charges caps out after 10GB ($100) for the two of us, with a base fee of $20 + $15 monthly. With no bogus mobile extra fees.

      Although the data charging cap might be higher with more users.

      The problem I had with Project Fi was that the data just cost more than competing MVNOs. I suppose if you used 10G per month maybe it evens out or something, but I've only ever used about 2G max.

      Another thing, was that T-Mobile's network (circa 2015) only really existed in larger cities, so I was basically on Sprint all the time anyway, which had decent coverage, but it was once again much more expensive that just using Ting, a Sprint MVNO.

    4. Re:Too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why not just get unlimited t-mobile for $40?

    5. Re:Too expensive by DethLok · · Score: 1

      "we're actually putting the money in envelopes and we'll give it back to them when they graduate."

      Why not bank it so it can't be stolen while also earning some interest for them, ideally more than inflation?

    6. Re:Too expensive by mapkinase · · Score: 1

      >they quickly learned the cost of streaming YouTube over cellular data

      Means that they will get very little money in these envelopes when they graduate.

      --
      I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    7. Re:Too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No bank offers (in the USA I'm aware of) an interest rate higher than inflation, especially for the small amount of money they're socking for the kids.

      My parents use to do this with punishment money as well. I didn't have a problem saving money on my own but the injection of funds was nice after paying something down.

    8. Re:Too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That, I believe, is the point.

    9. Re:Too expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the less financially responsible your kids are now, the more they'll get back when they graduate? That hardly seems a fair way of handling it. Wouldn't it be better just to set aside a fixed amount each month?

    10. Re:Too expensive by wirelessjb · · Score: 1

      For us, it would be more expensive to go with T-mobile, and for us the Fi coverage is better than T-mobile alone. Also the international roaming aspect is nice, T-mobile may or may not have that, I don't know.

    11. Re:Too expensive by wirelessjb · · Score: 1

      The kids don't know we're saving it to give it back to them, so there is no incentive problem. Also, it seemed very draconian to just take their money, which often comes from birthday gifts from relatives, and use it ourselves. Also keep in mind that not all kids respond to monetary punishments; ours do, but some kids respond better to having privileges taken away or, who knows, being sat in the corner for an hour. Every parent has to tweak their methods to figure out what works. This happens to work for us. Also, don't get the impression that the cell phone plan is the only financial education we are giving our kids; it is one of many. We follow the "first national bank of dad" (from the book) method of giving them a virtual bank account with very generous interest rates and monthly statements, and an allowance that is specifically not tied to chores and other behavior. They have debit cards and we help them reconcile their accounts. They have bus passes and school lunch accounts, all of which they are involved with managing. We teach them how to budget and save.

  7. Re:Thank God! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh you are being data mined. Now you just don't know it.

    Major benefit of Android is knowing what the fuckers are doing to you.

  8. "User-experience" = Google efficiency, no doubt by Etcetera · · Score: 2

    And although Google is apparently about to widen support and officially allow more devices onto Fi, those "Fi-friendly" phones will still offer the best overall user experience for subscribers, according to the report. It's not yet entirely clear what that means, but we should know more once Google makes a proper announcement.

    It should be fairly obvious what that means: more direct (or mandated) integration with Google's caching services at the network, OS, and (probably) baseband layer.

    To *some extent* this is actually not incredibly unwarranted, nor unprecedented. But the legacy mobile providers are still not, first and foremost, data collection companies... they're telecommunications providers. Google isn't that, and can no longer be trusted to be that without an abundance of caution.

    --
    Hire a Linux system administrator, systems engineer,
    1. Re:"User-experience" = Google efficiency, no doubt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. One must look at the motivation when a company moves into new territory.

  9. What is Project Fi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    For those of you who are curious:
    Google Project Fi is a "mobile virtual network operator" (MVNO) service from Google.

    Google's Project Fi allows customers to seamlessly move between mobile networks and WiFi hotspots, connecting them to the best speeds at any given moment.

    link

    Project Fi has partnered with Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular, three of the leading carriers in the US, to provide our service.

    link

    Basically, if you have a phone that supports the feature and the application installed and you pay Google US$20/month you get unlimited domestic talk and text and the phone will automatically connect either via WiFi or a mobile network and switch between them as necessary to maintain your connection.

  10. Watch out if you Google voice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You essentially have to convert your Google voice if it is on the same Gmail account. You can transfer voice (or at least I was able to a while back) but even then it will prevent you from forwarding and other features to a Project Fi account/device.

    My wife and I gave the school our Google voice number and when she got voice it took us a while to notice she wasn't receiving calls from the nurse about sick kids, or other important info. This was not a good way to find out.

    So in case this was important to others I thought I would share.

    1. Re: Watch out if you Google voice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Correction: it took us a while to figure out Google Voice wasn't forwarding to her phone anymore when she got Google Fi.

  11. Wifi calling is awesome.... by Radical+Moderate · · Score: 1

    if you're a basement dweller. It was kind of sketchy at first, but it's been solid for me for the past year.

    --
    Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
    1. Re:Wifi calling is awesome.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you're a basement dweller. It was kind of sketchy at first, but it's been solid for me for the past year.

      Real basement dwellers don't use Wifi. They don't even have electrical service.

