Official MetroPCS BYOD discussion thread

[TransitGuy4500]

Get with Moto. They said that they will do a one time replacement of a phone with a cracked screen. Go to their website and look under support. Rather than spending money on a new phone, see if they'll replace your G.

I told them of the situation. They said it costs $150 to fix the screen. The phone ran me $195 itself...

 

[alfick3]

I told them of the situation. They said it costs $150 to fix the screen. The phone ran me $195 itself...

They won't replace it? I was under the impression that they would give one replacement free. Now, mind you this was probably 8 months ago that I read about this.

 

[Kid09]

I cracked my beloved Moto G (2nd Gen) yesterday, and while the phone is fully functional and I don't mind the screen broken either, I may get a new phone by May. Anyone have any suggestions on a phone to get to replace it? or should I just get a new Moto G?

That BLU Studio 6.0 looks good, but I've never used Blu so I'm unfamiliar with them.

My budget is under $300, unlocked is ideal, but I won't ignore the Metro phones.

I've been looking at:
Moto G 2014
ZTE Zmax
BLU Studio 6.0
Galaxy S4 (I can probably find one for under 300 on Swappa)
LG G2
Moto X (2013)

Of those phones, I would say S4, 2014 moto would be your best bet. If Lte is something you want, then S4.

 

[nailzer]

That BLU Studio 6.0 looks good, but I've never used Blu so I'm unfamiliar with them.

My budget is under $300, unlocked is ideal, but I won't ignore the Metro phones.

I bought the BLU cold and don't have any regrets about not buying a big brand phone. I was worried about the CPU being slow at 1.6 gig but its quick, the screen is so bright I have to keep it turned way down. I had a GS5 for about a week before sending it back. The BLU is every bit its equal. It's on amazon for $217.00 right now.

 

[confed]

Just a reminder since you said you were looking at the ZTE, they have locked bootloaders and atm, there is not a working exploit. If you decide to go that route, check XDA to see if they have found an exploit for KitKat yet.

 

[insink71]

So... MetroPCS is BYOD.. but the new $50 unlimited [high speed lte] plan is available only to select devices. At what point in time, [if one procures a crap phone and gets plan], can I switch back to my Google dev device(s)? Since the offer expires Apr 5th [2015], can we expect device freedom to quickly ensue?

 

[Fox Mulder]

You are only eligible for the $50 unlimited plan with a Metr0-branded device. If you have an eligible device now and qualify for the promotion but switch to a BYOD later you will lose the promo rate and go back to paying $60. After April 5 that becomes permanent.
At least that's the deal under the current rules.

 

[DirtyDee]

So... MetroPCS is BYOD.. but the new $50 unlimited [high speed lte] plan is available only to select devices. At what point in time, [if one procures a crap phone and gets plan], can I switch back to my Google dev device(s)? Since the offer expires Apr 5th [2015], can we expect device freedom to quickly ensue?

I assume that because you have to pair imei with Sim card number that is reason they know it not a metro lte device

 

[Joshuah22a]

just a quick question i don't see the metro byod device checker anywhere on metro's site... are they still doing it just not as advertised as before? i have a BLU Studio 5.0 and was wondering if i can bring it onto metro for my dad.

 

[dportal2006]

just a quick question i don't see the metro byod device checker anywhere on metro's site... are they still doing it just not as advertised as before? i have a BLU Studio 5.0 and was wondering if i can bring it onto metro for my dad.

I was looking for it the other day and couldn't find it either. I wouldn't put too much faith on it though. Last year I wanted to use my t-mobile LG G2 on Metro PCS. The checker said it was not compatible and it totally was. All you have to go is put the correct APN settings once you activate the device.

 

[Joshuah22a]

ok thanks!

 

[nailzer]

I just activated a BLU phone. If you want to use a BYOD on metropcs you have to activate it by phone or at a store. You can't activate online.

 

[Skyroket]

Yesterday I've got throttled with t-mobile after hitting 5gb(i was two days until the next payment) . So went to metropcs paid $80 and came out with unlimited everything! Works good same speed same voice quality. They tried to work around to make a $50 work with my phone but couldn't do anything.. At least they tried. $60 for unlimited is pretty much the best you can get. Happy to report!

 

[new optimus]

Yesterday I've got throttled with t-mobile after hitting 5gb(i was two days until the next payment) . So went to metropcs paid $80 and came out with unlimited everything! Works good same speed same voice quality. They tried to work around to make a $50 work with my phone but couldn't do anything.. At least they tried. $60 for unlimited is pretty much the best you can get. Happy to report!

Metropcs was running a $50 unlimited everything, including full speed unlimited data, as long as you were running a metropcs branded lte phone. That promo ended yesterday from my understanding
$60 for the same thing isn't bad, but personally that $10 adds up over time, I just wish I could have kept the $40 full speed unlimited LTE I had with the cdma lte phone.

 

[Gladiator2002]

The HTC One M9 is available online with these bands:

"International"

• Quad Band GSM; LTE: 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 17; UMTS: Band I (2100), Band II (1900), Band IV (1700/2100), Band V (850)

I see band four has the 1700/2100.

This phone will this work as mentioned before? call Metro and have the sim attached to the phones esn number.

Also looking at a T-Mobile Note 4 to add also.

