No 4G data on MetroPCS?

[ryanms3030]

I just got this phone (LG Motion) and it's my first phone on MetroPCS. I'm in Los Angeles and everywhere I have been in LA is supposedly in 4G LTE coverage area...yet my phone has only shown 1x or EV for data for the 5 days that I have been using it. I called Metro a couple of times and they are useless. I've read a bunch of forums and tried updating my PRL through *228 and my PRL version says 3032 which I think is the most up to date and includes 4G. I downloaded restart connection and tried turning on an off airplane mode to refresh but I have never picked up 4g on my phone. Is this just what to expect with MetroPCS?

All in all, my phone and text service is as good as my old Sprint phone which I was paying $120/month for so for $50/month I am not going to complain to much but I just want to make sure I am getting what I should expect from this phone/service and if this is it I might as well downgrade my plan because I won't be using that much data at this rate

 

[Gman9831]

Call metropcs and say that your 4G isnt showing up and you want to make sure that they have the correct sim card number for your account

 

[ryanms3030]

Call metropcs and say that your 4G isnt showing up and you want to make sure that they have the correct sim card number for your account

Thanks. I called but they can't reprogram it since it's my only phone and I can't be on it at the same time. I'll have to go to a store or call back from work tomorrow. They did ask if I had a sim in my phone so I guess it's not showing up? But I have been making calls and texting and using the web at slow speeds for 5 days so I don't know how that is possible if the sim is not activated

 

[twogbsd]

Thanks. I called but they can't reprogram it since it's my only phone and I can't be on it at the same time. I'll have to go to a store or call back from work tomorrow. They did ask if I had a sim in my phone so I guess it's not showing up? But I have been making calls and texting and using the web at slow speeds for 5 days so I don't know how that is possible if the sim is not activated

4G LTE = sim = needed

Calling/Texting = CDMA = no sim needed




Pop the back of your phone off, take out the battery, and look for a slot that says "Micro SIM" look in there and see if you have a card in threre.

How did you activate your phone?

 

[ryanms3030]

4G LTE = sim = needed

Calling/Texting = CDMA = no sim needed




Pop the back of your phone off, take out the battery, and look for a slot that says "Micro SIM" look in there and see if you have a card in threre.

How did you activate your phone?

Good info! I do have a sim card in. I bought the phone on line and activated on line. I had a lot of trouble activating and I got a message saying the phone serial number was not valid and couldn't be activated but then miraculously it started working after a few tries. So I guess the CDMA got activated but not the 4g from what I'm hearing

 

[mrpnut]

Good info! I do have a sim card in. I bought the phone on line and activated on line. I had a lot of trouble activating and I got a message saying the phone serial number was not valid and couldn't be activated but then miraculously it started working after a few tries. So I guess the CDMA got activated but not the 4g from what I'm hearing

You need to call*228 and activate the iccid card thats the sim card once you activate it you would have your 4g on.
Theres numbers on that sim card

 

[Gman9831]

4G LTE = sim = needed

Calling/Texting = CDMA = no sim needed


Pop the back of your phone off, take out the battery, and look for a slot that says "Micro SIM" look in there and see if you have a card in threre.

How did you activate your phone?

The phone needs the sim card to work for everything ,cdma+lte but you have to manually go in the service menu and disable it so it can work without but you dont get 4G

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Did you buy you phone by any chance at Best Buy?

If so that may be the problem. My phone from there also had a Sim card # that didn't compute with Metro. There are supposedly a number of phones thusly affected.

There is a thread about mine.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

[ryanms3030]

Did you buy you phone by any chance at Best Buy?

If so that may be the problem. My phone from there also had a Sim card # that didn't compute with Metro. There are supposedly a number of phones thusly affected.

There is a thread about mine.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

Nope, I bought it directly from MetroPCS website. I did just go to a Metro store and they "reprogrammed" the phone for me but I'm still not getting 4g. They said wait a day and if it doesn't work then come back and they will rma it.

 

[ryanms3030]

Well, I called Metro last night and the guy told me their network has been down and they know about it and wait two hours and see if my 4g comes back (which I've never had over 5 days). Then I called again this morning and a different rep told me that the network is down and they are working on it and it has been down for 6 days (yeah right) and she walked me through reprogramming the phone and told me to wait 2 hrs again to see if it starts working.

 

[ryanms3030]

FYI-problem solved via advice in another thread.

1. Posted complaint on MetroPCS Facebook page
2. escalations rep contacted me by phone directly and reprogrammed my phone. The original over the air programing did not complete according to her. Took about 2 minutes on the phone to reprogram and 4g lit up immediately and works great now.

 

[MrHerbDaily]

I think I have the same problem. Purchased the phone from metropcs.com. I already had an account with them and this phone was an upgrade. I activated the phone online, but was not able to complete the activation by calling *228. It just gave me a bunch of options that had nothing to do with completing my activation. So I started a live chat with a rep, and she completed the programming. I am able to call and text, but I have yet to see the 4G icon pop up. Although I've only had my phone for half a day and haven't been outside with yet, I still think I should have seen the 4G a few times.

I'm in the San Fernando Valley area where the 4G coverage is supposedly strong. Should I wait a few days or do the facebook complaint thing?

 

[MrHerbDaily]

So how do I post a complaint on facebook and what info do I need to post?

Thanks.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Just go to Metro's FB page and post there. Be polite and succinct about the problem. If you go in there raising holy hell, I wouldn't want to help you either. (Not saying you would, but others DO.)

End with your whole name as on the bill and last 3 of your phone number.

They will either answer you there or most likely call you. From Dallas. Not Bombay.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

[MrHerbDaily]

Got the issue resolved via live chat...

My ICCID wasn't activated, so I gave the rep my sim card ID# and he activated it. I now have a 4G connection

 

[djslakor]

Same thing happened when my phone arrived (which I ordered from Metropcs.com).

The SIM card must be activated for 4G to work. I found the quickest route to get this accomplished was via online chat (took maybe 3 mins, followed by a reboot and then 4G appeared on the status line).

This seems to be a recurring problem with MetroPCS and a "bug" in the overall customer service. Non-technical people would have no idea anything was awry and would operate on 1x/EV assuming MetroPCS actually did their job.

I've also found, in general, the MetroPCS chat people give a lot of misinformation. The group that runs the Facebook webpage is much more knowledgeable and accurate.

 

[TJayDroid]

A month or so ago when I received my LG Motion (which I purchased through Amazon and not the MetroPCS site), I called Metro to activate my phone as usual. Thanks to reviewing this forum, I was aware of the possibility that the phone rep might not activate the sim card for 4G connectivity. All I did was inform the rep (nicely) that I had read that I should inform her of the necessity to make certain the sim card was activated. She acknowledged it and asked for the simcard#.

I think it's possible that she might not have if I hadn't read about it here. So I just made a mental note to do the same the next time I order a phone.

 

[SwoRNLeaDejZ]

To the author of this thread, you should change the title of the thread to include [SOLVED] so that anyone experiencing the same type of problem will know there is a solution contained in this thread. Just a thought

 

[Zokula]

Got the issue resolved via live chat...

My ICCID wasn't activated, so I gave the rep my sim card ID# and he activated it. I now have a 4G connection

I just did the live chat activation just now, took less than 10 minutes.

Very pleased :smokingsomb:

 

[sammyz]

I just did the live chat activation just now, took less than 10 minutes.

Very pleased :smokingsomb:

So, I'm guessing you just got a Motion??

 

[Zokula]

So, I'm guessing you just got a Motion??

Yes back when this was posted, I am kinda of slow. :smokingsomb: