Taking my iPhone 3GS to T-Mobile Prepaid?!

[Mandolina]

Hi, I am looking to take my husbands and my iPhones to a T-Mobile pre-paid plan. I have an iPhone 3GS and my husband has a regular iPhone 3G.

I went online a couple of weeks ago and purchased 2 T-Mobile SIM cards. I have them with me right now and they are ready to be used. I no longer have phone service with AT&T and now looking to get the $30.00/month for 1500 talk and text with T-Mobile for both my husband and I.

I need to know what to do. I know I will need to jailbreak AND unlock my iPhones, correct? HOW do I do that? I need a step by step guide on how to do it. Forgive me for being naive, but I know nothing about this. I do know that I am running on 4.3.3 and I do not know what version iOS my husband has.

After unlocking and jailbreaking my phone, I can go ahead, insert the SIM cards and I should have service, right?

Like I said, forgive me for being naive, but I do not know what exactly to do and all the technical lingo. That's why I need a step by step, DETAILED guide on how to jailbreak and unlock my iPhones.

If there is anything else I need to know or need to do, please let me know. I just want to take my iPhones to the T-Mobile pre-paid network...

Thank you so much!

 

[Supraking]

You cant unlock your iPhone's current version.

 

[Mandolina]

You cant unlock your iPhone's current version.

So, would all I need to do is jailbreak it to take it to the T-Mobile network?

 

[Supraking]

So, would all I need to do is jailbreak it to take it to the T-Mobile network?

The iOS version your iPhone is running cannot be unlocked.

 

[megamanbnmaster]

So, would all I need to do is jailbreak it to take it to the T-Mobile network?

No. you would need to unlock it.
Unfortunately there is no safe way of unlocking your phone. You can attempt to unlock it using the iPad baseband but then it can't be restored to stock Apple firmware and you lose GPS functionality. (plus there's always a chance of bricking your phone)

 

[eastercat]

You can not use any other provider besides AT&T without JB and unlocking the phone.
Google the dev team. Also, check out iclarified and jailbreakmatrix.
FYI: you can use at&t pre-paid without unlocking anything.

ETA: you should search the hacks forum, because there are plenty of posts by people in your situation.

 

[Mandolina]

You cant unlock your iPhone's current version.

You can not use any other provider besides AT&T without JB and unlocking the phone.
Google the dev team. Also, check out iclarified and jailbreakmatrix.
FYI: you can use at&t pre-paid without unlocking anything.

ETA: you should search the hacks forum, because there are plenty of posts by people in your situation.

Ok, so I can just go to the store, pick up some cheap AT&T pay as you go phones, buy the $60.00/unlimited talk and text service and pop the SIM card in the iPhones from the pay as you go AT&T phones and I should be fine?

That doesn't sound like a bad idea...Thank you!

 

[eastercat]

I don't know what rates are offered by at&t's pre-paid. You should research that.
But yes, you can pop in the pre-paid sim with no JB or unlocking necessary. If you search the forum, you'll find posts from people who are on at&t's pre-paid. It's easiest to buy the sim from the AT&T store. Otherwise, the sim might be locked to the phone it's sold with.

Ok, so I can just go to the store, pick up some cheap AT&T pay as you go phones, buy the $60.00/unlimited talk and text service and pop the SIM card in the iPhones from the pay as you go AT&T phones and I should be fine?

That doesn't sound like a bad idea...Thank you!

 

[Supraking]

Ok, so I can just go to the store, pick up some cheap AT&T pay as you go phones, buy the $60.00/unlimited talk and text service and pop the SIM card in the iPhones from the pay as you go AT&T phones and I should be fine?

That doesn't sound like a bad idea...Thank you!

yup, you don't need unlocking to use the iphone on at&t pre paid plan

 

[Dumbledorelives]

The iOS version your iPhone is running cannot be unlocked.

I would just like to point out that this isn't true - any current version of iOS (except 5, obviously) can be unlocked on a 3G or 3GS - just not the iP4

 

[zOdeac]

yup, you don't need unlocking to use the iphone on at&t pre paid plan

Mandolina, My recommendation would be to dich your current iPhone and find ones that are FACTORY UNLOCKED This will make it so you don't need to worry about jailbreaks or OS updates from apple. When you Jailbreak you will be suck with that OS say 4.3.3 witch cant be unlocked right now.

I am on T-Mobile and i paid 650 for a used factory unlocked iPhone 4.
I could have got a new one for 750.

If you add up the cost of the monthly bill it sounds expensive to buy a phone for 650 and then get a service plan but its worth it for me for 2 reasons.

1. Hate ATT not sure what i will do when they take over T-mobile.
2. I don't have to worries i can get new updates form apple without to much worry of loosing my Jailbreak and then my unlock.

Just because your Jail-broken don't mean you will be able to use the phone you will have to jailbreak and then unlock. If some one says they can do it with the 6.15 baseband stay away from that because as of now there's no way to update that phone and i really am starting to think anyone on 6.15 well be perminately on that OS.

 

[awadeee]

You cant unlock your iPhone's current version.

You should do a little more research before you try and give advice, bro! While the iPad baseband is not exactly a preferred choice, it's still worth mentioning instead of a simple "no".

