yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 6  General] zprankin:
I've been reading through the forum and the Project Fi waiting room thread kind of touches on my subject but there is some digging that has to be done to find post about how their experience has been so far now that they are on the Fi Network...

I've been activated for about a week now. So far the service has been pretty good. I spend most of my days on WIFI so it's a good fit for me. I've only had a few issues so far.

1. My office is really big with many APs, when on a call and walking through the building it gets confused on what it should do. As my phone switches between APs it will move the call over to cell towers and then back to wifi and the end user says that I am cutting out really bad...

2. When I don't have WIFI available and connected to the sprint network I cannot use data and talk on the phone at the same time.. I guess this is what all sprint users currently deal with and is a limitation of technology but I've been with ATT for a long time and am not used to this. I don't believe its just because they are CDMA. Verizon has been doing this for a while now, correct?

3. If I'm connected to the sprint network and on a call then move to an area where tmobile has better service, when I get off of the call my service will go unavailable for multiple seconds while it disconnects and reconnects to the tmobile network.

4. Slowness to send and receive sms/mms to other carriers. This is not recreateable and is random.. Maybe 5% of the time.

5. Reduced daily battery life. Maybe 15%ish.. I think I was able to correct a lot of this by limiting background data.

I don't think this thread is duplicated but if it is point me to the correct location.
[Nexus 6  General] crachel:
I've been activated since May 26. The only difference I notice between Fi and my previous carrier AT&T is the $50 I'm saving every month.

There were some minor hiccups at various points along the way. I had intermittent mobile data for about 48 hours and the first week for a couple days only Hangouts would ring, not the phone. Those problems are long gone now, though. As far as I'm concerned this is the best thing Google has done since Search.
[Nexus 6  General] darthmtb:
Project Fi user (4 months)

Project Fi is something I wish everybody had a chance to experience. Honestly it is one of the best cell providers in the US. Customer service is amazing, the cell service is great, maybe a few things here and there, but an overall really good experience for this being a beta. Google is doing a really good job! Keep it up
[Nexus 6  General] vega04:
Ive had Fi for 4 months, I live in a very rural part of Illinois. Service is great. I have a lot of 3g, but I am ok with that. I would never switch back to big red. Ive heard things about T-Mobile expanding more in my area so.. that would make my service even better..
[Nexus 6  General] jdk2:
I activated Fi in June and have had only minor issues related to network switching. They seem to have been resolved over time and I can't really see any difference in service than when I had TMO or VZW. I live in Orlando and don't travel extensively any more but coverage is more than adequate. And the savings are incredible.
[Nexus 6  General] mrw1215:
I've had it for a couple months, and I'm satisfied with the service. I noticed my data drops out in certain areas when I'm driving, but it works fine at places I spend most of my time at.

My signal at home is only so-so, as far as internet goes, but that doesn't matter much, as I'm on wi-fi at home, anyway. One minor annoyance I've run into, however, is that occasionally my Fi signal seems to die completely for a brief period of time, and when it does, it crashes whatever app I'm in. It's often during a game (and with my luck, it's usually when I'm doing well...). But it's not a huge deal or anything.
[Nexus 6  General] boomerbubba:
I've been on Fi since early August. Came from Sprint "unlimited" plan, which was not doing me much good because I can't get decent Sprint data coverage at my workplace. And of course I use WiFi at home. So the addition of T-Mobile made a much better network for me. In fact, the switching algorithm keeps me on T-Mobile most of the time as I am out and about town.

Overall, I doubt that the sum of the Sprint and TMO network footprints match the coverage of Verizon. The question is: Is it good enough for you for the price? With one big caveat (see below), for me the answer is yes.

The switching is not perfect, especially on roadtrips. I believe there is a learning algorithm baked in, which includes localized geofencing. But while this improves things over time in routine places, I don't think it works so well the first time you go elsewhere. Gratefully, at least for now, there are leaked -- and not officially supported -- dialer codes to force switching between Sprint and TMO when you must.

Coming from unlimited makes for a paradigm shift because now I pay for cell network data by the megabyte. This is very cost-effective for someone who can stay on WiFi most of the time. I do, so my bills are very low. But if you cannot do that, and you are a heavy data user, this plan is not for you.

