Steely_D wrote: 
if i choose to share my data voluntarily or in exchange for a benefit or service provided, i'm ok with that

in my business i need client data for a point of reference to address any "gaps" and negate/counter risk

my doctor has gathered a massive amount of my data in an effort to help me stay healthy

and he gets paid very well to do it

so i have many relationships that are all voluntary (either party can say no and walk away) and they are mutually beneficial

i'm not concerned about people i do business with making a living (or profiting) if i can say no and end the agreement/contract

i can search for another that i approve of

i do worry that someone may "hack" my data and use in a negative manner (fraud, coercion, etc.)

i fear people that i can't say no to or that gather my data against my wishes, especially if they claim the right to initiate force, fraud or coercion against me if i'm peaceful

regards

 miamizsun wrote: 
Folks don't worry about handing over all their information (phone, thermostat via Nest, location via Waze, and many many more) to Alphabet/Google?
I know that right now they're benevolent but who will own this information in 30 years, and decide to use it to maximize corporate profits? 

$45 a month for an AT&T go phone, unlimited everything, no contract.  Got a free ZTE smartphone in the deal.  Works pretty well.

I have yet to pay for a cell phone, ever.

 miamizsun wrote: 
That's a much better price than a few months ago.

 aflanigan wrote: 
yeah i picked up the phone directly from project fi/google

32 gb for $249

16 gb for $199

this requires activation

 miamizsun wrote: 
My experience is similar to yours. Mostly loved my republic Moto X phone, but it had voice call issues with my home router that a new router didn't seem to resolve.

Am pleased with the Project Fi service and Nexus 5X phone, although I miss the "driving mode" feature that Republic phones had.

Price is right. Average monthly cost including taxes has been $30. I could probably knock that down a tad by caching music to listen to instead of streaming while walking around away from wifi.

Nexus 5X (the reasonable sized nexus) can be had for less than 300 US.

As far as Bokey's query, it seems like the only true no strings attached "unlimited" data plans are people who bought into Republic back when and are still customers (grandfathered). How many gigs would you want to stream per month? Could you do it mostly through wifi?

 miamizsun wrote: 
i decided to sign up for project fi

cellular coverage has been good so far

since project fi uses wi-fi when possible my cellular network data looks like it will be around 1 gig a month

which would be about $30 a month plus taxes

i'm using the nexus 5X 32 gb model that i like a lot

good battery life and the size is perfect for one handed use

and nexus is first in line for all of the available updates from android (if you want it)

so far i'm pleased

 sirdroseph wrote: 
I never owned a cell phone ever until I got this one. After breaking down in the middle of nowhere and taking 4 hours to get help I finally broke down and got this one for piece of mind. Its no contract so I can dump it any time I feel I don't need it anymore. I still use free Google Voice VoIP at home though. Using Cricket # $35/month (taxes included) with 2.5gb data. Very happy with it! I used my existing Moto X.

Are there any unlimited plans anymore? I'm going to be running around a lot this year and would like to have something to use as a hotspot for streaming baseball and Netflix without worrying about a surprise when the bill arrives.

Still zero!

$35/month no contract bring your own phone Cricket Wireless. 2.5gb data unlimited talk/text. ATT network. Sim was $0.99. Had it a year now and no complaints and best coverage I could find. Couldn't be happier with it. Sprint has no coverage here at all.

i've had republic for a couple of years now

saved some money and had decent service

however the last update seems to have caused me some hand off/connection issues

i could use a new phone so i have been looking at different providers (all ∩§λ approved of course)

currently project fi has a deal on the nexus 5X ($199 16 gb version and $249 for the 32 gb version and no contract)

$20 for unlimited talk and text

$10 per gig of data and credits for any unused portion

as i understand it, they use sprint and t-mobile networks (where i'm using sprint with republic now)

after looking at my profile i noticed that i'm using less than a gig of data  (everything is going through wifi for the most part)

so i'm probably going to give pro-fi a shot 

 Lazy8 wrote: 
there is a little disclosure of sorts right below the chart at technica

This chart is our best attempt at a big wrap up of comparable (and only comparable) pricing plans. There are many, many caveats about this chart. We tried to be as fair as we could, but:

• Not everyone offers pricing at different data levels, so we used the value for a higher level, the same way a customer would.
• Sprint and T-Mobile prices are for prepay, Verizon is on contract as an example of what that's like.
• We ignored false claims of "unlimited" data—this chart is only full-speed data. Straight Talk, T-Mobile, and Republic Wireless will let you keep using data at drastically reduced speeds. Straight Talk throttles at 3GB (and won't go higher) and Republic Wireless cuts out at 5GB.
• Straight Talk's "Talk and Text only" plan actually comes with 100MB of data.
• Ting's à la carte pricing makes it very hard to fit on this chart. We went with one device ($6), 500 minutes ($9), 100 texts ($3), and the stated amount of data. We had to pick something.
• Verizon's and Sprint's plans don't have a 5GB tier; we listed the price for 6GB.
• As noted, Project Fi gives you money back every month for unused data. It's also two networks. None of the others are two networks.

 DaveInVA wrote: 

I have a tracphone that I keep turned off and in the glove compartment for just such a thing.  You just have to keep buying time, I usually buy 3 months at a time for 20 bucks or something.

 sunybuny wrote: 
I've had Republic since October and am very happy with it. I live in an area with lots of WiFi available. It was actually a boon to have when I went skiing in Snowshoe, WVA, because the mountain is right next to a government radio station and so cell service there was nonexistent for anyone but ATT customers, but I had phone service via wifi with my Republic VOIP phone.

My monthly bill is  $28.90 (including tax)for unlimited talk text and data (3GLTE). I purchased the MotoX phone outright for $300 and am very pleased with it. You can amortize the up front expense over however many months you plan on keeping the phone and probably get some money back by reselling the phone when you switch or upgrade. I'll probably keep the phone 2-3 years, so the added cost is no more than $8-12 per month, even if I don't resell it.

When I say unlimited data, I mean unlimited. I streamed music (like RP and other internet stations) back in January while traveling to Key West, and it worked fine. I don't have to turn off the GPS antenna on the phone to save data when googlemaps or Waze is running. We used about 1.8 Gigs of cell data that month, and about 1.3 via WiFi. Ordinarily my numbers look different; about 200-300 Megs of Cell data, 3-4 Gigs of WiFi data per month.

I'm going to migrate my wife to Republic when her contract with AT&T is up. We will end up cutting our bill roughly in half, and she will have a smart phone, too!

 sirdroseph wrote: 
I have to admit though that after breaking down in the middle of nowhere in the Jag a few weeks ago it would have been nice to have a cheapy phone for calling for towing. And it would have to work with Verizon as they are the only carrier with full coverage along rt58 where I'm most likely to need it.

 DaveInVA wrote: 

You are not alone Dave!

 miamizsun wrote: 
This chart is out of date, at least for the Verizon bars. My bill for 2GB/month + AYCE voice & data is less than $70, including taxes (which these comparisons usually don't). 1 GB +AYCE voice & text is $45.

Zero as I have never owned a cellphone...