Acquiring the iPhone
A while back I was lucky enough to acquire an unlocked iPhone 2g for a killer deal from a good friend who upgraded to the 3g. I decided there was no way I was going to pay the $65/month voice & data + 2yr contract service plan just use the iPhone. So naturally, I started searching for alternative ways around this awful money-pit.
Jailbreak + Unlocking the iPhone
The first step was to jailbreak the iPhone using Quickpwn, a popular DIY jailbreaking application. But I soon found the Mac version of Quickpwn doesn’t incorporate the steps for unlocking the baseband on the phone. I instead used iPhonePWN (for mac) to unlock the baseband at the same time as jailbreaking. Unlocking the baseband enables you to use virtually any GSM enabled SIM card in the iPhone to send & receive calls.
The GoPhone®
Once the baseband was unlocked, I promptly drove down to the local AT&T store, and bought a $25 Pay-as-you-go GoPhone card (which comes with a new SIM card) and had them port my previous Verizon phone number to the newly acquired GoPhone account.
To be safe, before activating the GoPhone account, I downloaded the iPhone app Boss Prefs in order to disable the Edge data capabilities of the phone. We don’t want it pulling data down for 1¢/kb and eating up the $25 credit. I placed the new SIM card, then activated my account. VOILA! Sending & receiving calls on the iPhone with a pay-as-you go card! One catch, no visual voicemail. That is activated through AT&T’s iPhone only service plans.
The Skype Plan
In order to take this one step further, I decided to see if this new GoPhone – iPhone GoPwn could use the Medianet® service offered to regular GoPhone customers. Once the feature was active, I installed a fake apn using a simple app on the Cydia Store. As easy as that, full internet access for $20 per 100mb – not bad. Now I can use my edge again… This would never be sufficient for tethering to my laptop, but just enough to browse the web and reap the many benefits of an edge/3g enabled iPhone.
So next to install was the the newly released Skype app. It works quite well! Skype to Skype calls with the iPhone are good. There was one catch… Skype app is limited to WIFI networks only. So next to install was the jailbreak app VOIPover3G and this tricks Skype into thinking the phone is always on WIFI. So, I bought unlimited Skype callilng plan to get inbound and outbound calls to any phone for $3/month.
Skype calls on the Edge data network are less than quality, but do work. I also downloaded the jailbreak app Backgrounder so I can keep my Skype app running while the phone is locked & in my pocket.
Conclusion
$3.00/mo for Skype + $20/mo for MediaNet and my monthly bill stays pretty low. I keep some credit on my GoPhone account for emergencies, or occasional lazy moments, but with a little extra work using the Skype app, I save myself a bundle using mobile VOIP!
++Extra Bonus – No contract either, I can just stop paying if I need to!
My next goal is to somehow tie this in with my Google.com/voice account!
Update… April 23rd 2009
After about a month of using this setup and the enormous popularity of this post, I decided to follow-up and address some of the questions that have been asked.
Does this really work?
Yes, this works. That’s why I wrote about my experience.
Is this for me? Can I do this to my iPhone?
No. This is not for everyone. It is certainly not a fully functional, flawless method of using an iphone for $23/mo. If you are however somewhat tech savvy and willing to take some extra steps to save some money and you happened to get a contract-free iphone like I did for $80, then go for it.
What about Skype how well does that work?
Skype works as it should (over WIFI). I have heard stories of it crashing frequently on jailbroken iphones. This has not been the case for me. I am on iPhone software 2.2 (5G77) and it has worked fine. However, Skype over Edge has been a different story. While it does work, it has it’s issues. For instance: Connecting a call can take anywhere from 10 to 20 seconds. 1 out of 5 or 6 times the call is disconnected. There is a little lag between calls from VOIP to Voice and sometimes application lag. Also, Skype will not continue working when changing networks. For example, when leaving a WIFI and switching to Edge the Skype application must be relaunched in order to send or receive calls.
What about the battery life with Skype running 24/7?
The battery life has been fine for me so-far. This is likely due to the fact that I’m a graphic designer and I have the luxury of leaving my phone plugged in for at least 4-6 hrs a day.
Is the 100mb/mo sufficient?
The 100mb MediaNet is a service from goPhone for the price of $20. This data expires after 30 days. I am around a WIFI probably 80% of my day. So the other 20% of my life I’m not on WIFI, I regularly checked my email, looked up maps, made calls and watched the occasional video. I used about 65mb in 30 days of usage. This 100mb would never be sufficient for tethering, but it works just fine for all the iphone apps which call for internet usage.
What about SMS?
If your feeling ambitious, there are several iPhone apps that let you send free text messages VIA data. They have their drawbacks (unable to reply sometimes, and having to check a webpage for incoming messages… The other solution is to use Skype’s SMS service, but they have their own fees which aren’t much better than AT&T’s SMS plans. I am not a huge texter so I have just been buying blocks of SMS messages on my GoPhone account – $4.99 for 200 messages.
Update: October 23, 2010: Closing Comments, this post is over a year old and much of the information is irrelevant to the new iPhone plans.
173 Comments
This still does not beat my $25/mo Sprint Employee Plan with 3,000 minutes, Nights at 7/Weekends, unlimited messaging, unlimited data, Sprint to Home, with my Treo 800w. I use the Sprint to Home to steal minutes via forwarding and Google Voice. That and my phone has a REAL operating system. Not just something that can run farting apps.
