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Unlocked 4S - Best way to get data without contract

P

Pogopuschel

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 24, 2011
52
0
I have a factory unlocked iPhone 4S and I am moving back to the US in a few days. I previously was with AT&T but now I would like to get a data plan without entering a 2-year contact. Simply because I'm not sure if I will stay in the US for more than 2 years.

I could probably order a prepaid phone and then jailbreak my iPhone to use data, but I'd prefer a "legally correct" solution. What are my current "official" choices? Are there any at all? Any provider is fine with me.

Thank you!
 
Use straight talk as a carrier. They use AT&T's towers.

It's the cheapest. $45/month. Includes 2gb data (supposedly advertise as unlimited ). Plus unlimited voice and text.
 
You can sign up with AT&T without entering a contract, since you have your own device.

The main purpose of the contract is so you would pay off the full price of the phone (since you only pay the subsidized amount). Since you already have a device, signing a contract will not be necessary.
 
wordoflife said:
You can sign up with AT&T without entering a contract, since you have your own device.

The main purpose of the contract is so you would pay off the full price of the phone (since you only pay the subsidized amount). Since you already have a device, signing a contract will not be necessary.
Click to expand...

What he said.
 
wordoflife said:
You can sign up with AT&T without entering a contract, since you have your own device.

The main purpose of the contract is so you would pay off the full price of the phone (since you only pay the subsidized amount). Since you already have a device, signing a contract will not be necessary.
Click to expand...

this is not entirely true. when the iphone was first released it was not subsidized and you still entered a 2yr contract. AT&T does not have a BYOD policy that lets you get away without signing a contract unless you are on a current or expired contract and pay full price for a phone
 
Just try straight talk, the best and cheapest prepaid service out there, just like the other member said is $45/mo and great coverage and 3G signal as well. You will not get the same data speeds as AT&T, but good enough speeds to stream video and browsing.

Ps: you might want to order your microSIM from straight talk in advance, it takes like three days to arrive.
 
I have added two different iphones and not had to to do a long term contract. They just started billing the monthly rate.

Back to the OP - I assume this phone is the right radio for ATT - poster only indicated he was once before on ATT, not that this phone is ATT.
 
chestvrg said:
Just try straight talk, the best and cheapest prepaid service out there, just like the other member said is $45/mo and great coverage and 3G signal as well. You will not get the same data speeds as AT&T, but good enough speeds to stream video and browsing.

Ps: you might want to order your microSIM from straight talk in advance, it takes like three days to arrive.
Click to expand...

I am using Red Pocket and I get the same speeds if not slightly faster than when I was on AT&T. I top out around 6Mbps on my iPhone 4, upload is around 2Mbps.
 
Pogopuschel said:
I have a factory unlocked iPhone 4S and I am moving back to the US in a few days. I previously was with AT&T but now I would like to get a data plan without entering a 2-year contact. Simply because I'm not sure if I will stay in the US for more than 2 years.

I could probably order a prepaid phone and then jailbreak my iPhone to use data, but I'd prefer a "legally correct" solution. What are my current "official" choices? Are there any at all? Any provider is fine with me.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Newb here but, is this to say that since I'm jailbroken.....that I can have truly unlimited data? I can't go more than 2.5-3 weeks before getting throttled back!
 
Does T-Mobile USA not do microsim deals?

I just picked up a free microsim and had to top up £10 but for that i get unlimited browsing for 12 months. The youtube, app, netflix download limit is 500Mb per month.

//edit
it seem the u.s. market is very different judging by t-mobile usa

this : http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/micro-sim/
compared to this: http://explore.t-mobile.com/phone-sim-card

Seems like a vast difference. But then again North America is enormous in comparison so the infrastructure must be many times more expensive to run.
 
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