Using US sim card in iphone 4 - has anyone done this?

[peacefrogdog]

Got my iphone 4 a month ago from the Apple Store. It is unlocked such that I could put in a US sim card when travelling in the US.

Has anyone done this? if so, where did you get the card and what were the rates? Also, some help on what to do once you insert the card would be great (i.e. do I then have to hook it up to Itunes once done in the states)?

 

[ChisJo]

We did this with an older version of an Iphone when we went to the UK. It was awesome. We spent 10 pounds on the sim card and 10 more pounds for the time to talk on it. We could text and get the internet from my phone. We also had the mapquest too which was extremely helpful. Loved it.

I tried to do this when we went to Arizona in April and I had some problems getting the internet to connect, but the phone worked great. It cost $10 for 100 minutes (best buy).

Loved it...and plan to do it again when I go to Vegas in Feb and WDW in May.

 

[peacefrogdog]

Thanks!
What carrier's sim card did you buy? How much data was included with the card?

Also, when putting in the US SIM card, do then have to hook the iphone again through Itunes?

 

[ChisJo]

Itunes definitely was not involved. In the UK, the store I bought the sim card from set it all up for me. They put in the sim card, called the 1-800 number on the pack and got them to set it all up for me. In the States, the Best Buy guy didn't know what he was doing, so I called the number on the box and got everything connected in a matter of minutes. You get a pin that goes with the card, and that was basically it. When I was having problems with the one in the States, the company (the sim card was from O2), the customer service wasn't exactly the most helpful, but my phone part was working. O2 told me the card I got didn't have internet connection on it, so I went 2 weeks without that. But, I did have my own phone number and I could text down there. I ended up spending $20 total for that.

When we were in the UK, the data was included in the cost of the card, and we had lots of time left on the card by the time we left the UK. We were there for 4 weeks. I think it depends on the SIM card you buy, and the amount you spend. I will say that I don't recommend O2 for a purchase of a US SIM card (However, this company was fantastic overseas). I know there are lots of SIM cards to choose from in the States. Again, I would not hesitate for a second to get one again. We were just in California with a group of people and we never ended up needing a SIM card for that trip, but we had to use our phone once for an emergency call back home. That call was 6 minutes, the call cost us $15. Ridiculous!

 

[Sue M]

Got my iphone 4 a month ago from the Apple Store. It is unlocked such that I could put in a US sim card when travelling in the US.

Has anyone done this? if so, where did you get the card and what were the rates? Also, some help on what to do once you insert the card would be great (i.e. do I then have to hook it up to Itunes once done in the states)?

I have an I phone 3GS and it isn't unlocked. Did you get your phone unlocked from Apple?
I'm afraid to get my phone unlocked as it will void the warrenty, and I've herd some horror stories about people getting their phone unlocked and it not working after.
So I wonder if the Apple Store will unlock the phone? Or is it just with i phone 4?

 

[ChisJo]

I have an I phone 3GS and it isn't unlocked. Did you get your phone unlocked from Apple?
I'm afraid to get my phone unlocked as it will void the warrenty, and I've herd some horror stories about people getting their phone unlocked and it not working after.
So I wonder if the Apple Store will unlock the phone? Or is it just with i phone 4?

I got my phone unlocked by a cell repair company in my city. Apple wouldn't unlock my phone for me. I could get it locked again, but I've had it for 20 months now....my warranty is already gone. I have not had any problems with it at all. I work with a couple other people who have theirs unlocked as well and haven't had any problems. The one thing that the guys told me when they unlocked it was to not do any more updates when you plug it into Itunes. My husband plugged it in for me recently and did the updates, and in a panic, I called the company that unlocked it and they said the only thing that might happen is that I may be more susceptible to virus's. So far, no problems.

 

[Sue M]

I got my phone unlocked by a cell repair company in my city. Apple wouldn't unlock my phone for me. I could get it locked again, but I've had it for 20 months now....my warranty is already gone. I have not had any problems with it at all. I work with a couple other people who have theirs unlocked as well and haven't had any problems. The one thing that the guys told me when they unlocked it was to not do any more updates when you plug it into Itunes. My husband plugged it in for me recently and did the updates, and in a panic, I called the company that unlocked it and they said the only thing that might happen is that I may be more susceptible to virus's. So far, no problems.

Thanks for the info. I'll have to think about that. I do like to be able to update it.
I may just buy the US data and text package when I leave for the U.S. Would like to be able to use my Apps in WDW, esp. the Lines from Undercover Tourist! Sigh!

I thought I heard that the Apple Store was selling the i Phone 4 unlocked.

 

[peacefrogdog]

The iPhone 4 comes unlocked if bought from the apple store.

Any other carriers people have used when down in the US?

 

[ChisJo]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to think about that. I do like to be able to update it.
I may just buy the US data and text package when I leave for the U.S. Would like to be able to use my Apps in WDW, esp. the Lines from Undercover Tourist! Sigh!

Be careful with that....you can still get charged roaming. Look at your carrier. You only get something like 60-120 minutes roaming time in your package. It really doesn't make it worth it.

 

[TagsMissy]

You AT&T and TMobile are your options --> Hubby and I have used both on our Android Phones from home and our regular US Pay As You Go Phones on both networks.

Personally we prefer TMobile and have canned our AT&T account for a couple of reasons

Why we left AT&T:
1) Expensive, 2) No Loyalty Program that was logical 3)We had trouble refilling from Canada 3) Could not use the service in Canada 4) They charge an excessive fee just to get the simcard itself, forget the actual talk time.

TMobile on the other hand:
Works in Canada, Can easily top up from home using our CC online, Once we spent $100 we are Gold Members and as long as we top up $10 before the year expires our points don't expire which we love. When we got our simcards they were free, all we did was buy minutes and got the card and setup was painless. We never had any dropped calls in WA, CA, GA or FL but that being said check their maps to see where you are going how the service is.

As for Data, hubby looked it up and you won't be able to use TMobile data with your iphone4 but will be able to on AT&T.

Depends on what's important to you: if you want it for phone communications go with TMobile but if you want data unfortunately you need to use AT&T .

 

[Snoella]

I have a few questions about all of this. I just got an iphone and we are going to Disney in a couple of weeks. I have been trying to figure out how to use our phones while we are there, evening texting would be fine, but the $$ (we are will Bell) are outrageous.

Now all the ??????

Okay, from what I am reading, I buy a card?? at Target, Walmart?? and I can put it in my phone where? and then I can call back and forth to my husband while we are in Florida for only the cost of the minutes??

Sorry, I am completely in the dark about this.
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks.

 

[ChisJo]

I have a few questions about all of this. I just got an iphone and we are going to Disney in a couple of weeks. I have been trying to figure out how to use our phones while we are there, evening texting would be fine, but the $$ (we are will Bell) are outrageous.

Now all the ??????

Okay, from what I am reading, I buy a card?? at Target, Walmart?? and I can put it in my phone where? and then I can call back and forth to my husband while we are in Florida for only the cost of the minutes??

Sorry, I am completely in the dark about this.
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks.

Ok...this is how it works with an iphone. You can buy minutes for the US through your own cell phone provider. Yes, it is expensive. And for the most part, you are spending $40 extra on your phone account to get maybe 60 minutes of talking, not including the data usage. Through Rogers, you pay for that, but you ONLY get so many roaming minutes. So, if you keep the phone on the entire time you are gone, you have to pay for the roaming, and this is actually incredibly expensive, even if you do not use the phone at all.

If you buy a sim card (best place is best buy), you insert that into the phone (your sim card inserts into the top of your iphone...if you see the little pin hole at the top beside your ear phone insertion) and you buy a certain amount of minutes at the time of the sim card purchase. you would get a new phone number. Cards usually cost about $20 for about 100 minutes. You can keep them on, but some cards charge for this (be aware of this....). And the sim cards are completely refillable. Its incredibly simple, and the instructions come with the sim card. Some sim cards do not allow you to utilize your internet (not included), so if your email and internet are important for your day to day usage at WDW, then ensure that you get a sim card that includes data usage.

Hope that makes sense!!

 

[Snoella]

Thanks Chisjo.
I assume you mean a Best Buy once we are in the U.S.
I could probably even go over the border before we leave and pick one up.
Thanks for all the info and instructions for saving me some $.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I have a few questions about all of this. I just got an iphone and we are going to Disney in a couple of weeks. I have been trying to figure out how to use our phones while we are there, evening texting would be fine, but the $$ (we are will Bell) are outrageous.

Now all the ??????

Okay, from what I am reading, I buy a card?? at Target, Walmart?? and I can put it in my phone where? and then I can call back and forth to my husband while we are in Florida for only the cost of the minutes??

Sorry, I am completely in the dark about this.
I would appreciate any help.
Thanks.

You can't do this unless the phone is unlocked. If you just got it from Bell, Rogers or Fido or wherever, it's not unlocked.

You need to really figure out how often you're going to be using the phone. Recently when I was in the States, I had a choice ... use a phone that I had purchased in the States and top it off with $10 of airtime (total cost would have been $25 ... the phone was $15 and can still be used for future trips) or pay Bell $40 for 100 minutes of long distance and roaming charges (roaming was included ... no extra charges). Getting my iPhone unlocked was not an option for me (it was still under warranty and there was no way I was going to risk it.)

In the end, I went with taking my own phone and paying Bell $40. I had my own phone, my own phone number, etc. The only thing I didn't have was data capability. If I wanted to get on the internet, I just went to find a wifi somewhere. I turned off data roaming so I would connect by mistake and get a huge bill. I was there for a week. If I was just going for a weekend or something, I probably would have brought my U.S. phone.

