Republic Wireless has added some new wireless plans and I have a hard time seeing how they'll appeal to anyone but we'll get more into that in a moment. Republic has also eliminated one of its plans. The $5 plan that offered unlimited talk and text that only worked on Wi-Fi has been terminated (updated: a few site readers have commented that this plan is still available (at least for now) but it is not an option at checkout, and can only be signed up for with the Republic Wireless app. The plan is also not listed on the Republic Wireless website). With services like Google Hangouts available where users can place calls and texts over Wi-Fi for free, it's hard to justify paying $5 for something one can get for free and I suspect a majority of people felt the same and weren't signing up for the plan, hence its disappearance. The company has also given names to their preexisting plans as well as their new ones, and they are named based on the amount of data they offer going from XS to 3XL. Republic Wireless's new plans are as follows:
- XL - 3GB 4G LTE data $55/month
- XXL - 4GB 4G LTE data $70/month
- 3XL - 5GB 4G LTE data $85/month
All Republic Wireless plans include unlimited talk and text. With these new plans Republic Wireless appears to be charging premium pricing for coverage that's on Sprints network. It is important to note however, that Republic Wireless does at least offer you a refund for any unused data you have at the end of a billing cycle. Even with a refund, its hard to justify any of the pricing listed here. There are simply too many cheaper options available elsewhere to the consumer. The plans would be more impressive if they topped out at $45-$55/month to be more in line with what competitors charge for 5GB of LTE data. On top of that, Republic Wireless does not support BYOSD, ((Bring Your Own Sprint Device)) and so if you plan to switch service to them you'll have to invest in one of three new phones, the Motorola E, G or X.
Republic Wireless's other preexisting plans are as follows:
- XS - Unlimited Talk and Text $10/month
- S - 500 MB 4G LTE Data $17.50/month
- M - 1GB 4G LTE Data $25/month
- L - 2GB 4G LTE Data $40/month
All plans include unlimited talk and text.
I have to say I am very disappointed in Republic Wireless's new plans, and do not like the direction the company is headed in. The company used to offer much cheaper plans that were a much better value, but ever since they began offering refundable data, they have gotten more expensive, particularly if you need to use up all of the data your plan includes. At the lower price points of $25 and below, the company does at least offer something reasonable to those out there that don't require a lot of data. So what do you all think of these new plans? Am I missing something with my analysis or do you agree that the new price points are rather absurd?
About Republic Wireless
Republic Wireless offers service on Sprint's network. The company uses a Wi-Fi first approach for its cell phone plans. Calls and texts are placed whenever possible over Wi-Fi, and when Wi-Fi is unavailable or a customer moves out of Wi-Fi range, the cell phone seamlessly transitions over to Sprint's cellular network without any interaction from the end user. The Wi-Fi to cellular hand off ideally occurs without a loss of service or dropped call for the user.
It’s odd that everyone goes along with the definition of a “high data user”. In fact many RW users consume 10 Gb of data and more every month, and their bills stay at $14. The reason, others pointed out to me, is that they chose to use WIFI data, not cell data. Many very high data users are still doing just fine at RW. Using big data is not a problem. It’s where they get that data that makes all the difference. Cell data is expensive no matter where you buy it but unlimited WIFI data is free and RW users take advantage of that fact. In that sense the article complains about high data charges but never makes any distinction as to the source. In that way this article is intentionally very misleading.
The average Republic Wireless customer’s bill last month was $13.75, including data. Because of that I assumed the average RW customer used very little data. But when I suggested this a number responded that they used well over 5 Gb EVERY month and their bill was still in the $13 range. The reason is that they have chosen to use WIFI data not cell data. Pretty smart use of a very inexpensive cell phone plan. So when I read articles like this one I always suspect Verizon is actually writing the copy.
To me it’s a matter of truth in advertising versus deceptive pricing practices. Republic is just spelling out the price buckets upfront plain as day for all to see. Most of the other wireless providers and MVNO’s tout their unlimited data pricing plans, then specify in the fine print that the plan throttles your data once you reach that so-called unlimited data level. Case in point is Sprint who just announced a $20 unlimited data plan which actually provides 1GB of high speed data and then throttles you to 2G data speeds thereafter.
I used to be with VZW with a grandfathered unlimited data plan and generally consumed 3 to 5 GB of data per month at a cost of $75 per month including an employee discount. RW provides an app and tools that allow you to minimize your data usage and block data consumption on an app by app basis. Result is I’ve increased WiFi offload and reduced my high speed data consumption to less than 300 MB per month since switching to RW and their 2.0 pricing plan. Now, my monthly RW bills are around $15 per month including all taxes and fees.
RW is not for people that require high amounts of high speed data. But for me and others that require 1.5 to 2.0 GB of data per month or less, it can be a great deal. Freedom of choice is good!
Actually, the price is even MORE than $85/month.
It’s actually in excess of $100/month!! OUCH!!!
Republic Wireless tacks on an additional 20-30% in taxes, fees and surcharges. I’ve read many articles recently across the internets about this very same topic – the outrageous pricing that this company tries to desperately hide in slick marketing as “a refund plan”
Their 4G plan, with 5 GB of data, was $40. They raised that to $85 ($10 base $15/gb of data x5 = $85). That’s 112% price increase. Their 3G plan, with 5 GB of data, was $25. Then, they raised THAT to $85. A whopping 240%!! Can we say PRICE GOUGING!!
RW is trying to get rich quick by charging 50% more than Google Fi for the same mobile data. Google Fi only charges $10/gb. And before the fanboys come to the rescue, yes, Fi charges $20 base price BUT…you get SO MUCH MORE with Fi than RW could ever offer. RW is definitely out of their league. With only 300k customers after 4 years of being in business, I think the consumers have spoken – “Avoid Republic Wireless”. There are far more reliable and far more value-priced plans out there, even with the Big Boys.
I think the piece that the headline doesn’t communicate well is that Republic is a very, very affordable carrier for people who are not heavy data users. I use very about 1 gb of cell data a month or less, my wife uses about 100mb per month. She always gets a refund on her data, so her bill was around $12 plus taxes. Mine worked out to right at the $25 level, since I used a full 1 gb last month.
Again (and yes, I’m a Republic customer) the savings are very much for the lower end users who can offload more and more onto Wi-Fi. I think the break point is around 2 gb. Below 2 gb of cell data, Republic is hard to beat. Above, there are lower cost options.
So, it’s the slant of the headline that is problematic. Cellular data hogs won’t do well with Republic. Data misers will do very, very well on Republic. I also think you way, way, way underestimated the value of the Republic Refund.