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AdrianDLR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2014
3
0
So now that I have my Verizon 4S jailbroken using the new Pangu jb, is there anyway I can finally use this phone on a GSM network, such as T-Mobile? I've tried using SAM, but then read that Apple put a stop to that through their authentication servers. Any input would be helpful thank you!

When I use a test SIM from T-Mobile, the IPhone recognizes the APN settings and the Carrier option comes to life underneath the Cellular tab. When I go into Phone settings, my cell phone number is listed, and there are even T-Mobile options at the bottom, like T-Mobile 611. Under General settings, the carrier is listed as T-Mobile 16.1, despite this being a Verizon locked 4S.

Something isn't matching up and I feel I am SO close to being able to use this phone on the GSM network.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Adrian
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,660
26,604
Something isn't matching up and I feel I am SO close to being able to use this phone on the GSM network.
A little Google searching reveals that you are only a phone call away from an international unlock!

But you are lightyears away from a domestic unlock!

From the link…
You have to be a Verizon Wireless customer and have an active account for so long before you're can request the SIM unlock on the iPhone 4S. However once unlocked, it was only unlocked for overseas use. It would still be country locked and can't be used on the GSM network in the United States.

Am I wrong in thinking you might have been aware of this already and were hoping that you could do a software unlock after jailbreaking?
 

AdrianDLR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2014
3
0
A little Google searching reveals that you are only a phone call away from an international unlock!

But you are lightyears away from a domestic unlock!

From the link…

Am I wrong in thinking you might have been aware of this already and were hoping that you could do a software unlock after jailbreaking?

You are spot on! I have searched everywhere I could think of online, tech stores, friends, self testing....Even recently tried an R Sim and somehow I botched that. Jailbreaking it was my last hope.
 

darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
i thought the 4S had radios for T-Mobile EDGE and 1900 MHz 4G?

The only problem the OP has now is just getting it unlocked so he can use it with T-Mobile
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,660
26,604
i thought the 4S had radios for T-Mobile EDGE and 1900 MHz 4G?

The only problem the OP has now is just getting it unlocked so he can use it with T-Mobile
I don't know about the radios, but if Verizon is anything like Sprint in regards to domestic unlocking of their iPhones (pre-iPhone 5 series) then the only hope is a SIM interposer. R-SIM, Gevey or whatever else is out there.

Maybe a third party unlock, but IDK. I don't have any experience in that.

----------

You are spot on! I have searched everywhere I could think of online, tech stores, friends, self testing....Even recently tried an R Sim and somehow I botched that. Jailbreaking it was my last hope.
I'm sorry, but software based unlocks have been dead for a few years now. :(
 
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AdrianDLR

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 2, 2014
3
0
Verizon indeed will not, under any circumstances, do a domestic unlock. Unfortunately, I have a perfectly new iphone 4s that is basically a glorified ipot touch, unless I can get an interposer to work. Can you explain how that does the band translation?
 

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
Final Confirmation for you:
Sell it and get a gsm one.

hehe, that's actually the best advice anyone's given him.

I don't get it why people are so cheap... they want to save $200 and are willing to sign their life away into a 2 year contract (which on average is $2064) and then go out and pay $100 for unlock service and still be bound to the contract vs just shelling out the extra $200 up front and not being bound for 2 years of their life to a carrier and having the freedom to use any sim any time anywhere if a better deal comes along.. heck an unlock phone fetches $100-200 premium in resale, so it's money that comes back anyhow... don't get the American mentality of spending $10 over 5 years to save $1 today... I guess that's why, on average, Americans carry more personal debt than most countries' citizens.
 

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
hehe, that's actually the best advice anyone's given him.

I don't get it why people are so cheap... they want to save $200 and are willing to sign their life away into a 2 year contract (which on average is $2064) and then go out and pay $100 for unlock service and still be bound to the contract vs just shelling out the extra $200 up front and not being bound for 2 years of their life to a carrier and having the freedom to use any sim any time anywhere if a better deal comes along.. heck an unlock phone fetches $100-200 premium in resale, so it's money that comes back anyhow... don't get the American mentality of spending $10 over 5 years to save $1 today... I guess that's why, on average, Americans carry more personal debt than most countries' citizens.

