Republic Wireless is about to roll out their new “Republic Wireless 3.0” plans on July 28th. If you’re wondering what that means and whether or not you want to get in on this party then read on.
Today, current Republic Wireless customers (myself included) got an email about the new plans releasing.
Specifically the email said:
“Nothing is changing with your current plan. However, if you want to upgrade to a new phone, you’ll need to switch from your current plan to our new Clear Choice plans.”
To be honest with you it didn’t seem like a “clear choice” to me. I had been eyeing the new phones and looking forward to their release all the while thinking that when they came out I could just buy one and everything else would be the same. That isn’t the case though. With the new Republic Wireless 3.0 plans you will be able to get the new phones, but you’ll also be paying new monthly fees. This isn’t all bad, but you should know what each plan is and does so you can make your own decision on what’s best for you.
What is Republic 2.0 plans?
The Republic Wireless 2.0 plans are the ones that are also called the “Refund Plans”. They are the only plans that will refund you money for your unused data that you didn’t use during the month. The 2.0 plans were preceded by the famous unlimited 1.0 plans from Republic Wireless. Let’s talk about these 2 plans first since they kinda go together more than the 3.0 plans
The 1.0 plans gave you just 4 options to pick from. They were:
1- The $5 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, No cell
2- The $10 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell, no data over cell
3- The $25 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell, unlimited (5GB now) 3G data over cell
4- The $40 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell, unlimited (5GB now) 4G LTE data over cell
Those were the only 4 options you had during Republic Wireless 1.0
Let’s look at the Republic Wireless 2.0 plans now (also called refund plans). They are:
1- The $10 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell, buy cell data as needed
2- The $17.50 plan and beyond
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 0.5 GB of 4G LTE data over cell, while also refunding any unused data each month (each 0.5 GB of data costs an extra $7.50 which is added to the $10 “base” plan)
So for example:
3- The $25 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 1 GB of 4G LTE data over cell, while also refunding any unused data each month (again, each 0.5 GB of data costs an extra $7.50 which is added to the $10 “base” plan)
What are the new Republic Wireless 3.0 Plans?
Let’s look at the new Republic Wireless 3.0 plans (also called Clear Choice Plans):
1- The $15 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell, No cell data
2- The $20 plan (Best value according to Republic Wireless)
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 1 GB of 4G LTE data over cell, (here each 1 GB of data costs an extra $7.50 which is added to the $15 “base” plan with the exception of this 1GB plan which only costs an extra $5 on top of the base $15 plan)
3- The $30 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 2 GB of 4G LTE data over cell, (each 1 GB of data costs an extra $7.50 which is added to the $15 “base” plan with the exception of the first 1GB plan which only costs an extra $5 on top of the base $15 plan)
4- The $45 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 4 GB of 4G LTE data over cell
5- The $60 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 6 GB of 4G LTE data over cell
6- The $90 plan
Unlimited talk/text and data over wifi, unlimited talk/text over cell plus 10 GB of 4G LTE data over cell
What’s the better plan for me, the 3.0 plan or the 2.0 plan from Republic Wireless.
So what does this mean? Well, it basically means that if you’re a low cell data user (if you use less than about 682 MB of cell per month), or you use no cell data at all, then you’re going to be paying less per month if you stay with the republic wireless 2.0 plans. With the Republic Wireless 2.0 plans you will reach the $20 per month cost at about 682 MB per month cell data usage. At that price point you can get the 3.0 plan that gives you 1GB of cell data for $20.
I hate to get so technical, but for some people it’s all about saving the most money, and if you don’t use a lot of cell data then you will want to stick to the Republic Wireless 2.0 plans for now.
What if I want to use one of the new available 9 phones coming July 28th, can I still use the 2.0 plans?
No, unfortunately you can’t. If you want to use one of the new phones you’re going to have to switch to the new Republic Wireless 3.0 plans. The only phones that you can use with the Republic Wireless 2.0 plans are the Moto E (1st and 2nd Gen.), Moto G (1st and 3rd Gen.), and Moto X (1st and 2nd Gen.).
Furthermore, the only new phone you can actually buy from Republic Wireless today to use on the 2.0 plans are the Moto G 3rd Gen and the Moto E 2nd Gen. If you want one of the other phones that still work on the RW 2.0 plans then you’ll need to find a used Republic Wireless phone somewhere (think eBay, Craigslist, and Amazon)
The New Phones and the New 3.0 plans sounds great, what else can you tell me that’s important?
The other most important thing I can tell you about the Republic Wireless 3.0 plans is that they will piggyback on a different cell network than the 2.0 plans. The RW 2.0 plans run on the Sprint network and get the sprint network coverage. The Republic Wireless 3.0 Plans will run on the T-Mobile network (Even though Republic Wireless hasn’t shared this info they have given us clues such as this: “While we’re contractually not able to tell you the provider’s name, we can tell you that it’s the network that boasts that they have the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network.”)
What does this mean? It means you need to also check your coverage maps before you make the switch to the 3.0 plans. If your area gets good Sprint coverage but spotty T-Mobile coverage then you’re not going to want to switch to the 3.0 plans. On the other hand, some of you may prefer the faster speeds that T-Mobile raves about.
Wait a bit and maybe get the new phones on the Sprint Network
Another thing I found out when researching was that Republic Wireless is working on getting the new 3.0 plan phones available on the Sprint Network eventually. Target date for that is rumored to be sometime before the end of 2016.
Republic Wireless 3.0, 2.0 or what? What should I do now?
What should you take from all of this? I guess if you want one of these new phones then you’d be hard pressed to find them available anywhere else for a lower per month cost than what Republic Wireless has here. If one of these new phones is a must right now for you then the 3.0 plans make sense and are a great option.
If, however, you’re really just trying to keep your monthly phone bill down and you don’t really use that much cell data per month then you should go ahead and get your hands on one of those 2.0 plan phones. Even though Republic Wireless assures everyone that they are going to continue to provide service for 2.0 plans (and I believe them 100%) my guess is eventually they won’t have any new phones available that run on the 2.0 plans. I might be wrong, but I’m glad I have my Moto X right now on the 2.0 plans and I’m sticking with it for now.