[GRLUG] cell phone question

[Matthew Seeley]

iWireless and Cricket Wireless are also MVNO's like Republic Wireless, so
their coverage is identical to Virgin / Boost / Republic Wireless.

(Cricket actually does have some of their own coverage in a few areas, so
they aren't a true MVNO, but I don't believe any of it is in West Michigan,
so for all practical purposes, here they are an MVNO)

Basically, if you find a cheap smartphone plan that isn't MetroPCS,
anywhere in West Michigan, theres a 99% chance it's just a rebranding of
Virgin Mobile USA / Boost Mobile service. ;)

(MetroPCS also roams on Boost and a few smaller operators up north, so in
non-metro markets, they're an MVNO of Sprint, but since they actually have
their own towers in Grand Rapids, it's probably not fair to call them an
MVNO here)

--
Matthew Seeley
Threadlight Systems
PO Box 2909 Grand Rapids, MI. 49501
(616) 328-5649



On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 10:18 PM, Matthew Seeley <matthew at threadlight.com>wrote:

> I have heard of Republic Wireless,
>
> They work off the Sprint Local network (no roaming allowed), so you'll get
> coverage anywhere a Virgin Mobile or Boost Mobile phone would work, when
> off wi-fi. (Most cities, some country, but not much in Northern Michigan)
>
> And the phone there selling is a pretty decent low-end smartphone. Not
> great, but decent.
>
> The cap is low, but fair for the price, and you might not have much of a
> problem with the cap, since their CDMA network is very light on data,
> you'll usually only get dialup to ISDN speeds in West Michigan (50k - 150k
> down). It's not real "3G" speeds the way you might be used to on Verizon /
> T-Mobile / AT&T
>
> And, like Mike, I haven't used their phone specifically, but I have used
> WiFi calling (both the old UMA access, and T-Mobiles new "WiFi calling"
> app) and they both work decently. There's some lag, but not horrible.
>
> If the Wifi access worries you, you can get the "Republic Wireless"
> pricing without the Wifi directly from Sprint by purchasing the $35/month
> Virgin Mobile plan
>
> Alternatively, If you've been with Verizon a while, you can call Verizon
> retentions, and they may give you your own Femtocell
> http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/accessory?action=gotoFemtocell(Sprint gives these out pretty easily, and mine works beautifully)
>
> If you do buy the Republic Wireless phone, the coupon code "welcome19"
> will knock $100 off the phone price, and is good until November 27
>
> I'm curious where you are that you get bad Verizon coverage -- they
> usually have the best coverage in the area.
>
>
> --
> Matthew Seeley
> Threadlight Systems
> PO Box 2909 Grand Rapids, MI. 49501
> (616) 328-5649
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 18, 2011 at 9:58 PM, Benjamin Flanders <flanderb at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Has anyone in the group heard about Republic Wireless, and the
>> wifi/cell phone plan they provide.  I think it sounds intriguing.  I
>> like the idea of $19 a month plan, but mostly I like the idea of the
>> wireless/cell phone hybrid.  Right now the verizon coverage in the two
>> spots I am at all day (home and work) totally blows.  I get dropped
>> calls, I get calls that don't ring, you name it ... it happens.  If my
>> phone had wifi (internal femto cell?)  I can get full strength calls.
>> This would be in the places I am at 90% of the time which all have
>> great wifi coverage.
>>
>> My reservations are: this is a new untried business, and the voip
>> calls.  The last time I used voip, which was probably 8ish years ago,
>> there was noticeable and rather bad lag.  I understand that calls are
>> now mostly voip behind the scenes, but that is using multi-thousand
>> dollar dedicated machines, is consumer hardware near that quality yet.
>>
>>
>> Share and Enjoy
>> Ben
>>
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>

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