Google Fi Article

[tomk2]

I saw this at the bottom of the article:

Republic may be slightly bummed that I left them, but if they happen to read this I offer the following suggestions: add Wi-fi tethering to your service ASAP.

www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/09/20/google-fi-review

So, based on the new Republic business model (and current Google Fi business model), how is it beneficial to do Wi-Fi tethering with your phone? Aren't you still going to pay per byte of data used? It seems contradictory to his data warning mid article where he forgot to turn his wifi back on at home. I guess I'm asking if tethering is a "nice to have" feature, or if I'm missing some giant benefit.

Thoughts?

[AlanStache]

Tethering is basically a show stopper for me with a cell provider, if you travel a lot it is very useful to have wifi you trust in your pocket everywhere you go you can connect a laptop to.  I will not log into my bank using the free wifi at Parana.  But yes you can burn LOTS of data while tethered, sometimes this is a necessary expense.

You are right many people do not need tethering and for them it could only really be an expense.

Also if you use very little data at home (read - no Netflix) you can get rid of your home internet and only tether.  Republic/Google Fi might not be the way to go but a major carrier with 2-10 gigs/month may be more  than you need.  for example:
Republic + home internet: 20$ + 60$ = 80$,
Tmoble with data plain w/o home internet: 50$ where you tether your home computer to your phone as needed.

I did at one point look at getting republic and a data tethering device but the combine cost was about what I am paying with tmoble so was not worth upsetting the apple cart.  Google fi may be worth it for me.

[Johnez]

I can see how tethering might be a big deal for travelers, but that phone ain't cheap!

I don't really get the math behind the move. MMM uses less than 500 mb a month in data and easily falls under Republic's $17.50 plan. With Google FI he now pays $25 + the cost of a new phone. In two years time that adds up to $530-quite a few pints at the Wibby brewery. I think I'd rather make sure to turn the WiFi back on, that's a steep cost to pay.

[FIRE me]

So, based on the new Republic business model (and current Google Fi business model), how is it beneficial to do Wi-Fi tethering with your phone? Aren't you still going to pay per byte of data used? It seems contradictory to his data warning mid article where he forgot to turn his wifi back on at home. I guess I'm asking if tethering is a "nice to have" feature, or if I'm missing some giant benefit.

Thoughts?

Many cell providers won't allow any tethering because of unlimited or very high data limit plans. In such a circumstance, if you tethered, you could use your cell phone and cell plan as your home ISP. Or as a free Wi-Fi hot spot, wherever you happen to be.

But the giant benefit is that tethering can be a very useful thing to have, even if you pay dearly for the data. For example, when I spent a few days (24 hours a day) caring for my elderly mother at her home, I was able to tether my Ting cell phone to my laptop and thus make my days there much more pleasant.

I intentionally watched no videos, instead just web browsing news and forums. I used $12 worth of data, and to me it was worth every penny.

[kendallf]

I can see how tethering might be a big deal for travelers, but that phone ain't cheap!

I don't really get the math behind the move. MMM uses less than 500 mb a month in data and easily falls under Republic's $17.50 plan. With Google FI he now pays $25 + the cost of a new phone. In two years time that adds up to $530-quite a few pints at the Wibby brewery. I think I'd rather make sure to turn the WiFi back on, that's a steep cost to pay.

I think he's moving more for the international cell roaming than for tethering.  I'm considering the same since I travel internationally a fair amount and would love to have Google Maps when I'm riding up Malaysian mountains (as I did in March).

[enigmaT120]

I'm considering the same since I travel internationally a fair amount and would love to have Google Maps when I'm riding up Malaysian mountains (as I did in March).

I found I can download Google Maps of an area (if I know in advance I'll be going there) for off-line use.  It's nice for my wi-fi tablet which I take bicycling up on the logging roads.  Besides, there's no cell service where I go.

[AlanStache]

I'm considering the same since I travel internationally a fair amount and would love to have Google Maps when I'm riding up Malaysian mountains (as I did in March).

I found I can download Google Maps of an area (if I know in advance I'll be going there) for off-line use.  It's nice for my wi-fi tablet which I take bicycling up on the logging roads.  Besides, there's no cell service where I go.

I have done this, it can work well or poorly.  Can be a little hassle specifying where you will be and will need maps for (ie everything within 2hr of central Brussels...) and the interface for this changed a few times so each time I had re-google how to do it.  But worst was I had to turn on the cell data for the GPS to lock on each time I wanted to use it.  Still cheaper than dynamically pulling map info outside the US.  All in all locally saved maps are a great thing. 

[enigmaT120]

  But worst was I had to turn on the cell data for the GPS to lock on each time I wanted to use it.  Still cheaper than dynamically pulling map info outside the US.  All in all locally saved maps are a great thing.

What is with the cell phone needing cell service to get a location?  Do they not actually have a gps built in?  My tablet can't even use cell signals but it has a gps that works where ever I go.  But it's bigger than my friends I-phone so we just took his phone (and paper map and compass, thankfully!) on our back packing trip.  His phone was useless up there. 

[AlanStache]

  But worst was I had to turn on the cell data for the GPS to lock on each time I wanted to use it.  Still cheaper than dynamically pulling map info outside the US.  All in all locally saved maps are a great thing.

What is with the cell phone needing cell service to get a location?  Do they not actually have a gps built in?  My tablet can't even use cell signals but it has a gps that works where ever I go.  But it's bigger than my friends I-phone so we just took his phone (and paper map and compass, thankfully!) on our back packing trip.  His phone was useless up there.

Cell phone GPS can use cell towers to get a starting guess as to where in the world it is, this cuts down on the time required to get your initial position. 

My GPS running watch can take 10 minutes to get satellites when taken to a new area but can lock on in 20 sec when turned on near where it was turned off at.

sorry for the confusion.

[patrickza]

I found I can download Google Maps of an area (if I know in advance I'll be going there) for off-line use.  It's nice for my wi-fi tablet which I take bicycling up on the logging roads.  Besides, there's no cell service where I go.

Why not just use one of the offline GPS apps? I use Maps.me and Mapfactor Navigator.

Both allow you to select countries or areas from inside the app really easily. I travel all over Africa and it works great!