My master plan on leaving Verizon

[Droidintorrance]

OK... finally got some more time, just right, now... playing around with Groove, Google Voice,, calling back and forth with the wife's phone...

YOU CAN TAKE & Make 4G or WiFi calls.. no one corrected me from Thursday night... Groove works with G-V; so when you port your number over to Google Voice you can make & take calls with your old VZ number..!

This has been the missing piece... G-V really takes our phones to another level... listen to Voice Mails without dialing Voice Mail.. transcribes the VM into text...! fantastic... SMS from the web... etc..!

You can also take calls from Gmail, you can choose which phone to ring, Google Talk (gmail dailer), your Groove, over WiFi or 4G or your old VZ number (regular VZ voice)...

I was worried that I can ONLY forward G-V over to regular Calls and have to use minutes... BUT NO..!! You can take calls with your Google Voice over DATA..! U guys understand... & it will be your NUMBER from before...!

Update:
OK... even cooler, if you exit the Groove IP app, the calls automatically rings your Google Talk (gmail dialer); uncheck the Google Talk, it goes straight to G-V Voice Mail...

I know really confusing... I'm super pumped on dumping VZ for GOOD NOW...!

 

[greydarrah]

OK... finally got some more time, just right, now... playing around with Groove, Google Voice,, calling back and forth with the wife's phone...

YOU CAN TAKE & Make 4G or WiFi calls.. no one corrected me from Thursday night... Groove works with G-V; so when you port your number over to Google Voice you can make & take calls with your old VZ number..!

This has been the missing piece... G-V really takes our phones to another level... listen to Voice Mails without dialing Voice Mail.. transcribes the VM into text...! fantastic... SMS from the web... etc..!

You can also take calls from Gmail, you can choose which phone to ring, Google Talk (gmail dailer), your Groove, over WiFi or 4G or your old VZ number (regular VZ voice)...

I was worried that I can ONLY forward G-V over to regular Calls and have to use minutes... BUT NO..!! You can take calls with your Google Voice over DATA..! U guys understand... & it will be your NUMBER from before...!

Update:
OK... even cooler, if you exit the Groove IP app, the calls automatically rings your Google Talk (gmail dialer); uncheck the Google Talk, it goes straight to G-V Voice Mail...

I know really confusing... I'm super pumped on dumping VZ for GOOD NOW...!

I'm considering the same thing and started my own thread to look at any GV downsides (http://forums.androidcentral.com/an...5-there-any-downsides-using-google-voice.html). From my research, it looks like GrooVeIP usually causes a 1 to 2 second delay in conversation. I find this a real bummer, because I already feel like half the time I'm talking on a cell phone, there is some occasional delay. Come on tech world...cell phones have been out long enough that this crap should not be happening. On the up side, I read about a guy that uses GrooVeIP and some other app to make WiFi calls while in an airplane (http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus/221910-living-nexus-life.html). Pretty cool!

Also, it seems that GV can have some issues with texting. Especially MMS. Here's what someone reported in my own thread:

I'd also add the limits of messaging.

You can't send MMS messages.
Receiving MMS is kind of wonky.
I don't think you can do group messaging.
Your recipients may be charged for receiving your message unless they have an unlimited plan or are also using Google Voice.
You can't send messages to most shortcodes.

 

[cdma#CB]

If use Groove-IP now and then. I have 450 minutes on Verizon and avoid using it because the overage penalty is something ridiculous like 45 cents a minute. Groove-IP seems to be hit or miss. Sometimes the calls go great and other times they the people on the other end complain. This is even after I upgrade the WiFi router at home. If Groove IP proves unreliable, I might have to upgrade from the $30 plan to the $70 unlimited (w/contract). It still beats what I am paying Verizon now.

Question? If we go $30 pre-paid on TMO, how many SIM cards will we need? I am under the impression we will need only one to activate the phone. Then we can refill that card online.

 

[Droidintorrance]

Incoming calls forwarded from G-V & Groove is fast to me... I am on pretty fast WiFi at work... also installed Groove on my Nexus 7 this morning, when a call come in, the order or priority automatically goes to the Galaxy Nexus first, if I exit that app, it goes next to the N7, then if I exit out of that, then it'll go to Gmail.. pretty sweet... when on the edge of data, I can still hear the person clearly, but they can't hear me... so some drawbacks...


Voice mail works... like it should, even bypasses VZ's voicemail, have yet to tried to get TXTing down with Google Voice...

 

[Droidintorrance]

I just placed my SIM card order, should be here in 2-4 days... Micro SIM i believe... right? Anyhoo, it's only $1.08 with tax, no shipping. Here is the deal, with the pre-paid phone number & account. Once the plan is activated, you will be assigned a new pre-paid number of course; input that in your Google Voice and you're good to go; choose and fund the account, and the number should be active. Once the month is over, the lady at T-Mobile suggests to keep a small amount on the account, like $1 or $10 in case of overages, if I go over the 100 minutes. We can hop around to AT&T, get another sim, another service and another number, and try that. But because, our T-Mo account is still funded, it is still active, number still there, account still active. Calling into the number will not work of course. But you have 90 days of inactivity for the number to go back into a general pool, up for grabs again. Not sure how other carriers policies are, but that is T-Mos...

