Republic Wireless - Anyone use it?

Hey All, I'm really interested in this Republic Wireless idea. Basically you get VOIP calls, but seamless switching between WiFi, sprint data or verizon data, whichever signal is best.

Since they are betting that the majority of the time people are on WiFi, there should not be much data pull on the cell networks, and therefore the monthly charge is really low (like 25$/month for all-you-can-eat calls/texts/3g data).

I think I'm going to get one and use it side-by-side my sprint phone for a month or so to see how it works in the real world, but wanted to know if anyone here has used it and your feedback.

Republic Wireless Plans

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/anyone-use-republic-wireless/96323/page1/

Thread I had on this back in December. The consensus was to go to Ting, and I've decided to do that as well. Assuming you actually can stay on wifi, Ting should be much cheaper than Republic. Aside from that, the phone selection is much better.

I'm currently deciding which iPhone to get.

My sister in law has been on Republic for about a year and has had nothing but praise for it - its her only phone, no land line. She's on the $10/mo plan, but recently made a trip to Houston and upgraded to the 4G plan for a week. When she got back, she switched back to the wifi plan. I really like the flexibility. Based on this we got the bottom rung phone and $10/mo plan for my son. It's been great so far; we're a month in. My wife is considering dumping Verizon when her contract is up and is researching Republic for herself or going with Ting for her and the boy. I think Ting makes sense as a "family plan", or if you have to have something other a variety of Moto(*) phone. The kid's Moto E is pretty slick for $99 but the camera sucks, we did add a 16 G memory card.

MMM recommends Republic.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/05/13/moto-x-vs-moto-g/

dyintorace wrote: MMM recommends Republic. http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/05/13/moto-x-vs-moto-g/

MMM is where I got the idea... ;)

mtn wrote: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/anyone-use-republic-wireless/96323/page1/ Thread I had on this back in December. The consensus was to go to Ting, and I've decided to do that as well. Assuming you actually can stay on wifi, Ting *should* be much cheaper than Republic. Aside from that, the phone selection is much better. I'm currently deciding which iPhone to get.

Can't believe I missed that thread, thanks for the link!

I'm attracted to Republic for 2 reasons. 1. WIFI calls anywhere in the world are free. 2. if you don't connect with sprint network it then tries verizon, which seems to me logically then you get coverage of sprint+verizon.

Sprint+verizon SHOULD be better than both (but probably only very marginally better than verizon).

In reply to chrispy:

Good to know! I have an iPhone 5 now (which is a plus for Ting actually, since I think I can use it).

I was thinking about getting the Moto g (I had a feeling the camera would be crappy on the E, and the camera is one of the smartphone features I actually do use).

I think this depends on you Sprint coverage as ours (dropped them for ATT a little over a year ago) was terrible. I wouldn't feel so bad about it if I wasn't paying $110 a month for it. However, as you said, the two networks should pretty much fix that problem.

Ting is great if you have someone who is moderately careful. If can quickly turn into $30+ a month if you don't have access to wireless everywhere.

Wife and I use Republic. Service is just as good as when we had AT&T. Only difference we can see is that instead of paying $100+/month for our 3g service we are paying $50/month for the same level of service.

The two big downsides to Republic are:

1. You have to buy their phone

2. If you have an iPhone you have to turn off iCloud and wipe the iPhone accounts or you wont be able to receive or respond to texts from people that are sending to your old phone.