Blackberry Q5 Internet Help/Metro PCS Please!

Hi, I recently made the switch to BB and adore it, but there is a little snag. I am on MetroPCS and wanted a QWERTY phone that would fit all my needs, so I found the Q5 and came to this forum to see if it would work on the Metro PCS network before buying. There were threads of people confirming BB 10s could be used.

After buying the phone only talk/text and Wi-Fi works but can't use my mobile network for browsing the web or any other Internet services! I checked my APN settings using both fast.metropcs.com and fast.t-mobile.com but no success.

I have a $40 unlimited talk/text/web, do I have to upgrade to LTE just for Internet use? I thought data could be used for any 3G/4G band. Please help! Thank you.

A couple of questions to help get a better understanding of your issue. First, is your Q5 an unlocked phone? Want to make sure that it is not tied to a particular network. Do you have a Metro PCS sim installed in your Q5, and is the phone reading it? Is Metro PCS showing up in the upper right corner of your screen? Is Metro PCS showing up under Mobile Networks? Are you able to make any calls? Did you go to the Metro PCS website and activate your phone. Here's a link if you haven't, in the upper right corner there is a tab for activation:

https://www.metropcs.com/offers/brin...own-phone.html

Thank you so much, it's so difficult to find help. I reaaaallly like this phone and would hate to give it up (T____T).
In order:
1) It is unlocked.
2) I installed a fresh micro Metro PCS SIM
3)It is showing up in the right-hand corner.
4) Metro PCS is showing under Mobile Networks
5) I was able to send and receive calls.
6) I switched my phone talking to customer service but never went to a website....is that the problem? I thought if you just had them switch over your phone that would be it.

Excellent! it sounds like you are almost there! I would contact Metro PCS, and let them know that you are having an issue with internet connectivity. You shouldn't have to go thru the activation process thru their site. Although, I would check the steps on their site to make sure you've got everything covered. I don't use Metro PCS, so I don't know what exactly their APN settings are.

Mike, do you know which Q5 model it is that you have? You can find this under Settings>About, and it should be SQR100-x.

Originally Posted by mrmdls

Excellent! it sounds like you are almost there! I would contact Metro PCS, and let them know that you are having an issue with internet connectivity. You shouldn't have to go thru the activation process thru their site. Although, I would check the steps on their site to make sure you've got everything covered. I don't use Metro PCS, so I don't know what exactly their APN settings are.

Ahh and therein lies the problem. From the research I've gathered on this forum, Metro PCS has a long-time standing of not providing service for BBs because they still think they need BIS which they can't provide to access the major parts of a BB (which is no longer necessary with the BB10 devices because I signed up for BBM through Wi-Fi lol).

/blackberry-z10-f254/anyone-been-able-get-service-metropcs-879591/
/other-us-carriers-f313/how-use-metro-pcs-bb10-951555/

So if I call them with questions with my BB they will turn me away. If I go under the guise of another device then I may receive settings that will not work on my cherry red BB :(.

Originally Posted by raino

Mike, do you know which Q5 model it is that you have? You can find this under Settings>About, and it should be SQR100-x.

I looked it up and I have a SQR100-2. But I'm not sure if I can have an "-x" model because I Googled "Blackberry Q5 SR100-x" but only found models for SQR100-2 and SQR100-3. Thank you though.

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

I looked it up and I have a SQR100-2. But I'm not sure if I can have an "-x" model because I Googled "Blackberry Q5 SR100-x" but only found models for SQR100-2 and SQR100-3. Thank you though.

Sorry, I should have been clearer. The x is supposed to be a number between 1 and 3 (the range of model numbers for the Q5.) You have a SQR100-2. That is the Rest of the World (ROW) model of the Q5 and it does not have any TMO/Metro LTE bands in it, which is why I suspect you are not getting LTE even with the LTE APN entered in manually. Plus, this -2 model does not have the UMTS 1700 band either, which TMO (and perhaps Metro) uses for 3G/'4G' in most places. It does however have the UMTS 1900 band, which is used by TMO for '4G' HSPA+ in bigger cities (not sure if Metro has access to this network.) So I would suggest you try to get a SQR100-1 instead, or try some of the non-LTE, non-CDMA APNs. Since you are able to make calls and send texts, that means you have access to non-LTE networks. Hopefully that's the HSPA+ network and not just the 2G network.

Thank you for your reply, though of course it was not too pretty to hear. If I would be able to acquire these HSPA+ APNs, would browsing/data be significantly slow? And any idea first how I can go about getting and trying out said APNs before returning the phone? I can't go to Metro customer service because they will know I will have a Blackberry.

And as a curious question, if I wanted to travel the world and use this phone, it wouldn't be a good model because of the missing UMTS 1900 band?

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

Thank you for your reply, though of course it was not too pretty to hear. If I would be able to acquire these HSPA+ APNs, would browsing/data be significantly slow?

Not necessarily. TMO's HSPA+ can go up to 42 mbps theoretically. However...for even HSPA+ to work on this Q5, you're going to need two ducks to line up:

1. You'll need to be in a "UMTS 1900" area. These are places where TMO refarmed their 2G to HSPA+. Generally, this is in big cities although not all.
2. You'll need Metro to have access to the UMTS 1900 network. TMO may or may not be allowing Metro phones with the 1900 MHz band to use this network.

Personally, I think #1 is a bigger problem in your situation.

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

And any idea first how I can go about getting and trying out said APNs before returning the phone?

You would have to look around if they exist. To be honest, I only knew of fast.t-mobile APN, and was under the impression that it's a "combined" APN for both LTE and HSPA+. If I was not getting HSPA+, I would just return the phone than suffer through 2G or at best, spotty HSPA+.

It's not worth it, even if you get UMTS 1900 working. Anytime you left such a place, your phone would drop to 2G. If the Q5 is really what you fancy, try getting the SQR100-1.

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

I can't go to Metro customer service because they will know I will have a Blackberry.

You don't need to. BB10 is just like Android and iOS in the sense that it does not require a special data plan anymore, so at worst, you have to manually enter in the APNs. But reps don't usually know this.

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

And as a curious question, if I wanted to travel the world and use this phone, it wouldn't be a good model because of the missing UMTS 1900 band?

Actually what you have is the ROW model, which usually means outside North America, the phone will work great. Your phone has the UMTS 1900 band (it's missing UMTS 1700.) But it doesn't really matter, because UMTS 1900 isn't a big deal outside the Americas. Most of the world uses UMTS 2100, and secondarily, UMTS 900--both of which are present in your Q5 -2. As are the dominant ROW LTE bands 3 and 7.

Wow, thank you for all the info. Looks like I'm gonna have to wave the white flag though it turns out I do live in a city with that coverage (Tampa).

Now as a last-ditch effort, upgrading my plan to an LTE one wouldn't change anything at all, right?

Originally Posted by skinnymike1

Now as a last-ditch effort, upgrading my plan to an LTE one wouldn't change anything at all, right?

Right. LTE is totally out of the question with a Q5 -2.

Okay, thank you so much for answering my questions. I at least know all my BB dreams can come true on Metro with the right model, and that gives me resolve. See you around when I can be officially part of the BB family again!

Okay, as an update there wasn't a model that I could find that I wanted so I opted for the q10 SQN 100-1 and it works excellent with Metro with 4G and everything! I thank you so much for your help.