perks to unlocking?

[mikeym41240]

I have got me a new 3Gs,got the contract with at&t.Is there an upside to unlocking my iphone?Is it cheaper rates with tmobile?Is there different data plans that icould get that would be cheper?or should i just stay under contracy with at&t?I am new to unlocking a cell phone so just wanted to ask a couple questions.

[Bryan000]

There are quite a few perks to unlocking your iPhone to T-Mobile.

-1st is the price (I consider the most important)
In my case, I pay a grand total, after tax and surcharges, of $70 and some change every month.
This includes: 1000 mins a month (common promo shows up occasionally)
Unlimited txt/pic messaging
Unlimited mobile internet (Edge :-/)

And again this is all for a total of nearly exactly $70 a month. Having this same plane with AT&T will put you over the $100 a month mark easily. That and the fact that you are forced to keep the $30 a month Data/Web plan for the life of your phone with them makes them a bad choice in my opinion.

So biggest factor: can you live without the speed of 3G internet?

Personally, Edge works fine with me, I have wireless access at home, at work, and at school so im always connected.

[mikeym41240]

so if i wanted to go the tmobile route,how hard would it be to get out of my contract with at&t?i have had the phone only for a couple of weeks.Is it possible to get out of the contract?How much would they penalize me?Could i get a tmobile pay as you go plan for the iphone?

[BoisePunk22]

In order to "get out" of the contract you would be charged for that. I believe its $175 for AT&T, from what I have read is you need to have a month of service with AT&T before canceling, if you cancel early they will charge you full cost for the iPhone. You can get a pay as you go plan with the iPhone with T-Mobile.

[Bryan000]

Hmmm well since you said "couple" of weeks hopefully you mean 2 or at least less than 4 weeks.
Reason being is that mostly every cellphone company has either a 14 day or 30 day trial period, in which you will get a complete refund (maybe minus a restocking fee) if you return the handset in good condition. **I would advise taking it back and complaining that at your house and several locations you visited, you kept getting poor signal (one of the good, legitimate reasons for a return)

If you do return it, then Craigslist and eBay become your friend. It wont take you very long at all to get a pretty good iPhone for a good price

Just make sure it has firmware 3.1.2 and below

Good luck

[mikeym41240]

after looking at prices on ebay for iphones,i think it would be cheaper for me to just pay the penalty.Also i know that my phone is legit.Hate to pay that much on ebay,never know what you will get.A couple more questions.If i were to use tmobil,do they offer a data plan or do i need to keep the at&t data plan?Are tmobil sims 3g or do they just use edge?After i contact at&t to get out of the contract,will they turn off data right then and there?

[Cer0]

Also you want to make sure your iPhone can be unlocked if you are planning to leave. Do you have modem firmware 5.12.xxxxx? If so then you will have to wait for an unlock to use it on another provider.

[mikeym41240]

I have firmware 5.11.07.so I guess it can be unlocked. Will I have to keep the AT&T data plan?also I have jailbroken with blackrain already. Does that unlock it too or do I need to do something else?

[BoisePunk22]

Blackra1n just does the jailbreaking portion, you need to add blacksn0w as a source in Cydia and download it, here is the link step by step instructions, iClarified - iPhone - How to Unlock the iPhone 3G, 3GS Using BlackSn0w. You will not have to keep your AT&T data plan because you’re switching providers, you can get a data plan through T-Mobile, however you will only receive EDGE due to T-Mobile doesn't support iPhone's 3G frequencies.

[mikeym41240]

Thanks. That answers alot of my questions.

[Cer0]

That is what the users are here for.

[mikeym41240]

One last question. If I were to go back to AT&T,could I get a pay as you go plan with them?

[BoisePunk22]

You can use the iPhone on AT&T pay as you go, they just make you pay full cost for the device and activate it through them (which won't apply to you because you already will have one), you would probably need to get a new SIM card though if you went back to AT&T due to once you deactivate a SIM it usually only stays good for 60 days and then goes bad (can't reactivate the SIM).

[mikeym41240]

thanks

[i.Annie]

On another note, if you want data on your iPhone with T-Mobile, you cannot just get any prepaid service. You have to get the Even More Plus service which allows for adding data services as any other prepaid service does not include data services. I believe on AT&T pay as you go, data is not included as well? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.