Hi rolandh.
Thanks for your patience. if you haven’t guessed it already i am very green related to this topic, but I think it’s starting to sink in. regarding your question about what I see when i turn wi-fi on it said republic , then right under that, no connection. an empty triangle to the left of republic. I understand what you are saying about the cell signal and the problem it causes but then why does my wife’s phone work. we have the same plan and phone although hers is slightly older. Thanks for all your help. Happy New year. I am tired of this, as I am sure you are as well.
I need to make a correction… my wife apparently is having issues with Wi-Fi calling, although her cell signals are much better than mine.
I’ve lost track of everything you’ve done in this long thread, but have you tried simply setting the cellular network type to LTE preferred (rather than 5G)? To do this you would go to Settings > Network & internet > SIMs Republic > tap “Preferred network type,” and select LTE. Your wife’s Pixel 4a would be using LTE (unless it’s a Pixel 4a 5G).
In my opinion you would be better off finding an alternative cellular provider, rather than continue to use a plan Republic Wireless no longer sells and seems unable or unwilling to adequately support.
Happy New Year @Thoreau,
I am tired of this, as I am sure you are as well.
The reality is there are so many arrows in the quiver and I’m about out. 
I’ve lost track of everything you’ve done in this long thread, but have you tried simply setting the cellular network type to LTE preferred (rather than 5G)? To do this you would go to Settings > Network & internet > SIMs Republic > tap “Preferred network type,” and select LTE. Your wife’s Pixel 4a would be using LTE (unless it’s a Pixel 4a 5G).
@cbwahlstrom’s suggestion is worth trying.
In my opinion you would be better off finding an alternative cellular provider, rather than continue to use a plan Republic Wireless no longer sells and seems unable or unwilling to adequately support.
And, his is an observation I share. Though RW by DISH has seen fit to allow legacy members to continue using their My Choice plans, the T-Mobile network SIMs attached to those plans were issued before the network changes (expansion of 5G, turndown of 3G) of the past year. These SIMs were intended to support 4G LTE with 3G as a fallback. They do support one flavor of 5G that being 5G NSA. They do not support other evolving flavors of 5G. The point is RW’s My Choice SIMs are old and issued for a cellular network that has dramatically changed in the last year and that will continue to evolve.
While I think RW support should attempt to resolve issues for members still using My Choice, I understand why support is anxious to upsell the new plans (which come with new SIMs). However, that new SIM is an AT&T network SIM and may or may not be an appropriate solution for members still using My Choice. It depends upon the member’s phone and location.
TL;DR, if My Choice is still working for you there is no reason to make a change. If, however, My Choice is no longer working well and troubleshooting doesn’t resolve matters, then it’s logical to look at alternatives whether that be RW 5.0 or an alternative provider.
Hello, this is Thoreau’s wife again.
Yes, we all need to be done with this soon. We appreciate everyone’s input.
I’m writing one more time to clarify a few things and respond to the recent posts. Please see if anything jumps out that may help. If nothing comes of this, he will either be getting a new phone or a new plan or both.
The reason we got RW many years ago was because we didn’t have cell service in our home with any carrier. When RW cut their proprietary wifi calling, based on the documents on the legacy forum I found that my phone, pixel 4a, allows wifi calling but my husband’s moto didn’t so I purchased him a new phone that does, pixel 6a.
T mobile was working fine for him before we got the new phone other than at the house which was always the case and why we got RW initially.
I assumed I was making calls from home on the wifi that is on my phone once the RW wifi calling was disabled. I didn’t realize I wasn’t using wifi calling until I turned off wifi on my phone last week as part of comparing his phone to mine and switching SIM cards. I was able to make calls on cell surprisingly. With wifi turned off the triangle is filled in not quite half way across. It says LTE
Setting his phone to LTE did not help.
This week he experimented with going back to the moto. He gets a cell signal most everywhere except at home which is the same as before.
