Leaving Verizon for Fi

[pjo1966]

I just bought an unlocked Pixel 2 XL. I'm currently on Verizon but am thinking of switching to Fi. Can anyone in Los Angeles provide insight as to the Fi coverage here? I've found that Verizon's coverage is great, but I wouldn't mind cutting my bill down.

 

[anon(181017)]

Probably not the feedback you were hoping for as I live in the midwest, not LA, but since no one has responded thought I'd give you my 2 cents. As you probably know, Fi uses T-mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular, picking the best signal but seems to default to T-mo when all are available. I would have to imagine T-mo is very good in LA, they seem to have great coverage in major cities. Sprint seems to have good coverage in most major cities as well, not sure about US Cell but that's what usually covers me when I venture out of Des Moines into more rural areas.

I will be travelling to LA for work sometime in the next couple months, so will report back then if you're still waiting for feedback. I'd say go for it though, I switched from Verizon to Fi 6 months ago and couldn't be happier.

 

[pjo1966]

Probably not the feedback you were hoping for as I live in the midwest, not LA, but since no one has responded thought I'd give you my 2 cents. As you probably know, Fi uses T-mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular, picking the best signal but seems to default to T-mo when all are available. I would have to imagine T-mo is very good in LA, they seem to have great coverage in major cities. Sprint seems to have good coverage in most major cities as well, not sure about US Cell but that's what usually covers me when I venture out of Des Moines into more rural areas.

I will be travelling to LA for work sometime in the next couple months, so will report back then if you're still waiting for feedback. I'd say go for it though, I switched from Verizon to Fi 6 months ago and couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the response. I did give it a try last week. Unfortunately the signal was never as strong as Verizon's. There was one instance where I had zero bars of Fi and two or three on VZW. I can see the service being suitable for personal use, but my phone is also my business line. When a missed call can cost me thousands of dollars, I'm not willing to take any chances.

According to Fi's coverage maps, I'm in a solid green area. In reality the signal was just not strong enough. I'm disappointed. I really wanted it to work, not just for the savings but because I like new tech.

 

[anon(181017)]

Thanks for the response. I did give it a try last week. Unfortunately the signal was never as strong as Verizon's. There was one instance where I had zero bars of Fi and two or three on VZW. I can see the service being suitable for personal use, but my phone is also my business line. When a missed call can cost me thousands of dollars, I'm not willing to take any chances.

According to Fi's coverage maps, I'm in a solid green area. In reality the signal was just not strong enough. I'm disappointed. I really wanted it to work, not just for the savings but because I like new tech.

That's too bad, I'll be interested to see how my service is in LA in a couple months.

One other thing you could try, if it's not too late, is use the app Signal Spy which allows you to see which of the 3 carriers you're on, and manually switch to try a different one. So if your phone is defaulting to T-mobile but Sprint is better in that spot, you could give it a try. You can also manually force networks by inputting dialer codes, I'm sure you could find on google. I've used it a couple times to switch carriers, but not often enough to have a feel for how often you have to do it - i.e. if you force it to a "stronger" carrier, how long before it switches back.

Sounds like Big Red is unfortunately your best bet though, definitely understand the importance of not missing business calls. As a ~2GB/mo user I'm seeing decent savings, but the biggest advantage for me is how simple the billing statement is on Fi. Calls & Texts $20, 2GB Data $20 (or exact amount if you're +/-), Taxes & Fees $3.83. That's it. Verizon always seemed so convoluted with all the little "names" they had to give every aspect of the bill. Of course I always had a device payment with VZ too which added to it, but bought a Pixel outright for Fi.

 

[pjo1966]

I've already cancelled my Fi service. Someone else had suggested Signal Spy, bit I'm not interested in babysitting my phone to see if I could get a better signal. I need for it to "just work". I would be happy to give Fi another go in the future if they add more carriers. For now I'll need to stick with VZW.

 

[ChuckG73]

Left Verizon for Fi in Richmond VA and am very happy so far....