Comments on: Pre-Paid Data Plan on an Unlocked iPhone NOW possible in America

By: Jeff Utecht

Jeff Utecht — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 05:22:20 +0000

I’m not sure if once you get back to the States if you can reinstall the software and have it work with your AT&T plan again….and once you unlock it you break the warranty.

By: Slick

Slick — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:31:44 +0000

Can I restore the iphone to being locked when I return? then continue with AT&T here? Another option is to buy an iPhone in Thailand, and use it there… then sell it…
I want to be able to use 3g/data while i’m there for two months…mostly for the the map ap, and finding where i am . and it costs a lot from AT&T roaming even with their data plans….

By: Jeff Utecht

Jeff Utecht — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 03:25:20 +0000

Yes…but once you unlock it it won’t work in America anymore with your AT&T plan…I could be wrong about that…but am pretty sure once you unlock it then you’ll have to change your plan on AT&T or go with T-mobile. Also you will void the warranty….so be careful.

By: Slick

Slick — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:40:01 +0000

I will be going to Mae Sot , Thailand, from June 15 to Aaugust 15 . I want to use my iPhone 4 there.. Last time I ran up a very large bill. Can I unlock my iPhone and get a SIM in Thailand that will work for internet and phone?

By: Anny

Anny — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:19:47 +0000

Thank you all so much for this discussion and information.

I was in the US from Australia Sep-Dec 2010 with unlocked iphone 3G and only could find AT&T postpaid no contract, had to pay $500 deposit, $84 a month for unlimited talk & text and 2GB data. Then I added tethering since I didn’t have cable etc for my computer, another $20 but no extra data. I HATED dealing with AT&T, never found one person who had any clue at all.

At the end I went through hoops to arrange to have the deposit paid back into my US bank account, but they sent a check to my former address anyway… lucky a friend found it and put it in the bank.

Now I have to go back for a month, and just dreading the phone saga. The phone buddy idea sounds wonderful, my daughter has an AT&T plan so hope that’ll work. If not, T-mobile plan for $75 looks the next best, but 200MB not so great… I can’t believe how expensive and limited it is, when I read that about 80% of adults in US have mobile phones (and so many have no landline now).

And there are so many phone companies, are they all in some giant cartel that keeps prices up?

No wonder Starbucks has so many people drinking lousy coffee, just so they can use free wifi…

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:54:26 +0000

Your phone will have to be unlocked to allow you to take it to another country to use their SIM card.
If you’re willing to use your US company, you can keep it just as is. But you’ll be paying massive roaming fees.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:20:53 +0000

The tmobile prepaid sim card into an iphone 2g (unlocked) and everything worked including the data.

By: Jeff Utecht

Jeff Utecht — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 11:31:53 +0000

Thanks for this....did you see my updated post from just last week. I got data on a unlocked iPhone running OS4.1 completely legally. Check it out here.

By: annon

annon — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 01:08:01 +0000

Hello folks.

Its been interesting to read some comments, insights, and i bow to the effort you guys have av put.

I am a co-manager of an AT&T store in NewYork. Let me answer some basic question relevant to the post and the progess in service if any. Of course I would not disclose our business model.
- welcome to America! In this domain you will be charged for receiving and making calls. You will also be charged for receiving and sending text messages if not covered by an unlimited plan. You may throw a fit Upon hearing this but my friend you are helpless and must surrender to the wave. Unless you have the time and patiencE to dive into the abyss of telecom mystries.
- No, AT&T does not allow data access on iphone(I’m not sure if it works with os4.1, its a sim card wastage to even try it again)
-however, blackberry 8520, 9700, &8310 can run data on prepaid plan with AT&T sans push email services.
-AT&T also has one year plans not many know about them and many are reluctantant to offer. You pay more for a device ofcourse.
-yes, american wireless service system gets a lot of flake and sometimes rightly so.
- on some occasions iphones that used prepaid service were able to access data but such cases have been random hence not guaranteed.
-as of tday the best plan on ATT prepaid are :$60/month: unlimited talk n txt
$75/month:unlimted talk, text n 200 MB data. Data can be from ‘DUMB’ phones as we call then. Some blackberries can also work on this plan.
-termination/cancellation fees on post paid contract accounts opened after July(not sure about the date) have been increased to $325 odd.

By: Alvaro

Alvaro — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:30:27 +0000

I had a chat with an AT&T Sales Rep today. He told me that my only option would be signing up for a 2 year agreement with a 2GB data plan that’s $25, but since I have to be on a contract I’d also need to get a voice plan with that, which is $39.99 (for their cheapest voice plan). So in total it’ll be $65/month. He told me that it’s not possible to get a data plan without the voice plan.

I think that’s super expensive compared to 20€ for unlimited data which is what I pay right now in Spain.

I think I’m goign pre-paid and buy a 3G dongle that I can use to connect the iphone and also the computer.