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Google Fi: Anyone care to post their experience?

Old Sep 3, 2017, 5:37 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Zorak
Which countries are supported?

https://support.google.com/fi/answer...intl_countries

Note that in some locations Hangouts (and Gmail) are not available (e.g., China, Russia, Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, Argentina, and more: see link below for full list of excluded countries), so you will need a VPN to access them (or to make VOIP calls via Hangouts Dialer)

https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/3205646

Exceptions:

Listed, but no/spotty service:
  • Ukraine (Aug 2018) - no service, all providers listed as "forbidden". Post #660
  • Alaska (Jul 2018) -- had voice service, but inconsistent/spotty data (try forcing Sprint)
  • Peru (Sep 2016) post 341, 360
  • Grand Cayman Island (Jan 2018) post 547

Not listed, *did* have service
  • Belize (Jan 2018) post 547 Belize now appears on the "supported" international list
If you are having trouble connecting, level 1 Fi reps recommend you try the following steps before they will escalate. Try each step in the order listed below to see if it fixes your issue - if not, move on to next step.

1- Reboot phone
2- Toggle "airplane mode" on/off. Wait five seconds after toggling off (it resets phone modem).
3- Try manually connecting to each available network (rather than using the auto select feature).
4- Toggle down from 4g to 3g (removing the recommended 4g option) and then try manually connecting to each available network.
5- Toggle down from 3g to 2g and then try manually connecting to each available network.
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Google Fi: Anyone care to post their experience?

Old Aug 5, 2016, 11:27 am
  #241  
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So are people definitely getting good speeds and coverage when roaming on 3?

That's the only network on which you get full LTE speeds right?
wco81 is offline  
Old Aug 5, 2016, 11:42 am
  #242  
 
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Originally Posted by wco81
So are people definitely getting good speeds and coverage when roaming on 3?

That's the only network on which you get full LTE speeds right?
No you get full speed (or pretty darn close) on ALL networks covered by FI. Check out the Google Fi support forum and also /r/ProjectFi.

Keep in mind they only recently unthrottled from 256k, so any old posts may not be indicative of current performance.
LordHamster is offline  
Old Aug 5, 2016, 7:17 pm
  #243  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by LordHamster
No you get full speed (or pretty darn close) on ALL networks covered by FI. Check out the Google Fi support forum and also /r/ProjectFi.

Keep in mind they only recently unthrottled from 256k, so any old posts may not be indicative of current performance.
so Project Fi phone can get the same speed as the customers of the networks
it's roaming on? Even in foreign countries?
Siberian_Viktorya is offline  
Old Aug 5, 2016, 8:20 pm
  #244  
 
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Yes, theoretically.
HGHUA is offline  
Old Aug 5, 2016, 9:32 pm
  #245  
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I didn't see anything on the subreddit but I checked Howard Forums and they're getting 2-4 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up.

Better than 256k but it's not the full LTE speeds you'd get in Europe.
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Old Aug 5, 2016, 11:38 pm
  #246  
 
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Originally Posted by ewrfox
So i got myself a 5x 16gb. What should I know about the phone and Fi?
Sold our pair old N5 16GB, storage capacity tend to run low & DW went with the N6 with 32GB, very happy with her "big" screen & no longer complained about her battery life.

Depending on where you picked up your N5X, you might want to consider exchanging it for the 32GB model, to future-proof storage capacity - part of the reason I decided to go for one with 32GB, now I got enough MP4's for round-trip TPAC travel use. Battery life is fine, unless I'm on heavy gaming usage on the go and using the camera a lot, seldom run low - and I always carry an USB slim battery pack on the go, and within easy reach of an USB charging source.

Otherwise, you might want to make use of cloud storage to move some of your files & docs to free up internal storage on a regular basis.

Tweak for App settings to maximize your battery life, especially on standby - Pure Nexus custom rom is what I am running on both devices, if you decide to root after unlocking the bootloader.
Letitride3c is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 6:49 am
  #247  
 
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Originally Posted by wco81
I didn't see anything on the subreddit but I checked Howard Forums and they're getting 2-4 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up.

