If I want to use a AT&T prepaid SIM on my iPhone 4, can I activate using the iPhone 4 (IMEI)? Or do I need a GoPhone to activate it, then I can put it in the iPhone?
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How do you active AT&T Prepaid SIM for iPhone 4?
- Thread starter California King
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Actually, there's been several people who have reported it working for them...been working for quite some while now.
Thats false.
You can activate it with the prepaid sim but obviously it wont fit in the i4 so you gotta trim it down to microsim size.
Dont activate the sim with the gophone cause it will lock it to that device I heard. Give them the iphone4 IMEI.
I just bought a 3gs, so it might or might not work the same way for you...
I went to the AT&T store and told them that I wanted to get a pay-as-you-go SIM on my iPhone. They looked at me like I was crazy but still allowed me to do it, no questions asked. They signed me up for the plan (just the 0.25/min plan) and installed my SIM card.
That was it. My phone is running fine. I have Skype on it with call-forwarding so that when I'm not near a WIFI network, my incoming calls go to my AT&T phone number.
I went to the AT&T store and told them that I wanted to get a pay-as-you-go SIM on my iPhone. They looked at me like I was crazy but still allowed me to do it, no questions asked. They signed me up for the plan (just the 0.25/min plan) and installed my SIM card.
That was it. My phone is running fine. I have Skype on it with call-forwarding so that when I'm not near a WIFI network, my incoming calls go to my AT&T phone number.
Thanks, that's what I was going to do! Whew....
That's what I was planning on doing, but will they let me take the SIM card home so I can activate it myself? That way I don't need to tell them about the iPhone?...Also, that's a very cool idea of using Skype! I might use that.
I stick an unactivated AT&T Prepaid SIM into my iPhone 3G and activate the phone via iTunes and it works just fine.
A few things wrong in this thread that need correcting.
The GoPhone sim will only be locked to the GoPhone if you use the sim that came with that GoPhone and that GoPhone came with a free airtime credit offer such as $50. If you activate the phone with that sim, the sim will be tied to that phone for about six months and will not work in the iPhone until then.
To activate a GoPhone, you need to activate it using the GoPhones IMEI#. If you try activating it with the iPhones IMEI#, it will stop and tell you that the iPhone is not eligible on the GoPhone plan. This is why you need to use the IMEI# from the GoPhone during activation.
Once the GoPhone is activated, you can take the sim out of the GoPhone, cut it down and then use it in the iPhone.
Visual Voicemail will not work on the GoPhone plan. Everything else will, SMS/MMS and anything else that the iPhone can do.
Data requires uploading an APN to the phone to enable data since the iPhone blocks data access on GoPhone plans. Data on the GoPhone is expensive, 1MB for $4.99 and 100MB is about $19.99.
The GoPhone sim will only be locked to the GoPhone if you use the sim that came with that GoPhone and that GoPhone came with a free airtime credit offer such as $50. If you activate the phone with that sim, the sim will be tied to that phone for about six months and will not work in the iPhone until then.
To activate a GoPhone, you need to activate it using the GoPhones IMEI#. If you try activating it with the iPhones IMEI#, it will stop and tell you that the iPhone is not eligible on the GoPhone plan. This is why you need to use the IMEI# from the GoPhone during activation.
Once the GoPhone is activated, you can take the sim out of the GoPhone, cut it down and then use it in the iPhone.
Visual Voicemail will not work on the GoPhone plan. Everything else will, SMS/MMS and anything else that the iPhone can do.
Data requires uploading an APN to the phone to enable data since the iPhone blocks data access on GoPhone plans. Data on the GoPhone is expensive, 1MB for $4.99 and 100MB is about $19.99.
Ok so I'm a little confused. If I buy a GoPhone package, the SIM that came with the GoPhone is already tied to that GoPhone and cannot be activated with another phone?
After I activate the GoPhone can I take the SIM card out of the GoPhone, cut it, then use it on the iPhone?
Alternatively, can I just get a brand new SIM from AT&T and activate the SIM using the iphone's IMEI #?
You can buy a GoPhone package at Radio Shack, AT&T or even Wal-Mart but throw away the sim that comes with it. You can buy some sims on eBay or ask for one at AT&T. Do not use the one that comes with the GoPhone because it will be locked to that GoPhone for about 6 months.
Also you need the IMEI# from the GoPhone. Using one from an iPhone will not work and you will be told that the phone can't be activated since iPhones are not approved for GoPhone use.
One little question. I ran into this on eBay. Can I just purchase this, activate it on my GoPhone, then take it out and insert it into my iPhone?
AT&T SIM/Micro SIM All in one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AT-T-ATT-Go...ewItem&pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2a07b46677
AT&T SIM/Micro SIM All in one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AT-T-ATT-Go...ewItem&pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item2a07b46677
I e-mailed the seller and he says he has sold a lot of these and the buyers never really had any problems with it. You don't even need a GoPhone, he says. Just use all 1's as the IMEI #. Gonna give it a try and return the GoPhone I bought. Also, this way seems better since I won't have an extra phone I'll never use, and I don't have to cut the SIM. Anyways, thanks, you've been really helpful!
