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T-Mobile on an officially unlocked iPhone 4 Guide

silvrbullet said:
Now that people are receiving their official unlocked iPhone 4s's, has anyone tried this tutorial with it?
Click to expand...

I just got my unlocked iPhone 4s yesterday and tried this guide out. Facetime activated in one try and iMessage seems to be able to send message.
Here's the thing though, the other side can not send any message back to me.
They can make a facetime call but I don't see any miss calls.
I can call them but they do not see any calls.

I'm trying to call Apple right now and see what they can do

EDIT : Okay so I just got off the phone with Apple CARE and they told me that I should restore the phone as a new phone. It should then work and if it doesn't then it is a hardware problem and that I should replace my phone. He said that none of this ( the guide ) is required for the iPhone 4S to work properly. I would change the APN settings though because the default settings they have for data is slow.
 
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dontwalkhand said:
I went to a T-Mobile store as soon as they opened and picked up a Micro-SIM for just $10. Go ahead and insert this into the iPhone, but still, DO NOT TURN IT ON yet. While you're at the T-Mobile store, make sure you have International SMS enabled this is needed to activate FaceTime. You only need this once.
Click to expand...

Will they do it for free? According to T-Mobile's website, I have to add International Texting for $5 :[
 
Last edited:
NoWayIn said:
I just got my unlocked iPhone 4s yesterday and tried this guide out. Facetime activated in one try and iMessage seems to be able to send message.
Here's the thing though, the other side can not send any message back to me.
They can make a facetime call but I don't see any miss calls.
I can call them but they do not see any calls.

I'm trying to call Apple right now and see what they can do

EDIT : Okay so I just got off the phone with Apple CARE and they told me that I should restore the phone as a new phone. It should then work and if it doesn't then it is a hardware problem and that I should replace my phone. He said that none of this ( the guide ) is required for the iPhone 4S to work properly. I would change the APN settings though because the default settings they have for data is slow.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the update! Keep us posted if the restore works for you.

I should get my girlfriends 4s tomorrow.
 
silvrbullet said:
Thanks for the update! Keep us posted if the restore works for you.

I should get my girlfriends 4s tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Okay so here's the update :

I figured out how to get facetime and iMessage to work properly.
I didn't have to do a restore at all.

Go into Settings>Phone
If "My Number" is blank or there is no number there you need to get it to show.
Mine was blank and the way I got it to show my number was I turn off caller ID ( blocked my number ) then I restart the phone. Then turn your caller ID back on.

Once you done that your number should show up. Then all you have to do is copy and give that EXACT number to your friends. They have to text/facetime the EXACT number. So if it's like +1(xxx) xxx-xxxx
they have to save that into their contact or whatever.

Try it out and tell me if it work for you guys!
 
NoWayIn said:
Okay so here's the update :

I figured out how to get facetime and iMessage to work properly.
I didn't have to do a restore at all.

Go into Settings>Phone
If "My Number" is blank or there is no number there you need to get it to show.
Mine was blank and the way I got it to show my number was I turn off caller ID ( blocked my number ) then I restart the phone. Then turn your caller ID back on.

Once you done that your number should show up. Then all you have to do is copy and give that EXACT number to your friends. They have to text/facetime the EXACT number. So if it's like +1(xxx) xxx-xxxx
they have to save that into their contact or whatever.

Try it out and tell me if it work for you guys!
Click to expand...


Hopefully I will be able to try this out tonight. Fedex says my package is in my city, but still not set to be delivered until tomorrow... hopefully that's wrong.

Did you call t-mobile and have them turn on international texting?
 
silvrbullet said:
Hopefully I will be able to try this out tonight. Fedex says my package is in my city, but still not set to be delivered until tomorrow... hopefully that's wrong.

Did you call t-mobile and have them turn on international texting?
Click to expand...

No I didn't call T-Mobile to turn on anything.
 
I just ordered my iphone 4S so I am really hoping that everyone who has done this successfully will stick around because I am definitely going to need a lot of help.:D I'm hoping to put the phone on a t-mobile pre-paid account that I have now (the $30 Walmart plan).

@NoWayIn - could you elaborate as to what the Applecare person told you re: using this guide to get the phone set up on Tmo? Is it supposed to be as simple now as to just get a Tmo sim card and do nothing else, ie, following this guide?