The carrier settings version on the 4a and 6a are different. They both start the same but then have some different numbers and dates. Does this matter?
I have rotated my and his SIMs in each of the phones and nothing changes.
So,
4a- gets a cell signal in house and elsewhere
Moto- gets cell signal elsewhere but not in the house
6a- no cell signal at house or elsewhere (except occasionally elsewhere if set to 2g)
This seems strange to me.
Thank you!
Hi Mr and Mrs @Thoreau,
It looks to me like you’ve done some pretty thorough (ha ha!, Thoreau, thorough… sigh) investigating.
- Your husband’s SIM card works (gets cell service) on the Moto and in your phone.
- Your husband’s 6a fails to get cell service with two known-working SIM cards - yours and his
- You have ruled out that the problem is simply one of not having service at your location by confirming other phones get service there AND by taking the problematic 6a to a location where you would otherwise expect service to work.
This really smells to me like something is wrong with the phone. This is just me, and you may want to wait for @rolandh and/or @cbwahlstrom to chime in one more time, but I think if it were my phone, I would do one last multi-step test on this 6a:
- Reset network settings: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/2926415?hl=en
- Factory reset the phone: https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4596836?hl=en (this wipes out all your personal data - make sure anything important like photos or text messages are saved somewhere before you do this!)
- Set up the phone without installing any third-party apps. Do not let it restore apps from your Play Store account. Test it in this “clean” state.
If service still doesn’t work in a completely factory reset state with no third-party apps, I’d suggest looking into any warranty you may have on the phone.
I got nothin. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I believe I’ve already suggested and @Thoreau has already tried a network settings reset.
Grasping the last arrow in my quiver, we could try disabling the Pixel 6a’s dual SIM capability. Don’t worry, if in the future you want to use dual SIM, it may be reenabled:
- Open the Phone app
- Dial
*#*#4636#*#* - Tap Phone information
- Toggle Enable DSDS off
- Please do not touch any other settings there
- Exit the Phone information settings screen
If disabling dual SIM capability doesn’t work, then I agree a factory reset would be the last resort.
I believe I’ve already suggested and @Thoreau has already tried a network settings reset.
Yes. What I was trying to convey was a complete reset, where network settings are reset AND the phone is factory reset AND testing is then done with no third-party apps. This is also known as an MDN reset and is more thorough than a network settings reset or factory reset done individually.
Thank you all. We will try those things tomorrow.
Southpaw, to clarify, the moto is not getting cell service at our home. It gets it elsewhere. The 4a is the only phone that is getting cell service at the house. Does this change your suggestion?
Hi @Thoreau,
the moto is not getting cell service at our home. It gets it elsewhere. The 4a is the only phone that is getting cell service at the house. Does this change your suggestion?
No, it really doesn’t. Comparing the cellular bands supported by the 4a and 6a, every band the 4a has, the 6a also has. The 6a has additional bands the 4a does not have, but I don’t see that any bands on the 4a were omitted on the 6a which, at least in my mind, would be the only functional hardware explanation of why the 4a would get service at the house but the 6a would not. For example, if the 6a omitted one or two bands that the 4a listed, we might speculate that the tower serving you is still using one of those omitted bands, particularly if you were in an area with very sparse tower density, and then I’d be less likely to think there might be a hardware issue with your 6a.
I have an active Mobi SIM card and an active RW 5.0 SIM card, and I’m in your general vicinity. If you think it would be interesting to do so, we could try installing my active SIM cards in your 6a to see if it performs any better. I’ve possibly got some free time Sunday if it’s something you’d want to try. If it still doesn’t get service, I’d be completely out of guesses other than a failed cellular antenna in the phone.
Hi Southpaw, just seeing this now. Been a busy weekend. Thank you for the offer to try out your SIM cards. How generous! I disabled the dual SIM capability per Roland’s suggestions and did the resets you listed. No change.
