Using Google Fi in Portland Oregon and Beyond

Update 1/18/2020: I’m still using Project Fi! I’m using a Pixel 4a 5G and love it. It wasn’t only around $400 bucks for Fi users during the Black Friday sale. I’m getting 5G coverage in Portland, and down most of the Willamette Valley in cities like Salem, Eugene, and even outside of Eugene in the country where my family lives.

Update 12-3-18: Project Fi is now called Google Fi. iPhones are now in beta-testing for this network. More on this here: https://fi.google.com/compatibility

Two years into using Google Fi (formerly Project Fi) cellular network, and I am decently satisfied. Though the coverage is not quite as complete as my former network, Verizon, the pros of being on this network far outweigh this network’s coverage short comings. The major pros are clear and transparent pricing, prorated billing, coverage where I need it, and the simplicity of using my Google account to access my account.

First off, coverage. As someone who spends 90% of their time in a city, in my case, Portland, OR, coverage has been complete. Everywhere I go in Portland I have a 4G LTE signal (Update 1/18/2021: I now have 5G coverage throughout Portland).

Project Fi, also automatically and securely connects me to trusted WiFi hot spots in order to save me data use. What’s been strange, is that in my house for some reason, calls drop from time to time. This has been a tad frustrating, but I’ve found that if I stay in one place during the call I remain connected. Again though, this dropped call circumstance isn’t happening on every call, and the pros of this network outweigh this minor inconvenience. (Update 1/18/2021: coverage has improved. No more dropped calls!)

Though I’m based in Portland, I have traveled to a few different places since getting on this network. Here are the places I’ve traveled and network coverage I experienced:

Where do I get a Google Fi signal?

Update 1/18/2020: Many of these places will now have 5G.

• Hawaii (Big Island), I had 4G LTE coverage from Just South of Kona where my hotel was, all the way to Hapuna Beach State Park 40 miles north, and almost everywhere in between. The few times my phone did lose signal, my wife, who has Verizon lost signal as well.
• Reno, NV. I had great 4G coverage on a trip to Reno, which included spending time in Carson City, and a small town nestled at the base of the Sierras called Genoa.
• Eugene, Springfield, and Creswell OR. I have good coverage in these three towns, which are about 100 miles south of Portland. When I go into the country however, away from Interstate 5 or a few miles outside of these towns I lose coverage.
• Mount Hood Meadows – I have coverage on Project Fi! As a skier, having coverage at the mountain was huge. Project Fi has coverage throughout Mount Hood Meadows Resort. I haven’t explored the Mount Hood Back Country with this phone, but I would anticipate there are many valleys where the signal would be lost. I also don’t recall if I had a signal at the Hood River Express lodge, because I did not spend very much time there.
• Corvallis to Newport – I had a 4 g LTE signal on Fi at the rest area in between Corvallis and Newport. It’s a pretty isolated and hilly spot, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw I had a signal.
• Just got back from Maui! I had a decent signal for most of my trip. I lost coverage as I drove the misty valleys of the the north east side of the island after leaving developed areas. On the tops of bluffs and ocean points, I’d pick up a signal again.

One of the big reasons I switched to Google Fi, is that I wanted to get off of my old network. I had expansive billing issues for the 5 years I was with them. The big ongoing billing issue was that I had to do digging to see what I was being charged for.

Project Fi on the other hand has been very transparent:

• $20 for unlimited talk and text
• $10 per gig of data, which is 100% prorated.
  Last month I used 4.631 gigs of data, and my data charge was $46.31. It’s so cool to only pay for what data I use.
• $5 device protection
• Taxes and Regulatory for Fees were $2.37 last month.

Project Fi also just added a brand new pricing feature called “Data Protection” – this is a cool feature wherein data charges are capped at 6 gb, so I will never pay more that $60 for monthly data use.

Having simple pricing has been a huge win. If you live in an area with Fi coverage I would definitely recommend checking Project Fi out for your cellular service. Please hit me up in the comments if you have any questions on my experience with Fi.

Read Next

Wim Hof Breathing
I’m a Google Local Guide and So Can You
Promise of Self Driving Cars