TIPS A FREE Internet backup for VoIP service?

[KNERD]

This 3-in-1 SIM works with any unlocked Android or iOS smartphone compatible with GSM networks. Plug this SIM in, and get Free Voice, Text, and Data at blazing-fast LTE speeds.

Cheap Phones for Sale: Used Cell Phones & Refurbished Phones - FreedomShop

Find cheap cell phones for sale at FreedomShop by FreedomPop. Used phones and refurbished smartphones for sale at the cheapest prices.

shop.freedompop.com

 

[krzykat]

This 3-in-1 SIM works with any unlocked Android or iOS smartphone compatible with GSM networks. Plug this SIM in, and get Free Voice, Text, and Data at blazing-fast LTE speeds.

Cheap Phones for Sale: Used Cell Phones & Refurbished Phones - FreedomShop

Find cheap cell phones for sale at FreedomShop by FreedomPop. Used phones and refurbished smartphones for sale at the cheapest prices.

shop.freedompop.com

Data plans cost:
1 GB = $15
4 GB = $23
10 GB = $30

Think you'd be better off with Visible

 

[KNERD]

Data plans cost:
1 GB = $15
4 GB = $23
10 GB = $30

Think you'd be better off with Visible

Visible only functions with certain mobile devices, not any routers

 

[tycho]

This 3-in-1 SIM works with any unlocked Android or iOS smartphone compatible with GSM networks. Plug this SIM in, and get Free Voice, Text, and Data at blazing-fast LTE speeds.

Cheap Phones for Sale: Used Cell Phones & Refurbished Phones - FreedomShop

Find cheap cell phones for sale at FreedomShop by FreedomPop. Used phones and refurbished smartphones for sale at the cheapest prices.

shop.freedompop.com

Having used FreedomPop for years and years and years, and having followed its changes since it was purchased by Red Pocket, I can report the following:

(1) You give them a credit card and they are almost guaranteed to figure out how to bill you inappropriately.

(2) Their only "free" Voice, Text and Data plan is as follows:

Unlimited WiFi Calling -- Use the native dialer. No app required. No wifi and you got nothing.

Unlimited iMessages and RCS over WiFi. No WiFi and you got nothing.

10 cellular voice minutes. Maybe. Some of their ad copy omits this incredible value

10 Text Messages via the cellular network

25MB LTE

 

[KNERD]

With 25MB you could hardly do anything with that, Maybe 1 hour or so a month outage with a busy office?

 

[tycho]

With 25MB you could hardly do anything with that, Maybe 1 hour or so a month outage with a busy office?

That's my point. hardly a useable "Free Internet backup for VoIP Service." I'd guess far less than an hour (more like 5 minutes!), with G.711 using 80-90Kbps (close to 5 Mb per minute).

It used to be that FreedomPop offered -- for free/per month -- 200 MB on ATT and 500 MB on Sprint. Each number could be further increased by 500 MB by "connecting with friends" (no longer offered and beyond scope here). All that changed over time, with the final nail in the coffin on May 1st, when the above-posted limitations went into effect.

 

[wardmundy]

Do your credit card a favor. RUN from these guys.

 

[dicko]

Perhaps some better uses for your old cell phones ?

9 Ways To Donate Old Cell Phones

One great alternative to selling your cell phone is to donate your device to a good cause. Here are some easy ways to donate your cell phone.

clark.com

(you only get a karma credit though -) )

 

[tycho]

Do your credit card a favor. RUN from these guys.

Yup. As I posted above:

"(1) You give them a credit card and they are almost guaranteed to figure out how to bill you inappropriately."

 

[hecatae]

If anyone wants a chuckle, have a look at the Freedompop UK website, it seems to exist for no reason.

 

[tycho]

If anyone wants a chuckle, have a look at the Freedompop UK website, it seems to exist for no reason.

But, it's "available across the UK!"

 

[dicko]

+i

 

[Samot]

With 25MB you could hardly do anything with that, Maybe 1 hour or so a month outage with a busy office?