The big caveat for me right now is that Marshmallow reportedly breaks data service on TMO Band 12, which is what reaches into my office building with Lollipop 5.1.1. That is why I am in no hurry to upgrade to 6.0 unless and until this gets fixed. B12 coverage is increasingly a big deal for TMO's network footprint. So without it, much of the benefit of a dual network would go away.
[Nexus 6  General] khanam:
I switched from t mobile unlimited. Whenever I'm on sprint on a call, data doesn't work so I manually force the phone to be on t mobile literally all the time which kind of defeats the purpose of having another network. I honestly don't think project fi is a significant improvement over just having t mobile. Adding sprint to fi is kind of like giving a crutch for a dwarf to a normal sized person. The reason I will stay on fi is because I don't believe Google well stop at t mobile and sprint only.
[Nexus 6  General] TiltedAz:
Been on fi for a few months now and overall it's been great. My bill has been a couple of bucks less than my prepaid $30/mo tmobile plan. Even though sprint has fairly good coverage in my area, I mostly connect to tmobile networks.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with just the sprint network. Even though sprint has about the same # of cell towers in my area, signal strength between sprint towers seems to drop off rapidly compared to tmobile's towers. To be competitive, sprint needs to have more than twice the cell tower density to compare to tmobile's coverage. But it's still good to know I have sprint as a backup.
[Nexus 6  General] tengtengvn:
I'd love to join Fi but t-mobile gave me such a good plan (grandfather discount). It will be a big lost if I leave.
[Nexus 6  General] mem4720:
I've been on Fi for about 5 months and have used it all over the US, South America, Europe and India. When roaming outside the US, it works exactly like the T-Mobile service it replaced. When I'm home and it runs on Sprint, it sucks. Phone doesn't ring and I miss texts. My service is actually better when I put the SIM card in a T-Mobile phone that can't switch to Sprint.
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
i did sign up to fi, and got invited. and i did tell them j wanted to use fi. so they sent me a sim, and the "gifts". but i have no wifi at home, and i average about 25-40gb a month in data usage(tmobile, unlimited). i did the math in my head and it just didnt make any sense to me to switch. i definitely would, but the data costs are just to high. so i wrote them explaining about my data use, and they thanked me. and i havent been bugged by them in the last 2 months at all.
[Nexus 6  General] ECrispy:
I'm on Verizon unlimited old plan and with great regret decided to try out Fi since they are increasing the price. I don't think anyone can match Verizon's network and I'm paying a reasonable $55 incl taxes. I wish I used more data, I hear people use 6-10GB on average on these unlimited plans, I guess I don't travel as much.

I am sort of afraid what Fi will mean since its after all a beta service. As an MVNO it is not price competitive, $10/GB is a lot for an MVNO to charge, Cricket is much better pricing, but I dont have their signal at home.
[Nexus 6  General] bmwjnky:
I'm glad to see the positive experiences with Fi. I ordered my Nexus 6 and Fi SIM card at lunch today and will activate Fi in a couple weeks once I get a credit back from T-mobile and can properly close my account with them. I'm looking forward to saving about $60 a month with Fi.
[Nexus 6  General] Schoat333:
I've been activated since June. I came from T-mobile, so the change was all benefit for me in terms of coverage. I came from a Nexus 5 which doesn't have band 12 support. It was nice to be able to use T-Mobiles band 12 once I was on fi with the Nexus 6.

I rarely see sprint in my area, since T-Mobile is much better, but when I get out into the country, I have been connected to sprint where I used to have nothing at all. That's a plus. Also, sprint service allows roaming on Verizon 1x towers, and I have been connected to Verizon a few times.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
I got a Fi invite instantly yesterday.

My N6 is stock unrooted Lollipop LMY48T, and uses my Verizon unlimited data SIM, my T-Mobile "WalmartPlan" $30 5gig SIM, or my cricket/aio prepaid SIM, depending.

I only use Google Voice through Hangouts for all my calls, so unlimited talk is not important to me.

If I order a Fi SIM, will I still be able to switch Sims freely or does the phone get locked to Fi only ?

I have heard some rumor that if I accept a Marshmallow OTA or sideload the M images, I will lose T-Mobile band12 LTE. Hope that is not true, since T-Mobile seems to be moving from band4 to band12 everywhere now.
[Nexus 6  General] boomerbubba:
The loss of data on Band 12 has been reported by several users who flashed the Marshmallow build. Apparently the difference is in the radio module, because some of them have reported that Band 12 data service is restored by flashing back to one of the latest Lollipop radios on top of the new build.

