My wife and I both had Republic Wireless for four years, and the cost was very low under our plan. The good: We were paying under $30 per month for two smart phones, because we had a "refund" plan which provided a refund each month if we used under 2GB of data for each phone. We usually used wifi for all data requirements, so we were almost always under 0.5 GB, and got a great refund. The bad: 1) The RW system is based on using wifi whenever available for calls, data and text. Unfortunately, their VOIP service was buggy to the point that my wife became very frustrated. Problems included noise, echos, dropped calls, and one-sided conversations where one side could hear, but the other could not. 2) RW uses the Sprint network, which has spotty coverage in some areas, including ours. As a result, were had to use wifi for all calls from our home, aggravating the problem noted above. My wife switched to another carrier because of the VOIP problems. 3) Nonetheless, I was planning to stay with Republic because I really don't spend that much time on the phone, and I liked the low monthly cost. Unfortunately, my phone died, so I purchased another from Republic Wireless. Upon activation, I was informed by RW that I could no longer keep my "refund" plan, and had to move to a more expensive prepaid plan. Note that there was no hint that I could not keep my plan when I purchased the new phone from RW! That was the last straw! Four years of marginal service, and then I was forced into a more expensive plan just because my phone died! When I did switch, it took RW what I consider to be an exceedingly long time to release the number to the new provider. I'm sorry to say that I cannot recommend Republic Wireless, even if they are the low cost provider.