Republic Wireless Cell Phone Plans – Prepaid/Monthly/Pay As You Go Plans

Republic Wireless is a mobile virtual mobile operator launched in November 2010 which runs on Sprint. It is known among its users for its simple plan rates which prove to be inexpensive for low data usage.  It also has an expanded list of cell phones which can be selected by its customers. However, if you are looking for larger value return on large value data plans, then it does not compete with its competitors in this criterion.

Currently, since July 2016, the MVNO, Republic Wireless which is also a subsidiary of Bandwidth.com is running on T-Mobile. Republic Wireless CDMA plans to run on Sprint and Republic Wireless GSM plans runs on T-Mobile. The cell phone plans start at as low as $15 per month for GSM phones.

Technology Used

• Sprint CDMA and 3G EVDO data use 1900 MHz frequency band. LTE runs on band 25 (1900), band 26 (850) and band 41 (2500).
• T-Mobile GSM, Edge, and HSPA+ uses 1700 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands. LTE runs on band2, band 4 and band 12.

Republic Wireless Prepaid Cell Phone Plans

All the cell phone plans whether Sprint CDMA or T-Mobile GSM provide unlimited voice minutes and unlimited messaging. The varying factors are the price and the cellular data which are entirely dependent on each other. The plans are quite cheap. If you use a low amount of web data then it is easily affordable for you. The high-speed web data of Republic CDMA (Sprint) plans provides a refund of unused data while that of Republic GSM (T-Mobile) plans does not provide the refund.

Republic CDMA (Sprint) Plans

NOTE:

• Unlike most prepaid operators, Republic adds postpaid style taxes and fees of 10-30% to plan prices. Taxes and fees vary by state and include the usual sales taxes plus pass-through of regulatory surcharges and fee.
• You can receive credit for unused data.
• Additional data available at $15 per GB or $7.50 for 0.5 GB.

Republic GSM (T-Mobile) Plans

NOTE:

• Unlike most prepaid operators, Republic adds postpaid style taxes and fees of 10-30% to plan prices. Taxes and fees vary by state and include the usual sales taxes plus pass-through of regulatory surcharges and fee.
• You do not receive credit for unused data.

Republic Wireless Refund Rules

For all of you who are using a CDMA plan (plan or add-on data), you will get a refund for unused data. Additional data is available at $15 per GB. However, if you are using a GSM cell phone plan, then you will not be receiving any refund for unused data. You will be charged only for the exact amount of data you use and there will be no instance of rounding up of data.

International Calling

International calling feature to other countries and international roaming are not supported.  However, you can place any call to Canada without any extra charge. Republic phones can make calls to the US and Canada from anywhere in the world using Wi-Fi facility.

Republic Wireless’ Network

When you place a call, the call is initially routed through Wi-Fi. When Wi-Fi is not available, then the phone usage is directed through Sprint and T-Mobile’s network. Therefore, Republic Wireless phones default to Wi-Fi calling. This saves the customer’s wireless costs. Current Republic phones feature seamless Wi-Fi to Cellular handoff. If you move out of Wi-Fi range the call continues uninterrupted on cellular.

There is no extra cost for voice calls. However, there is an extra charge for data roaming on other networks for CDMA phones. Data roaming is charged from the user’s allotted data at the rate of 1MB of roaming data equivalent to 18.3 MB of regular data. You can check for the block by block network coverage using Republic CDMA and GSM coverage maps.

Switching Plans

You can use a Republic Wireless Dashboard app to switch from one cell phone plan to another which is limited up to two times a month. All the details of the cell phone plan whether price, validity period, minutes, texts or data are listed in the application.

Devices for CDMA Plans

• At present, two Motorola phones are being sold for the CDMA plans, namely- the $299 Moto X (2^nd Generation) and $149 Moto G (1^st Generation).
• Republic versions of Motorola Defy XT, Moto X (1^st Generation) and Moto E (1^st Generation) have been discontinued as they are out of stock in the market. However, you can re-activate and reuse the used examples of these phone.
• You can use the LG Optimus V which is the first CDMA phone provided it is currently active. You cannot re-activate it again if it was inactive.