You don't get it because you don't live here ;) Up until last year you couldn't get a post paid plan cheaper if you brought your own device so it made/makes sense to get the 2 year contract since you are already obligated to pay the same price for the plan, so getting a phone subsidized is the best choice. Now there are plans similar to other places, but they are still bad or even worse than the subsidy plans. Also, up until last year you could get your phone unlock on the web for $2 before your contract expires, that is what I did with my 5S ;)
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
Verizon indeed will not, under any circumstances, do a domestic unlock. Unfortunately, I have a perfectly new iphone 4s that is basically a glorified ipot touch, unless I can get an interposer to work. Can you explain how that does the band translation?

I also have a Verizon iPhone 4s I would love to use on gsm
I believe the only way is a sim interposer
It is really confusing regarding which one to buy, I would give it a shot since they aren't too expensive, but the research is a headache

Which rsim did you buy?
Does rsim require a jb?
I'd love to hear a success story :p
There seems to be some that only work on gsm 2g some 3G ...

It's my wife's phone and she has fulfilled the terms of the contract and verizon still won't unlock..
Just another reason to hate verizon
Though this seems to be unique to the 4S
 
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eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,660
26,604
Though this seems to be unique to the 4S
The 4S does not have LTE. Consequently, it was never part of the agreement that Verizon has with the FCC whereby Verizon MUST provide fully unlocked iPhone 5 series (5/5c/5s) phones in order to use the LTE frequency they are using.

Verizon's unlock policy seems to be the same as Sprint. The only difference being this FCC requirement. I'd bet that if they weren't forced to do this by the FCC, Verizon's unlock policy would be as hated as Sprint's!
 

kerrikins

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,242
530
You don't get it because you don't live here ;) Up until last year you couldn't get a post paid plan cheaper if you brought your own device so it made/makes sense to get the 2 year contract since you are already obligated to pay the same price for the plan, so getting a phone subsidized is the best choice. Now there are plans similar to other places, but they are still bad or even worse than the subsidy plans. Also, up until last year you could get your phone unlock on the web for $2 before your contract expires, that is what I did with my 5S ;)

Wait, now phones just won't work with other networks in the US at all?? Is that just Verizon or all the carriers?
 

darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
Wait, now phones just won't work with other networks in the US at all?? Is that just Verizon or all the carriers?

for the big carriers in the US, sprint is probably the strictest

at&t is more lenient in terms of unlocking the device, but will generally require you to have the device for at least 2 years already

tmobile will unlock your phone if you have it paid off
 

shenan1982

macrumors 68040
Nov 23, 2011
3,641
80
You don't get it because you don't live here ;) Up until last year you couldn't get a post paid plan cheaper if you brought your own device so it made/makes sense to get the 2 year contract since you are already obligated to pay the same price for the plan, so getting a phone subsidized is the best choice. Now there are plans similar to other places, but they are still bad or even worse than the subsidy plans. Also, up until last year you could get your phone unlock on the web for $2 before your contract expires, that is what I did with my 5S ;)

That's where you're mistaken... I'm not question your willingness to commit for 2 years, I'm saying the willingness to commit is a shackle that isn't completely necessary... Forget plan pricing...

So you buy an iPhone 5S unlocked for $200 more and can sell it for $200 more than you could sell a locked version for... so it's net zero aside from the fact that you trade off $200 today that you'll get back tomorrow (should you decide you want to cancel you can without penalty).

The issue is more in the mindset of the American consumer. Most are blind to the fact that the "cheaper phone" isn't cheaper because the strings attached are that they have to be tied to that carrier for 2 years... so if a better phone comes out next year, you may get a partial discount, but you then have to meet them half way, and you are only getting a partial discount.

And regarding phone unlocks, no, you're misinformed, it's NOT always been $2 for an unlock. For years the only way to unlock a phone was to jailbreak it and use the soft unlock. If you had to restore you lost your jailbreak and the phone was re-locked. It was only a (relatively) short period of time when you could pay two bucks and get unlocked, and like all good things it came to a screeching halt.
 

gotluck

macrumors 603
Dec 8, 2011
5,712
1,204
East Central Florida
The 4S does not have LTE. Consequently, it was never part of the agreement that Verizon has with the FCC whereby Verizon MUST provide fully unlocked iPhone 5 series (5/5c/5s) phones in order to use the LTE frequency they are using.

