Using phones abroad. Can I do this?

[FearoftheNight]

Can I jail break my 3G iPhone and use it as a prepaid while I study abroad in New Zealand? Does anyone know if I can do this? Thanks!

 

[lokiju]

It's cheaper to get a sim over there from what I've read.

Check out macrumors.com iphone forum though.

 

[Gothgar]

Originally posted by: lokiju
It's cheaper to get a sim over there from what I've read.

Check out macrumors.com iphone forum though.

this is also what I have heard... buy a prepaid phone in said country, then switch sims over, or just use the prepaid phone...

 

[FearoftheNight]

i mean can i take my iphone there...buy a sim and pop it in the iphone and use the iphone?

 

[Farang]

Aren't they making the better phones universal these days? It has to support GSM

 

[Farang]

and what school are you going to? I'll be there in a couple of weeks, might be there up to a year and want to hear about what the universities are like if I decide to stay longer, since that is really the only option for me to get another visa.

 

[Colt45]

Should work. Not sure if iphones are quad/tri/dualband though. I *think* oz is on the european bands, so if they make an "american" version of iphone, it has to be 3 or 4 band (dual wont have the bands required, only NA bands.).

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
i mean can i take my iphone there...buy a sim and pop it in the iphone and use the iphone?

Simply, no.

If you have a 3g iPhone it's locked to AT&T and there is no software unlock available. You would have to buy a TurboSim to use a foreign sim card.

 

[Demo24]

Originally posted by: Farang
Aren't they making the better phones universal these days? It has to support GSM

yes, but that doesn't matter as you can't access the networks without the correct sim. Getting a overseas 'plan' from your provider is incredibly expensive and restrictive. It's far cheaper to buy a SIM card while there and popping it in the phone you have. You don't have to buy an actual pre-paid phone, just go to a phone store and they will sell you what you need. I did not know I could do this when I went to Germany, but I ended up helping people do this once I discovered this handy fact.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: DEMO24

Originally posted by: Farang
Aren't they making the better phones universal these days? It has to support GSM

yes, but that doesn't matter as you can't access the networks without the correct sim. Getting a overseas 'plan' from your provider is incredibly expensive and restrictive. It's far cheaper to buy a SIM card while there and popping it in the phone you have. You don't have to buy an actual pre-paid phone, just go to a phone store and they will sell you what you need. I did not know I could do this when I went to Germany, but I ended up helping people do this once I discovered this handy fact.

I know you don't use a U.S. plan/SIM abroad, but I thought most phones were able to take SIMs all over the world and use them. I have two phones for this purpose but they are both cheap and I expected that they each wouldn't work both in the U.S. and abroad.

edit: most newer phones that is

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: Farang
and what school are you going to? I'll be there in a couple of weeks, might be there up to a year and want to hear about what the universities are like if I decide to stay longer, since that is really the only option for me to get another visa.

Interested to hear what you both think - I went to Auckland uni for a while.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Simply, no.

If you have a 3g iPhone it's locked to AT&T and there is no software unlock available. You would have to buy a TurboSim to use a foreign sim card.

This.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

you can jailbreak, but you can't unlock an iphone 3g. If you really want an iphone over there, get an old one from ebay. Vodafone will rape you on rates anyways while you are there, you aren't going to be doing more then texting, calling and internet are way to expensive in that country.

 

[FearoftheNight]

wait so i can't unlock the 3g? turbo sim it or something? i thought i could just quickpwn it and get a sim over there?

 

[FearoftheNight]

Originally posted by: Farang
and what school are you going to? I'll be there in a couple of weeks, might be there up to a year and want to hear about what the universities are like if I decide to stay longer, since that is really the only option for me to get another visa.

victoria univ of wellington

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: FearoftheNight
wait so i can't unlock the 3g? turbo sim it or something? i thought i could just quickpwn it and get a sim over there?

No, quickpwn just Jailbreaks. You have to do this:

Originally posted by: DeviousTrap

Simply, no.

If you have a 3g iPhone it's locked to AT&T and there is no software unlock available. You would have to buy a TurboSim to use a foreign sim card.

 

[FearoftheNight]

In that case can someone explain to me what the difference between jail break and unlock is? Muadib ...as for my iphone 3g do i need to jail break then buy turbosim or go directly to turbosim and where/how much is it? does doing this void warranty? thanks in advance!

 

[Muadib]

Jailbreak allows you to use 3rd party software outside of itunes.

Unlocking allows you to use providers other than AT&T

I read somewhere that the DevTeam is close to releasing an iPhone 3G 2.1 unlock / jailbreak, but if you've upgraded to 2.2, it won't work.

Here are some instuctions for Turbo SIM. I've never used Turbosim, so I have no clue if they work.

 

[FearoftheNight]

Oh, now I understand. If I have 2.2 can I roll back to 2.1? Is there somewhere I can find out more about this TurboSIM? Whether it actually works, where to buy it, price, ect. From what I've seen so far it seems much easier to just get a 2g iphone?

 

[Muadib]

According to this, 2.2 has caused havoc to Turbosim too.