Comments on: R.I.P. RingPlus: Don’t Panic, Google Hangouts Is Your Friend https://nerdvittles.com/r-i-p-ringplus-dont-panic-google-hangouts-is-your-friend/ Ward Mundy's Technobabblelog Sat, 18 Feb 2017 20:41:56 +0000 hourly 1 By: Tycho from PIAF Forum https://nerdvittles.com/r-i-p-ringplus-dont-panic-google-hangouts-is-your-friend/comment-page-1/#comment-174949 Fri, 10 Feb 2017 15:51:03 +0000 http://nerdvittles.com/?p=21290#comment-174949 VoIP-on-the-go from a mobile device can work just fine. In my attempts to be self sustaining, rather than tied to a public hotspot, I initially used the FreedomPop "FreedomSleeve" hotspot designed for my iPod Touch Gen 4. It was pretty amazing. The iPod snuggled-right-into the Sleeve, and you ended up with a form-factor only a bit fatter than the iPhone 4 of the day. Sure, it was WiMax only, and sure, incoming was wonky, and sure, it didn’t work too well in a moving car, but in my Chicago locale it was pretty darned reliable. I could walk down the street texting folks, and chatting up the GF for free using (1) the then-free Vonage app option, (2) via Google Voice using a VoIP client on the iPod registering with my home PBX, or (3) via Google Voice using the Obion app and my Obi100. Or, I could pay chump-change and use one of my many fine VoIP providers.

Fast-forward to now. I have 2 cheap LG Volts (one was a parts-bin special that I fixed — just ignore the shattered glass screen) on FreedomPop and each (after "Freedom Friends and gifting myself the max data from other FP accounts) give me 1400MB of usable Sprint LTE data. I also acquired 2 FP "Global" (non-LTE) GSM SIMs for a penny each, and just got one of the newer FP LTE (AT&T-only) SIMS for $1.99. They can go in my cheap-from-eBay used Moto E or MiFi 2, and each after fun-and-games gives me 1100MB of AT&T (or, in the case of the "global" SIMS, T-Mo) data.

Is it cumbersome having to carry 2 devices? Sure. But, hey: free. And besides, it’s a hobby. The Hangouts dialer using this setup is, in some respects, better than the old RingPlus Radio-routed cellular calling.

Me = happy camper.

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