 

[thejerk]

so i have an issue im hoping i can get some advice on. i have a verizon gs4, which from what ive read up on is unlocked by default due to FCC regulations n whatnot. so, initially i had issues getting it to see the tmobile/att towers. now it does. i inputted the metropcs APN (thats the network im on) from my branded galaxy light verbatim. im still not able to connect to tmobile. its on GSM mode right now, and after about 30 second of searching it will eventually pull the ATT and Tmobile towers, but wont connect.

my sim card from my light is in it, sees my phone number just fine. a few times when its rebooted (i forced the reboot), it pulled 2 bars on the radio, but disappeared about 10-15 seconds later. its also trying to pull voicemail, as it keeps saying press *86 to access new voicemail.

do i need to go in and have the IMEI registered on their network before the phone will see their network and keep the signal?

 

[confed]

The HTC One M9 is available online with these bands:

"International"

• Quad Band GSM; LTE: 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 17; UMTS: Band I (2100), Band II (1900), Band IV (1700/2100), Band V (850)

I see band four has the 1700/2100.

This phone will this work as mentioned before? call Metro and have the sim attached to the phones esn number.

Also looking at a T-Mobile Note 4 to add also.

Yes it should work as mentioned with those bands. T-Mobile Note 4 will definitely work and gets a lot of praise from here and other forums.

so i have an issue im hoping i can get some advice on. i have a verizon gs4, which from what ive read up on is unlocked by default due to FCC regulations n whatnot. so, initially i had issues getting it to see the tmobile/att towers. now it does. i inputted the metropcs APN (thats the network im on) from my branded galaxy light verbatim. im still not able to connect to tmobile. its on GSM mode right now, and after about 30 second of searching it will eventually pull the ATT and Tmobile towers, but wont connect.

my sim card from my light is in it, sees my phone number just fine. a few times when its rebooted (i forced the reboot), it pulled 2 bars on the radio, but disappeared about 10-15 seconds later. its also trying to pull voicemail, as it keeps saying press *86 to access new voicemail.

do i need to go in and have the IMEI registered on their network before the phone will see their network and keep the signal?

It should still be able to pull bars and allow you to make a call with it to Metro and have it paired up correctly. From what I see, the GS4 should not get LTE and will only be capable of HSPA and some Edge. Since Metro and T-Mobile share towers, if it picks up a T-Mobile tower (I am not sure what you mean by this) then it is connecting to a Metro Tower as well. Have you tried calling Metro to pair the phone's IMEI up with it? I would try that if no one else can offer more specific advice here. As always, let us know how it works out.

 

[thejerk]

It should still be able to pull bars and allow you to make a call with it to Metro and have it paired up correctly. From what I see, the GS4 should not get LTE and will only be capable of HSPA and some Edge. Since Metro and T-Mobile share towers, if it picks up a T-Mobile tower (I am not sure what you mean by this) then it is connecting to a Metro Tower as well. Have you tried calling Metro to pair the phone's IMEI up with it? I would try that if no one else can offer more specific advice here. As always, let us know how it works out.

when i switch it to GSM mode, it eventually times out (i think?) and a popup saying 'do you want to switch to global mode' appears. i click ok, then on the next screen i see tmobile and att. i tap tmobile and a prompt saying 'registering on t-mobile' comes up and eventually goes away and goes back to the tmobile/att screen.

ive tried this with my sim in and out of the phone, with the APN configured and with it set to default.

 

[marquihd]

What are the actual band frequencies to get LTE at all? I only know band 4(1700/2100) are there anymore AT ALL to get some sort of LTE?

 

[kate]

Band 2 = 1900MHz for LTE.

They are also starting to roll out 700MHz Band 12 for LTE.
http://androidforums.com/threads/metropcs-guide-faq-info-of-apns-bands-etc.810843/

 

[marquihd]

Band 2 = 1900MHz for LTE.

They are also starting to roll out 700MHz Band 12 for LTE.

Thanks.

 

[nailzer]

Love my BLU Studio 6.0 LTE!

 

[bobnstpete]

I have had endless issues with Metros BYOP. two different phones that I checked on the phone checker said they were compatible. I even called them and asked. They said "sure that phone will work". So two different phones bought from eBay and neither one of them worked. They didnt get better than EDGE speed. Considering buying The BLU Studio 6.0 LTE. Oh I am in Tampa, Fl. Here is the link to the Phone checker on Metro. https://www.metropcs.com/offers/bring-your-own-phone.html

 

[Kid09]

I have had endless issues with Metros BYOP. two different phones that I checked on the phone checker said they were compatible. I even called them and asked. They said "sure that phone will work". So two different phones bought from eBay and neither one of them worked. They didnt get better than EDGE speed. Considering buying The BLU Studio 6.0 LTE. Oh I am in Tampa, Fl. Here is the link to the Phone checker on Metro. https://www.metropcs.com/offers/bring-your-own-phone.html

Which phones did you try? I have a OnePlus One and had no problems with activating it.

 

[bobnstpete]

Both were Windows phones. One was the Lumia 822 which is the one that concerned me the most because it is a Verzion only phone. People at Metro PCS insisted it would work. Yeah it didnt. In order to use the phone I had to switch the radio to 2g to get text messages and any form of internet service. I spent an hour on the phone with a CS agent at Metro and even he couldnt figure it out. So I did what I should have done to begin with. I Googled the issue I was having. Page after page came up about this issue with these phone on any GSM network. Its a dual band phone but the GSM is not the same frequency as Metro/T-Mobile. So I returned that phone,sent what I found out to Metro CS. This was last Christmas. If you check their phone compatibility the 822 is still on there. The other phone was a Lumia 635 which T-Mobile sells. This phone had the exact same problem. Would not connect at 3g,4g, or LTE.