Should I switch from Verizon to MetroPCS?

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biggles

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Jul 25, 2005
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i bought the unlocked LG G6 from bhphotovideo recently LG997. Turns out it is not officially supported by Verizon despite being CDMA enabled. I learned this the hard way when they could not get it to activate on their network while visiting a local store. There are a couple of messy ways to get this to work, including cutting the simcard from LG G4 down from micro to nano size or providing Verizon with the imei of another Android user whose phone also has nano sim.

I was getting ready to switch to T-Mobile but started reading about MetroPCS. This would be way cheaper for wife and I. She has iPhone 6s. We use just under 2 gb data per month. Data usage is low since we use wifi at home.

We live in San Jose area of California and do not travel outside the Silicon Valley area much.

Good idea? MVNO's are something I just started learning about in the past couple of days.
 
MetroPCS is actually T-Mobile so I don't personally consider it an MVNO but by definition I suppose it's classified that way (T-Mobile bought MetroPCS about 3 years ago outright instead of merging). If the phone isn't working with Verizon without a lot of hassles then by all means give MetroPCS a shot and see how it goes. As for cutting SIM cards, there's no reason to do that anymore - just go to your carrier's store and have them give you a nanoSIM card for their service (if you have service with them, of course). Most carriers only issue nanoSIMs nowadays which will often come with the microSIM plastic adapter already attached to it and you simply "break" it out of that adapter if you don't need it for a given device.

MVNOs are basically companies that pay the 4 primary carriers in the US (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon) for use of their networks at reduced pricing, and in some cases the primary carrier is either a major partner with the MVNO or they own them outright (as in T-Mobile's case with MetroPCS). The LS997 G6 has support for 4 of the 5 LTE bands that Verizon uses but of course they are picky about what devices they want on their network so they put potential customers through the wringer to make it happen. If they're not willing to assist you in your efforts and get it done - shouldn't take more than a phone call and a Verizon nanoSIM card which you can get an any Verizon corporate location and wham, you're done. If they can't do it over the phone or even in a Verizon store in less than 20 minutes from the time you walk in then the hell with 'em for being idiots that don't have a clue about their own services. :)

Both your G6 and the wife's iPhone 6s shouldn't have any issues with MetroPCS: you should be able to go into a MetroPCS location, pick a service plan you're interested in, make a payment and they'll put the proper SIM cards in the devices and voila, they too should be able to do this in under 20 minutes start to finish.
 
Another decent one is cricket aka att. Good plans for cheap. You should be able to get month to month and 3gbs each for 70$ all in with auto pay. Maybe a bit less with 1.5 or 2gbs of data.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Another decent one is cricket aka att. Good plans for cheap. You should be able to get month to month and 3gbs each for 70$ all in with auto pay. Maybe a bit less with 1.5 or 2gbs of data.
Click to expand...

Used to be that way...

Cricket's $40 Basic Plan ($35 with autopay) has been increased from 3 GB to 4 GB of data.
Cricket's former 2GB Plan ($25 with autopay) has been changed to $30 1GB Plan (autoplay is not available)

Note: For several months I and other Cricket customers have been experiencing problems with Basic Voice Mail (telephone access) not synching with Visual Voice Mail (app access), i.e. messages not appearing in Visual Voice Mail but appearing in Basic Voice Mail.

Each time I have reported the problems to Cricket, they have acknowledged that the problem exists, and said they will be upgrading their Voice Mail System to address the problems.

Last month Cricket released a Voice Mail System Announcement saying they will be upgrading their Voice Mail System and have sent out text messages instructing their customers how to prepare for the upgrade and to "Be on the lookout for notifications from us a few days prior to your upgrade".

The announcement makes no mention that the upgrade will correct the problems that are existing in their Voice Mail System. What it does mention is that they will be transitioning into a new, larger voicemail system that will allow more messages to be kept for longer periods of time.

Update
Spoke to Cricket yesterday and was told
1. The upgrade will be addressing the problems I described.
2. Customers who are experiencing message problems during the upgrade process are being advised to be subscribed to either Basic Voice Mail or Visual Voice Mail - but not both while they are upgrading.
2. The upgrade is too large to be released all at once across the nation. Instead, the upgrade is going to be released on a state-by-state basis. My state is scheduled for May 30.


 
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MetroPCS is probably a really good option if you guys dont use more then 2gb of data. 50 a month is pretty legit for 2 phones.
 
Update: the unlocked LG G6 was activated on Verizon after all. Turns out the problem was that the LG G4 had to be powered off for the activation to be successful. And yes I feel like an idiot for not knowing that. Surprised most of the Verizon employees did not know that either.

Still interested in the MVNO's for future service due to the cost savings. They seem like a good deal moneywise if you are not a heavy mobile user.
 
biggles said:
Update: the unlocked LG G6 was activated on Verizon after all. Turns out the problem was that the LG G4 had to be powered off for the activation to be successful. And yes I feel like an idiot for not knowing that. Surprised most of the Verizon employees did not know that either.

Still interested in the MVNO's for future service due to the cost savings. They seem like a good deal moneywise if you are not a heavy mobile user.
Click to expand...

Glad that worked -- guess this question has to be postponed. You're right that MVNOs can potentially save money, it's just a question of finding one with both good coverage and a reasonable amount of future-proofing.
 
When I switched to Tmobile I was sorely disappointed by the coverage in my area. Entire sections of town have no (or at least <1MB) data while downtown is like 75MB. I think that's how they claimed to be the fastest provider in my area. Both AT&T and Verizon might only be 15-30MB, but there are no major dead zones.
I'd be careful about switching to any providers that use the Tmobile or Sprint networks.
 
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