GoogleFI As Service Provider

[Doug Gray]

My wife and I will be sailing primarily in Greece and Turkey next summer and are looking for peoples experience using GoogleFI as their cell phone service provider and we would like to keep our current US based phone number. If there is anyone out there with any experience good/bad/ugly please let us know. Is it an affordable option? Many thanks in advance.

[Dsanduril]

We used GoogleFi for three years in about 30 countries. Overall it was a reasonable experience. The $20/month was reasonable to maintain a US phone/text number anywhere we went. The international calling rates were also OK in most cases given the convenience (but check each country specifically).

The $10/GB for data is almost extortionate compared with anyplace else in the world. Even the $60 for 15GB is expensive. So, for checking a few emails it’s fine, but for larger data usage we always got a local SIM for data. Also used a local SIM for calls to the US if we had a lot of them, many had free international calling which was cheaper than the Fi.

Our experience was that even when we had service the phone would only ring about one time in three for incoming calls, but all the people we dealt with got used to us calling them back within a few minutes. Outgoing calls were generally fine.

So, short story, it’s OK (and relatively reliable) for minor use and to maintain that US number access, but for heavy use it got expensive.

This year we switched to using an online service to maintain our US number for a small fee and just use local phones now.

[LLCoolDave]

Data is expensive for Google fi. So it's a bit tricky. I use Google fi along with whatsapp, a google number (which can't be used with google fi) and a local sim number if you are staying in country for longer than a month. When you get a local sim you can pause your google fi account and hold your number and use whatsapp with your us number. You have the separate google number which you can use on any device and the local sim gives you local data rates which you can use with WhatsApp or your google number. Makes sense?

[john61ct]

Fi is fantastic for convenience, for text & voice services, and for places like the US & Canada,

where prepaid data rates per GB are kept stupidly high by their regulatory regime.

I'm sure there isn't a better value global MVNO out there.

But, if you use lots of GB per month, especially in most places outside of the US / Canada, getting a local SIM & dealing with the provider directly will save **lots** of money per month

But the actual crossover point where those savings are worth the hassle is affected by lots of variables unique to each of us and the location.

[TBW]

switched to google fi from att a little over a year ago. bill dropped from 250 to around a hundred. no roaming, no tethering; all of the overseas places i called were extremely reasonable. used it in the bahamas; connected about 20 miles from towers with booster. also have netgear router that gives me wifi easily on the boat. no minuses fro us.

[SteveSadler]

We used local sims there but data is expensive. Switched to Team Mobile unlimited data, cheap calls for about $100 month.

[DMCantor]

In the Caribbean, a Digicel SIM gives you data for about US$8.00/gig, a bit less than Google Fi. But no cap at US$60/month, and it doesn't work on the French islands. So for us it seems a wash, and the convenience of Fi is worth it.

[Apollo366]

I had Google Fi for several months, one day I couldn't make calls, went to Sprint store, my old provider, and they said outages were very common on Fi.

I switched back to Sprint but at higher monthly cost than before.

[northwestsailor]

We are using GoogleFi currently. IMHO it is better overseas than US. We have the unlimited plan now so data overseas will be readily available. Of course so far we have only tried it in Norway and other European countries so perhaps in other countries where GF partners will not be so strong may be an issue. In US unless you have a special Google phone service with an iPhone for example is limited to the T Mobile network. As we all know that network is not as good as Verizon nor ATT but we have been pleasantly surprised more than once.

[Rough Magic]

I'm using T-Mobile ONE 55+. Iv'e used it in US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Morocco. Excellent coverage, unlimited data (slower speed) and texts, $0.25 a minute to call anywhere when outside US. At the end of a trip, I'm the one using the Google map, etc. as the rest have used up their allowances. Best plan I've ever had.

[CarlF]

I also found Google FI only so-so in the US. Slow data speeds outside of cities. And too expensive if you are a big data user.