 

[TagsMissy]

Snoella, your phone needs to be unlocked in order to use it in the US.

If you are uneasy with unlocking it, I've heard horror stories with iphones and apples control tactics but that's something I won't go into

Personally I'd recommend you just get a Pay As You Go Phone-- you can get phones for pretty cheap and minutes to go along with it. you don't need to to go Best Buy -- really you can go to any Big Box that you are comfortable with for warrantee issues, etc. Target, Best Buy, Walmart, Kmart, Radio Shack, etc ....even grocery stores like Safeway, etc etc. Setup takes mere minutes and off you go.

 

[Shir Kahn]

Anyone know how it works with an Ipad? From what I understand, I need to go down from Winnipeg to Grand Forks to the Best Buy there, purchase an AT&T sim card and buy a prepaid credit card to sign up with. Apparently they don't accept Canadian credit cards. I also apparently need a US address to put down as well and was thinking about giving them the address of the hotel we're staying at in WDW. Has anyone actual had any experience with this? I really, really want to do a live report and have access to all my Disney apps!

 

[Sue M]

Be careful with that....you can still get charged roaming. Look at your carrier. You only get something like 60-120 minutes roaming time in your package. It really doesn't make it worth it.

I'm on Telus, I have no idea what their packages are. Sounds like I may just go with one of those cheap phones in the U.S.

There was a post not long ago about Net 10, from Walmart or Target. Someone got these, and thought it was the best deal for Canadians. You get 300 min with it. Would be nice to enjoy my I phone, and WDW Aps, but for $40 for Data, not to mention texting and voice. Well, voice isn't as important on Jan trip. I can use the room phone to call with my calling card.

But in Aug I'll be in Florida a month, and half the time I'll have no land line.

I hate that the phones are so expensive to use in the U.S.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I'm on Telus, I have no idea what their packages are. Sounds like I may just go with one of those cheap phones in the U.S.

There was a post not long ago about Net 10, from Walmart or Target. Someone got these, and thought it was the best deal for Canadians. You get 300 min with it. Would be nice to enjoy my I phone, and WDW Aps, but for $40 for Data, not to mention texting and voice. Well, voice isn't as important on Jan trip. I can use the room phone to call with my calling card.

But in Aug I'll be in Florida a month, and half the time I'll have no land line.

I hate that the phones are so expensive to use in the U.S.

This will only work if you have wifi access but you can load the SKYPE app onto your iPhone, put some credit into your account by credit card and use it as your phone. But again, you kind of need a wifi.

When I went to Vegas, our timeshare had free wifi and the McDonalds that we had breakfast in a few times (and I was near a few times...it was on the strip!) had free wifi. I used Skype there if I needed to call home. Long distance rates were very good.

 

[ChisJo]

I hate that the phones are so expensive to use in the U.S.

Completely agree. We were just in Osoyoos, BC, and for some reason, Rogers thought I was in the US and roaming with my phone. I called them and complained about the bill...it was $12 in roaming fees (For only a portion of 1 day), but they quickly reversed it. They said that their system has had problems with there phones that close to the border. But, seriously, $12? Just for roaming? We do try to use land lines as much as we can. We also have gone to Apple stores and emailed home that way (free internet), and we have utilized internet cafes and the libraries. All these options were all still cheaper than turning on our phones. For the most part, we didn't need to call home. But, we like to be able to have the flexibility to have our cell phones in case emergencies happen (which is what happened to us in the UK).

 

[Sue M]

Completely agree. We were just in Osoyoos, BC, and for some reason, Rogers thought I was in the US and roaming with my phone. I called them and complained about the bill...it was $12 in roaming fees (For only a portion of 1 day), but they quickly reversed it. They said that their system has had problems with there phones that close to the border. But, seriously, $12? Just for roaming? We do try to use land lines as much as we can. We also have gone to Apple stores and emailed home that way (free internet), and we have utilized internet cafes and the libraries. All these options were all still cheaper than turning on our phones. For the most part, we didn't need to call home. But, we like to be able to have the flexibility to have our cell phones in case emergencies happen (which is what happened to us in the UK).

I'll be phoning home to keep in touch with hubby So will need to use some sort of phone esp for Aug trip, before WDW we'll be staying in Ft Lauderdale, in my families condo, but no land line there, as I'm only there a total of maybe 4 or 5 weeks out of the year. My prev. regular cell phone had cheap US plans, but smart phones- not so much!!! Guess I'll be going to Walmart and picking up one of those Net10 phones wish I could use my iphone.

Skype I don't think will work as people there have to get in touch with me too, and no wifi unless I go out to a Starbucks or something.

Are you doing the WDW marathon again?