Sep 3, 2017, 5:37 am
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:
Not listed, *did* have service
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.
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 547Belize now appears on the "supported" international list
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.
Google Fi: Anyone care to post their experience?
Feb 18, 2019, 2:12 pm
#901
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 392
Looks like Google Fi website is selling the Moto X4 at $149 , if you start a new account, I am not sure about if you already have an account.
I really only want a dual SIM phone if I am buying to use with Fi , hopefully the cheaper Motos will start adding that.....
I really only want a dual SIM phone if I am buying to use with Fi , hopefully the cheaper Motos will start adding that.....
Feb 18, 2019, 3:28 pm
#903
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 392
Not completely on-target, but at least one answer here suggests it does:
https://support.google.com/fi/thread/410945?hl=en
I see that you can also disable the VPN in the phone if you want.
https://support.google.com/fi/thread/410945?hl=en
I see that you can also disable the VPN in the phone if you want.
Feb 18, 2019, 10:14 pm
#905
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 392
My plan is definitely to use it on Fi. I have an iPhone for T-Mobile that I use mainly. The X4 would be as a hotspot when traveling internationally. I'll activate it and then pause it and then un-pause while traveling.
Feb 19, 2019, 10:28 am
#906
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze, Hertz pres circle, Marriott Platinum, hilton diamond
Posts: 2,537
That’s pretty much exactly what I’m doing. In answer to your above question, the moto works great as a hotspot, in fact sometimes too good, if I forget to turn it off at the hotel my iPhone seems to prioritise that over the hotel WiFi.
battery life on it is particularly good
battery life on it is particularly good
Feb 19, 2019, 11:07 am
#907
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 392
That’s pretty much exactly what I’m doing. In answer to your above question, the moto works great as a hotspot, in fact sometimes too good, if I forget to turn it off at the hotel my iPhone seems to prioritise that over the hotel WiFi.
battery life on it is particularly good
battery life on it is particularly good
With my luck, the day my X4 lands, both Fi and T-Mo will fully support eSIM.
Feb 19, 2019, 12:55 pm
#908
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 324
So is Fi as good as it appears for the "we'll be in Europe for 10 days and need a phone, but don't want to pay Verizon's ridiculous '$10 per day per line' charge" scenario? Normally I just get a SIM for wherever we're going, but for this trip we need to know our phone numbers ahead of time for a few reasons, and Fi appears to be a good way to accomplish this.
I checked the "Bringing my own device" page, and our phones (Verizon LG G6) are supported. So my plan was:
1. Get 2 Fi SIMs, activate them, make note of the numbers to hand them out as needed.
2. Suspend the Fi service until we're about to depart, so that we can keep using our phones on our Verizon plan. (We're not switching permanently; at least not yet. So I won't be porting our numbers. Depending on our experience, switching to Fi MAY be an option, but not just yet.)
3. Shortly before we leave, put the Fi SIMs back in the Verizon phones, resume service, and enjoy our trip. (Advantage - no need to swap SIMs mid-trip, yet our phones will just work when we get back home to call for our ride
)
4. When we get home, suspend Fi service again, go back to the Verizon SIMs, and go on with life.
For the above for two of us, it looks like it'll be $20 (line 1) + $15 (line 2) + $10/GB (pro-rated for partial use of 1GB chunks), plus roaming fees on any voice calls (free SMS)?
A few questions:
1. Do I even need to purchase any data at all for this use case? Looking at Fi's international support page I see "Note: The data you use outside of the U.S. is charged separately from your monthly data budget, which covers data use only within the U.S.". I take this to mean we'll be billed for any data use in Europe after we're home. Is ALL data use post-billed like that, or does one have to sign up for some minimum amount?
2. I see we can be suspended for 3 months. How are you billed during that time? We'll only actually be "using" Fi for ~12 days, is the base $35 pro-rated as well? (Wishful thinking?)
3. Following on #2 : how often can you suspend/resume before they just cancel your account? We travel to Europe 1 or 2 times a year, so a 3 month suspend period isn't quite long enough. I don't actually mind just cancelling and getting a new number each time we go, but reusing the number would be nice. (If we ultimately decide to switch from Verizon to Fi, well, that's different...)
I checked the "Bringing my own device" page, and our phones (Verizon LG G6) are supported. So my plan was:
1. Get 2 Fi SIMs, activate them, make note of the numbers to hand them out as needed.
2. Suspend the Fi service until we're about to depart, so that we can keep using our phones on our Verizon plan. (We're not switching permanently; at least not yet. So I won't be porting our numbers. Depending on our experience, switching to Fi MAY be an option, but not just yet.)
