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Republic Wireless New Plans
Old 05-24-2016, 10:38 AM   #1
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Republic Wireless New Plans

Well, not sure if I am going to keep Republic Wireless now. I am under the 2.0 pricing scheme, where basically I pay about $12 (with taxes) for unlimited talk and text then I "pre-purchase" 1GB of data for $15...but what I don't use, I get refunded. So far (about 8 months of service) I have yet to have a bill break $18. Now..they are shifting to the 3.0 plans where the minimum cost for talk/text/data will be $20. It's still very cheap in comparison to other plans, but for as little as I use the phone, I might go back to Ting.

Anyway, Republic Wireless is saying that they are making this change because people don't like the "confusion" of the refund plan. As a matter of fact, one of the reps on the online community made this remark, "We did countless surveys where people literally picked a higher price and a "peace of mind" vs. direct control over their bill and data."

The part I underlined is what bothers me so much about society's blase attitude towards money.
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Old 05-24-2016, 10:56 AM   #2
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Also using the 2.0 plan. We need to confirm that our particular phones are grandfathered to continue using the 2.0 plan after July 1. Switched from Verizon a few months ago, and no issues with their service.
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Old 05-24-2016, 11:38 AM   #3
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I was with Republic, no complaints really.... until I found that GoogleFi offers very similar plans. Also, Google's non-wifi is 10x better, works internationally, etc.

I pay $27 a month all in after buying the phone.
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:05 PM   #4
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I've been on Republic for nearly two years and have really liked it. There were moments of frustration but you get what you pay for.As I understand it you will be able to stay on the 2.0 plan until you need to replace your phone. Then you might need to make the switch. I plan on doing a lot of international travel the next couple years so I might switch to google fi when my phone craps out.

That Republic said that people were confused by the refund plans make me think that people are a little dumb.
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:15 PM   #5
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I'm on their 1.0 plan of $10/month (about $12 total) for unlimited talk, text, and data when within range of a WiFi signal. It's excellent value.

I understand their new carrier will be AT&T, and was trying to see a Sprint coverage map to compare new vs old coverage. Trouble is, the Sprint page is incredibly slow, and the map isn't downloading. Anyone know how AT&T coverage compares to that of Sprint? I'm guessing it might be better in the rural areas (though not as good as Verizon) but that's just a hunch, as Sprint's coverage was mainly confined to metro areas, and alongside major highways in the lesser populated areas, the last time I checked it.
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:22 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Major Tom View Post
...

I understand their new carrier will be AT&T, and was trying to see a Sprint coverage map to compare new vs old coverage. Trouble is, the Sprint page is incredibly slow, and the map isn't downloading. Anyone know how AT&T coverage compares to that of Sprint? I'm guessing it might be better in the rural areas (though not as good as Verizon) but that's just a hunch, as Sprint's coverage was mainly confined to metro areas, and alongside major highways in the lesser populated areas, the last time I checked it.
This recent review of all the majors confirms your hunch: The Best Wireless Carriers | The Wirecutter Its discussion of Sprint immediately follows ATT and begins with "Sprint is a different story."

(Republic 1.0 user here; will change when we retire to more foreign travel.... Until then, worth the occasional issues.)
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Old 05-24-2016, 01:40 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Omalley View Post
Also using the 2.0 plan. We need to confirm that our particular phones are grandfathered to continue using the 2.0 plan after July 1. Switched from Verizon a few months ago, and no issues with their service.
I did note that as I was researching more. It looks like they will continue to offer the 2.0 if you use the few phones where they have modified them for the hybrid calling...but they are getting out of the "messing with a phone's ROM" game and doing what most of the other MVNO providers are doing and in Republic's case...that will be allowing pretty much any GSM phone to be used on the 3.0 "plan/network." I imagine eventually, they will move away from the CDMA carriers (Sprint) and use only GSM. I am not a huge fan of the AT&T network...my experience was that it was pretty hit and miss..although that was a number of years ago and thus my fears could be unfounded.

My DW and I are about to start some travel to the Caribbean and I look forward to seeing how well the Republic phone does. Most of the stuff I have read says that it works well as long as you have a decent WiFi connect that doesn't have the VOIP ports blocked. I guess we will see!
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Old 05-24-2016, 06:31 PM   #8
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I was disappointed by the announcement of "Republic Wireless 3.0," and agree that a lot of their rationalizations ("customers wanted it simpler") smack of BS. I am using their 2.0 pricing plan and find it >very< simple: I buy 2GB of cellular data in case I need, I use what I want, and I get refund for whatever I don't use. It's been great, my net bill has been less than $15 per month, but if I ever >do< need to use a lot of cellular data (traveling away from wifi extensively, etc), I've got it available. Best of both worlds.
My guess is that they wanted to appeal to customers who wanted Samsung and Nexus phones (which they can have now), they wanted to dump all the overhead associated with engineering the phones themselves so they would do the handoffs, billing, etc (gonna save them some money), they wanted to transition from CDMA to GSM (which will probably help them esp if they expand beyond the US), and they wanted to raise prices.
But, I'm happy they have grandfathered those using the 2.0 pricing plan. Heck, my Moto X Gen 1 is still doing great, but if I were sure they'd keep me grandfathered on 2.0 for at least 3 years, I'd quickly buy a new Moto G Gen 3 with more memory for $179 before everything switches over in July.
Republic is still a good deal, and this change will be good for some people, but I don't think it will be good for me. When my phone dies or they force me off of the 2.0 pricing plan, it will be a fresh game and I'll be out scouting for the best deal.
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Old 05-25-2016, 10:06 AM   #9
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Im also using Project fi. Loving it so far...its been about a month. Coverage is great (sprint/tmobile.) I barely use any data...actually most of the time I have cellular data turned off. Wifi hotspots are everywhere now including most homes.
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