New 6T owner porting over to Google Fi

[sonicresidue]

Hi all. I recently ordered a 6T, it should be here tomorrow, along with a Google Fi sim card. I'm already on T Mobile so I suspect the experience will be about the same.

Can I go ahead and set up my new 6T with the Fi sim card, or is there any advantage to setting it up with my current t mobile sim and installing the Fi sim later?

 

[Rukbat]

No advantage at all, unless you have unlimited data with TMO and you use a lot of data. (And then you shouldn't have gone with Fi.)

 

[phillymade]

Fi will not switch between networks on this device, even though it is a newly added device, so you will only have TMO service

 

[sonicresidue]

Thanks. I have a 3gb plan with T Mo. Lately I've been going a bit over and my speed gets throttled, but then there are months were I don't, so the flexible nature of the Fi plan is appealing.

I almost bought a Pixel 3 just for the network switching. I've had good luck with T Mo coverage except for a couple places where I lose it in the building. I have no idea if having access to Sprint would've fixed that, but I also liked the lower price tag of the 6T

 

[Lepa79]

Thanks. I have a 3gb plan with T Mo. Lately I've been going a bit over and my speed gets throttled, but then there are months were I don't, so the flexible nature of the Fi plan is appealing.

I almost bought a Pixel 3 just for the network switching. I've had good luck with T Mo coverage except for a couple places where I lose it in the building. I have no idea if having access to Sprint would've fixed that, but I also liked the lower price tag of the 6T

I am a bit confused. So u have 2 lines or you are planning on switching to Fi and having just one number?

 

[sonicresidue]

I have one line with T-Mobile. I am switching to Fi and keeping that same number.

 

[Andrew_404]

Why not test out Fi with a second new number as a test for 30 days? I'm not sure if you'll see much of a difference. There's a lot of reviews out there and they seem to be the same between TMO and Fi.. I think you only benefit with the Pixel phone to be frank.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens to coverage etc once Sprint is purchased by TMobile.

 

[phillymade]

Let's not forget Fi also used US Cellular, an AT&T company. The advantage of 3 networks and hotspot switching is the reason to use Fi, but without a device that can do the swapping, your TMO service will not change with Fi. However, I see where you are coming from with the billing.

 

[Lepa79]

I have one line with T-Mobile. I am switching to Fi and keeping that same number.

Let's not forget Fi also used US Cellular, an AT&T company. The advantage of 3 networks and hotspot switching is the reason to use Fi, but without a device that can do the swapping, your TMO service will not change with Fi. However, I see where you are coming from with the billing.

OP, I have the OnePlus 6T and I understand why you got that phone. It is amazing. But about a week ago, I bought a Pixel 2 xl used from a friend and it is amazing phone as well. You could get a used one for $400 and even under. Just another idea.

 

[patruns]

Fi will not switch between networks on this device, even though it is a newly added device, so you will only have TMO service

I am not sure that is 100% correct. A Fi compatible phone will not auto switch networks in the middle of a call, but I believe it will switch networks while idle if a T-Mobile tower is out of range.

 

[ironass]

Hi sonicresidue!

I may have missed it in the thread but are you getting the single SIM OnePlus 6T from T-Mobile (USA) or the dual SIM global model direct from OnePlus?

 

[Lepa79]

I am not sure that is 100% correct. A Fi compatible phone will not auto switch networks in the middle of a call, but I believe it will switch networks while idle if a T-Mobile tower is out of range.

Only Google phones will be able to switch between networks. 6T will most likely connect to TMobile network and remain their even when you are in areas that you are losing the TMobile signal. I believe you will be able to manually switch to sprint though if you want to.

 

[sonicresidue]

Hi sonicresidue!

I may have missed it in the thread but are you getting the single SIM OnePlus 6T from T-Mobile (USA) or the dual SIM global model direct from OnePlus?

I purchased directly from one plus

 

[sonicresidue]

So some of you are suggesting it may be possible to manually switch networks even though it isn't officially supported? That will be interesting.

 

[sonicresidue]

OP, I have the OnePlus 6T and I understand why you got that phone. It is amazing. But about a week ago, I bought a Pixel 2 xl used from a friend and it is amazing phone as well. You could get a used one for $400 and even under. Just another idea.

Yeah I thought about this, but since I don't buy phones often, I tend to get something that is new and current. I was really swayed by the specs of the 6T when comparing phones.

 

[Lepa79]

So some of you are suggesting it may be possible to manually switch networks even though it isn't officially supported? That will be interesting.

You can manually switch for sure. It's just a matter for dialing the right code on your dial pad and you can switch networks manually. I used to do that sometimes on my Nexus 6p when I had Fi for about a year.

 

[Lepa79]

So some of you are suggesting it may be possible to manually switch networks even though it isn't officially supported? That will be interesting.

You can manually switch for sure. It's just a matter for dialing the right code on your dial pad and you can switch networks manually. I used to do that sometimes on my Nexus 6p when I had Fi for about a year.

Here are the notes I had from about couple years back when I has Fi. Not sure if the codes to do the manual switch has changed. They also I assume have US Cellular now.

dial *#*#34777#*#* (no need to hit call button) to force you to the Sprint network.
dial *#*#34866#*#* to force the you to the T-Mobile network.
dial *#*#342886#*#* to set your phone back to auto.

 

[phillymade]

I am not sure that is 100% correct. A Fi compatible phone will not auto switch networks in the middle of a call, but I believe it will switch networks while idle if a T-Mobile tower is out of range.

You are correct, not during a call, I was referring to the data network as far as the stronger signal in a given area.

 

[sonicresidue]

Here are the notes I had from about couple years back when I has Fi. Not sure if the codes to do the manual switch has changed. They also I assume have US Cellular now.

dial *#*#34777#*#* (no need to hit call button) to force you to the Sprint network.
dial *#*#34866#*#* to force the you to the T-Mobile network.
dial *#*#342886#*#* to set your phone back to auto.

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

 

[sonicresidue]

Phone is in my hands and set up. Google Fi setup went smoothly. Really thrilled with the device so far