What's the current word on putting an iPhone 4 on a prepaid T-Mobile US
account?
I have a (factory) unlocked iPhone, so it will accept the SIM and allow
me to enter my own APN.
Do the day passes give me full data access? Or the new $70 "unlimited"
bundle that includes data? Or is T-Mobile data limited to dumb phones
somehow?
Also, anyone know if they have micro-SIMs yet or do I need to cut down
my existing SIM?
I've got an existing account with over $100 of credit so I'd prefer to
stick with T-Mobile for this trip, I'm open to other options down the
road, but AT&T's packages still seem pretty crappy for short term use.
In article <mcn5d6t3uu5u1f0sp31mlogmmj0ivnd1vu@4ax.com>,
DevilsPGD <Still-Just-A-Rat-In-A-Cage@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>What's the current word on putting an iPhone 4 on a prepaid T-Mobile US
>account?
>
>I have a (factory) unlocked iPhone, so it will accept the SIM and allow
>me to enter my own APN.
>
>Do the day passes give me full data access? Or the new $70 "unlimited"
>bundle that includes data? Or is T-Mobile data limited to dumb phones
>somehow?
>
>Also, anyone know if they have micro-SIMs yet or do I need to cut down
>my existing SIM?
>
>I've got an existing account with over $100 of credit so I'd prefer to
>stick with T-Mobile for this trip, I'm open to other options down the
>road, but AT&T's packages still seem pretty crappy for short term use.
When I last checked, TMO's prepaid data consisted of a 1-hour pass for
$9.95 which was limited to non-smartphones sold by T-Mobile. Until they
change that, I'd say using an iPhone on TMobile-To-Go is a non-starter.
In news:iaurbe$lf6$1@reader1.panix.com retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.)
wrote:
>
> In article <mcn5d6t3uu5u1f0sp31mlogmmj0ivnd1vu@4ax.com>,
> DevilsPGD <Still-Just-A-Rat-In-A-Cage@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>>What's the current word on putting an iPhone 4 on a prepaid T-Mobile
>>US account?
>>
>>I have a (factory) unlocked iPhone, so it will accept the SIM and
>>allow me to enter my own APN.
>>
>>Do the day passes give me full data access? Or the new $70
>>"unlimited" bundle that includes data? Or is T-Mobile data limited to
>>dumb phones somehow?
>>
>>Also, anyone know if they have micro-SIMs yet or do I need to cut down
>>my existing SIM?
>>
>>I've got an existing account with over $100 of credit so I'd prefer to
>>stick with T-Mobile for this trip, I'm open to other options down the
>>road, but AT&T's packages still seem pretty crappy for short term use.
>
> When I last checked, TMO's prepaid data consisted of a 1-hour pass for
> $9.95 which was limited to non-smartphones sold by T-Mobile. Until
> they change that, I'd say using an iPhone on TMobile-To-Go is a
> non-starter.
On their Web site at the moment, it says:
"$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web access for Pay As You
Go (also available if you need more data than included in your monthly
plan)."
In message <iaurbe$lf6$1@reader1.panix.com> retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.)
was claimed to have wrote:
>
>In article <mcn5d6t3uu5u1f0sp31mlogmmj0ivnd1vu@4ax.com>,
>DevilsPGD <Still-Just-A-Rat-In-A-Cage@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>>What's the current word on putting an iPhone 4 on a prepaid T-Mobile US
>>account?
>>
>>I have a (factory) unlocked iPhone, so it will accept the SIM and allow
>>me to enter my own APN.
>>
>>Do the day passes give me full data access? Or the new $70 "unlimited"
>>bundle that includes data? Or is T-Mobile data limited to dumb phones
>>somehow?
>>
>>Also, anyone know if they have micro-SIMs yet or do I need to cut down
>>my existing SIM?
>>
>>I've got an existing account with over $100 of credit so I'd prefer to
>>stick with T-Mobile for this trip, I'm open to other options down the
>>road, but AT&T's packages still seem pretty crappy for short term use.
>
>When I last checked, TMO's prepaid data consisted of a 1-hour pass for
>$9.95 which was limited to non-smartphones sold by T-Mobile. Until they
>change that, I'd say using an iPhone on TMobile-To-Go is a non-starter.
>
The site mentions "$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web
access for Pay As You Go (also available if you need more data than
included in your monthly plan)." but I can't really tell what exactly
that includes, whether it's full internet access or if it's just
T-Mobile's walled garden.
I barely use any voice so I'm probably better off paying per minute and
per day for data since I'll only be in the US for a week at a time.