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's experience in trying to get this going.

ETA: I asked an Apple rep if Apple support would help me out if I had questions setting up my phone on Tmo. The answer was a flat 'no.' Now, I absolutely understand them not helping with Tmo-specific questions but this rep made it sound like, no, they aren't going to help me one iota *with anything* since I was trying to activate on Tmo. Hopefully other people who've done this can help out the rest of us!
 
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MacJackson said:
I just ordered my iphone 4S so I am really hoping that everyone who has done this successfully will stick around because I am definitely going to need a lot of help.:D I'm hoping to put the phone on a t-mobile pre-paid account that I have now (the $30 Walmart plan).

@NoWayIn - could you elaborate as to what the Applecare person told you re: using this guide to get the phone set up on Tmo? Is it supposed to be as simple now as to just get a Tmo sim card and do nothing else, ie, following this guide?

I'm looking forward to hearing everyone's experience in trying to get this going.

ETA: I asked an Apple rep if Apple support would help me out if I had questions setting up my phone on Tmo. The answer was a flat 'no.' Now, I absolutely understand them not helping with Tmo-specific questions but this rep made it sound like, no, they aren't going to help me one iota *with anything* since I was trying to activate on Tmo. Hopefully other people who've done this can help out the rest of us!
Click to expand...


I know a friend that just pop the T-Mobile sim into the unlocked 4S and everything was working perfectly for them, except 3G of course. But for me I had to fix MMS, Facetime, iMessage. To fix the MMS all you need to do is follow this guide for MMS fix.

MMS Settings
APN: epc.tmobile.com
Leave Username аnԁ Password blank.
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/enc
MMSC Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
Leave MMS Max Message Size blank.
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf
(this is from the thread)

To fix facetime and imessage if it doesn't work already you just need to get your "my number" showing your number and that's really all to it.

Don't bother with the Cellular Settings because the 4S will try to give you the best one. It just depends on where you are.
 
Awesome! I got my girlfriends 4s last night, and everything worked perfect right out of the box.

The MMS fields were already populated, but that could be settings that were transferred from her her Gevey unlocked iphone 4 (Although they DIDNT work with the iphone 4....).

imessage and facetime worked right out of the box.. I didn't see the place to specify the number, but facetime automatically recognized her number perfectly.

The one thing I can say, is her phone number HAD to be in the +1 (xxx)xxx-xxxx format for facetime to work. So I just updated my contact information, and we were good to go!
 
NoWayIn said:
I know a friend that just pop the T-Mobile sim into the unlocked 4S and everything was working perfectly for them, except 3G of course. But for me I had to fix MMS, Facetime, iMessage. To fix the MMS all you need to do is follow this guide for MMS fix.

MMS Settings
APN: epc.tmobile.com
Leave Username аnԁ Password blank.
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/enc
MMSC Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
Leave MMS Max Message Size blank.
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf
(this is from the thread)

To fix facetime and imessage if it doesn't work already you just need to get your "my number" showing your number and that's really all to it.

Don't bother with the Cellular Settings because the 4S will try to give you the best one. It just depends on where you are.
Click to expand...

Oooh, thank you so much for this. I'm getting encouraged now! I definitely want to try to get imessage and facetime working so that doesn't sound too bad. Although......I am embarrassed to admit that I have no idea what you mean when you say I have to get "my number" showing. I will post when I get the phone and I hope you guys can help me with that part! Thanks again.
 
dontwalkhand said:
Go to Cellular data network settings in the iPhone's settings app and make sure you enter the following:

Internet APN: epc.tmobile.com

MMS Settings
APN: epc.tmobile.com
Leave Username аnԁ Password blank.
MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/enc
MMSC Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
Leave MMS Max Message Size blank.
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf

Enter under the Internet Tethering settings epc.tmobile.com as well, and leave the rest of the Internet Tethering section blank, for your Personal Hotspot to work. Now restart the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...

I followed your tutorial and everything works except MMS. I couldn't send or receive. But then I tried these:

APN: wap.voicestream.com
Username:
Password:
MMSC: 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
MMS Max Message Size:
MMS UA Prof URL:

And now I can only send. When someone tries to send MMS I get, "The media content was not included due to a picture resolution or message size restriction"

Anyone know a fix for this?

