I have a virgin mobile optimus V smartphone. I am on the 300 minute/month unlimited data and text plan. I pay 35/month plus tax so its 38.11 total. Its a monthly plan so i can cancel it at any month i want.
The thing is if i just use this phone at home where i have wifi… does that mean i don’t even need the plan? I read about something called google voice and if you install that on your phone… that means you could make unlimited calls in the usa with the phone even without a data plan? Such as when i got my phone, i signed up for the basis virgin mobile plan as i don’t talk much just need for data plan when im outside but i dont use it anymore for that.
So if im only using the phone at home and have Wifi turned on or anywhere outside that has wifi… that means i could make any phone calls for free? If this is the case, wouldn’t someone who doesn’t need to check the internet all the time or make phone calls on the time… wouldn’t they essentially not have to pay a cent to use their phone with google voice? So when you are at home, someone call you with their phone and you use your phone for google voice… its all free?
If this is true, when did this start? Because it seems too good to be true. So you go and download google voice and get a phone number and thats it?
I’m curious but how is the reception? Surely its not like a normal carrier right and it might be bit static voice?
You can even ‘port’ your current number to GoogleVoice so you don’t have to tell people about a new number. When you do this, it cancels your existing cell service - so do it at the end of what you have paid for.
ETA you may need a VOIP client program like TalkATone - GoogleVoice normally makes calls via your cell plan.
Few questions about this.
How is the reception when making phone calls?
Also, when you send texts to someone, will it show the same number?
Also assuming someone only uses their cell phone android smartphone mostly at home, is cannceling the phone service a much better idea since they are paying for the service when they dont really need to?
I got it for my parents at a local Costco*. It works great 99% of the time. Costs me about ~4.50/month(It actually costs zero. But pay for your local tax so it varies. I didn’t sign up for premium either) + ~$150** for the device. and the Voip connection is pretty damn good. Crystal really. Much clearer and more reliable than talkatone/google voice.
Ooma requires an internet connection, and the 1% of the time it goes down, it’s usually because the internet went down. Sometimes it shows a big red light instead of the normal blue light (meaning something is wrong). A reboot is all i’ve ever done and it goes back online but other than that it has been maintenance free.
*I picked it up at costco because I knew if my parents didn’t like it I could return it. I didn’t return it.
**You can set things up like this for cheaper using hardware you probably already have, but this solution was nearly plug and play, so it was worth it to me.
The official Google Voice app from Google will not make calls over WiFi.
However, there’s an app called GrooveIP which will. It costs $4.99, and worked pretty well last time I tried it. It makes and receives Google Voice calls using only the data connection.
Another vote for GrooveIP. I use it a couple times a week. It works well and the call quality is good as long as your Internet connection is good. You can also set GrooveIP to ask if you want to use it or your native dialer when you make a call.
And no, you don’t need any sort of data plan to do WiFi calling. Just your regular Internet/WiFi connection. And you can send text messages through Google Voice for free as well.
Of course when you’re away from WiFi you wouldn’t be able to call, browse, or send text messages.
I didn’t find it acceptable for full time use however. YMMV, I live in L.A and I think the network(T-Mobile) can get pretty saturated here. When internet speeds aren’t 100% reliable grooveIP tends to cut out.
Yes, you can use Google Voice to make phone calls for free. In order to receive incoming calls, however, you need to download Groove IP, Talkatone or a similar app on your phone. I’ve used both of the aforementioned apps and while neither is perfect, I find Groove IP to be slightly more reliable. In fact, I’ve uninstalled Talkatone just recently.
While I have used Google Voice across multiple devices, I use it primarily on my tablet. As long as I have a WiFi connection, I can make and receive voice calls (using my Google Voice number), as well as send and receive text messages.