 

[Droidintorrance]

Things are coming together... there is one thing that I've haven't done and that is to find the wife a phone when I cut the VZ cord... The wife currently has a LG Octane, previously she and I had the LG Env3 (mauve) which she loved..! The Octane not so much, I'm gonna go by the T-Mobile store at lunch just to see what kind of Feature phones they have and then look online...

Any suggestions, on a feature QWERTY phone...? I'm thinking of also giving her the pre-paid treatment with the other $30 plan, 1,500 minutes one. Our phone bill will be cut 2/3 from $180 to just $60...! Can't wait...!!!

So, features phones work the same, right? Just pop in a SIM card..? And activate online? Also thinking of porting her number over to Google Voice, the transition is going to be interesting, hopefully we can do it over a weekend.

 

[Touchpaddle]

the plan will work, if speed is not an issue.

As much as I hate Verizon Wireless, I do not know any other carrier in the US
that can give me 12mbps(down)/10mbps(up) consistently.(that's what I've been
getting from Verizon almost every single day since last December)

 

[revtech]

Oops, sorry . . . removed post

 

[anon(596177)]

Things are coming together... there is one thing that I've haven't done and that is to find the wife a phone when I cut the VZ cord... The wife currently has a LG Octane, previously she and I had the LG Env3 (mauve) which she loved..! The Octane not so much, I'm gonna go by the T-Mobile store at lunch just to see what kind of Feature phones they have and then look online...

Any suggestions, on a feature QWERTY phone...? I'm thinking of also giving her the pre-paid treatment with the other $30 plan, 1,500 minutes one. Our phone bill will be cut 2/3 from $180 to just $60...! Can't wait...!!!

So, features phones work the same, right? Just pop in a SIM card..? And activate online? Also thinking of porting her number over to Google Voice, the transition is going to be interesting, hopefully we can do it over a weekend.

Just realize that if you port her number over to google voice and she uses google voice on her feature phone, she will not receive text messages to her feature phone from google voice. All texting would have to be done from whatever number the new carrier gives her, unless she logs into GV from her computer to text people. Maybe that wont be an issue for you, but it's good to point out.

Your Ideas sound very interesting. I was not aware that you could take a Google voice call from your data connection on your phone. I knew you could take it on your computer, but through data on your phone is new to me. Have you tested this by removing your sim, getting on wifi and trying to place/receive a call? That would be a game changer for me. I have an inactive smartphone at home right now that would be fantastic if i could use it as a "home" phone with my GV number.

Please keep the updates rolling.

 

[Armada]

On the Google Voice subject, with ICS (or maybe it's JB?) and above it is integrated into the regular dialer. I found that even though Google Voice was not installed as an app on my Nexus, when someone called it (I don't know how that happened I haven't given anyone that number) it rang on my phone and gave me the regular call options. I never answered so I can't vouch for how that works. It looks like all you need is you Google account synced and have a Google Voice number.

 

[Droidintorrance]

Good article on the best Unlocked phones out there... in each price range...! No features phones... so it looks like this is the best excuse to get the wife onto a smartphone; she has been avoiding it, but I think I can make a smartphone to look like a feature phone...! lets see what she thinks, this weekend...!

Best unlocked Android phone for any budget, October 2012 | Android and Me

 

[Droidintorrance]

All I need now is my Nexus 4...!

 

[Touchpaddle]

All I need now is my Nexus 4...!

View attachment 45508

good luck...

I travel extensively. T-Mobile prepaid works great in most major cities, with several exceptions(such as Chicago).

In many medium-size cities, T-Mobile doesn't even have 3G yet. Yes, I said THREE G. (for postpaid and prepaid)

 

[spitfirejds1]

Just realize that if you port her number over to google voice and she uses google voice on her feature phone, she will not receive text messages to her feature phone from google voice. All texting would have to be done from whatever number the new carrier gives her, unless she logs into GV from her computer to text people. Maybe that wont be an issue for you, but it's good to point out.

Your Ideas sound very interesting. I was not aware that you could take a Google voice call from your data connection on your phone. I knew you could take it on your computer, but through data on your phone is new to me. Have you tested this by removing your sim, getting on wifi and trying to place/receive a call? That would be a game changer for me. I have an inactive smartphone at home right now that would be fantastic if i could use it as a "home" phone with my GV number.

Please keep the updates rolling.

After reading the thread I decided to chime in. Currently I have Sprint and ported my number to Google voice through their free service. I love being able to use it as my voicemail. This week I accidently broke my Nexus S, without a backup phone, and still needed to make and receive calls on the go until I received my replacement. I installed Groove IP on my Verizon LTE Galaxy Tab 10.1 and have successfully been receiving and placing calls over LTE. When I'm in range of WIFI, and I hop on and save my data (not unltd) and it still works great. Heck I even took a call over LTE data on the freeway and they said they could hear me fine... Remind you this is on a tablet aka giant speakerphone Lol.