EDIT: It seems I can only receive MMS through iMessage.
 
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sorry to piggyback on this thread but I recently bought an unlocked iphone 4s, running on tmobile, but whenever I end a call my signal strength goes down to 1 to zero bars and then takes approx. 30 seconds for it to find the signal again. anyone know whats wrong?

also, I have the same problem as mypeche.

any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Well to report back some of my findings, my brand new unlocked 4s has the audio issue, so I cant hear anyone when they call me, or if I place a call. Totally frustrating! I called Apple last night to troubleshoot, and that was a nightmare! I was on the phone for an hour and a half, and they wanted to send me a 'replacement unit that COULD be refurbished'. Why would I pay $649 + applecare+ for a refurb phone?!

Not to mention, they had no record I purchased applecare+, so this has really turned into a mess. After 1.5hrs on the phone, I have to call back today to talk to applecare, since they were closed last night when I called.

To make matters worse, it turns out MMS isn't working with the settings listed in this post. It will send thru imessage, but not otherwise.
 
Hmm I don't know what's wrong with you guys phone but for me everything is working correctly. After a call the signal does drop down to 1 for a little bit though. And SOMETIMES I can't hear the other side but if you just turn off speaker or just turn it off then on you'll hear the audio again. I want to get a replacement for my 4S too but since it's still new and stocks are "limited" the chances of getting a refurbished one is pretty high. Maybe I'll wait until like another month or so to get a replacement.
 
i found these steps on the tmobile forums and they seemed to work for me. give these steps a try if OP's instructions do not work for you. Not quite sure why it says cingular but it works.

1. Backup your iPhone 4S in iTunes
2. Download, install and open iBackupBot (Google it)
3. Select your recent iPhone backup
4. Find and open the file named "com.apple.mms_override.plist"
5. Delete the text in this file and replace it with

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>MMS</key>
<dict>
<key>GroupModeEnabled</key>
<false/>
<key>MMSC</key>
<string>http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc</string>
<key>MaxMessageSize</key>
<integer>1048576</integer>
<key>MaxRecipients</key>
<integer>10</integer>
<key>MaxVideoBitrate</key>
<integer>131072</integer>
<key>Proxy</key>
<string>216.155.165.50:8080</string>
<key>UAProf</key>
<string>http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf</string>
<key>UserAgent</key>
<string>SonyEricssonW800i/R1L</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

6. Save the changes

7. Exit iBackupBot and open iTunes

8. Restore your iPhone with the most recent backup

9. After your iPhone reboots go to Settings>General>Network and turn on Data Roaming

10. While still in Network settings go to >Cellular Data Network and enter "epc.tmobile.com" as the APN for Cellular Data and Internet Tethering

11. Enter the following for MMS settings:

APN: wap.cingular
MMSC: 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
NOTE: Leave all other fields empty, if they have anything in them, delete it.

12. Reboot

Hope this helps for some of you
 
nauqkcin said:
i found these steps on the tmobile forums and they seemed to work for me. give these steps a try if OP's instructions do not work for you. Not quite sure why it says cingular but it works.

1. Backup your iPhone 4S in iTunes
2. Download, install and open iBackupBot (Google it)
3. Select your recent iPhone backup
4. Find and open the file named "com.apple.mms_override.plist"
5. Delete the text in this file and replace it with

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>MMS</key>
<dict>
<key>GroupModeEnabled</key>
<false/>
<key>MMSC</key>
<string>http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc</string>
<key>MaxMessageSize</key>
<integer>1048576</integer>
<key>MaxRecipients</key>
<integer>10</integer>
<key>MaxVideoBitrate</key>
<integer>131072</integer>
<key>Proxy</key>
<string>216.155.165.50:8080</string>
<key>UAProf</key>
<string>http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf</string>
<key>UserAgent</key>
<string>SonyEricssonW800i/R1L</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

6. Save the changes

7. Exit iBackupBot and open iTunes

8. Restore your iPhone with the most recent backup

9. After your iPhone reboots go to Settings>General>Network and turn on Data Roaming

10. While still in Network settings go to >Cellular Data Network and enter "epc.tmobile.com" as the APN for Cellular Data and Internet Tethering

11. Enter the following for MMS settings:

APN: wap.cingular
MMSC: 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
NOTE: Leave all other fields empty, if they have anything in them, delete it.

