Prepaid (and Nonpaid) iPhone Plans 101

[Ironman273]

Prepaid (and Nonpaid) iPhone Plans 101

By Jacqui Cheng | Published: July 03, 2007 - 09:28AM CT

We've heard some talk from people who are still interested in getting an iPhone but don't want to commit to a 2-year contract with AT&T. Remember that before the iDay, there were rumors that users with bad credit might be able to get iPhones and activate them on a prepaid GoPhone plan? That has turned out to be true. Users who have bad credit or have fraud alerts on their credit reports have been able to "fail" the credit check involved when activating a new iPhone, and therefore have been able to use them with GoPhone plans.

But what if you don't want to ruin your credit or place a fraud rating on your account? If you buy an iPhone from an Apple Store (not an AT&T store, where they will attempt to run the credit check right there in the store), you can take the phone home and perform a credit check from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy. That's when you use the tips posted by our friends at TUAW about how to effectively "fail" the credit check: enter 999-99-9999 as your social security number when asked during activation. This will boot you into GoPhone mode, where you'll be able to select a prepaid plan instead of a contract.

Now, keep in mind that a default GoPhone plan is voice-only. Your iPhone will be useless when you are out and about and wish you could find that darn calamari restaurant (unless you add data to the GoPhone plan). However, once you activate the phone itself (even via a GoPhone plan), all of its features are unlocked. This includes all e-mail, web surfing, iPod, and other capabilities. In fact, you don't need a SIM at all if you want to use the iPhone as a WiFi-only communications device or a widescreen iPod.

Just pop out the SIM from the top using a paper clip ...the iPhone will tell you it has no SIM, but is using WiFi (if you are within range of WiFi), and you're done!

You now have a WiFi communications device that also acts as an iPod. Now, if you want to keep those voice minutes, go ahead and keep the GoPhone plan. But if you're just not a phone type of person, then you can probably even cancel the GoPhone plan and continue using your iPhone's WiFi/iPod functions. Keep in mind that the iPhone is still locked to AT&T (even if the features themselves are "unlocked"), so if you pop in another SIM from another carrier, it won't be able to use the voice or data functionalities from that SIM.

Source

So here's my question: I have an AT&T plan without unlimited internet. Could I do this trick, cancel my GoPhone and insert my regular SIM card? It's a Cingular sim card just like the one pictured in the article but will it just pick up my phone and plan?

[John S. Veteran]

this ain't the place to discuss cracking the iPhone

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