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Need iPhone set up help

E

ezryder

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 3, 2013
9
0
Hi,
I'm a newbie to iPhone's and also to this Forum. And I need help.
I would appreciate it if anyone can guide me to the knowledge base I need to get my iPhone 4S to work with a "Straight Talk" no contract plan.

I just purchased an iPhone 4s on eBay and I need to understand how to set it up to allow using "Straight Talk" as my service provider.

My 4s iPhone is unlocked. But I know there is a lot more required to getting it up and running.

I sure would appreciate it if someone could point me to the information needed to activate my iPhone using a "Straight Talk" unlimited plan.

Thanks for any help members can provide me with to get my phone activated.

Regards,
George
 
Go to unlockit.co.nz from mobile Safari (the web browser on the iPhone) and follow the steps to set up the APN profile on your phone to enable data.

EDIT: just realized I assumed you already had a StraightTalk micro-sim and plan set up. Is that the case?
 
paulbennett95 said:
Go to unlockit.co.nz from mobile Safari (the web browser on the iPhone) and follow the steps to set up the APN profile on your phone to enable data.

EDIT: just realized I assumed you already had a StraightTalk micro-sim and plan set up. Is that the case?
Click to expand...

No I don't have a micro-sim and a plan for my phone yet. In fact I've not received the unlocked phone as yet. It's in the mail to me.

Straight Talk will not sell me a micro-sim for an unlocked GMS phone. But they will sell me a sim for a T-mobile compatible phone.

I think it has something to do with a deal they have with Walmart to sell
new iPhones and only provide a sim if you buy a new phone through Walmart.

I'm kinda a "lost puppy" right now cuz I've never had a "smart phone" till now.
It's a huge mystery to me right now.

Sure hope I've not blown 300 bucks on a iPhone I'll never get to work. Cuz there is NO way I'm gonna pay the big bucks for a Verizon or ATT service plan at 90+ bucks a month!

Regards,
George
 
ezryder said:
Straight Talk will not sell me a micro-sim for an unlocked GMS phone. But they will sell me a sim for a T-mobile compatible phone.
Click to expand...

Well if its Straight Talk via T-Mobile then you should be fine cause a factory unlocked gsm iPhone is t-mobile compatible.

When you get the phone pop in the sim, plug it into the computer (make sure itunes is up to date) before you even power it on and let iTunes do the rest.
 
ezryder said:
Straight Talk will not sell me a micro-sim for an unlocked GMS phone. But they will sell me a sim for a T-mobile compatible phone.
Click to expand...


REALLY? You walked into a Walmart and they told you that?

A UNLOCKED PHONE works everywhere. U asking noobs questions, I sure hope that eBay phone is what u paid for.

The last I checked you can order a SIM from Walmart website, I even see them in a vending machine at an airport I frequent. If they force you to buy a phone from them that's totally news to me.

The one I see at the airport includes both regular SIM and Micro SIM for iphone4 so you don't have to bother to cut it.

The purchase SIM should come with instructions. Perhaps you are a little too anxious.
 
Navigate to StraightTalk.com
Click "Shop" and then click "SIM Cards"
Then click the corresponding SIM card and follow the steps.

Do you know what model iPhone you're getting?
GSM, CDMA, or the new T-Mobile one?
Is it locked to a carrier?
 
paulbennett95 said:
Navigate to StraightTalk.com
Click "Shop" and then click "SIM Cards"
Then click the corresponding SIM card and follow the steps.

Do you know what model iPhone you're getting?
GSM, CDMA, or the new T-Mobile one?
Is it locked to a carrier?
Click to expand...

Went to Straight Talk and clicked on "Sim Cards". Then I clicked on GMS. But no Sim data came up to allow me to click to send it to my shopping cart.
And yet, when I clicked on T Mobil I could order that sim card.

My iPhone is an unlocked 4S model.
Regards,
George

----------
Mrbobb said:
REALLY? You walked into a Walmart and they told you that?

No, not Walmart. Straight Talk does not sell a sim for GMS

A UNLOCKED PHONE works everywhere. U asking noobs questions, I sure hope that eBay phone is what u paid for.

Regards,
Geo

----------

Lets see if I have a better understanding now for what I must do to activate
the phone.

I go to Walmart and buy a micro sim card for a GMS phone.
Then Install the sim card.
Buy a service package from Straight Talk, follow their instructions and I'm up and running? :confused:
Click to expand...
 
Actually try straighttalksim.com (despite the different name, it's still straighttalk)
That's where I got my micro sim from, I forgot you can only get the phone bundles at their main site.
You need to use their desktop site (if you're using a mobile device right now) to order a sim, and you need a GSM micro-sim.
Although I will warn you, even when I was on their "4G" I got edge speeds ( I wasn't throttled either, I used about 300MB a month and they throttle at 2GB) so I would suggest getting T-Mobile, although research their coverage beforehand.
If you need any more help, feel free to ask.
 
paulbennett95 said:
Actually try straighttalksim.com (despite the different name, it's still straighttalk)
That's where I got my micro sim from, I forgot you can only get the phone bundles at their main site.
You need to use their desktop site (if you're using a mobile device right now) to order a sim, and you need a GSM micro-sim.
Although I will warn you, even when I was on their "4G" I got edge speeds ( I wasn't throttled either, I used about 300MB a month and they throttle at 2GB) so I would suggest getting T-Mobile, although research their coverage beforehand.
If you need any more help, feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

I tried the <straighttalksim.com> address with no luck. Ended right back where I started on <straighttalk.com>

I'm just running in circles so far.
The only sim card Straighttalk will sell me is
a T Mobil compatible sim. It will not list any GSM sim cards. And the T mobil service is not good where I'm at. When I click to buy a GSM sim, it takes me to a "dead page" with no data to order it from.