In the past when I didn't have an active phone for a couple months, I had made another separate gvoice# on a different gmail. I used my OG Droid with groove ip as well as Google voice app and I had a free WIFI line to make ad receive calls...

So to answer your question, yes you can take your inactive smartphone, install grooveip on it, and use it as your "home phone" with your gvoice#

 

[Droidintorrance]

sorry for the late updates... but I did get my nexus 4, yesterday, been really busy... testing the phone on the commute home and this morning; and in real world usage, I can't honestly tell a difference between LTE & HSPA; as a matter of fact, HSPA has out performed and more than kept up. I heard this from a few people now, places where LTE drops off HSPA has been doing great.. HSPA is a bit more narrow tho, for example, you can move just a few feet and be able to grab a signal, where as LTE is pretty consistent within any given area. Check out my G+ page, I clocked 10+ megs down, and I wasn't even in a 15+ area...! imagine 40+..!

One more thing, I don't know how LTE calculates data, but HSPA seems to be a more accurate calculation of data... streamed videos, podcast all the way home and this morning, and it only shows... at most 250 megs used; I would have used more than 300-350 megs on LTE for sure...!

Battery life is greatly improved & HSPA calls are crystal clear, not BT does muck things up slightly...

Google Voice & Groove is on the Nexus 4, gonna test that out extensively today... Testing SMS messaging & voice mail... too everything is checking out...

I'm confident on leaving VZ by the 4th when my month is up... will probably have to keep the wife on her own line, for now...

 

[lemmegetatthat]

wait, you can use Google Voice to make calls over wi-fi? Since when? When I was traveling to Europe, I was told I cant use Google Voice over wifi because it is not a true VOIP and still needs a cell network signal for calls, and that is why Google voice uses your plans minutes.

 

[Droidintorrance]

Google Voice is just a call forwarding service; but it is used in conjunction with Groove IP; please read my previous posts...

Update - although I get pretty good WiFi at work usually on internet, notifications and such, I actually clock pretty low bandwidth... just about 2-3 megs... so Groove IP over my work WiFi isn't gonna cut it... So when at work, I'll just exit Groove IP app, open up Gmail and take calls from there... already ordered a VOIP in earphone & mic...

so excited...

 

[Droidintorrance]

will be cutting the Verizon cord come Dec 3rd, and porting my long beloved number to Google Voice; I've been using Groove IP & Google Voice for the past week with my Nexus 4 and before that on the GNex. Calls from Groove are spotty, download speeds are always faster than upload, so you will always hear callers better than they can hear you. Calls on HSPA will work ok to poor on most places; I do find myself shouting and repeating a lot, so for those instances, using the 100 minutes will come in handy.

I do get decent WiFi at home and work; home works better with calls; in & out; but for some reason I only ping less than 1megs up at work, so calls are ok, but really poor for the most part. So, I bought in-hear microphone & earphones and am taking & making calls on gmail. When I get into work, I exit my Groove App, and calls into my Google Voice gets forwarded to Gmail... pretty sweet...

Between the 100 minutes in 'emergencies', gmail & my land-line; most people shouldn't know the difference. I'll try for another few weeks, but I might try Straight Talk with unlimited minutes just to ease the hassle, but I will still keep my number on Google Voice...

 

[TNScrambler]

will be cutting the Verizon cord come Dec 3rd, and porting my long beloved number to Google Voice; I've been using Groove IP & Google Voice for the past week with my Nexus 4 and before that on the GNex. Calls from Groove are spotty, download speeds are always faster than upload, so you will always hear callers better than they can hear you. Calls on HSPA will work ok to poor on most places; I do find myself shouting and repeating a lot, so for those instances, using the 100 minutes will come in handy.

I do get decent WiFi at home and work; home works better with calls; in & out; but for some reason I only ping less than 1megs up at work, so calls are ok, but really poor for the most part. So, I bought in-hear microphone & earphones and am taking & making calls on gmail. When I get into work, I exit my Groove App, and calls into my Google Voice gets forwarded to Gmail... pretty sweet...

Between the 100 minutes in 'emergencies', gmail & my land-line; most people shouldn't know the difference. I'll try for another few weeks, but I might try Straight Talk with unlimited minutes just to ease the hassle, but I will still keep my number on Google Voice...

how did it go after shutting off your Verizon? How are you liking your setup? Anything you would or are planning to change?

 

[davey11]

I would like to know as well. I never participated in this thread because at the time a month and a half ago, I had NO intention of leaving vz. Month and a half is a long time lol and lo and I am on straight talk att with an n4.
First off, the drop in speed is drastic. For what I use my phone for, it don't bother me much. 80% of the time I am on wifi. The other 20, I can live with. I am mainly a crackflasher, so slow dl don't phase me. I download them 200 meg rom files on wifi.
On the week or so I been on straight talk, I find it a great bang for the buck. I had the 450 nationwide plan, unlmted data and 1000 texts on VZ for like $90+ a month.
On st I get unlimited text, talk and data for $45. They might throttle data, but I don't use much so idc. I don't use gv and I ported my number to st which was painless.
So to get a cutting edge smartphone and pay half of what I was paying albiet slower speed = total satisfaction.