12. Reboot

Hope this helps for some of you
Click to expand...

This looks like you have to jailbreak? Is there a way to get MMS to work without jailbreaking?
 
What do these cellular data network settings in the OP exactly do? I never went through any of those steps and my iPhone is working fine as is.

The only issue though is that antennagate still exists on my 4S just like it did with the 4. I tested this with two different 4Ss and it's exactly the same. No antenna issues though with other carriers. So it seems that with T-Mobile, the antenna issue still exists. Anyone else experiencing this?
 
SCARY GAY DAD said:
What do these cellular data network settings in the OP exactly do? I never went through any of those steps and my iPhone is working fine as is.

The only issue though is that antennagate still exists on my 4S just like it did with the 4. I tested this with two different 4Ss and it's exactly the same. No antenna issues though with other carriers. So it seems that with T-Mobile, the antenna issue still exists. Anyone else experiencing this?
Click to expand...

They will allow your iPhone to work a little bit faster using cellular data, also allows you to enable internet tethering.
 
nauqkcin said:
i found these steps on the tmobile forums and they seemed to work for me. give these steps a try if OP's instructions do not work for you. Not quite sure why it says cingular but it works.

1. Backup your iPhone 4S in iTunes
2. Download, install and open iBackupBot (Google it)
3. Select your recent iPhone backup
4. Find and open the file named "com.apple.mms_override.plist"
5. Delete the text in this file and replace it with

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>MMS</key>
<dict>
<key>GroupModeEnabled</key>
<false/>
<key>MMSC</key>
<string>http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc</string>
<key>MaxMessageSize</key>
<integer>1048576</integer>
<key>MaxRecipients</key>
<integer>10</integer>
<key>MaxVideoBitrate</key>
<integer>131072</integer>
<key>Proxy</key>
<string>216.155.165.50:8080</string>
<key>UAProf</key>
<string>http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf</string>
<key>UserAgent</key>
<string>SonyEricssonW800i/R1L</string>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

6. Save the changes

7. Exit iBackupBot and open iTunes

8. Restore your iPhone with the most recent backup

9. After your iPhone reboots go to Settings>General>Network and turn on Data Roaming

10. While still in Network settings go to >Cellular Data Network and enter "epc.tmobile.com" as the APN for Cellular Data and Internet Tethering

11. Enter the following for MMS settings:

APN: wap.cingular
MMSC: 216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy: 216.155.165.50:8080
NOTE: Leave all other fields empty, if they have anything in them, delete it.

12. Reboot

Hope this helps for some of you
Click to expand...

Will you have to redo these steps every time there is an IOS update?
 
silvrbullet said:
Will you have to redo these steps every time there is an IOS update?
Click to expand...

Well this finally got my MMS working, and now that Apple/Fedex has delivered my new and perfectly working unlocked iphone, I'm fully functional on T-Mobile!

Now I need to send this defective one back...
 
Ok, I did all of the steps. I can now receive pics, but not send them. The send fails. Before changing anything I was able to send pics, but not receive. Does anyone have any idea where I messed up, or what I can do to fix this?
 
Just as an update. I did the above copy/paste with the restore and altering the file. Didn't work for me as I said above. I then went into the phone and used these settings and they worked. I can now send and receive MMS either on wifi or EDGE and can also do FaceTime. (LOL, make sure the other person has turned FaceTime ON in their phone settings.):

you’ll need to adjust carrier MMS settings to fit T-Mobile’s network:

Tap on Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network
Adjust the settings as follows:
Cellular Data APN: wap.voicestream.com
MMS APN: wap.voicestream.com
MMSC http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
MMS Proxy 216.155.165.50:8080
MMS Max Message Size 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf
Leave Username and Password empty
Save the settings and reboot your iPhone again

I got these from jitjet on the T-mobile forum, so credit to him/her. IDK if I would have needed to do the whole altering the files on the phone and restoring or not. Anyone who needs the fix might want to try just changing these settings first to see if they work as is, without the whole backup/restore part.
 
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