3. Shortly before we leave, put the Fi SIMs back in the Verizon phones, resume service, and enjoy our trip. (Advantage - no need to swap SIMs mid-trip, yet our phones will just work when we get back home to call for our ride
)4. When we get home, suspend Fi service again, go back to the Verizon SIMs, and go on with life.
For the above for two of us, it looks like it'll be $20 (line 1) + $15 (line 2) + $10/GB (pro-rated for partial use of 1GB chunks), plus roaming fees on any voice calls (free SMS)?
A few questions:
1. Do I even need to purchase any data at all for this use case? Looking at Fi's international support page I see "Note: The data you use outside of the U.S. is charged separately from your monthly data budget, which covers data use only within the U.S.". I take this to mean we'll be billed for any data use in Europe after we're home. Is ALL data use post-billed like that, or does one have to sign up for some minimum amount?
2. I see we can be suspended for 3 months. How are you billed during that time? We'll only actually be "using" Fi for ~12 days, is the base $35 pro-rated as well? (Wishful thinking?)
3. Following on #2 : how often can you suspend/resume before they just cancel your account? We travel to Europe 1 or 2 times a year, so a 3 month suspend period isn't quite long enough. I don't actually mind just cancelling and getting a new number each time we go, but reusing the number would be nice. (If we ultimately decide to switch from Verizon to Fi, well, that's different...)
Last edited by GregLeg; Feb 19, 2019 at 1:23 pm
Feb 19, 2019, 7:21 pm
#909
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze, Hertz pres circle, Marriott Platinum, hilton diamond
Posts: 2,537
Can’t answer everything, on plane about to depart, but line rental, data, everything is pro rated.
Zero charges while service paused.
i believe after 3 months you can just re-pause.
i do the opposite, I use fi on the 4/5 times a year I’m in USA, and no problems, though it’s now becoming my default roaming phone. (Ex eu and ex USA)
Zero charges while service paused.
i believe after 3 months you can just re-pause.
i do the opposite, I use fi on the 4/5 times a year I’m in USA, and no problems, though it’s now becoming my default roaming phone. (Ex eu and ex USA)
Feb 19, 2019, 8:05 pm
#910
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New York, NY
Programs: AA Gold. UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt (Lifetime Diamond downgraded to Explorist)
Posts: 6,776
If your travel is upcoming BestBuy does sell fi sims for $10 each but that comes with a $10 service credit making them effectively free.
You pay up front for the monthly line charge (calls & texts) which are a flat rate and then after use you'll be billed for your data usage. I suggest activating a few days before just to make sure there isn't an issue but that's really just to make sure vs out of a legitimate sense of caution.
You pay up front for the monthly line charge (calls & texts) which are a flat rate and then after use you'll be billed for your data usage. I suggest activating a few days before just to make sure there isn't an issue but that's really just to make sure vs out of a legitimate sense of caution.
So is Fi as good as it appears for the "we'll be in Europe for 10 days and need a phone, but don't want to pay Verizon's ridiculous '$10 per day per line' charge" scenario? Normally I just get a SIM for wherever we're going, but for this trip we need to know our phone numbers ahead of time for a few reasons, and Fi appears to be a good way to accomplish this.
I checked the "Bringing my own device" page, and our phones (Verizon LG G6) are supported. So my plan was:
1. Get 2 Fi SIMs, activate them, make note of the numbers to hand them out as needed.
2. Suspend the Fi service until we're about to depart, so that we can keep using our phones on our Verizon plan. (We're not switching permanently; at least not yet. So I won't be porting our numbers. Depending on our experience, switching to Fi MAY be an option, but not just yet.)
3. Shortly before we leave, put the Fi SIMs back in the Verizon phones, resume service, and enjoy our trip. (Advantage - no need to swap SIMs mid-trip, yet our phones will just work when we get back home to call for our ride )
4. When we get home, suspend Fi service again, go back to the Verizon SIMs, and go on with life.
For the above for two of us, it looks like it'll be $20 (line 1) + $15 (line 2) + $10/GB (pro-rated for partial use of 1GB chunks), plus roaming fees on any voice calls (free SMS)?
A few questions:
1. Do I even need to purchase any data at all for this use case? Looking at Fi's international support page I see "Note: The data you use outside of the U.S. is charged separately from your monthly data budget, which covers data use only within the U.S.". I take this to mean we'll be billed for any data use in Europe after we're home. Is ALL data use post-billed like that, or does one have to sign up for some minimum amount?
2. I see we can be suspended for 3 months. How are you billed during that time? We'll only actually be "using" Fi for ~12 days, is the base $35 pro-rated as well? (Wishful thinking?)
3. Following on #2 : how often can you suspend/resume before they just cancel your account? We travel to Europe 1 or 2 times a year, so a 3 month suspend period isn't quite long enough. I don't actually mind just cancelling and getting a new number each time we go, but reusing the number would be nice. (If we ultimately decide to switch from Verizon to Fi, well, that's different...)