 

[wordoflife]

It looks like you should have double checked before buying the T-Mobile SIMs and canceling with AT&T. There's no safe to unlock it. Your husbands iPhone might be unlockable though.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

Yeah use AT&T PAYG.

You wouldn't even be able to get 3G data with T-Mobile... it's not compatible with the iPhones.

 

[mustnotsleep]

I am using the prepaid plan by T-mo where it is $100 = 1000 minutes, but no monthly commitments whatsoever. The minutes last for a year. It is nice for people who really dislike commitments, but obviously there is no mobile internet -- whether 3G or edge -- whatsoever. But wifi is pretty much everywhere so...

 

[powerbooks]

Actually even for those "Pay As You Go" plan you can pay daily to get mobile Internet (edge only, obviously, on iPhone): I think it's $1.49/day "DayPass" unlimited. It deducted fro your prepaid minutes.

I am using the prepaid plan by T-mo where it is $100 = 1000 minutes, but no monthly commitments whatsoever. The minutes last for a year. It is nice for people who really dislike commitments, but obviously there is no mobile internet -- whether 3G or edge -- whatsoever. But wifi is pretty much everywhere so...

 

[forcetactic]

Your 3gs is probably not under warranty and if you do not use GPS a lot, I would just go ahead and jb with ipad bb.

Or you could go off contract with At&t but that will be a bit more expensive

 

[mustnotsleep]

Actually even for those "Pay As You Go" plan you can pay daily to get mobile Internet (edge only, obviously, on iPhone): I think it's $1.49/day "DayPass" unlimited. It deducted fro your prepaid minutes.

i saw that on tmo's site but wasnt sure how to get it. do you have any idea how i actually activate the daypass? also, do you have any idea if one could stream pandora on edge speeds?

 

[citivolus]

I don't understand all those responses saying it isn't possible...I have my 3GS unlocked on 4.3.3 with T-Mobile with the exact $30/month pre-paid plan as desired by the OP. To unlock the 3GS, it depends on what version of the baseband you are running. Go to General->About->Modem Firmware.

 

[awadeee]

We're in the iPhone hacks section but it seems that almost everyone here is oblivious to the 6.15.00 baseband "duct tape solution" and is just giving the OP a straight up no.

 

[eastercat]

The OP has stated a lack of technical awareness. Do you honestly think the OP will have the know how to make a custom firmware or integrate the ipad bb with the phones?
Anyway, the OP is probably going to use the at&t pre-paid route, since unlocking isn't required.

We're in the iPhone hacks section but it seems that almost everyone here is oblivious to the 6.15.00 baseband "duct tape solution" and is just giving the OP a straight up no.

 

[powerbooks]

Just tried on my "Gevey sim" unlocked iPhone 4.

With proper APN settings (not sure which one works for you, check the intent and try them all) and 3G off, once you see the edge icon, go to a new web site in safari (google/news, etc.)

You will be brought to a web2go site, either directly to a DayPass purchase screen (which is easy and simple to purchase), or a warning site stating something like "your plan does not support ... please upgrade, etc." From the bottom of the screen, you can click "My account" and it will show you the details of your plan (Pay as you Go) and the money left on the account. There, you have couple choices, either upgrade plan, or buy a Web DayPass, and else. If you click the DayPass link, they will show you the term ($1.49/24 hours, ending time, etc.) Hit accept, and you should be all set.

Never tried Pandora, though.

i saw that on tmo's site but wasnt sure how to get it. do you have any idea how i actually activate the daypass? also, do you have any idea if one could stream pandora on edge speeds?

 

[Sixtafoua]

It may be possible to unlock your iPhone, but I'm not sure. I know 4.3.1 is unlockable, but not sure if 4.3.3 is. If you want to unlock your husband's iPhone 3G, here's a guide to do so: (I'm assuming it's on version 4.2.1)
http://osxdaily.com/2010/11/28/how-to-unlock-ios-4-2-1-on-iphone-3g-and-iphone-3gs-with-ultrasn0w/
This website may or may not also help you with your iPhone 3GS.
The unlocking process is relatively easy once you get the hang of it. It can get frustrating, but don't give up, it's worth it to have an unlocked phone.
I have a 3GS on version 4.2.1 with the baseband (modem firmware) 6.15.00. Some people will tell you not to upgrade to this baseband, but I haven't had any problems with it. Just remember that it won't be easy to upgrade your software after you upgrade to 6.15.00, so if you really want iOS 5 or any future iOS updates, assume they won't be an option for you once you update to 6.15.00.
I hope this helps you, and good luck.

 

[awadeee]

The OP has stated a lack of technical awareness. Do you honestly think the OP will have the know how to make a custom firmware or integrate the ipad bb with the phones?
Anyway, the OP is probably going to use the at&t pre-paid route, since unlocking isn't required.

That's never stopped anyone else in this forum from drowning a newcomer in complicated technical jargon before. And while I am not trying to do this, I just figured that maybe that option should be mentioned when all the answers are a cold "No". Regardless, she'll probably want to go with pre-paid on AT&T so that she can take advantage of 3G data anyway rather than switching to T-Mo and using edge data.