Tmobile is a great way to have a US phone number, texts and email worldwide but the data is unusably slow in most areas. And it's not cheap. Still, it can be paired with a second phone or hotspot with a local sim and you have a great combination.

But my favorite solution would be to port your US phone number to a free Google Voice account and have it send an email or SMS when anyone leaves a message. You can move the number back to a US cell company when your return.

Then setup WhatsApp with the Google Voice number for texts.

Next, get a new US number with a VOIP provider like Skype. In the Google Voice answering machine message give people the new number so they can call it if they don't want to leave a message.

Then get a local SIM with lots of data - that will also give you a local phone number which is very useful.

[chouliha]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Fi is fantastic for convenience, for text & voice services, and for places like the US & Canada,

where prepaid data rates per GB are kept stupidly high by their regulatory regime.

I'm sure there isn't a better value global MVNO out there.

But, if you use lots of GB per month, especially in most places outside of the US / Canada, getting a local SIM & dealing with the provider directly will save **lots** of money per month

But the actual crossover point where those savings are worth the hassle is affected by lots of variables unique to each of us and the location.

I totally agree with the above comments.

BUT I do feel that Google Fi has the worst customer service i have ever experienced from a US provider. We have issues with both phones and service and filed numerous problem tickets after 6 months they just stopped responding even after repeated emails and calls. So if you ever have a problem good luck getting it resolved.

Our problem .... Both phones show a different name other than ours when we make the call. Most of the time people won’t answer since it shows Dwayne Bacon........

[Bleemus]

Love my Google Fi phone. Stateside my bill is usually around $27. Worst bill I saw was $60 in the Bahamas. I don't talk on the phone often and mostly communicate by text. Wifi extender on boat keeps data costs down.

I am usually sipping a cocktail in the cockpit while everyone else is out finding Sim cards. Lol.

Thumbs up.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by chouliha

Our problem .... Both phones show a different name other than ours when we make the call. Most of the time people won’t answer since it shows Dwayne Bacon........

Very convoluted system service called CNAM and Fi does not control it, actually the **receiving** provider that does, CNAMs are not centralized databases. A carrier can choose from many different CNAMs. Each CNAM maintains its own private database on phone number/name pairs in the United States and abroad.

there is no central authority or regulation for caller ID. No FCC guidelines regulate carrier accuracy, and although federal regulations exist regarding telemarketers and spoofing, carriers can maintain their caller ID databases as they see fit.

patched-together network of decentralized databases that frequently operate with outdated information.

Google Fi does not submit names to the CNAM databases. However, some databases contain old stale data. If the person you called sees a name that isn't correct, the only thing you can do is to contact Fi support to remove the bad/old data from the database, it will not be replaced with new data.

So, request a new number. Buy a new one, or even better, port one in that you've owned a long time,






.

,

*

[https://www]

How Is the Caller ID Phone Number Determined?

The phone number displayed by caller ID is determined by the calling party. For a landline, the displayed number corresponds to the phone number that's registered to the line. For a PRI or SIP connection, the phone system can actually control what number gets displayed on a case-by-case basis.

How Is the Caller ID Name Determined?

The caller ID name is determined by the receiving carrier. The receiving carrier queries a CNAM database to determine the name registered to the provided phone number.

What Is a CNAM?

CNAM (“Calling*NAMe”) is an outside telecom service that phone companies use to pair incoming numbers with names. Unlike phone numbers, CNAMs are not centralized databases. A carrier can choose from many different CNAMs. Each CNAM maintains its own private database on phone number/name pairs in the United States and abroad.

How Many Characters Does a Caller ID Display?

A caller ID outputs up to 15 ASCII characters to display a name, and a typical display name is 9 to 12 characters. The phone number is usually displayed as a ten-digit number.

How Do I Change My Business Caller ID Name and Number?

It's possible to request changes to your caller ID name and phone number, with varying layers of customization, depending on your phone provider. Some providers require you to call a customer service representative to make a request. Other providers allow you to*change caller ID data directly from an online interface.