If you are still willing to let us try out your SIM cards in the phone I’m game. This is the wife. I’ll send you a message with my number.
Thank you to you, Roland, and the others that helped with this! Much appreciated!
This phenomenon may not be limited to RW My Choice SIMs.
There’s mention of similar circumstances in Ting’s subreddit here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ting/comments/107y4nz/ting_x1_sim_card_failed_to_get_data_on_google/. The referenced Ting X1 SIM is analogous to RW My Choice SIMs in that both are T-Mobile network SIMs and both use an IMSI of 310260. For purposes of this conversation, I don’t need to bore anyone with explaining a SIM’s IMSI other than to note that it’s possible for SIMs using the same cellular network to have different IMSIs.
The referenced Ting X3 SIM is Ting’s newer T-Mobile network SIM and has an IMSI of 310240. There is no RW analogue since RW never issued newer T-Mobile network SIMs. RW 5.0 SIMs are AT&T network SIMs. Newer T-Mobile network SIMs from other providers using T-Mobile’s network (e.g. Tello) also have a 310240 IMSI.
Of course, none of the above explains why the My Choice SIM in my household (with a 310260 IMSI) works in my Pixel 6a. Some Pixel 6as may very well be defective, however, if the phone is having issues with reading the SIM, in theory, that should be the case with any SIM.
As I recall, there were similar experiences to @Thoreau’s reported in RW’s old Community before it was shut down. Unfortunately, there’s no way to get to that content. 
Rolandh, My Pixel 4a/5g died the other day (stuck in the Qualcomm Emergency Download Mode). I ordered a 6a from the Pixel store, and within 5 days the price dropped $100, but they did offer a refund since it happened so quick.
In airplane mode (with WIFI ON) my 6a (RW My choice T-Mobile) does do WIFI calls, SMS, and MMS.
It is up-to-date with Android 13 and January 2023 security updates (and all google playstore apps updated).
My 4a/5g would only do calls and SMS texting over WIFI (no MMS) with this exact RW Nano Sim Card.
Hi @muerte33,
Thanks for the confirmation! My experience with a Pixel 6a and My Choice SIM mirrors yours.
Sadly, the experience for @Thoreau doesn’t mirror our experience and we’ve not yet managed to resolve it.
Well, it’s very interesting to see a couple of Pixel 6a phones confirmed working on the My Choice SIM card. This is a curious issue, indeed.
I met with Mrs. @Thoreau today to take a look at the Pixel 6a that is the subject of this topic. This Pixel 6a had recently been through a full network settings and factory reset. Here’s what we did.
First, I installed my own active My Choice SIM card in the Pixel 6a. To our surprise, it showed a full cell triangle and 5G. I made a test call, and it worked. I switched to airplane mode with WiFi enabled, connected to a hotspot, and made a WiFi call with no problem.
Then I installed Mrs. @Thoreau’s working My Choice SIM card from her Pixel 4a into the Pixel 6a. Again, we saw a full cell triangle and 5G. This is not the experience we expected, since she had previously confirmed that the phone failed to function equally regardless of using her SIM card or Mr. @Thoreau’s SIM card. However, as we blinked and stared at the cell icon in surprise, the cellular status changed before our eyes. The 5G went away, the cell triangle went empty, and the dreaded exclamation point appeared. In this state, the phone would not make calls. I toggled cell data off and back on, went in/out of airplane mode, it didn’t matter. We could not get service to function.
Baffled as to why one My Chocie SIM card would work and another wouldn’t, I put my own My Choice SIM card back in the phone. Again, we saw 5G and a full triangle. This time we gave it a little time. Sure enough, within just a few moments, the 5G icon went away, the triangle went empty, and the exclamation point appeared. I simply had not given it enough time previously, before jumping into airplane mode to test WiFi calling.
We installed my RW 5.0 SIM card and my Mobi SIM card and found both to work perfectly well - cellular calling, cellular data, and WiFi calling all worked. We allowed some time but never had service stop working as it did with the My Choice SIM cards.