We don't know if this is by design or a bug.

I have no personal experience myself because I remain on 5.1.1 build LYZ28M.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
Seems like going to Marshmallow would be a huge problem for Fi users, then, unless Fi doesn't use band12 LTE?

For quite a while the Nexus6 was almost the only phone out that would support T-Mobile band12, except for a couple of Samsung's. Big part of why I bought mine.
[Nexus 6  General] boomerbubba:
Yes, it is a big open question right now. Google and Fi management have been silent about it. The issue may or may not be related to Google's need to certify the new Nexus devices for use on the TMO network directly (using T-Mobile SIMs). We don't know how these requirements relate to the Fi-TMO MVNO agreement, if at all.

It may be that there is just a bug in the Marshmallow 6.0 radio.
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
Several Verizon users have reported (a thread in Q&A section) difficulty returning to VZW from Fi.
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
its difficult to return to verizon after using any carrier, even if you left the country for a little, then came back. but the solution is always the same, factory reset the phone. verizon really does suck.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
I switch back and forth between Verizon and T-Mobile and Cricket prepaid just by swapping in the sims and changing some mobile network preference setting on my xt1103. Never experienced any problems. Its easier than on my Verizon LG G3 vs985 because on that one I have to re-add APN settings too. It seems to forget non-Verizon APNs when the Verizon sim is inserted...
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
well, you should explain how you do it, because i read a lot of this issue from verizon users. im on tmobile myself, so i cant really help..
[Nexus 6  General] Harry44:
I have been on Fi since the beginning of August. The service thus far has been pretty good. I have full coverage in all the major areas I go. When traveling there is usually approximately 15 minutes where I have no service what so ever. My bill has ranged from 27$-44.33. I am not sure if I am going to stay with Fi or not yet. I really hope to see band 12 on tmobile being reactivated for fi. If I leave I will go to Straight Talk. I have a plan that I get 5gb of high speed data (throttled after that) on Verizons network for $45 a month. I feel I can get more data for my buck going with Straight Talk.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
I wish I could help other Verizon users, but really all I have to do is turn off my N6, pull out the non-Verizon sim, put in the old trimmed Verizon sim with its unlimited data, power the N6 back on.

It immediately connects to Verizon.
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
i hear ya, as thats all i would do on tmobile as well. but im talking about these kinds of threads(new one just posted, i linked your answer btw).. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=3226358
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
I just tested by removing my Verizon sim, inserting my Cricket/AIO sim, powering up. After a few seconds it connected via LTE to Cricket's AT&T network. Sent a text. Powered back down and reinstalled the Verizon sim. When I rebooted, I went in to change Preferred Network Mode to LTE/CDMA because it had changed itself to Global with the Cricket sim.

Writing you this message via the Verizon LTE connection now.

Maybe these other folks are using xt1100 Nexus6 phones or have a special T-Mobile or AT&T firmware flashed ?

Marshmallow is supposed to unify that.

Odd thing...when I rebooted into the Cricket sim, I immediately got offered a Marshmallow OTA ! I declined, though, because I want to be able to use band12 on Fi ! Back on topic :)
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
na, att sold phones are exactly the same, just the attt branding, thats all.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
Huh...now I am back on my Verizon sim, the OTA I was offered when on the Cricket sim is GONE ! I am now up to date, from Verizon's point of view. Weird.

It's the same update, to Marshmallow.

I think I will try with the T-Mobile sim !
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
verizon probably didnt approve the update yet?
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
FWIW: AT&T sold (and branded N6) are also carrier locked to AT&T. You can get them unlocked, but only after they are fully paid off and/or you are out of contract.
[Nexus 6  General] trent999:
Could be. With the T-Mobile sim in now, no update either. Strange that of the big 3, only AT$T is willing to OTA update my Nexus6 so far.
[Nexus 6  General] Harry44:
Should I leave Fi? What do you guys think. One part of me thinks its good I'm not using my phone as much as I used to. I use to be around the 5+ gig mark. Now since joining Fi I have really limited my usage while out. Now I'm under a gig a month. I don't know what to do!
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
right. but still the exact same device, regardless.
[Nexus 6  General] cam30era:
Yes. We absolutely, 100% agree.
[Nexus 6  General] simms22:
:victory:

lol, how uncommon is that on xda?