Better than 256k but it's not the full LTE speeds you'd get in Europe.
My understanding is that you get full unthrottled speeds on the Three network and the enhanced speeds discussed above on all other networks. I am reading about glitches, but it is brand new. Rogers in Canada is still delivering throttled speeds, but Bell/ Telus are not. On the Project Fi forum, someone is saying he is having problems in Hong Kong, but not the Philippines or Malaysia.
Dubai Stu is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 7:25 am
  #248  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 380
Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
My understanding is that you get full unthrottled speeds on the Three network and the enhanced speeds discussed above on all other networks. I am reading about glitches, but it is brand new. Rogers in Canada is still delivering throttled speeds, but Bell/ Telus are not. On the Project Fi forum, someone is saying he is having problems in Hong Kong, but not the Philippines or Malaysia.
hi!

do you have the link to this Project Fi forum?

Thanks!
Siberian_Viktorya is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 7:52 am
  #249  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
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Not sure if it is members only or not:

https://productforums.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/project-fi/?utm_medium=mobile&utm_source=project_fi_app&utm_c ampaign=forum_launch
Dubai Stu is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 8:10 am
  #250  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by Dubai Stu
Not sure if it is members only or not:

https://productforums.google.com/for...n=forum_launch
Thanks!

Last edited by Siberian_Viktorya; Aug 6, 2016 at 8:43 am
Siberian_Viktorya is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 8:32 am
  #251  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit; Formerly Dubai
Posts: 3,652
There is also a pretty good unofficial forum on Howard Forums:



Last edited by Dubai Stu; Aug 6, 2016 at 10:06 am
Dubai Stu is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 9:18 am
  #252  
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
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Originally Posted by Siberian_Viktorya
what kind of battery do you usually after the 5X is fully charged?

thanks!
If I manage my apps. I get a full day. Facebook is a killer. I like the phone and it is good value.
bruceba is offline  
Old Aug 6, 2016, 4:25 pm
  #253  
 
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Originally Posted by Letitride3c
Sold our pair old N5 16GB, storage capacity tend to run low & DW went with the N6 with 32GB, very happy with her "big" screen & no longer complained about her battery life.

Depending on where you picked up your N5X, you might want to consider exchanging it for the 32GB model, to future-proof storage capacity - part of the reason I decided to go for one with 32GB, now I got enough MP4's for round-trip TPAC travel use. Battery life is fine, unless I'm on heavy gaming usage on the go and using the camera a lot, seldom run low - and I always carry an USB slim battery pack on the go, and within easy reach of an USB charging source.

Otherwise, you might want to make use of cloud storage to move some of your files & docs to free up internal storage on a regular basis.

Tweak for App settings to maximize your battery life, especially on standby - Pure Nexus custom rom is what I am running on both devices, if you decide to root after unlocking the bootloader.
The main reason I went with the 16GB was because i want to try Fi on an upcoming trip. I have a 3 UK sim that i would prefer to use, but if it doesn't work, I need something as a backup.

So far I got signal spy app, but has been useless for me, since I have yet to set up Fi on the phone.
ewrfox is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2016, 4:22 am
  #254  
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Originally Posted by wco81
I didn't see anything on the subreddit but I checked Howard Forums and they're getting 2-4 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up.

Better than 256k but it's not the full LTE speeds you'd get in Europe.
Just one datapoint here, but in Costa Rica, I got 15 Mbps down and 6.5 Mbps up. I was pleasantly surprised to see that.
dyung is offline  
Old Aug 7, 2016, 11:32 am
  #255  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 380
Originally Posted by ewrfox
The main reason I went with the 16GB was because i want to try Fi on an upcoming trip. I have a 3 UK sim that i would prefer to use, but if it doesn't work, I need something as a backup.

So far I got signal spy app, but has been useless for me, since I have yet to set up Fi on the phone.

I can never understand why Google insists on leaving out the MicroSD card
slot in Nexus phones. There is no valid technical reason for it. Samsung
implements it in their previous and latest Android phones beautifully.
I don't think it's profit issue like how Apple prefers to gouge people for
extra memory.
Siberian_Viktorya is offline  

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