In article <Xns9E268D1D69D2CVeebleFetzer@216.250.188.141>,
Bert Hyman <bert@iphouse.com> wrote:
>In news:iaurbe$lf6$1@reader1.panix.com retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.)
>wrote:
>
>>
>> In article <mcn5d6t3uu5u1f0sp31mlogmmj0ivnd1vu@4ax.com>,
>> DevilsPGD <Still-Just-A-Rat-In-A-Cage@crazyhat.net> wrote:
>>>What's the current word on putting an iPhone 4 on a prepaid T-Mobile
>>>US account?
>>>
>>>I have a (factory) unlocked iPhone, so it will accept the SIM and
>>>allow me to enter my own APN.
>>>
>>>Do the day passes give me full data access? Or the new $70
>>>"unlimited" bundle that includes data? Or is T-Mobile data limited to
>>>dumb phones somehow?
>>>
>>>Also, anyone know if they have micro-SIMs yet or do I need to cut down
>>>my existing SIM?
>>>
>>>I've got an existing account with over $100 of credit so I'd prefer to
>>>stick with T-Mobile for this trip, I'm open to other options down the
>>>road, but AT&T's packages still seem pretty crappy for short term use.
>>
>> When I last checked, TMO's prepaid data consisted of a 1-hour pass for
>> $9.95 which was limited to non-smartphones sold by T-Mobile. Until
>> they change that, I'd say using an iPhone on TMobile-To-Go is a
>> non-starter.
>
>On their Web site at the moment, it says:
>
>"$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web access for Pay As You
>Go (also available if you need more data than included in your monthly
>plan)."
>
>http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/prepaid-plans.aspx
>
>Otherwise, what you say about the iPhone is probably still true.
After posting that, I realized that my recollection of $9.95 for an hour
was pretty ridiculous ... meant to say 99 cents. The $1.49/day is news to
me .. wonder if they'opened this up to non-TMO equipment and smartphones.
In news:kav5d65d93fvr77rv2ku35i0ac7352d4su@4ax.com DevilsPGD
<Still-Just-A-Rat-In-A-Cage@crazyhat.net> wrote:
> The site mentions "$1.49 Web DayPass: Unlimited 24-hour mobile web
> access for Pay As You Go (also available if you need more data than
> included in your monthly plan)." but I can't really tell what exactly
> that includes, whether it's full internet access or if it's just
> T-Mobile's walled garden.
The garden has been plowed under :-)
When they introduced the initial pay-by-the-hour internet access, the
free "T-Zones" access for Pay As You Go customers got cut down to ABC
News.
T-Mobile shows two "smart phones" for their Pay As You Go service, so
maybe other unlocked smart phones would be acceptable too.
In news:MPG.273cbdd7c3a2c716989689@isp5.newshosting.c om "abc.def@ghi.jlk"
<abc.def@ghi.jlk> wrote:
> The day pass on prepaid is limited to dumb phones, yes.
The Day Pass FAQ says:
"The Web Day Pass gives Prepaid customers without an active data bucket on
their plan the ability to browse the web for 24 hours continuously from any
handset with web browsing capability. "
In article <Xns9E275983982BEVeebleFetzer@216.250.188.141>, bert@iphouse.com says...
>
> In news:MPG.273cbdd7c3a2c716989689@isp5.newshosting.c om "abc.def@ghi.jlk"
> <abc.def@ghi.jlk> wrote:
>
> > The day pass on prepaid is limited to dumb phones, yes.
>
> The Day Pass FAQ says:
>
> "The Web Day Pass gives Prepaid customers without an active data bucket on
> their plan the ability to browse the web for 24 hours continuously from any
> handset with web browsing capability. "
>
> http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24173.xml
Joining the conversation late, but am wondering why anyone would put an
AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile just to use data - I don't think the iPhone uses
T-Mobile data frequencies. It doesn't run at 1700 MHz at all, does it?
On 11/5/2010 7:38 AM, Steve Sobol wrote:
> In article<Xns9E275983982BEVeebleFetzer@216.250.188.1 41>,
> bert@iphouse.com says...
>>
>> In news:MPG.273cbdd7c3a2c716989689@isp5.newshosting.c om "abc.def@ghi.jlk"
>> <abc.def@ghi.jlk> wrote:
>>
>>> The day pass on prepaid is limited to dumb phones, yes.
>>
>> The Day Pass FAQ says:
>>
>> "The Web Day Pass gives Prepaid customers without an active data bucket on
>> their plan the ability to browse the web for 24 hours continuously from any
>> handset with web browsing capability. "
>>
>> http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24173.xml
>
> Joining the conversation late, but am wondering why anyone would put an
> AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile just to use data - I don't think the iPhone uses
> T-Mobile data frequencies. It doesn't run at 1700 MHz at all, does it?