As I think about this in light of two people confirming these SIM cards work in a Pixel 6a (I had decided maybe they just don’t), one thing I really didn’t look at on this phone was updates. It might be worth double-checking to make sure the Android build and apps are all up to date. Other than that, I am out of ideas.
We did discuss:
- Moving to Republic 5.0 with AT&T coverage (but knowing rumors exist that they may be planning to shut down).
- Moving to Mobi with Verizon coverage
- Looking into Tello
- Moving to MobileX, though it’s a beta and Mr. @Thoreau needs something he can rely on for work.
- Looking into Boost Infinite, though I have seen Dish experience some trouble moving numbers between RW and Boost. (Boost Infinite may be different, though.)
And, as is almost always the case when I get to meet RW customers in person, I really enjoyed getting to spend some time in person with Mrs. @Thoreau, even though we were not able to resolve this issue.
Southpaw,
Could there be something wrong with the Band 71 in their 6A?
My 6a is at Android 13 with January 5, 2023 security updates at build TQ1A.230105.001.A2. Google Play Nov 1, 2022.
Baseband Version: g5123b-107485-221101-B-9242015
Kernel Version: 5.10.107-android13-4-00001-gdc30d33ab795-ab9268104 #1 Fri Nov 4 23:22:55 UTC 2022
Google Messages version: messages.android_20221115_01_RC01.phone_dynamic
Google Phone version: 95.1.499580071
My triangle only has 1-2 bars at home.
It might be helpful if RolandH can see if this matches up to his 6A on the old “My Choice Plan”.
The only APN in my list was automatically added at some point (I did not type any of the following in).
I manually copied these into this post from my phone, so the spelling and/or capitalization could be wrong!
Name: T-Mobile US
APN: fast.t-mobile.com
Proxy: Not Set
Port: Not Set
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
MMS Proxy: Not Set
MMS Port: Not Set
MCC: 310
MNC: 260
Authentication Type: Not Set
APN Type: default, supl, ia, mms, xcap
APN Protocol: IPV6
APN Roaming Protocol: IPV4
APN Enable/Disable: Enable
Bearer: hspa, evdo_b, ehrpd, lte, hspap, gprs, edge, umts, is95a, is95b, 1xrtt, evdo_0, evdo_a, hspda, nr,hsupa
MVNO Type: GID
MVNO Value: 6134
Hi @muerte33,
The relevant settings you mention are the same on my Pixel 6a as yours. It would be worth Mr. and Mrs. @Thoreau verifying Android 13 is up-to-date with the latest January 5th security patch. I’ve seen posts (notably on Google Fi’s subreddit) of delayed updates.
If the above isn’t applicable, I’m out of answers in terms of a solution for getting the existing My Choice SIM to work. I do not have definitive evidence but my working theory is this is location based. Something about the combination of T-Mobile 5G and 2G EDGE coverage in certain locations and Pixels isn’t working and the phenomenon does not seem to be limited to RW My Choice SIMs. The phone should be falling back from 5G to 4G LTE but seems to fall back to 2G EDGE or drops the cellular connection entirely.
The usual “solution” is replacing the SIM. Unfortunately, RW by DISH cannot replace a My Choice SIM. They have only RW 5.0 SIMs to offer.
My My Choice SIM and Pixel 6a continue to happily get along with one another. I’ve left the My Choice SIM active in my Pixel 6a for literally days.
My APN looks different from the one on Page 1 of this thread.
@southpaw said:
- Looking into Boost Infinite, though I have seen Dish experience some trouble moving numbers between RW and Boost. (Boost Infinite may be different, though.)
I would also point out Boost Infinite is as much beta as Mobile X. Boost Mobile has a prepaid $25/month “unlimited” plan that is not beta. My educated guess is there is a greater likelihood of difficulty moving an RW number to Boost Mobile than there would be with Boost Infinite.