[ale] somewhat OT - FreedomPop doesn't really offer Voice?
Neal Rhodes
neal at mnopltd.com
Thu Mar 9 12:13:15 EST 2017
The really really fine print, or at least forum traffic, suggests that
FreedomPOP really doesn't offer a voice capability at all. Rather,
they offer data, and a VOIP app which runs on a smartphone to pretend
it's offering voice.
So, on a fixed platform like a cheap smartwatch, it will provide
bupkis.
On Thu, 2017-03-09 at 11:40 -0500, Neal Rhodes wrote:
> I didn't see the .99 cent, but maybe I don't have the right kind of
> friends referral. I'm still seeing $1.99. Still, statistically
> close enough to zero.
>
> Note that you end up providing a credit card and they automatically
> sign you up for $25/mo plan. You have to dig through the really
> small grey print to find the option to downgrade that to the free
> plan.
>
> Also note that their coverage really sucks in the East, and is pretty
> much non-existent west of Mississippi. I would still retain my
> Verizon phone for travel.
>
> I friend of mine works for Verizon and has observed that they are
> phasing out 3g support in their newer towers, so efforts to use old
> 3g-only devices may be less and less useful in the long term.
>
> On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 22:36 -0500, Chuck Payne wrote:
>
> > Right now, it's .99 cent for a sim. I am going to get, I have an old
> > T-Mobile Hotspot I am going to try to unlock and use with it.
> >
> > On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 8:48 PM, Neal Rhodes <neal at mnopltd.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > This is indeed fascinating. The verbiage talks of 4g LTE
> > coverage. I wonder whose towers? And for how long is
> > this free? Until they decide it isn't free? Are they just
> > hoping eventually enough free users will want more data?
> >
> > My impression is that most of the inexpensive
> > smartwatchphone devices are 3G only. Thus far I've only
> > experimented with TMobile SIM, which seemed to work.
> >
> > On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 15:18 -0500, Mark Ulmer wrote:
> >
> > > Nothing is free yet close is FreedomPop has 100% Free Plan (200 mins,
> > > 500 Texts, 200MB) and no Credit Card required. Right now you can order
> > > 3-in-1 SIM card for $1.99 (normally $10-15). Of course be sure to opt
> > > out of mails and trials.
> > >
> > > http://fpop.co/jp1f
> > >
> > > I've already ordered 2. I got one for my android tablet and going to try
> > > second in my old 3G iPad. Plan to order more if my laptops have SIM slots.
> > >
> > > -Mark
> > >
> > >
> > > On 3/8/2017 2:47 PM, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
> > > > https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go
> > > > "Pay as you go. $3/month
> > > > Get any combination of 30 minutes of talk or 30 texts."
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On 03/08/2017 12:45 PM, Chuck Payne wrote:
> > > >> Neal,
> > > >>
> > > >> My son is 12 going on 13. He has a nice LG phone I found at Wally World
> > > >> for $30 dollars,I wasn't going to buy him a $300 to $600 phone. All I
> > > >> had to do what replace the prepaid sim with a sim I could add to my
> > > >> account, his phone is $10 a month with 2Gigs of Data, which he burn thru
> > > >> in the week watching YouTube the meth of his gen.
> > > >>
> > > >> I bought that watch this morning on amazon I found there for $15 for a
> > > >> first time watch, I though ok. It will be here tomorrow, wow Amazon
> > > >> surprise me with there deliverys. Well, it his second watch, the first
> > > >> was a Darth Varder Lego watch, which I don't think will be cool in
> > > >> Middle School. He seemed excited because a lot of friends have iWatches.
> > > >> I guess I am mean dad, as I can't see buy kids, those expense phones and
> > > >> watches.
> > > >>
> > > >> As for the $3 on T-Mobile, I can't answer that, I pay $100 for my phone
> > > >> a month, I have a plan back from like 2000, that have me unlimited text
> > > >> and phone and 7 Gigs a data, and my I don't have to pay to use my phone
> > > >> as a hot spot. So between my phone and my son and taxes, it's about $125
> > > >> a month. I looked at changing plans, but what I have I am saving some
> > > >> money.
> > > >>
> > > >> Sounds like JD might be able to answer the T-Mobile question.
> > > >>
> > > >> On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 11:36 AM, Neal Rhodes <neal at mnopltd.com
> > > >> <mailto:neal at mnopltd.com>> wrote:
> > > >>
> > > >> __
> > > >> http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21
> > > >> <http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21> is a
> > > >> link to the watch I bought. It is $10.99 with free shipping to the
> > > >> US. ( I had some bonus points left from buying a SJCAM. That's why
> > > >> it was just $3 for me.
> > > >>
> > > >> This is just a curiosity for me. My understanding is that for
> > > >> $3/mo I can have some very limited amount of voice phone time from
> > > >> TMobile. Like for the dozens of times I'm out somewhere and my
> > > >> normal android phone is dead again. If I never run their software
> > > >> to send emails from android phone to the watch it's still ok.
> > > >>
> > > >> Without knowing how old your son is, be aware that there are similar
> > > >> phone/watches more oriented to children: they include GPS location,
> > > >> and a panic button to dial a set number and .... I've not
> > > >> researched them; I just ran across some on Amazon.
