Google's cell network Project Fi charged me for using Wi-Fi – lawsuit Google's mobile telecom service Project Fi is billing customers for internet data delivered over home and public Wi-Fi networks, according to a lawsuit filed in the US on Monday. The claim, submitted to a San Jose district court in northern California, alleged that Google is charging Project Fi subscribers for data it doesn't …
First question would be, "How many users think they have been charged for WIFI?"
Second question would be, "How many users think they are using WIFI, when, in fact, they were using cell data?"
Subtract answer #2 from #1 before paying lawyers to class-action themselves to a paycheck.
According to the article:
Google's Project Fi stated explicitly that customers "are not charged for the data [they] use when connected to open or home Wi-Fi."
So it doesn't matter whether you're using the Wi-Fi, or just connected to it, they shouldn't be charging for that data. Think Apple's Wi-Fi boost where it uses both cellular and wifi simultaneously - according to the sentence above that usage should be free.
I think what he was saying is a case I had. At home connected to WiFi and all is good.
What I failed to notice is the Wifi wasn't actually working so all my traffic was going through the "cell" network.
As my 4G is actually faster than my home connection, I never really noticed it, until I hit my data cap.
And that is why the first thing I did was to turn that feature off when I unboxed my new phone a year ago - and on the old one too, when it came in an update (yes, an Android update delivered by the carrier!)
I prefer to have control over which service I am using, especially when one has no limits, but is positionally restricted (home broadband) and the other can be used anywhere but has usage limits, I obviously don't want to be using the 4G connection at home, despite the mast being across the street, and delivering comparable connection bandwidth.
Has Google refused to refund? It seems a plausible circumstance for an app to measure data incorrectly. Have Google refused to prove their App is considering the correct counters?
How far back in time can people check they were using the network they thought they were on? as stated in earlier comments, people can, and do, use the cellular networks over wifi without checking, particularly if your cellular data is relatively fast and reliable. Some phones I am sure will try to multiplex data from different networks... I C U Apple...
I feel certain that such a basic issue would be flagged up by more people though, there don't seem to be too many similar complaints around...
I note the complaint says he downloads 6-11Gb month on his phone - I assume he is either an avid movie watcher or using his device as a hotspot. It seems rather a lot to me!
To turn the bleeding Mobile MODEM off once you get home? So as to be absolutely sure your NOT accidentally dipping into you otherwise limited Data. That you idealy want to have access to when your away from home?
I'm also sure this will also go a long way to saving some juice on the Battery, since the MODEM doesn't constantly need to keep pinging the next Tower over.
Basic rule of thumb I only have the Mobile MODEM turned on when I need it, and otherwise off while I'm at work.
Yes. For an awful lot of people it is. My wife comes home from shopping. She's carrying so many bags that she has trouble getting through the door. Some of the stuff needs to be put in the fridge. She needs to get supper going. Why the **** should she have to pull her cell phone out & turn off cell data? There should be a simple policy setting.
We've blown through our monthly data cap in 4 days. In no small part because of this sort of thing.
Who said to do it right away? Obviously put the Groceries away first. It's not like she's gonna be reading anything here during that interval much less anywhere else. But, when the Groceries have all been tucked up all safe, and snug. And SWMBO goes to plant herself on the Couch, for a light spot of Amazon shopping. Probably could use the time more wisely to yank the shade down and tap the Mobile Connection to off first.
This post has been deleted by its author
"Why the **** should she have to pull her cell phone out & turn off cell data?"
Pointing out the obvious... so that she doesn't use cellphone data when she's as home.
Have some personal fucking responsibility, or are you OK with being pigeonholed with the same kind of idiots who run lawnmowers over their kids, then sue the manufacturer because the handbook didn't specifically tell them not run the mower over their child?
The **** companies know EXACTLY where that phone is at all times. It would be easy to geofence our house & turn mobile off when she gets home unless it takes more than 2 minutes to connect to the (two) wifi networks we have. This can & should be handled at that level. They constantly talk convenience. Well, let's have some!
I don't have a mobile big brother. If I did, I would make a habit of doing the switch when I get home. But it would anger me every time, because as a software engineer, I know how little effort would be involved in providing a feature that would save average users millions of dollars a year.
"turn the bleeding Mobile MODEM off"...."pinging the next tower"
Yes I do sometimes turn mobile data off if I want to watch a video or something but would normally do such things on the tablet.
Actually the modulator-demodulator** is part of the kit that attaches you to the mobile network and no you don't turn that off except in aeroplane mode. So if you want to be able to say make and receive calls the tower stuff continues.
** We're a long way from when a modem was simply a frequency/phase/amplitude shift thing but still have the word
I would like to see a feature where you would leave mobile data disabled, but could do a "temporary activate" for some set amount of time (perhaps a slider for 5min-30min), after which the phone/device would automatically shut mobile data off.
Of course, I could see the rip-off cellular companies being very much in opposition to that (for the obvious reasons)
I'm a Fi subscriber, and I know from metrics gathered by my router that I am not being charged for data received over wifi. Last month I was billed for 1.35GB, and used 22.75GB over wifi.
Now, by no means am I saying that Fi is perfect, but this problem certainly is not universal. Also, using an Android One Motox4, I can tell you that mobile data is disabled by default when connected to wifi.
I don't think this is justified . There was a problem maybe a year ago with project fi charging data while on WiFi and once it was recognized by project fi they reimbursed every one of their customers. Project fi is an honest company. Whenever I call them with issues they reimburse me or credit me at least a gigabyte.
Project fi is an honest company and if there's any discrepancies with your bill they will credit you. There was a issue about a year ago with data being charged over WiFi. Once it was acknowledged by project fi they sent out a mass email to all its customers and credit it every customer. This lawsuit is unjustified.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