Verizon's unlock policy seems to be the same as Sprint. The only difference being this FCC requirement. I'd bet that if they weren't forced to do this by the FCC, Verizon's unlock policy would be as hated as Sprint's!

Yea that sounds totally right. The verizon iphone 4S' resale value is pretty dismal. I waited too long and now it seems hardly worth it to sell.

Funny how verizon's 5+ are very desirable, because like you said are fully gsm unlocked with the added benefit of working on verizon too.

I take it then, even Sprints iPhone 5+ are completely domestically gsm locked? sheesh :(
I see your sig :(

----------


He does have a point though. Previously it made less financial sense (IE. you are at a loss) to buy your phone upfront and use postpaid service because you were paying for the subsidy no matter what. This has since changed. The resale argument is null and void with ATT and Tmobile users because they will unlock their phones. Verizon's iPhone 5+ comes gsm unlocked out of the box.

In the past one must have used prepaid plans in order to realize any financial gain in buying the phone upfront, which had caveats.

You cant say 'forget plan pricing' because that is exactly what the problem was. They committed to the shackle to save money, which actually was true
 
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darricksailo

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,353
113
Yea that sounds totally right. The verizon iphone 4S' resale value is pretty dismal. I waited too long and now it seems hardly worth it to sell.

Funny how verizon's 5+ are very desirable, because like you said are fully gsm unlocked with the added benefit of working on verizon too.

I take it then, even Sprints iPhone 5+ are completely domestically gsm locked? sheesh :(
I see your sig :(


only verizon iphone 5+ are fully unlocked

sprint iphone's are still locked to sprint and only unlocked for international use
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,660
26,604
well that ruffles my feathers :p
LOL! Yeah, Sprint pairs the ICCID on the SIM with the MEID of the iPhone (or other SIM using phone).

If you put in a different SIM the phone detects that the ICCID is different and voila - no service.

Very draconian, but it's only become an issue in later years because Sprint never really had phones with SIMs until around 2010-11. The Sprint iPhone 4 does not even have a SIM slot. The SIM is hardwired on to the logicboard!
 

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
That's where you're mistaken... I'm not question your willingness to commit for 2 years, I'm saying the willingness to commit is a shackle that isn't completely necessary... Forget plan pricing...

So you buy an iPhone 5S unlocked for $200 more and can sell it for $200 more than you could sell a locked version for... so it's net zero aside from the fact that you trade off $200 today that you'll get back tomorrow (should you decide you want to cancel you can without penalty).

The issue is more in the mindset of the American consumer. Most are blind to the fact that the "cheaper phone" isn't cheaper because the strings attached are that they have to be tied to that carrier for 2 years... so if a better phone comes out next year, you may get a partial discount, but you then have to meet them half way, and you are only getting a partial discount.

And regarding phone unlocks, no, you're misinformed, it's NOT always been $2 for an unlock. For years the only way to unlock a phone was to jailbreak it and use the soft unlock. If you had to restore you lost your jailbreak and the phone was re-locked. It was only a (relatively) short period of time when you could pay two bucks and get unlocked, and like all good things it came to a screeching halt.

Again, "you know nothing John" Shenan :p (GoT reference just in case)

1) Let's take my phone:
5S w/ 2 year contract: $300
5S unlocked: $749
Difference: $449, where did you even get $200 lol
Current Plan price: same if I bring my phone or if I get one subsidized.
Shackled maybe, but there is always one carrier that really works in your city/state properly so it's not like many move around from carrier to carrier when they find the one that works w/ proper LTE etc.

2) There is NO real american mindset of cheaper when there is no proper options to have a different mindset. The shackles are a necessity when there are no other options, also you were the one that talked about phone pricing and plan pricing to begin with.

3) I'm not misinformed, I have owned many iPhones and have done different method of unlocking, up until the last one that was the best one in price AND procedure which increased in price dramatically a few months after the 5S got released. I showed you a reason on why paying your "$200" extra number when for $2 you can get it unlocked while on contract was unnecessary and more than one year running at those prices is short by your book…ok... also since a few years ago now, you can get your iPhone unlocked officially by AT&T after your contract expires or you upgraded your contract phone for another one.
 
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