Risk the switch to Republic?

[giggles]

Not gonna lie, I love TING. But republic is tempting me….

I don’t us a smartphone. I have a blackberry style dumb phone from TING. I love their customer service.

My current usage is:
TALK: Max 684 Average 305
TEXT: Max 675 Average 457
For roughly a $20 bill.

I am worried about switching for Republic for a couple reasons. First, I mostly use my phone at work, and there are no wireless networks I can offload to here. I read this about the limits on Republic:

“your cellular network usage would be limited to 550 minutes, 150 texts, and 300 megabytes of data a month. Offload say 60% of your monthly device usage to Wi-Fi, and you find your cellular limit raised to 1,500 voice minutes, 500 text messages and 1,000 megabytes of data.”

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Republic-Wireless-Clarifies-Network-Limits-For-20-Wireless-117498

Do you guys think I could get away with Republic? Or am I too close to the limits and risk getting kicked off?

[nawhite]

Republic is unlimited everything. There was such a backlash from them calling it "unlimited" but actually having caps that they caved and removed all caps and truly do have unlimited service. You can read about it on their blog at https://community.republicwireless.com/blogs/republic/2011/12/22/unlimited (this post was made 3 days after the article you linked to).

The only limit I've heard rumors about is a roaming data limit of 100MB a month but I haven't seen anything official about it. If you live in Sprint's coverage area though, you are truly unlimited on Republic.

[giggles]

AWESOME!  I did not know that at all.  Thanks so much for the link!

[gimp]

I like RW. They've been good to me. The new phone looks sweet, but I'll keep mine for another year or three.

Our resident phone guy hates them and makes sure to let everyone know. He has some good reasons, and you should read them when he posts them.

[nawhite]

Our resident phone guy hates them and makes sure to let everyone know. He has some good reasons, and you should read them when he posts them.

His username is I. P. Daley and while I currently am a Republic Wireless customer, I'll let you know his biggest gripes with Republic:

1. Their customer support is kinda lacking. - The only way to get support is through their online forums. There is no phone number to call if you have trouble, you can only make a post on their forum and hope an employee takes a look and fixes it for you (after dealing with unhelpful drivel from the masses who think they can solve your problem). If you use this phone for a business, their support is likely not going to cut it.
2. Unless you need a lot of data, there are cheaper options. - For almost anyone with a reasonable amount calls and texts, you can get cheaper plans from other MVNO's. Also, if you actually are offloading your calling to wifi like they recommend, then you should be using a cheap home VoIP provider because that is MUCH cheaper.
3. You can't really resell a Republic phone or buy one second hand - The Republic phones only work on republic's service so you can't buy a different phone cheaply on ebay when yours breaks, or resell yours when you want to upgrade.
4. Republic doesn't interoperate with established standards for VoIP calling - Similar to number 3, if a device uses established standards for VoIP, it can be transitioned from one voip provider to another. There have been all sorts services which used proprietary technology and left their customers out in the cold when they went out of business. Republic Wireless falls into the "uses proprietary technology" category.

All of these are very legitimate concerns, but for me personally, I use a fair amount of cellular data, and I got a really good deal on the original phone purchase so the finances worked out for me personally. Search the superguide (https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/communications-tech-isps-voip-cell/) for more information about republic and see what other options are out there.

[rebecuna]

DH switched to Republic a few months ago, and while he's saving a ton over what we used to pay Verizon, he's had some serious problems. He bought the crap phone Republic sells less than 3 months ago, and it crashes maybe 10 times a day and he basically can never use it for internet. He complained to customer service and they offered him $100 off the new phone, which does seem like it will be much better, but that's still only half the price he paid for the original phone, which has lasted less than 3 months! I told him to reply and try to get $200 towards the new phone... we'll see.

I switched to PagePlus around the same time so I could keep my iPhone, and have noticed absolutely no difference in service. $30/mo instead of $80+ with Verizon. Thank you, MMM!

[chicagomeg]

Republic is unlimited everything. There was such a backlash from them calling it "unlimited" but actually having caps that they caved and removed all caps and truly do have unlimited service. You can read about it on their blog at https://community.republicwireless.com/blogs/republic/2011/12/22/unlimited (this post was made 3 days after the article you linked to).

The only limit I've heard rumors about is a roaming data limit of 100MB a month but I haven't seen anything official about it. If you live in Sprint's coverage area though, you are truly unlimited on Republic.

They throttle data after 5GB, but that's such an insane amount I can't even fathom it.

ETA: There is also throttling as you said at 100MB/month roaming. You can read about it in their terms & conditions. https://republicwireless.com/legal/terms-and-conditions

[gimp]

He bought the crap phone Republic sells less than 3 months ago, and it crashes maybe 10 times a day and he basically can never use it for internet. He complained to customer service and they offered him $100 off the new phone

They should be replacing the phone. I have the Defy XT and it crashes once a month on average (because it's not a very good phone, comparatively.) I can live with once a month.

If it crashes ten times a day and he can't use it for internet, either the phone is completely broken, or he's doing something very funny to it. If the forum community can't help him diagnose that he's doing something funny, it should definitely be replaced, not some bullcrap offer to upgrade. Definitely very screwy and don't put up with it!

[Left]

problem i see with republic is that by offloading the data to wifi... you are pretty much paying republic for letting you use your own wifi. And only provide call/text... You can do the same using a gsm phone + prepaid call/text only plans for cheaper and turn on wifi on your own. Then use one of the many voip apps while on wifi. Using something like google voice, you can keep numbers the same too

For the plans with data included, the price isnt much better. It'd be different if they made wifi hotspots around the town that you can use, but you have to use your own wifi or someone else's

[krenwren]

I have had RW for about a month now.  The call quality can be lacking at times but certainly good enough.  It's not so crappy that I am willing to go back to a major carrier.  I am saving for the MOTO X, I think this will improve the overall experience.  I have WIFI at home and at work so really could use the $10 plan and upgrade to the $25 plan if I am traveling and need 3G data.  If you are unsure, I think they have a 30 day trial period that you can use to see how well or poorly it works.  Good luck!