---------- Post added at 08:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

if you have to limit your data usage, then it wouldnt be worth it for me.
[Nexus 6  General] TokedUp:
Been on Fi since June. NYC. Love it. Never had a single issue. Saving ton of money. WiFi calling/SMS is great. I "highly" recommend.
[Nexus 6  General] uploder:
switched from Tmo to Fi. 2 bills in and so far my experience has been great. Never thought I was gonna leave Tmo. It came down to price in the long run. Tmo offered data stash but my usage was no more than 3gbs a month ( that being on the heavy side of my usage;mostly on wifi at home & work) so that coupled with the fact I was paying $58ish with taxes I knew I could do better bill wise with Fi. Luckily coverage is great with Tmo and ok with Sprint in my area. Honestly the only "issue" I have is my phone connects chooses sprint sometimes over Tmo and I use Fi Spy to force back to Tmo. Im totally nitpicking btw. My current cycle ends on Saturday and so far im at 0.82 GB of data usage. Yep Fi is awesome.
[Nexus 6  General] scryan:
ONLY works on VZW if you have VoLTE activated. Using the regular cell connections, no simultaneous voice and data. I think ATT does not do volte

I DISAGREE, I AGREE WITH PEOPLE ALL THE TIME.
[Nexus 6  General] reaper000:
I'm about to do the exact opposite as you! Currently on Straight Talk VZW because where I work, VZW was always acknowledged as having the best coverage in that area. Fewest dropped calls and all of that.

Well, that's definitely true for VOICE coverage with the CDMA signal hovering above -80 but the DATA signal with XLTE was nearer -105; ATT definitely had better LTE signal than VZW there. And Straight Talk ATT could head above 10MBps while VZW is stuck at 5MBps.

All I'm saying is be careful of the reputation of each carrier based on what people report.

Just more info for you to make your decision...
[Nexus 6  General] Wdustin1:
I have only had one day but it keeps trying to default to sprint, even though T-Mobile is leaps and bounds better here. I have to force T-Mobile then go back to auto switching and it will stay for a while but if I turn my phone off and back on it will go straight to sprint and stay on sprint. It don't make any since
[Nexus 6  General] dberthia:
Been on Fi now for a day. Everything is working wonderfully. Transferred a number from Verizon, and it was activated within 10 minutes of replacing the SIM. It's correctly sensing I have a better connection with Sprint at home and T-Mobile at the office, and is switching accordingly. At home, I'm actually getting a stronger signal than I did with Verizon (Saint Paul, MN). Did a bit of GPS navigation and Google Music streaming while out last night, and had no hiccups whatsoever. So far I couldn't be happier. BTW, I made this move since I was one of Verizon's customers who are being hit with the extra $20 for unlimited data.
[Nexus 6  General] OctoPI:
I've been on Fi for about 10 days now (ported over from T-Mobile postpaid, without issues). Using SIM version 1.

Signed up for 2GB. Used up about 0.5GB of data so far. I'm usually on Wi-Fi.

Fi was working perfectly on LYZ28M.

I sideloaded MRA58K and haven't run into any issues on Marshmallow either.

Overall, I am VERY happy with the switch. :D

:good:
[Nexus 6  General] dberthia:
I should also mention that I was already on MRA58K prior to switching over to Fi, and didn't have any issues.
[Nexus 6  General] zerosource:
I lost my google voice number after activated project fi. Dang it! pressed wrong button.
[Nexus 6  General] WhammyDroid:
Oops....

Thankfully I didn't do that.
[Nexus 6  General] wclark57:
Perhaps this helps: http://www.droid-life.com/2015/10/22/activating-a-nexus-6p-or-5x-on-verizon-some-things-to-know/
[Nexus 6  General] johnciaccio:
They definitely have been improving a lot lately. i Have received a call via my works public wifi and made a call that was routed automatically through my home wifi. First time in the three months I have had fi service.
[Nexus 6  General] ECrispy:
My concern with Fi is I'd have to give up my VZW unlimited. And $10/Gb is a pretty steep price. I've also noticed that on Android its so easy to burn thru data. You can't even run speed tests as they use up 100MB at least which is $1 in Fi. So you have to turn off all syncing, watch what you do and make sure you kill apps. And goodbye to any streaming.