Hey there, I can CONFIRM THIS SIM CARD WORKS WITH THE IPHONE 4. Every iPhone I had, I always got off ebay or Craigslist and activated it with a go phone sim card. Rule of thought, "Don not buy a go phone package from walmart, radioshack or where ever. The reason being is that the sim card that comes with that package will be locked to that specific phone/device.
Buy the micro sim card off of ebay from that seller and follow the directions at the bottom of the listing. Then pop the micro sim card into the your iP4 and it'll work. I bought one of these from him like a week ago and it's perfect it also arrived really quick.
One thing though is that you have to change the APN settings to cingigular to get 3G to work but that's easy in itself. Just be in a wifi spot and on the phone go to:
http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/
Then select Cingular from the drop down list for your 3G service and click save. And you'll have 3G service, granted if you selected to buy the 3g data service feature. That APN site will also install a weblink. It's a pretty cool feature because it can also install a fake APN setting that way you don't use all your data up that quick. And then when you want to use the 3g service again just click the cingular option again and that's it.
I posted some pics of the APN setting that Iwas talking about
Buy the micro sim card off of ebay from that seller and follow the directions at the bottom of the listing. Then pop the micro sim card into the your iP4 and it'll work. I bought one of these from him like a week ago and it's perfect it also arrived really quick.
One thing though is that you have to change the APN settings to cingigular to get 3G to work but that's easy in itself. Just be in a wifi spot and on the phone go to:
http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/
Then select Cingular from the drop down list for your 3G service and click save. And you'll have 3G service, granted if you selected to buy the 3g data service feature. That APN site will also install a weblink. It's a pretty cool feature because it can also install a fake APN setting that way you don't use all your data up that quick. And then when you want to use the 3g service again just click the cingular option again and that's it.
I posted some pics of the APN setting that Iwas talking about
Attachments
this does work. APN settings have to be changed for data.
imho if you always have access to a wifi network gophone may be the way to go but you will blast thru that 100mb @ 19.99 if you dont use wifi much.
the one thing about gophone data plans is that the 100mb works like rollover everytime you add a 19.99 100mb package. what you dont use moves over with you... given your adding an addtional allotment of gophone data before the 30 day expiration (per plan) comes up.
also, you dont have to get a gophone sim from ebay or whatever. you can just goto a local att store, tell them you want a prepaid gophone sim "with customer pre-owned equipment" and they'll setup the account for you there and give you a free sim card. just load whatever money you want on it and any packages you want with it. they may only give you a regular sim card but you just need to cut it down to microsim size. i dont think a microsim exists in any gophone yet. you could ask them if you could just get a microsim though.. YMMV there.
with reference to "iphone activation" you can use any att sim wether it be postpaid contract or gophone sim, you can stick it in and itunes will activate it.
For the record, I've been using a GoPhone SIM in my iPhone 3G for 2 years (I live in the UK and only need it when I am in the US). And of course, as of Summer 2009, every time I arrive I need to manually set the APN settings go get data.
Just last week I went into an AT&T store and asked if I could exchange my GoPhone mini-SIM for a micro-SIM and port my telephone number to it (I'm getting an unlocked iPhone 4 in the UK any day now, and so this will enable me to use it on my next trip to the US...I wasn't too keen on cutting my SIM myself). The guy in the store, albeit uncertain that it would work, did it on the spot and didn't even charge me a dime. Note: I have a micro-SIM adapter that lets me put it into a mini-SIM slot, for example an iPhone 3G. It works just fine, and now I even have 'AT&T' as the carrier ID instead of Cingular (that's how old my mini-SIM was).
Just last week I went into an AT&T store and asked if I could exchange my GoPhone mini-SIM for a micro-SIM and port my telephone number to it (I'm getting an unlocked iPhone 4 in the UK any day now, and so this will enable me to use it on my next trip to the US...I wasn't too keen on cutting my SIM myself). The guy in the store, albeit uncertain that it would work, did it on the spot and didn't even charge me a dime. Note: I have a micro-SIM adapter that lets me put it into a mini-SIM slot, for example an iPhone 3G. It works just fine, and now I even have 'AT&T' as the carrier ID instead of Cingular (that's how old my mini-SIM was).
dont bother buying a sim off ebay or anywhere.
just goto the att store and tell them you have customer owned equipment for a prepaid plan... they'll set you up on the spot on the prepaid plan and it wont be tied to a phone and they'll give you a free sim.
just goto the att store and tell them you have customer owned equipment for a prepaid plan... they'll set you up on the spot on the prepaid plan and it wont be tied to a phone and they'll give you a free sim.