it's kind of crazy that i'm just now looking at finally buying a smart phone, isn't it?

i know i want an unlocked android phone. i'm not going to be all that picky about it, though. i 'm more concerned about trying to hit a $50 price tag...

what i have right now is a voicemail over voip. you leave a message, i call you back. i was doing this over a pay phone until a few months ago, when google voice finally expanded to canada. now, i can make outgoing calls through gmail. i don't want my laptop ringing, so i haven't set up an incoming system into gmail (although i could...).

the reason i don't have a phone is that i don't want to pay a monthly service fee. so, if i'm getting an unlocked phone, i'll need to find a way to connect it over voip. the mailbox i'm using is $0.99/month. but, google voice is even better than that. the catch is that i need an existing number to set it up with. i should hopefully be able to use the voip mailbox to do that, thereby allowing me free phone access in the presence of a wifi network. but, i may ask my grandmother to use her number, if i have to. i can be sure that she doesn't want a google voice number :)


this is a relatively new option. as mentioned, google voice has only been available in canada for a few months. but, it's the last piece of the puzzle i was looking for. i mean, i've been waiting for this forever; i've been sort of avoiding it because i don't need it, but i've also been scheming this up for a good five or six years. the really key piece of technology i needed was roaming wifi, which started becoming more common around 2015. so, as much as i'm behind the loop on getting a cell phone, i'm also bleeding edge on how i'm going to actually use it.

the way that most people use their phones is that they're connected to the towers at all times. cell users will eventually move beyond their towers and into the territory of new towers. this is called 'roaming', and cell users know this is expensive.

i'm going to be using the phone entirely over wifi. when i'm at home, i'll connect to the wifi in my router. but, when i'm out and about i'll be looking to connect to wifis wherever i can - that is, i'll be roaming over wifi. and i need that technology to work in order to have a functioning cell phone.

it's really the same thing as roaming between towers, except that i'm now roaming between access points. and, i'm lucky, because i live in a city that has free wifi in the downtown core, which is where i spend most of my time.

there's also the issue of crossing the border. canadian cell providers simply don't provide access in detroit. it's stupid, but it's true. i've talked to people that can't get access from the bus station, which is literally steps from the border. but, with a roaming wifi connection, i can get around that by tapping into the wifi at the renaissance centre. nobody needs to know where i'm from or where i'm going.

the way this will work as i'm walking through detroit is that i'll stay connected by jumping from access point to access point. and, the more fully that the city gets covered, the more complete coverage i'll end up with. that level of coverage probably already exists in manhatten and los angeles.

so, this is actually a long time in the making: free roaming internet phone. and, the cell providers can fuck off if they don't like it.