  12. What the Fuck is Fi? by fodder69 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Love when a stupid ass article can't be bothered to mention what the fuck it is about.

    1. Re:What the Fuck is Fi? by rossdee · · Score: 1

      Fi ia the singular of Fithp , a race of aliens that look like baby elephants , that try to conquer earth in Niven/Pournelle's book Footfall

    2. Re:What the Fuck is Fi? by gitano_dbs · · Score: 1

      Love when a stupid ass article can't be bothered to mention what the fuck it is about.

      yeah specially when its just a commercial ad, cant be more moronic.

    3. Re:What the Fuck is Fi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps you can use Google to find out.

      Slashdot -- News for Dumb Nerds.

    4. Re:What the Fuck is Fi? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first 5 words of the summary answer that: Google's Project Fi mobile service

  13. How to enable since the article doesn't mention it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    via the Tools menu of the Project Fi app through the "Enhanced Network Beta" toggle

  14. Three major cell networks w WiFi handoff, good pri by raymorris · · Score: 2

    It's a phone plan that uses the networks of Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, and selected wifi, with transparent handoff between them. Prices are good. You pay only for how much you use that month.

    If you regularly use your phone to stream HD video all day, I haven't compared pricing for that use case. I have FiOS for internet and TV while I'm at home.

  15. Does streaming media count against the data? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With my $50 t-mobile plan I only get like 2 gigs of data, but my Apple Music data doesn't count against it, so I only ever use 500 megs of the data limit. If Project Fi isn't free streaming, then I would probably blow through it in a couple days. Doesn't sound like an upgrade.

    1. Re:Does streaming media count against the data? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jesus, you guys in the USA get ripped off big time. We're talking goatse style reaming. In Australia you can get $10/month (that's US$7/month) mobile plans with 2GB data and unlimited talk and text to anywhere in the country. By the time you get to $50/month, you're talking 30GB+ of mobile data from the same carriers.

    2. Re:Does streaming media count against the data? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but like I said you get free streaming that doesn't count against your data.

  16. Hmm by jimbo · · Score: 1

    I've been hoping it'd come to Canada though it's probably very unlikely. Our providers would probably fight it any way possible, they wouldn't want anything to interrupt their party.

    I'm any case I also wonder how the Fi privacy policy looks like, considering the main business of the mothership.

  17. What's with synth fur in logos? by mapkinase · · Score: 1

    https://fi.google.com/about/

    Looks weird and perplexing

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  18. Twentysomethings CAPTCHA: erection by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been googlefied.

  19. Project Fi is very Useful by Pikoro · · Score: 1

    Project Fi is very useful if you do a lot of international travel. That's where it shines, because the data/call rates don't change and it's supported in like 175 countries. I travel to Japan a lot and it's nice to have my phone, just work. Using an original Pixel BTW.

    --
    "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
    1. Re:Project Fi is very Useful by garote · · Score: 1

      That depends on how you value your money versus your time.
      The rates don't change, true. But those rates are atrocious compared to local rates in almost all of those 175 countries.
      Convenient for occasional short-term international travel, but if you're going somewhere for more than a week, and really using your service, you're just letting Google vacuum up your money because you can't be bothered to, say, pick up a prepaid sim at an airport kiosk.

      Answer me this: when it "switches seamlessly to wifi", does it stop counting against your Project Fi usage?

    2. Re:Project Fi is very Useful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Answer me this: when it "switches seamlessly to wifi", does it stop counting against your Project Fi usage?

      Yes

    3. Re:Project Fi is very Useful by garote · · Score: 1

      Thank you, anonymous internet personage.

      I gotta wonder now, how is this any different from the automatic switching that every smartphone has done for the last decade?

      If this is just about voice calls, how is this different from the automatic switching between WiFi and cellular that Verizon does when I'm actively making a call, or the automatic switching that an iPhone does when I'm making a "facetime" audio or video call? Why would Google mention this if it's de-rigueur? Is some other magic going on?

  20. Just waiting for Projects... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Just waiting for Projects Fee, Fo, and Fum.

  21. Re:Three major cell networks w WiFi handoff, good by nasch · · Score: 1

    Streaming video with mobile data gets very expensive very quickly on Fi. My son left YouTube running one night and accidentally had wifi off, and I think it was 10 or 15 bucks of data. If that's your use case, do not switch to Google Fi, use a provider that gives you a bucket of data every month.

    Yes, we made him pay for it.

  22. Re:Three major cell networks w WiFi handoff, good by garote · · Score: 1

    Sprint, T-Mobile, and US Cellular use leased connectivity from ATT. There is no "transparent handoff". You're always on ATT.
    Transparent wifi handoff is not a unique feature BTW. I'm on Verizon and use it regularly.

  23. Source? Regulatory filings say otherwise by raymorris · · Score: 1

    I wonder if you have any source for that, because everything I'm finding says otherwise, including Sprint's regulatory filing.

    They may get some backhaul from AT&T, but that doesn't matter much to the users - the towers matter. Sprint's 3G service is CDMA, AT&T is GSM, so very obviously they aren't the same network - they aren't even the same TYPE of network.

    For LTE, Sprint's legal filings compare their LTE network to AT&T's much larger network.