http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357
okay so Walmart and Tmobile made this deal happen. $30 per month for unlimited data and 100 minutes. my question is, if I buy unlocked iPhone 4s from apple, wil this plan work or is there a trick?
No trick involved. You just have to get activated the right way.
FYI, I am currently testing out this plan on my factory unlocked 4S. This $30 promotion is as stated, available only in stores at Walmart, via Walmart.com, or online only at T-Mobile for
new activations only. Anyone who wants to use this service and have their old number ported over should go through the new activation first, and then work with a CSR after for porting. If you want to use this plan on an unlocked iPhone 4/4S, you probably need to do the activation from the T-Mobile website since you have to purchase a prepaid phone to get this plan via Walmart (both in store and at Walmart.com).
As others have mentioned, the 4S uses different frequencies and is therefore only compatible with EDGE on T-Mobile's GSM network. For certain tasks, it can be very slow (any form of streaming video, maps in satellite view, loading a web site with lots of graphics, etc). For less bandwidth intensive tasks, it is usable. My use of cellular data when away from WiFi has been mostly for e-mail, news and weather apps, and Waze. Siri works ok and may return results a few seconds later compared to 3G or WiFi. For myself, this is serviceable when I'm outside the range of a free WiFi hotspot including the ones setup for RoadRunner subscribers.
For some, the initial hitch might be in acquiring a T-Mobile micro-SIM AND the prepaid activation kit. T-Mobile no longer sells this combo online (they used to sell it for $10). They do sell their
prepaid activation kit with a regular sized SIM for $4.99. It comes with around 10 minutes worth of voice ($3.34 was applied as credit towards the $30). This same kit is also available by several sellers at
Amazon for around $3. Either way, you will need a SIM cutter. If you go this route, read the reviews. Purchase it from a seller like WorldWide Distributor who are mentioned in the feedback as having sent the correct product. The reason I say this is there are several other products listed at Amazon (like this
one) and on eBay which claim that you can use these cards for activation. The activation these individuals are referring to is for getting the iPhone activated so you can access the home screen. Without the actual activation kit (which includes an activation code for activating the SIM on T-Mobile's network), you won't be able to get the SIM provisioned for actual service. Those micro-SIMs (so long as they haven't been activated) are however perfectly fine to use along with a separately acquired activation kit (like say if you don't have a SIM cutter and don't want to invest in one). An alternative to acquiring a micro-SIM is to check with your local T-Mobile store/dealer; they may just give you one.
I already had a precut T-Mobile micro-SIM so I purchased the prepaid activation kit directly from T-Mobile. The kit included a standard sized SIM which I just stored away as a backup (the activation code is not tied to the SIM card). I went to their
online prepaid activation site, entered in all my details, and was provided with a new phone number. The next link brings up the available plans that you can select. Important: again, this is the only place (besides at Walmart) where you can sign up for this $30 plan. You cannot sign up for this if you try to activate service at a T-Mobile store or with a T-Mobile customer service rep because this promotional plan naturally does not show up in their system (others who did not understand this and activated at a store or with a CSR were instead, signed up with the other $30 plan which is a standard prepaid monthly service of 1500 voice minutes or messages and 30MB of data). T-Mobile's prepaid plans are
here.
I've documented the entire thing along with further details on this plan as well as the caveats
here,
here, and
here.
