Looks like all RW customers are being transitioned to Boost Infinite. (As of the email received this morning.)
The FAQ didn’t explain how annual plan customers would be treated, so I sent a Facebook message. “Since you made a yearly payment any credits on the account will be transferred to the new account. Once you have completed the process you will be able to see the credits posted on the account 15 days after the transfer.”
Well…that might mean it’s a prorated credit that they then take money from each month, initially at a price 1/12 of the annual plan cost but then rising to $25 after 6 months. I don’t think I feel like trying to clarify with them to be certain.
Would love to hear from anyone who receives the new SIM card and goes through the process!
Sidenote, I really love the wireless provider I use when travelling in the UK. Affordable and so easy to deal with.
Thank you for the heads up! That said, I’ve not (yet anyway) received any such email. I see nothing about a transition when signing into my Republic Wireless account and there is nothing yet on any social media.
Would you be able to post a screenshot of the email (with personal information redacted)?
My Choice. And the email is the same as someone else posted above.
It’s worded as if “Republic Wireless” is transitioning, but at this point I’m not aware of what all the current plans are, nor what plans are still available to purchase via RW. I just use my phone and get surprised by the occasional email.
Thank you, again! It would be logical to start with those still on legacy My Choice as moving those plans would require a new SIM. For those who’ve moved to 5.0, it may be possible to do a transition without sending new SIMs.
For what it’s worth, no one has yet posted a screenshot to this forum. The link posted is to a Reddit post. If you’re willing, a screenshot of the email here would be appreciated!
I am glad I transitioned when the Early Access benefits were still available. When I got my friend to transition, he said, “But I like Republic Wireless.”
For most Republic members there are multiple better offers in the market than anything being offered by DISH Wireless at Boost Infinite or otherwise.
I’ll drop my typical diplomacy. I sincerely hope DISH continues its current track to fail miserably and goes bankrupt. It’s what DISH corporate though not their employees deserves!
So sad. A lot of us were very pessimistic in the Republic Wireless forums about the Dish acquisition, and it would seem that pessimism was warranted.
Republic Wireless had three assets; Its fanbase/userbase, unique technologies, and its reputation. Dish quickly destroyed all of those. It shut down the forums and pushed away existing users, it shut off all the unique Republic Wireless technologies, and in the process killed all the goodwill the brand had. All so they could just kill the brand off too.
Boost Infinite Unlmites is $25 a month for 5G with throttling after 30GB. That isn’t too bad, but still not as good as Google Fi (with 4+ line pricing). It seems competent, but doesn’t stand out.
An extra $10 a month if you want data hotspot capabilities. Another $10 a month if you want service in Canada and Mexico.
So to get the same capabilities I have with Google Fi I need I would have to pay $45 a line with Boost.
I currently pay $20 a line with Google Fi (plus lots of freebies/discounts when buying phones).
Well, Republic Wireless is dead, but the spirit of the love of new technology, frugalness, and the love of helping complete strangers lives on here.
Well I guess the question about what is going to happen to RW has been answered. I suspected something like this would happen but thought/hoped the timeline would have been a little longer. Boost Infinite must not be getting the new subscriber numbers they are looking for so DISH decided to manipulate them via brand consolidation.
I’m on the 5.0 plan and have not received an email but I’m sure I will get one sooner than later. Then again with how jacked up DISH is it wouldn’t surprise me if the only notice I get is a change of the company name on my monthly statement. As our phones are working and it looks like we will keep our current discount for 6 months after a transfer I’ll start to look for a new provider after we are transferred. I haven’t rushed to unlock our phones but I guess I better while I know the process will work correctly.
I was talking to RW support the other day. I was hammering on the Canada roaming issue. The tech dropped the news on me at that time. He said that within two to three weeks customers would be notified about this change. He told me this as a way of eliminating the need to keep hammering on the Canada issue as the migration should fix the issue, at least he thought so. We’ll see. I assume that I’ll get the email at some point. I’d say he missed the mark a bit on the timing.
I was just looking at what’s out there for Boost Infinite. Am I correct I lose my hotspot unless I pay extra for the feature? That will be a killer for us. It is not uncommon when we are traveling with the trailer we do not have access to the internet at the campground. For those cases I use the phone as a hotspot so my wife and I can use our laptops. I might have to start looking for a new provider earlier than planned.
I was also reading that for new accounts they do a soft credit check. I’m wondering if they will bypass that for Republic customers. If not they will not be able to pull mine as I locked all of my personal information down after being part of the OPM breach in 2015.
You are correct. There is no free hotspot with the Boost Infinite Unlimited plan. I have the Early Access plan which only includes 5 GB of hotspot. To get the full 30 GB of hotspot, you have to pay an additional $10/mo.
I believe they are bypassing soft credit checks for RW subscribers like they are with Prime members.
If i were switching now, I would probably give mobileX a try, which Rolandh has mentioned. The only bad thing that I have read about them is their data latency. Their “unlimited” plans start at $20/mo. They don’t mention any limitation on hotspot data.
You are right, Boost Infinite without the Early Access benefits is not as compelling. When BI was in beta, the add-ons were only $5 each. Now they are $10. The price guarantee only covers the base price, not the add-ons.
I don’t have a four-person household, so Google Fi would not work for me. But, I think I would check out another MVNO If I were making a switch now.
Those of us who took a wait and see approach weren’t naive about the possible outcomes. I wanted to give the Republic brand a chance under new management. I also chose to hang in there to help as many members as possible with the transition. It’s sad DISH corporate didn’t do the same. I explicitly call out DISH corporate because there were individuals working for DISH who genuinely cared about the Republic brand and tried to make it work despite corporate.
I don’t believe killing off the brand was the intended strategy, though I concede appearances made it look as if it might have been. It was apparent, to me anyway, DISH’s intention was always to use the Republic brand as part of a retention strategy for DISH pay-TV subscribers. Think about it, satellite pay-TV subscribers skew both older and rural. The flawed 55+ gambit was a way to indirectly market to these folks. I actually think it could have worked if better implemented. My impression from serving as one of Republic’s Expert Customers was many Republic members skewed older albeit, generally, more technically savvy. Anyway, as a result of the myriad of technical issues launching 5.0, corporate decided to try a more direct approach in Republic Wireless by DISH. It was an attempt to mimic how the cablecos use wireless as a retention strategy. What DISH corporate neglected is the cablecos aren’t holding onto to pay-TV subscribers. The cablecos use wireless as a means of adding value for wireline Internet subscribers.
That’s 30 GB of deprioritized cell data at all times not just after throttling. I’m uncertain about Google Fi but MobileX, Visible and US Mobile all offer genuine premium data on Verizon’s network (the same as if one were a Verizon customer) at similar or better pricing.
Unlike the folks still on My Choice who need a new SIM to migrate to Boost not so Infinite, it would be theoretically possible to migrate 5.0 subscribers without a new SIM. All that differentiates a 5.0 AT&T network SIM from an Infinite AT&T network SIM is the branding on the SIM itself. Whether DISH is capable of pulling off such a migration remains to be seen.
Did said rep advise roaming to Canada and Mexico is a $10 per month add-on not included in the $25 base plan price?
You are correct, sir! Hotspot is an additional $10 per month. Roaming to Canada and Mexico is another $10/month. And, international calling is, yet, another $10/month. Depending upon desired features, $25/month very quickly becomes $35, $45 or even $55 per month per line with no multi-line discounts.
Fun fact; if one reads DISH’s annual reports, one will discover, DISH thought Republic was a postpaid brand when purchasing it (so much for due diligence).