And another problem is the fact that they will not sell me a "no contract" plan either. It asks me for my phone number and I tried using my home phone number and my verizon flip phone number. In both cases I get the notice that my phone number is not in their data bank and I can't continue.

At this point I've become very annoyed trying to deal with Straight Talk and am beginning to think that unless you buy a phone from their store, or maybe from Walmart, they won't sell you a plan?

Keep in mind that all my attempts are being carried out on my home computer, not on a cell phone. I don't have a cell phone with a connection
to the internet as yet. That is what I'm trying to accomplish.

Maybe I need to go to Walmart and attempt to buy a iPhone micro sim card for "Straight Talk", and then I can install it! And Finally Purchase a plan?

I know where I can easily order a micro sim card. But what good will that do me? If I install it in my unlocked iPhone 4s, what happens next? Nothing??

I"m still not going to have a plan from Straight Talk because they won't sell me one no matter which of my phone numbers I use. So now I would have an unlocked iPhone with the proper sim card installed. But no way to activate it.

I'm in the state of Fla --- does that make a difference! I know Straight
Talk operates out of south fla.

I am TOTALLY "lost in space" agggghh! :mad:

PS: I really DO appreciate all the help everyone has offered.
Thanks !!!!!!!!!!:)
George
 
Well when I bought my micro sim from them in sept 2012 everything went fine.
And when they're asking for your number it's for porting purposes.
If you want, you can just port your number to google voice and just forward calls to your cellphone to that, since it seems straighttalk can't port your number (there are many advantages to using google voice, such as visual voicemail, which isn't supported by straighttalk)
I'd suggest calling their customer support (which sucks from what I've heard) OR get tmobile which, from when I was at Disney, has relatively good coverage, and has good no-contract plans (straighttalk doesn't have contracts either)
I don't get why it's not working for you, everything worked fine for me.
 
paulbennett95 said:
Well when I bought my micro sim from them in sept 2012 everything went fine.
And when they're asking for your number it's for porting purposes.
If you want, you can just port your number to google voice and just forward calls to your cellphone to that, since it seems straighttalk can't port your number (there are many advantages to using google voice, such as visual voicemail, which isn't supported by straighttalk)
I'd suggest calling their customer support (which sucks from what I've heard) OR get tmobile which, from when I was at Disney, has relatively good coverage, and has good no-contract plans (straighttalk doesn't have contracts either)
I don't get why it's not working for you, everything worked fine for me.
Click to expand...

I don't understand either. Seems straight forward until I try to do it. Then it quickly gets AFU!

This probably explains why other comments on my thread have indicated to me that AT&T is "throttling" data service to those that are not paying for "big bucks" service contracts.

https://net10data.com/

As far as calling "Straight Talk" customer service. I've tried that. But I expect to hear ENGLISH pronounced correctly. They don't do that.
I've decided to pass on even dealing with "Straight Talk". I'm gonna go with
"net10" and hope for the best.
I'm gonna sign up for one month with T Mobil and see how it works. But I have my doubts based on their map for my address.
If I have to, I'll switch to AT&T, unlimited data bull ****** or not. It's mandatory that my cell works at my home, as we have no "land line" phone service.

Guess I should have never decided to "move up" to a "smart phone". My old
"flipper" always worked - to talk to someone! hehe

My whole problem is due to my grand kid's telling me I needed to get myself "up to date"!
I'm quite "computer literate" as I've been using computers since 1985. And
I've had a cell phone since the earl eighties. In fact I still have my first cell
phone number.
But these "smart phones" seem to exceed my "smartness"! hehe :confused:

Thanks for your help,
George
 
I'd defintely suggest using T-Mobile (coverage granted) or an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator, they have roaming agreements rather than their own cellular infrastructure), like Net10, over one of the big boys any day.
AT&T and the likes overcharge for their services, have unnecessary contracts, and nickel-and-dime you the whole way.
Hope things work out for you, and I can assure you, the process with T-Mobile is a lot easier than with Straighttalk.
Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the help everyone.
Got my iPhone 4s that I purchased on eBay for 300 bucks yesterday.
I've signed up for Net10 att service and I have it up and running.
Phone works perfect!
I would have liked to go T mobile route but was afraid to based on their service map for my area. Afraid of dropped calls as we had years ago when we moved up to this location.
Anyway, att has a better signal here that Verizon does (they were our
previous providers). Att gives me almost full strength in my house or my metal
building where I have my "hobby shop". And I also get 4G data signals.
We only got 3G from Verizon.
So I'm a happy camper, other than the clamp on data at 1.5gb. I'll just
deal with it. At home I'm on wi fi anyway. And most motels have wi fi too.

Again, thanks to all that helped me get hooked up! :)
George
 
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