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AT&T to T-Mobile... need advice

furi0usbee

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,382
Hi. I'm an unhappy AT&T customer. I am seriously thinking about unlocking my phone and going back to T-Mobile. I really know nothing about unlocking, except to use the Pwnage Tool software.

I would like to know what I can expect when unlocking and switching back to T-Mobile. What features will I lose (I hear there is a hack to use T-Mobile's EDGE network for internet on the iPhone), gain, etc?

What are the pros/cons... Basically I need some help deciding if I want to unlock, and what risks this poses for me down the road.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan
 
furi0usbee said:
I would like to know what I can expect when unlocking and switching back to T-Mobile. What features will I lose (I hear there is a hack to use T-Mobile's EDGE network for internet on the iPhone), gain, etc?
Click to expand...

If you use the Unlimited 19.99 Total Internet Plan then you won't have to Hack it. I would suggest this.

The Hack is for Tzones (they renamed it, I forgot to what) for 5.99. It's a little tricky to get working, so unless you're comfortable with all out hacking your phone, I'd shy away from the Tzones and use the 19.99 Total Internet.
 
Ntombi said:
From what I understand, you'll lose 3G and visual voicemail for sure. I'll let others chime in with the rest. :)
Click to expand...

Thought I'd mention there's no way to unlock a 3g. There are card hacks, but you have to buy those and the hackers charge ridiculous amounts.
 
Assuming you have a first gen iPhone, you would be able to switch. There are three issues I have potentially heard about -- only one of which was an issue when I switched my wife to T-Mobile using a first gen iPhone (albeit, we are in the UK).

1) Data Access (i.e. EDGE) -- you will need to configure the APN, username, and password under the settings menu in order to get any data access. Assuming you have paid for a data plan, you can do a simple search and get this detail online. I did so for the UK APN and after a few tries, got the data service up and running. This was the only of the three issue we've had. BTW, I called TMobile for help and they were useless - don't waste the time on hold.

2) SMS - I have heard some folks have issues with text messages when unlocking. This wasn't an issue for me, but maybe others could share their experiences?

3) Vmail - you won't have visual voicemail, but I didn't think that was much of a loss. TMobile was shocked that we had access to our vmailbox from the iPhone, but I wasn't sure why that would be an issue. They gave us a special access number to call in the UK, but as I mentioned, my wife gets vmails no problem so hasn't needed it.

These three things aside, plus the other risks I'm sure will get mentioned; switching networks was fairly easy.

Good luck.
 
hondaboy945 said:
From what I read, the tmobile 3G is the same 2100 Mhz that att uses for there service so check it out.
Click to expand...

You're potentially wrong. T-Mo has been reported as using a frequency for 3G that is incompatible with some ATT phones, including the iPhone.

Also, not many places have T-Mo 3G service.
 
Warbrain said:
You're potentially wrong. T-Mo has been reported as using a frequency for 3G that is incompatible with some ATT phones, including the iPhone.

Also, not many places have T-Mo 3G service.
Click to expand...

yeah that is true. what I heard is that t-mobile should be releasing their 3g service pretty soon for their entire service areas..
 
furi0usbee said:
Hi. I'm an unhappy AT&T customer. I am seriously thinking about unlocking my phone and going back to T-Mobile. I really know nothing about unlocking, except to use the Pwnage Tool software.

I would like to know what I can expect when unlocking and switching back to T-Mobile. What features will I lose (I hear there is a hack to use T-Mobile's EDGE network for internet on the iPhone), gain, etc?

What are the pros/cons... Basically I need some help deciding if I want to unlock, and what risks this poses for me down the road.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan
Click to expand...

Hey Bryan,

How can I get in contact with you?
 
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