I'm doing this due to the $20 price increase but having 2nd thoughts now.
[Nexus 6  General] OctoPI:
I switched because, in my case, I hadn't gone over 2 gigs/month over the last 6 months, so it made sense for me to try Fi. I wasn't streaming much if at all when I was on T-mobile unlimited. I'm saving money which is what I wanted. Won't work for everyone, however.
[Nexus 6  General] ECrispy:
I don't use much data (2-3GB) but my Vzw bill is not that high compared to what you'd pay now, I don't have unlimited calls/texts, its an old plan they stopped offering years ago. Also I could use tethering a lot more than I currently do.
[Nexus 6  General] reaper000:
Gotta say that there's room for improvement in their switch algorithm (read "Fi has a terrible switch algorithm") that preferentially picks a weaker Sprint 3G signal over a still usable Tmo LTE signal. I've got screenshots to prove it. Same location, one network right after the other.

Even worse, Fi will return to Sprint automatically even after I've forced Tmo use via calling codes. I've finished a conversation on a Tmo signal and tried to call someone else immediately after, only to have "no cellular service" because Fi is trying to switch to a nonexistent Sprint signal. After 3 min of that, and then getting on Sprint (but still no cell service) I had to force TMo (another minute of waiting for the handoff) and THEN I could make my call. I'm sorry, but that's total crap.

I'm going to forward this post to Fi support, though I'm not sure what they can do to rectify this problem.
[Nexus 6  General] wolfen69:
Haven't had any problems here.
[Nexus 6  General] kisrita:
I am on my first few days. Works great in the US; CT, Boston and Detroit airports, but I only got edge speeds in Beijing, China. I am trying it primarily so I don't have to switch sim cards traveling. But it's actually more expensive for me since I was on the walmart 5 gb for $30 plan and I hardly ever use the phone for voice calls. I'm still undecided whether or not I'm keeping it.
[Nexus 6  General] khanam:
I have had similar issues. Their algorithm prefers a substantially inferior battery draining sprint signal over a better t mobile signal and even over a phenomenal WiFi signal. I have a poor T-Mobile signal and horrific sprint signal at home and the stupid phone keeps putting me on the worst available networks (sprint). I've taken to keeping the phone on airplane mode at the house but with WiFi on to force all calls onto WiFi. And seamless switching between calls, not so much. That is probably a myth. I've enough dropped calls to doubt that statement.

I'm not convinced Google knows what it's doing yet. We are probably paying too much for being Guinea pigs. Might have to switch back to just t mobile. Adding sprint to a service that already has tmo is like giving a crutch designed for a 5ft tall Asian to a 7ft tall Zulu with a broken leg. Completely pointless. No idea how anyone can survive on just sprint.
[Nexus 6  General] machinist25:
Second day with Fi. I'll echo the point made above that the switching algorithm seems reluctant to go to WiFi over a lousy signal. I'm at work where the cell signal sucks (it was great with att) but I have a good WiFi. I had to go into airplane mode to make a call. Why doesn't it default to the obviously superior signal?
[Nexus 6  General] mitchell4500:
4 days with project fi. Everything is okay except I STILL cannot send texts. Google keeps promising me they will fix it but it has been 4 days now.
[Nexus 6  General] DriveEuro:
Week and a half here. Northern Chicago suburbs.

At work, it sucks for me. But my work only has 3G cell repeaters. They have all carriers BUT TMobile. So I find my phone struggling to find a signal between incredibly weak TMO LTE or 3G and Spring LTE and 3G repeated through my building. Don't get me wrong, my situation is far from normal.

Outside and and home, it sits primarily on Sprint LTE for me. Driving through the farm lands it tends to switch too frequently between carriers. Often can not make back to back calls.

WIFI calling and texting works great in my work where some areas don't get cell coverage.

Also, join the beta group for Fi-Spy. Shows you in the notification bar whether you're currently connected to TMO or Sprint. Very useful.
[Nexus 6  General] boomerbubba:
Fi Spy is an interesting work in progress. But I find my trusty SignalCheck Pro gives me better data. Its notification icon shows both band number and signal strength in dBm. Once you know which band belongs to which network, the carrier icon used by Fi Spy is a waste of space and battery.