Google Fi’s Unlimited plan: more data at home and abroad | Hacker News Reader

Google Fi’s Unlimited plan: more data at home and abroad

blog.google

22 pointsanuragsoni23 comments

Apparently the word unlimited now means 22GB. [1] Also no international tethering. [2] Then you need to also account for the fact that if anything happens with your Google account (say an AdSense terms violation) you will also lose your phone service. All of that for a whopping $70/month. Seems pretty crazy to me.

I'm currently paying 17€/month for unlimited calling, texts & data. Not sure what the actual data cap on my unlimited plan is, but I haven't reached it yet. For example I've used about 160GB with iOS tethering during the last week alone and everything still works fine, currently at 85Mbps down / 65Mbps up from where I'm standing. I can stream 4K no problems and I do.

Now my current plan has only 10GB EU-wide data and no non-EU data. However my operator (Tele2) does offer a 50€/month package for EU-wide unlimited all. No international unlimited all package from them yet though.

[1] From the article: we will reduce speeds after 22GB of usage per person in a given month

[2] international tethering not supported on iOS https://fi.google.com/compatibility

I can see how this plan might not work for everyone but as an American who rarely travels internationally this is fine. And if I tried my best I could probably only consume 10-15GB a month so it's essentially unlimited to me.

Really cause 10-15 is like one movie a night at ye olde standard def

You forgot the end of the paragraph on unlimited data:

   We may also optimize video streaming quality to 480p (DVD quality).

So just keep streaming in 4k with your current provider I guess.

It's rare to see the usage of the phrase `optimize [..] quality` with a negative implication. Does this qualify as Newspeak?

“Optimize for OUR experience” is my assumption in this instance where Google is saying it.

>AdSense terms violation

That would be a minor PR scandal, taking someone’s phone number away would certainly be considered an excessive response.

> That would be a minor PR scandal

Here's one that made it to the front page of HN. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18886804

Many people are likely better off with Fi's existing plan:

- $20 month + $10/GB up to 6 GB ($60) then unlimited. Full resolution video. Up to 15 GB usage before it is slowed. Cost: $20~80 (+T&Fs) depending on usage.

Vs.

- $70 month unlimited. Includes Google One. Limited 480p video. Cost: $70 (+T&Fs) regardless of usage.

If you're using 5 GB or more every month, you should switch, but if your usage is variable and the average is less than 5 GB you should likely stick with their existing plan (to save money). Unless Google One is a worthwhile perk for you of course (and you don't mind the video downgrade).

More choices are nice. If they forced me onto this I'd just switch to T-Mobile since it would cost similar and the side benefits are greater.

The unlimited plan also has free phone calls...

So does the regular plan...

Looked like a no-brainer till I read “international tethering not supported on iOS”. I currently use AT&T International day pass which gives me unlimited text, data, and calls for $10 a day. Works flawlessly, but can get expensive for extended travel.

Hopefully they’ll address all the iOS related issues soon.

That has to be a technical rather than business decision...

I wonder what the limitation is?

Anyone know why the iphone can't handle the network switching aspect?

Because google-fi isn't a real network. It's not some spec that you can implement. It's done by play services blobs. Even Android cannot handle it. Only play services can.

iOS apps cant make iOS understand it's allowed to switch between Sprint and T-Mobile - Fi is an MVNO and rents access to their networks. Fi in iOS is locked to T-Mobile.

Isn't that the job of the SIM card, not an app? SIM cards have been able to support roaming and multiple networks since day 1.

I think the issue is that while the phone network standards allow a single sim card to be authorised to connect and roam between different phone networks, it relies on the networks themselves having infrastructure in place to, for example, migrate IP addresses from one provider to another in realtime.

Phone networks didn't want to make the massive infrastructure changes to allow that, so Google took a different route. Instead, you effectively have two services - one from each network. I believe they both have their own phone numbers etc. An app switches from one to the other, and all calls and data are directed over VoIP and VPN to googles servers, which then route calls and data packets so that a switch can occur mid-call without the call being dropped.

All that added complexity on-top requires a fragile software stack on the phone, which is why Android phone support is patchy, and iOS support is only partial.

My impression is that it’s handled by proprietary software written by Google itself.

Fi could otherwise be a great smart watch plan too since they don't charge per additional device. Unfortunately, they don't support eSIMs beside pixel devices.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com