Imagine an average student with an iPhone: She gives $45 a month to AT&T for cell service. If she switched to my $12.71 Republic Wireless plan, she’d save approximately $387 a year. That’s about 28 jars of Nutella from Amazon, or about 49 months of Netflix.
My first phone was for emergencies. It was a gray TracFone with an annoying chirp and a small physical keyboard. I think the phone is still collecting dust in a cupboard somewhere; I couldn’t find it on the TracFone website. I do remember having fun inputting prepaid minute card codes.
I needed a reliable way to acquire digits and schedule dates, so before I moved to Gainesville, I started researching. I’m cheap, so I needed an object that wouldn’t give me buyer’s remorse. But I also needed a status symbol.
First, I hacked together an iPhone. I used money from part-time jobs to buy a black iPod Touch, signed up for a Google Voice phone number, and used a Voice over Internet Protocol app called Talkatone to make and receive free calls over Wi-Fi. Crackly noise and lag turned phone conversations into a Blue’s Clues episode, so I returned the iPod.
Freshman year at UF, I rocked Virgin Mobile’s HTC One V. For $35, I had slow, unlimited 3G data from Sprint and unlimited texting on an Android smartphone. I had a cap at 300 minutes a month, so I abused Talkatone whenever I needed to talk too much. I didn’t get service in the usual places: underground caves, rural areas and the UF New Physics Building.
I desired a provider that took advantage of my surroundings: On campus, there’s Wi-Fi everywhere. Enter VoIP provider Republic Wireless.
I’ve been a Republic customer for almost two years now. They expect users to primarily use Wi-Fi calling, but its hybrid-calling algorithm is a beneficial mutation from traditional VoIP services. When I’m chilling at Volta with a clear Wi-Fi signal, the algorithm routes my calls and texts over the Wi-Fi network. When I walk outside and out of router range, the algorithm automatically hands me over to Sprint’s cell towers.
Occasionally, the algorithm falls asleep and disconnects a call instead of switching over. When that happens, I call back and pretend that I accidentally pressed the red hang-up button.
I only miss a data connection when I’m bored on a road trip. As long as I put in my destination address while on Wi-Fi, a GPS will direct me to the house party. When I travel abroad, I can still call and text over Wi-Fi. There’s no lag. The cell connection is usually clearer-sounding, but nobody I talk to notices either way.
There are swappable plans at Republic’s website. I can go without data, so $10 a month for unlimited calling and texting keeps my thumbs busy.
The $299 first-generation Motorola Moto X arrived outside my apartment in a white and green box with a small instruction booklet, and it led me through setting up service via the Internet.
My Moto X isn’t a Samsung Galaxy S5, but app multitasking and YouTube are fluid. I lean toward the Android camp over iOS because it’s open source software built for customization. Even the option to design the physical device with Moto Maker is useful.
As an equation: Independence from parents + high up-front handset cost + dirt-cheap monthly service = one happy customer.
Andrew Silver is a UF mathematics junior. His column appears on Wednesdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 6 on 1/21/2015 under the headline “Save yourself money: Use Wi-Fi service"]
