A couple of Republic Wireless Questions...

[GoCubsGo]

I'm starting phone service for my daughter and thanks to these forums, I've been looking at Republic and Ting.  I have a couple quick (dumb) questions:

On RW, do you need to enter the WiFi code when you "roam" to a new Wifi hotspot?  If she is walking down the street using the Sprint tower and walks into a place like Macy's which has free Wifi (but must type in a code), what will happen?  Will it prompt to her to enter a code mid-call?  Will it allow her to just stay on the Sprint tower?  Sprint is just OK in my area so the Wifi option seems like it might be better, but not if your stopping every 25 feet to enter a new Wifi code (as her route home from school will pass multiple free Wifi spots).  Dumb question, but I couldn't tell on their site.

Second question,  we are an Apple household and have iTunes with all our music.  If  we switch to RW she would be the only one using an Android based phone.  Would she be able to access iTunes or is there some other way to get the music onto the MotoG?  Not sure if some of you have been in this situation but I thought I'd ask.

[Bob W]

How lucky your daughter is!  When I was her age we had s rotary phone on a 4 foot cord on the wall.  Funny but I lived 40 years without a cell phone and never missed a thing.  lol

That said,  I recently purchased a Republic phone for my 23 year old daughter.   She has a few complaints.  It is not perfect.  But it is only $10 per month!   I will be switching our phones over as well.   

As far as the WiFi,  I'm pretty sure she only uses that at home or when on the web.  Her calls seem to work normal on the Verizon and Sprint networks.

Oddly,  she has two phone numbers show up.  One for each network and Republic says this is normal.

Regarding your home router question,  you may look at the Republic site under FAQs.  If it is not answered,  they will respond to an email after a few days.

Good luck to you and your daughter!

[frugalnacho]

It never prompts you to enter a password.  You manually navigate to the wireless section and it shows all available networks, and if you want you can click on one and enter a password.  Once you enter a password for a network it is stored.  I have not noticed any problem transitioning from wifi to cell or vice versa, it works seamlessly.  I have had a few issues with call quality and disconnects, but no more than I have had with any other cell service. 

I don't know about your itunes, I don't use itunes.  I use pandora to stream music, and have a few select albums in mp3 format on my phone for when i'm not in wifi.

[Daley]

Before you "invest" in a Republic handset, I highly recommend you give the Guide a read first, and read over my latest post dissecting Republic's price offerings. Since you're an iPhone house, maybe read this as well.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Second question,  we are an Apple household and have iTunes with all our music.  If  we switch to RW she would be the only one using an Android based phone.  Would she be able to access iTunes or is there some other way to get the music onto the MotoG?  Not sure if some of you have been in this situation but I thought I'd ask.

If you do go Android it is possible to convert the music files.

I have 1 apple product, an Ipod I purchased maybe 8 years ago for my wife. All of our purchased music is on there. Our smart phones are Android, and I've converted the music twice now in two different methods to accomplish this goal.

If you go into ITunes there is a function that allows you to create mp3 files from the iTunes files. Apparently they lose quality during the conversion. It's a 3-4 step process and there might even be a how-to within ITunes, I don't remember. It took me a few hours to convert a bunch of music but that was on a very slow computer and most of that time I was doing other things while the computer did the work.

[GoCubsGo]

Thanks guys... I.P- I noticed that you said in one post that Sprint iphones aren't officially supported by Ting.  Ting links directly to "purchase and iphone" through Glyde.  Would that mean they do support Sprint Iphones in your opinion?

I'm not an Apple fanboy by any means and think of phones as I would a washer/dryer (just want it to work well and not break).  The few iphones we have won't die and they just work.  I also think they are very sturdy and just feel more robust than some of the Samsung Galaxies (maybe I am a fanboy). 

My wifes plan is free (Iphone 5) and I'm on AT&T's grandfathered unlimited data plan (which they keep trying to get me to switch from).  It's really tough to make a call on my daughter plan as she doesn't need data (11 years old) and AT&T forces a data plan onto any smartphone (and is already outrageously expensive comparatively).  Sprint not having the best coverage in my area makes me think the RW option of Wifi calling will help mitigate the lack of Sprint's quality.  At the very least this will be good test before I decide to make a switch. 

Any other opinions would be appreciated regarding the call to Wifi handoff issue.  Republic's site unfortunately doesn't address it in the FAQ.

[Daley]

Sorry GoCubsGo, the info on the iPhones is a little dated. The 4/4s models can be activated on Sprint and Verizon MVNOs now, including Ting, EcoMobile and Page Plus.

It definitely sounds like an AT&T MVNO might be the better way to go given Sprint coverage, it'll free up some options.

Republic's site unfortunately doesn't address it in the FAQ.

There's a lot of things their FAQ doesn't actually cover. Take the time to read the legal boilerplate.

[twbird18]

The phone will not automatically switch you to wifi at a location that you have not previously used the wifi at. The call will continue as normal on the sprint network. The phone will log in without prompting to any network that you have previously logged onto for which you have either saved the password already or that doesn't require you to manually accept their rules or renter the password every time. For instance my phone seamlessly connects to my home network when I pull into the driveway, but at work, they require the password to be entered every time so I must do that. The phone will try to connect, but will be unable to authenticate until I either enter the password or tell it to forget the network...I.e. If i do neither I will not be connected to the internet at all because the phone thinks it's connected to the wifi and is therefore not on 3G anymore, but w/o the password it is not actually connected to that either.

The phone never prompts you to do anything. You must swipe down on the screen and select the network you want to use when you go to a new network and follow whatever prompts you get just like if you were on a tablet or laptop.