Anyone can get Republic Wireless service for $19/mo with $259 Defy XT

just a further note on Hawaii --- all the major carriers are available here --- they all offer 808 numbers

Republic is free to do what they will --- but I have to say cheaping out on Hawaii is a poor marketing move if they want to be regular nation-wide offering

aarzi said:   Not much free wifi available in Hawaii.

I think it is more of an issue of the costs of the 808 number.

Ooma has a surcharge of $29.99/year for 808. On the other hand, T-Mobile will activate as many 808 number as you want for no charge with prepaid sims. GV doesn't offer 808.

RW can certainly make it work for them. But obviously they can't be bothered.

I feel compelled to make everyone aware of this: If they operate for this pre-order the way they did during their Beta waves last year, your credit card will be charged immediately. Though, as the website states, they expect it to be four weeks before they begin shipping the phones.

As for OS, republic uses some specialty roms(with root), when they tinker to add the wifi calling. Side benefit of that , is on their previous phone, it was as easy as installing superuser app, to get root. This allows to get full benefit of tasker.

marteen5640 said:   I feel compelled to make everyone aware of this: If they operate for this pre-order the way they did during their Beta waves last year, your credit card will be charged immediately. Though, as the website states, they expect it to be four weeks before they begin shipping the phones.

Thanks for the heads up. I envision a lot of problems raising a dispute with the creditcard company under these procedures so I'll stay away from this.

Do they support MMS (pic, vid texts) yet? That's why I bailed after using them for awhile.

I think the promise was, that the rate is going to come down, with subscriber growth, larger wifi usage and better agreement with Sprint.
BTW, I had several months comped automatically, they just skip charging sometimes, I assume, it is because they deemed service lacking due to new waves of subscribers. But because of that my effective rate was way below $20.

alyosha said:   As for OS, republic uses some specialty roms(with root), when they tinker to add the wifi calling. Side benefit of that , is on their previous phone, it was as easy as installing superuser app, to get root. This allows to get full benefit of tasker.What's this mean in plain English?

evanm said:   aarzi said:   alyosha said:   As for OS, republic uses some specialty roms(with root), when they tinker to add the wifi calling. Side benefit of that , is on their previous phone, it was as easy as installing superuser app, to get root. This allows to get full benefit of tasker.What's this mean in plain English?



In simple english - These phones are modified to prefer wifi connections for both phone and data, although cellular works fine when there is no wifi around. The way they messed with the LG made it easy for others to get into the internals. Not so much the Defy XT.

On a positive note, I had the original LG Optimus S and upgraded to the free "single band" defy xt and have been very happy. The dual band will provide free roaming on verizon, which should make it useful for those without strong Sprint coverage in their area.

Oh and for me it's 22.50 per month after taxes and fees.Thanks.

But specifically, what does it was as easy as installing superuser app, to get root. This allows to get full benefit of tasker mean?

I don't know if it's still true, because the article is old but here it is.

http://gigaom.com/2011/11/07/republic-wireless-everything-you-ne...
Update: Looks like I should have ignored Dally and paid closer attention to the terms of service that note users who spend too much time on the cellular network will be booted out of the Republic club. Karl Bode over at Broadband Reports explains the situation and Republic’s Cellular Usage Index which is Republic’s Orwellian phrase for people who use too much cellular. The service regards fair use on cellular as about “550 minutes, 150 texts, and roughly 300 megabytes of data.”

I ordered a single band for my daughter for Christmas last Thursday and received it Monday. I already have a RW phone for my son, for the money. it's great, especially considering the unlimited text and data. Don't think I would use as my primary phone, but it's great for the teens.