How did you come to this conclusion? How did you determine that a VoIP backup connection with 25MB of data transfer will only last 1 hour or so in a busy office?

 

[wardmundy]

@Samot: Sounds like a perfect fit for your office. Take it for a spin and let us know how your credit card fares.

 

[Samot]

@Samot: Sounds like a perfect fit for your office. Take it for a spin and let us know how your credit card fares.

OK, took me a minute but I think what you're trying to say here is...I should give this a try and see how well my credit card ends up with all the overage charges. Right? You are under the assumption that 25MB of monthly transfer will be used up in a busy office pretty quickly for just voice calls. If that is the case, my question now goes to you too. How did you come up with this conclusion?

 

[wardmundy]

@Samot: Better yet. Prove me wrong.

 

[krzykat]

The math is pretty simple isn't it? What codec? Let's assume G.711

The audio codec G.711 uses approximately 80 kilobits per second for a single channel of speech. To calculate the number of minutes you can speak with 25 megabytes of data, you need to first convert the number of megabytes to kilobits.

25 megabytes = 25 x 8 x 1024 = 2097152 kilobits

With 2097152 kilobits of data, you would be able to have approximately (2097152 / 80 =) 26214.4 seconds, or approximately 437.57 minutes, of single channel speech. However, actual usable time will depend on other factors such as network congestion and overhead.

 

[Samot]

@Samot: Better yet. Prove me wrong.

You know, I actually never stated that it was right or wrong. I asked how the conclusion was made. Statements such as "busy office" are subjective statements. One might consider getting 5 calls in a hour busy while others consider that normal. The other factor to consider is what is that 25MB transfer applied to, is this a case where they are referring to how much you download/stream and don't care about the upload side. That makes a difference. So really, I was just curious how this conclusion was made.

The math is pretty simple isn't it? What codec? Let's assume G.711

The math is some what simple but you're conflating transfer versus speed. The g711 payload before headers is 160bytes with a 20ms length (50 packets per second) which results in 8000 Bytes @ 64Kbps. With all the IP overhead you're looking at another 58 bytes added on which makes it about 238 bytes with it being 80-85Kbps and upwards of 10-12K bytes per second and with voice its duplex so start doubling that. We're being very simplistic at this point too.

The reality is that 25MB of data transfer wouldn't be suitable as a back up regardless the size of the office. It will take about 10-20 minutes of a single active call to hit that in data transfer. Because again, voice is duplex and there will be at least 20-24K bytes per second of data being transferred between A and Z.

Again, it doesn't really matter if it's a busy office or not. This wouldn't be suitable for anyone that does more than 10-15 minutes of talking on the phone a month let alone an hour.

 

[tycho]

@Samot -- are you really going to take up this much bandwidth arguing about a single sentence quip that was posted by @KNERD in this thread on June 23, 2021? A thread that was completely dormant for over 19 months, and only re-opened by @hecatae who made a quick "funny" unrelated post about FreedomPop's claim of coverage in the UK?

Geeze, I read your antagonistic/pedantic postings here, and on DSLR, and if there is a "block poster" function I'm just about to pull the trigger...

 

[Samot]

@Samot -- are you really going to take up this much bandwidth arguing about a single sentence quip that was posted by @KNERD in this thread on June 23, 2021? A thread that was completely dormant for over 19 months, and only re-opened by @hecatae who made a quick "funny" unrelated post about FreedomPop's claim of coverage in the UK?

Geeze, I read your antagonistic/pedantic postings here, and on DSLR, and if there is a "block poster" function I'm just about to pull the trigger...

Oh my bad. I actually didn't catch the date. Let's be clear about something I asked how they came to a conclusion. I didn't say it was wrong or bad, I asked how they came to it. Not my fault everyone else took that as an attack.

But really, I have no idea who you are so if you want to block me I won't have any hard feelings. I don't even recall interacting with you.