Devices for GSM Plans

The compatible devices which can run on GSM cell phone plans are as follows:

• Motorola G4 (XT 1625)

• Motorola G4 Plus (XT 1644)
• Moto X 2015 Pure Edition (XT 1575)
• LG Nexus 5X (H790)
• Huawei Nexus 6P (H1511)
• Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) (SM-J320A)
• Samsung Galaxy S6 (SM-G920T)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 (SM-G930U)
• Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (SM-G935U)

If you own any of these phones then well and good otherwise you will have to switch to any of these phones so as to use Republic Wireless network.

Where to buy

You can purchase your own Republic Wireless phone online from the website of Republic Wireless itself which is https://republicwireless.com/. You can bring your own compatible GSM phone to this network. However, you cannot bring your own Sprint Device (BYOSD) to this network as it is not supported. Make sure that your phone is compatible with T-Mobile before planning on to buy a cell phone plan.

Account Management

Purchase a phone which is compatible with Republic Wireless and then visits the website  https://republicwireless.com/activate/ to activate your phone. The payment method available is auto pay using a debit or credit card. If your account balance is low, then the service will be declined till the account has sufficient funds.

Republic Wireless Dashboard app allows you to switch from one cell phone plan to another which is limited up to two times a month. All the details of the cell phone plan whether price, validity period, minutes, texts or data are listed in the application.

Mobile hot spot is a feature which is allowed to be used by the customers. You can easily your phone as a modem for a laptop or palmtop to connect to the internet via hotspot tethering. This feature has its benefits as long as you are using any one of the cell phone plans.

Call Management

• Unconditional Call Forwarding: The feature of forwarding all calls to another number is not supported.
• Conditional Call Forwarding: This feature of forwarding unanswered calls only is supported as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi and the conditional call forwarding is turned on.  Dial *28 followed by the number you want the calls to be forwarded to (*28-123-456-7890) and press the call option as if making a call. Now wait for a confirmation message. This process forwards your call. You cannot forward calls to another Republic phone. Forwarding to Google Voice or YouMail works.
• To cancel conditional call forwarding: Dial *38 and press the call option. Now wait for a confirmation message. This process allows you to cancel conditional call forwarding.
• Call Waiting: Call waiting feature is supported. When you are talking to one person over the phone then, you can receive another call which can be recognized by a short alert tone. Charges are applicable for both the calls.
• To answer call waiting: Press the on-screen call option to put the first call on hold. This will immediately connect to the second call. If you wish to return to the first call or toggle between the two calls, then press the call option again.
• 3-Way Calling: This feature is supported. It allows you to connect to two other persons. Call the first person, press the “Add Call” option on the screen and then dial the number of the second person. This automatically places the first person on hold and connects to the second caller. When the second call is connected, press the “Merge Call” option to create a conference call.

Republic Wireless Customer Service Information

Free information Service Calls Dial 911 for emergency services.

“Secret Codes”: For CDMA (Sprint) phones, dial ##786# to get the phone’s MSID, ESN, MEID, PRL, call counters, data counters and version numbers.  For GSM (T-Mobile) phones, dial *#06# to get the IMEI or the phone’s serial number.

Phone Support: There is no customer care phone number.

Online Email Support: Instead of phone support, use online email support. This facility is available from 9 am to 11pm EST every day of the week. You can also use Republic Wireless Dashboard app to submit any request.

Community Support Forum:  The website of community support forum is https://community.republicwireless.com/

Phone Sales and General Information: The website for phone sales and general information is https://republicwireless.com/

Republic Wireless Quirks

• There is no telephone support; only email support. You can fill a form on the Republic Wireless website to generate a support ticket. Then the email support team will reply via email for the resolution of your issue.
• MMS to or from Cellcom, Ting, Cricket, Net10, SafeLink, MetroPCS, and Simple Mobile numbers doesn’t work.
• Phone numbers can’t be ported to Republic from Google Voice or VOIP operators that use Bandwidth.com.
• There can be Wi-Fi calling quality issues. Wi-Fi calling generally works well. However, there can be issues with some Wi-Fi routers and access points. If you are having problems with a Wi-Fi call you can switch the call to cellular by taping the gray arc icon on the cell phone screen.

Is Republic Wireless right for you?

It has simple plans for both the CDMA and GSM cell phones. The cell phone plans have unlimited minutes and texts but with varying high-speed web data. It is good and cheap for people who use less data and expensive for heavy data usage. It has got the highest score in the overall customer satisfaction in the Customer reports 2015 survey. Unlimited music and video streaming are not allowed. Only mobile hot spot tethering is allowed.