Landline Phone Numbers

The caller information for Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) lines is tied to the physical wires connected to the phone company's central switch. For this reason, analog lines will always display the number that's associated with the line itself.

You can change the display name for an analog line by requesting a name change for the number associated with that line. This process will likely involve calling your customer support line and speaking to a phone company representative to request a manual change.

VoIP Phone Numbers

Unlike landline services, VoIP services allow you to modify the caller ID display number in addition to the name. Some providers even allow you to configure this information directly via a web interface, without needing to contact a support representative.

Hosted VoIP*companies typically send caller ID name updates to the central CNAM databases within 24 hours. As far as phone numbers go, VoIP lines do not have the same wire/number pairing as analog lines do. A VoIP service can usually pass any phone number of your choosing to the person you're calling.

However, this number will still get cross-referenced with the caller's CNAM service, so the CNAM name associated with that number will be displayed. VoIP services do pass a name identifier with caller ID info, but most carriers do not display that data unless it's a SIP to SIP (extension to extension) call.

Most landline services apply the same name and phone number across users, but some VoIP providers allow you to apply unique caller ID name/numbers to individual users within the phone system. This feature is helpful for security, caller authentication, and customization purposes.

[https://www]

Why Is My Caller ID Info not Updating?

Ultimately, it comes down to how quickly the new data is related to a CNAM and how fast the other carriers pick up on the change. Getting the data to the CNAM can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few days; getting it to the other CNAMs can take much longer.

If you call someone and her carrier happens to be on the same carrier or on the same CNAM, then your caller ID info should update almost right away. However, for other CNAMs, the updates could take up to several weeks.

The best you can do is to make sure that your phone company has updated your information to its CNAM and then wait for the changes to circulate. Unfortunately, there is currently no expedited option.

Can Caller ID Information Be Faked?

With Internet calling technology, caller ID is prone to camouflage and spoofing. The most important thing to remember is that caller ID is not a feature that confirms a caller's identity. It's really an estimate designed to give you context as to who is trying to contact you.

Caller ID: Who's Calling?

Caller ID remains a staple of every type of phone service. That's why you should do your best to make sure your business gets represented properly by caller ID information. Otherwise, if the person you're calling finds your name unrecognizable or unprofessional, he will simply avoid the phone call. This can cost you business and respectability.

Because caller ID is not federally regulated, you never know how long it will take before your new information is properly displayed on all of your outbound calls. However, it is still a valuable and worthwhile investment to go through this process to ensure that your business is accurately represented wherever possible. Make those characters and digits count.

How Does OnSIP Caller ID Work?

We offer*caller ID for our OnSIP customers, and we don't charge extra for it. We offer this feature by querying a reputable CNAM database.

On an inbound call, the call is sent to us, often from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), with a ten-digit number sent from the caller's provider. We take that number and look it up in the CNAM database to which we subscribe, and if it’s associated with a name, we send it to the OnSIP callee's registered phone(s) for display. Usually, the name is between 9 and 12 characters. If there is no information on file, we send a best approximation of the geographic area for the phone number (e.g., New York, NY).

Outbound caller ID works the same way: We send the number to the PSTN, and the callee's provider does the lookup against its database, which may not be the same as ours.

If the callee's provider uses the same CNAM database as we do, chances are the caller ID name you have set in your account or user record will accurately appear there. We send all subscriber updates that OnSIP users make to our CNAM provider every night, and the changes can show up quickly—in as little as 24 hours. However, the information may take a while to propagate to other CNAM databases. So if an OnSIP customer updates her caller ID settings, the change will be quickly evident if she calls someone whose telephone service provider uses the same CNAM database.

Unfortunately, if the callee's provider uses a different CNAM database, the change may not be evident for weeks. When a call is made to a cell phone, most times the phone does a lookup against the contacts in the phone’s address book, and if the number isn’t there, will display “unknown.” This varies across providers, so check the service level of the individual provider for exact information.

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[Bleemus]

I contacted Fi about this issue and the best they could do was change my Caller ID to "Wireless Caller".