> > > >>
> > > >> On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 07:53 -0500, Chuck Payne wrote:
> > > >>> A $3 watch, do you have a link, I love to get one for my son. He
> > > >>> keeps trying to take my Samsung S and S3 that I have paired with
> > > >>> my Note 4. One thing about those smart watches I don't like is,
> > > >>> that you have to pay $5 buck a month for data plan. Yes, they do
> > > >>> have a telephone number. Yes, I can make calls like Dick Tracy on
> > > >>> it. Honestly the pairing and wireless are enough. I can use Wifi,
> > > >>> and my Note will connect to the watch remote if I am not close
> > > >>> enough for BT.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> I love my watches, I am on T-Mobile as well, been with them since
> > > >>> they were VoiceStream. I have my S, before iWatch came out it nice
> > > >>> to be able to sit in meetings and see alerts with out my phone
> > > >>> making a lot of noise.
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> What I would be worried about, and this is just me, if there any
> > > >>> malware spying on you, you did say you got the watch from China.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 5:59 PM, DJ-Pfulio <DJPfulio at jdpfu.com
> > > >>> <mailto:DJPfulio at jdpfu.com>> wrote:
> > > >>>
> > > >>> On 03/07/2017 05:25 PM, Joey Kelly wrote:
> > > >>> > <snip>
> > > >>> >> Just for fun, I ordered an
> > > >>> >> $8 SIM card to hook up with the $3/mo Tmobile service.
> > > >>> >
> > > >>> > Huh? What do they provide for three measly dollars?
> > > >>> >
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Access to their network on a PAYG plan.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> 30 minutes and 10 texts allowed, I think. Never use them.
> > > >>> Zero data,
> > > >>> but you can add a 7-day 1G data plan for non-roaming locations
> > > >>> for $10.
> > > >>> "Roaming" has burned me a few times - OBX and Alaska are
> > > >>> "roaming" and
> > > >>> not covered in the $10 data add-on, for example. They wouldn't
> > > >>> refund my
> > > >>> money - I'd used 50 bytes to verify the data was enabled in
> > > >>> Portland on
> > > >>> the way.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> I have wifi almost everywhere. Can't see a need to have data
> > > >>> plan most
> > > >>> of the time. Plenty of off-line apps, plus ads don't get in
> > > >>> the way or
> > > >>> suck data.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Sorta shocked about the SIM cost. I've always gotten one free
> > > >>> or for $1.
> > > >>>
> > > >>> BTW, I've been on the t-mbl PAYG plan since 2007. It used to
> > > >>> be better.
> > > >>> No monthly costs, pay just for minutes used. Bought $10/yr for
> > > >>> about 8
> > > >>> yrs, that was it, before they changed it to $2.95/month in
> > > >>> late 2015.
> > > >>> $48/yr is pretty reasonable for an emergency cell phone, IMHO. My
> > > >>> prepaid account expires yearly, so just put $50/yr on it. I
> > > >>> figure most
> > > >>> people are paying $50+/month, so adding the $10/wk for data during
> > > >>> travel is a bargain!
> > > >>>
> > > >>> But it is t-mobile and sometimes the coverage does suck
> > > >>> completely.
> > > >>> OTOH, in those places pretty much every cell networks suck
> > > >>> including
> > > >>> verizon and AT&T.
> > > >>>
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> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>>
> > > >>> --
> > > >>> Terror PUP a.k.a
> > > >>> Chuck "PUP" Payne
> > > >>> -----------------------------------------
> > > >>> Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.
> > > >>> -----------------------------------------
> > > >>> openSUSE -- Terrorpup
> > > >>> openSUSE Ambassador/openSUSE Member
> > > >>> skype,twiiter,identica,friendfeed -- terrorpup
> > > >>> freenode(irc) --terrorpup/lupinstein
> > > >>> Register Linux Userid: 155363
> > > >>>
> > > >>> Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD, an app you
> > > >>> want to package and distribute , or create your own linux distro.
> > > >>> Give SUSE Studio a try.
> > > >>> _______________________________________________
> > > >>> Ale mailing list
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> > > >>> <http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale>
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> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> _______________________________________________
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> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> --
> > > >> Terror PUP a.k.a
> > > >> Chuck "PUP" Payne
> > > >> -----------------------------------------
> > > >> Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.
> > > >> -----------------------------------------
> > > >> openSUSE -- Terrorpup
> > > >> openSUSE Ambassador/openSUSE Member
> > > >> skype,twiiter,identica,friendfeed -- terrorpup
> > > >> freenode(irc) --terrorpup/lupinstein
> > > >> Register Linux Userid: 155363
> > > >>
> > > >> Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD, an app you want
> > > >> to package and distribute , or create your own linux distro. Give SUSE
> > > >> Studio a try.
> > > >>
> > > >>
> > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > >> Ale mailing list
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> > > >> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
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> > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ale mailing list
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Terror PUP a.k.a
> > Chuck "PUP" Payne
> > -----------------------------------------
> > Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.
> > -----------------------------------------
> > openSUSE -- Terrorpup
> > openSUSE Ambassador/openSUSE Member
> > skype,twiiter,identica,friendfeed -- terrorpup
> > freenode(irc) --terrorpup/lupinstein
> > Register Linux Userid: 155363
> >
> > Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD, an app you
> > want to package and distribute , or create your own linux distro.
> > Give SUSE Studio a try.
>
>
>
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