I checked the "Bringing my own device" page, and our phones (Verizon LG G6) are supported. So my plan was:
1. Get 2 Fi SIMs, activate them, make note of the numbers to hand them out as needed.
2. Suspend the Fi service until we're about to depart, so that we can keep using our phones on our Verizon plan. (We're not switching permanently; at least not yet. So I won't be porting our numbers. Depending on our experience, switching to Fi MAY be an option, but not just yet.)
3. Shortly before we leave, put the Fi SIMs back in the Verizon phones, resume service, and enjoy our trip. (Advantage - no need to swap SIMs mid-trip, yet our phones will just work when we get back home to call for our ride
)4. When we get home, suspend Fi service again, go back to the Verizon SIMs, and go on with life.
For the above for two of us, it looks like it'll be $20 (line 1) + $15 (line 2) + $10/GB (pro-rated for partial use of 1GB chunks), plus roaming fees on any voice calls (free SMS)?
A few questions:
1. Do I even need to purchase any data at all for this use case? Looking at Fi's international support page I see "Note: The data you use outside of the U.S. is charged separately from your monthly data budget, which covers data use only within the U.S.". I take this to mean we'll be billed for any data use in Europe after we're home. Is ALL data use post-billed like that, or does one have to sign up for some minimum amount?
2. I see we can be suspended for 3 months. How are you billed during that time? We'll only actually be "using" Fi for ~12 days, is the base $35 pro-rated as well? (Wishful thinking?)
3. Following on #2 : how often can you suspend/resume before they just cancel your account? We travel to Europe 1 or 2 times a year, so a 3 month suspend period isn't quite long enough. I don't actually mind just cancelling and getting a new number each time we go, but reusing the number would be nice. (If we ultimately decide to switch from Verizon to Fi, well, that's different...)
Feb 19, 2019, 9:05 pm
#911
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,833
If your travel is upcoming BestBuy does sell fi sims for $10 each but that comes with a $10 service credit making them effectively free.
You pay up front for the monthly line charge (calls & texts) which are a flat rate and then after use you'll be billed for your data usage. I suggest activating a few days before just to make sure there isn't an issue but that's really just to make sure vs out of a legitimate sense of caution.
You pay up front for the monthly line charge (calls & texts) which are a flat rate and then after use you'll be billed for your data usage. I suggest activating a few days before just to make sure there isn't an issue but that's really just to make sure vs out of a legitimate sense of caution.
I've not had the same activation message when I took the sim out last week (in the US) - so I don't know if it has changed, was a glitch, was specific to my "non fi" phone. Perhaps others can chime in
Feb 19, 2019, 9:54 pm
#912
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 324
Thanks, everyone! I do see the availability of the Fi sims in Best Buy, and was planning on doing exactly that. I was probably actually going to pick them up soon to play with and make sure they're functional (we depart at the end of March). Not only does having the cards before we leave allow us to have the phone number ready, we can also swap sims before we leave for the airport and not have to worry about misplacing the home sims somewhere (never been an issue, but there's always that One Time...)
Good warning on the strangeness with needing to (re)activate in the US; I plan on just leaving the sims alone anyway, so hopefully that won't be an issue.
I'll report back on our experience after our trip. Thanks!
Good warning on the strangeness with needing to (re)activate in the US; I plan on just leaving the sims alone anyway, so hopefully that won't be an issue.
I'll report back on our experience after our trip. Thanks!
Feb 19, 2019, 10:30 pm
#913
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA bronze, Hertz pres circle, Marriott Platinum, hilton diamond
Posts: 2,537
Anyone have any experience of activating a data sim abroad?
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
Feb 19, 2019, 11:12 pm
#914
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: UA plat, , aa plat, marriott LT titanium
Posts: 4,833
Anyone have any experience of activating a data sim abroad?
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
Feb 20, 2019, 12:17 am
#915
Moderator, El Al and Marriott Bonvoy, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ*G, Mar LTT, Hyatt Glb, AA LTG, LY, HH, IC, BA, DL, UA SLV
Posts: 12,018
Anyone have any experience of activating a data sim abroad?
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
Just activated mine, showing as active on my account, have it in my iPhone and it's showing 3g full signal, but I get the message:
"could not activate mobile data network, you are not subscribed to a mobile data service"
After that I haven't had the issue, but now and then I have to move the SIM from my iPhone to my Pixel to get on a new network when I arrive in a new country. This isn't always the case. For instance I flew from Tokyo to Singapore via Seoul. When I landed in Seoul it worked fine, landed in Singapore and couldn't get a network until I popped it into my Pixel and then back into the iPhone.