You can still use it with 2G, and it's very cheap. In many areas
T-Mobile 2G is not all that much slower than AT&T 3G.
In article <Xns9E275983982BEVeebleFetzer@216.250.188.141>,
Bert Hyman <bert@iphouse.com> wrote:
>In news:MPG.273cbdd7c3a2c716989689@isp5.newshosting.c om "abc.def@ghi.jlk"
><abc.def@ghi.jlk> wrote:
>
>> The day pass on prepaid is limited to dumb phones, yes.
>
>The Day Pass FAQ says:
>
>"The Web Day Pass gives Prepaid customers without an active data bucket on
>their plan the ability to browse the web for 24 hours continuously from any
>handset with web browsing capability. "
>
>http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24173.xml
Yep, and that same blurb appeared online for their hourly pass too, but if
you tried it with anything except a TMO-branded dumbphone, you got an
error message nonetheless.
In message <MPG.273db6b3bc66d5ea989a98@news.justthe.net> Steve Sobol
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> was claimed to have wrote:
>Joining the conversation late, but am wondering why anyone would put an
>AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile just to use data - I don't think the iPhone uses
>T-Mobile data frequencies. It doesn't run at 1700 MHz at all, does it?
I'm a Canadian and only spend about a week in the US at a time. AT&T's
prepaid plans aren't conducive to my usage, but T-Mobile's EDGE network
is better than paying per MB for roaming data.
"Steve Sobol" <sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.273db6b3bc66d5ea989a98@news.justthe.net.. .
> In article <Xns9E275983982BEVeebleFetzer@216.250.188.141>,
> bert@iphouse.com says...
>>
>> In news:MPG.273cbdd7c3a2c716989689@isp5.newshosting.c om "abc.def@ghi.jlk"
>> <abc.def@ghi.jlk> wrote:
>>
>> > The day pass on prepaid is limited to dumb phones, yes.
>>
>> The Day Pass FAQ says:
>>
>> "The Web Day Pass gives Prepaid customers without an active data bucket
>> on
>> their plan the ability to browse the web for 24 hours continuously from
>> any
>> handset with web browsing capability. "
>>
>> http://support.t-mobile.com/doc/tm24173.xml
>
> Joining the conversation late, but am wondering why anyone would put an
> AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile just to use data - I don't think the iPhone uses
> T-Mobile data frequencies. It doesn't run at 1700 MHz at all, does it?
I have about 20 reasons a month to use an iPhone on T-Mobile, and each one
has George Washington's portrait on the front.
EDGE data speeds have never really been an issue for me. My wife's, and my,
primary internet use on mobile phones is mobile email access. Between the
relatively low data demands of email, and the fact that, at least on
smartphones, email fetches in the background at regular intervals, from the
user's perspective your email is always "just there" whether you're on 3G,
EDGE, or GPRS.
I'm on a grandfathered plan with $5/month data, which my wife uses on an
iPhone, and I use on a Windows phone. Given the small screen limitation, I
tend to stick to mobile-formatted webpages whenever possible/practical, and
usually use Opera Mini as my browser, which renders on Opera's servers and
compresses the data so it's pretty quick even over EDGE. Streaming video is
out of the question, of course, but the modern data bucket limits imposed by
AT&T and T-Mo on their new smartphone data plans sort of puts the kibosh on
that anyway- how many ~300MB Netflix movies can you watch over cellular data
a month when AT&T caps your total data usage at 2GB?
Sure, EDGE sucks if you're trying to tether a notebook to a phone using it,
but for on-phone data use, I've never had a problem with it. Keep in mind,
though, I've been using mobile data since 9.6kbps was state of the art, soin
comparison, EDGE seems great!
I did buy a Symbian-based Nokia Nuron (T-Mo 1700MHz 3G) recently to use as a
3G modem, and while 3G was faster, I just didn't dig the Symbian interface,
and went back to using my Sony X1 Windows phone full-time. (The Nuron sits
in my travel bag for tethered use if I'm stuck at a hotel without free
Wifi.) Microsoft just mailed me a T-Mo 3G-compatible HTC HD7 (with the new
Windows Phone 7 OS) last week, and I've been playing with that, and although
it's fast, I still haven't decided if it's flexible enough to become my
everyday phone. (WP7 is pretty locked-down, iPhone-style.) MS loaned me a
pre-production WinPhone 7 last month that had no 1700MHz support, and its
performance was perfectly acceptable over T-Mo EDGE. I even tried Netflix
on it, which automagically reduced image quality to stream over EDGE and it
worked ok, though it stuttered and buffered occasionally. This was at home,
in a fixed location, though- I suspect it would've been unusable if mobile
and had to deal with cell handoffs and occasional dead spots. I have enough
trouble streaming audio over EDGE while in motion!
On Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:46:12 -0700
"Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
> EDGE data speeds have never really been an issue for me. My wife's, and my,
> primary internet use on mobile phones is mobile email access. Between the
> relatively low data demands of email, and the fact that, at least on
> smartphones, email fetches in the background at regular intervals, from the
> user's perspective your email is always "just there" whether you're on 3G,
> EDGE, or GPRS.
I must be spoiled then, because EDGE seems slow to me. Even if I just sign onto an Instant Messaging service and update my buddy list.
At 09 Nov 2010 09:50:16 -0800 Steve Sobol wrote:
> On Tue, 9 Nov 2010 09:46:12 -0700
> "Todd Allcock" <elecconnec@AnoOspamL.com> wrote:
>
>
> > EDGE data speeds have never really been an issue for me. My wife's,
and my,
> > primary internet use on mobile phones is mobile email access.
Between the
> > relatively low data demands of email, and the fact that, at least on
> > smartphones, email fetches in the background at regular intervals,
from the
> > user's perspective your email is always "just there" whether you're
on 3G,
> > EDGE, or GPRS.
>
>
> I must be spoiled then, because EDGE seems slow to me. Even if I just
> sign onto an Instant Messaging service and update my buddy list.
Sometimes you have to figure out whether it's the connection speed or the
device/software speed. For the last few years I've mostly used phones
that also have built-in WiFi. Whenever I find that "EDGE" is too slow,
I'll often notice WiFi is also too slow, which tells me I'm blaming the
wrong thing. The rendering engine of the "IE Mobile" browser, for example,
in older Windows Mobile phones is just dog-slow regardless of how fat a
pipe feeds it. It'd be natural to blame T-Mobile when it takes 45
seconds to render a particular web page on a 200K EDGE connection, until
I realize it takes 30-35 seconds over WiFi on my 3Meg connection at home!
> I'm on a grandfathered plan with $5/month data, which my wife uses on an
> iPhone, and I use on a Windows phone. Given the small screen limitation,
> I tend to stick to mobile-formatted webpages whenever
> possible/practical, and usually use Opera Mini as my browser, which
> renders on Opera's servers and compresses the data so it's pretty quick
> even over EDGE. Streaming video is out of the question, of course, but
> the modern data bucket limits imposed by AT&T and T-Mo on their new
> smartphone data plans sort of puts the kibosh on that anyway- how many
> ~300MB Netflix movies can you watch over cellular data a month when AT&T
> caps your total data usage at 2GB?
The new, lower cost data plans are putting the kibosh on many
applications and services that were built on the premise of unlimited
2G/3G/4G data. Forget about $25/2GB, the big seller is $15/200MB, and
Verizon is poised to change their pricing model for data as well because
the lower cost data plans are attractive to the late adopters. Not only
are you not going to stream movies with 200MB, you're also not going to
stream Pandora or upload or download a lot of still photos.
In the U.S., free Wi-Fi is so widely available, that using 2G for e-mail
and restricting your higher bandwidth activities to when you're
connected at home/work/school/restaurant/hotel/airport/airplane/park/etc
is not a big issue for many people.
Also, lately there's been a glut of slightly used smart phones on the
market which can be used with lower cost services.
The worst thing was the very short time that $29.99 unlimited data was
offered for the iPad (April 30 to June 7, 2010). Clearly someone at AT&T
quickly realized the folly of providing unlimited data on a device where
watching movies would actually be something that many of its owners
would want to do.
Anyone with an iPhone who travels overseas needs to check out this iSIP
service for iPhone at World Phones, International prepaid SIM cards, Global Roaming and Local SIM Cards, international traveller wireless service You can add another line
to your phone for $50. Calls cost a fraction of what I previously paid for
international roaming rates from AT&T. 3g data calls, dedicated SIP inbound
telephone numbers (even local numbers in 57 countries) and great connections
for a low price per minute. This service even works with iPhones without a
SIM card (disconnected service), iPads and iTouch via wifi connections. The
service also saves your AT&T plan minutes in the USA and gives you perfect
signal for calls from home, office or anywhere via wifi. Uses data to make
calls on 3g or any celluar data connection automatically. I read all about
it on their site under iSIP for iPhone.
iPhone 4 on T-Mobile Prepaid 
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