To tie it into a Google Voice like account go to http://www.phone.com and use their Virtual Number service. You can port over your existing number, and if you sign up 5 friends then the service is free, else wise it is $4.88 a month. You can also get voicemail to text emails (so no need for visual voicemail – one step better).
If you want to implement with Google Voice just use Gizmo.
I have to work on something like this with a prepaid T Mobile plan, but not necessarily with an iPhone.
Nice post. I can appreciate the effort.
Man, there are lot of iPhone haters out there! Having tried just about every smartphone, nothing compares to iPhone for the depth and quality of apps. Though the Pre shows promise if they get it off sprint and it works as advertised.
That being said I use a Nokia E71 because I refuse to pay the $30 for internet. I pay $15 which gives me unlimited 3g internet access. Joikuspot creates a wifi hotspot which I use with my iPod Touch and netbook. The E71 has real keyboard, amazing battery life, great camera and a native Skype app.
My upfront costs were more because I purchased two devices. My monthly costs are only slightly higher. But I get all the benefits of Apple apps and the freedom of Nokia hardware without all the hacking.
Also, you should have gone with T-Mobile. They have a $100, 1000 minute prepaid plan that doesn’t expire for 1 year. Then they have an unlimited data plan for $10 per month with no fees or contract or anything. It ends up being about $18 per month, and you don’t really need to conserve T Mobile minutes. You can probably get that $100 down if you have reliable WiFi and can depend more on VoIP. You’d have to check their other prepaid plans though.
Again, if anyone uses VoIP, go with Gizmo. They have an ultra cheap prepaid plan that links fully with Google Voice. They do SMS also.
Thanks for this article. I’ll be going a slightly different route, but it still helped.
@Bradley FYI OSX is generally considered a ‘real os’, whereas Windows is usually ridiculed, let alone a crippled Windows Mobile. However, Kudos 2 ya for having a sweet corporate deal non-the-less.
Not @Bradley:
Personally I’m an Android fan.
Dig for this guy who got what he wanted at a price he was happy with and nice enough to share. I always wondered why people talk so much trash about someone elses idea when it doesnt do what _THEY_ want. It’s kinda saying a guy who bought a porche 911s for $300 is an idiot because it has no off-road ability and YOU love to go off-road.
Whats an I-Phone – fun read.
Bradley N. Anthony is an idiot,
@Bradley N. Anthony
Not everyone sells phones for a living so stfu and stop bragging about your deal. One day you won’t have that job and you’ll be trolling blogs like this to save money because you never had to budget for a real plan. I have the same plan but I don’t brag about it because most people have jobs that often more positively impact the world, and however more deserving they are, they don’t get discounts like us. So, cut the narcissism and get back to the topic in discussion. Nobody cares how much of a tool you are.
$20 per 100MB? I routinely use up to 500MB per month in data on my iPHone, which would mean a $100 month bill before whatever data I used for Skype. That would be a significant increase from my current monthly bill.
I make fairly heavy use of streaming audio apps, which is likely the biggest contributing factor.
nice one
Genius! I wont be jailbreaking my iphone though – waiting for the 3.0 release… push notification could help make VOIP become mainstream – let’s hope so
I am planning to buy a porsche but I can’t afford insurance and gas for it. My plan is to push it around and coast down hills for fun. Similar to owning an iPhone with out the bells and whistles? Absolutely. Congrats on a complete waste of time.
Good work. If it the time and effort was worth it for YOU then that’s all that matters. Don’t listen to everyone whose bringing you down. They’re just jealous. Sure there are some limitations but if you can live with them – what does it matter?
I have an iPhone 3G and I have yet to find another phone that would make me give it up. So I guess – in other words – it’s the best phone money can buy.
I don’t understand how these statements work together.
“So a while back I was lucky enough to acquire an unlocked iPhone 2g for a killer deal from a good friend who upgraded to the 3g.”
“To be safe, before activating my GoPhone account, I downloaded the iPhone app Boss Prefs in order to disable the Edge capabilities of my phone. We don’t want it pulling data down for 1¢/kb and sucking up my $25 card.”
“In order to take this one step further, I decided to see if my GoPhone – iPhone GoPwn could use the Medianet® service offered to regular GoPhone customers. Hoo boy! Full internet access for $20 per 100mb – not bad. This would never be sufficient for tethering to my laptop, but just enough to browse the web and reap the many benefits of an edge/3g enabled iPhone.”
The 2g (edge) phone only uses edge and wifi. Media net uses Edge.
So if you disable edge, no media net.
Also, why then call your phone an edge/3g enabled iphone. – it’s edge enabled.
-confused.
“…just to have and use the world’s best phone.”
and that’s when I scroll to the bottom to remind you how much of a sheep you are.
I am not tech savvy and don’t have an iphone but I will personally (depending on your location) fly and come see you and pay you to do this for me or you can post one on ebay……..pretty please with a cherry on top
BUT…..
. …. Can you hear me now ?
@Cody Thanks for the post, great info!
I’m a little cornfused. Do you use the GoPhone and skype to make/receive calls? Or do you use Skype for outgoing, but Go-phone for incoming? Does the GoPhone plan allow 911 calls? I currently have the plan mentioned by Bradley N. Anthony, but my phone is a disgrace, almost all Sprint phones I’ve had are just crap. I love my iPod Touch, but don’t want to carry a phone plus iPod.
Thanks!
OMG!!!! you have the endame popping keychain!!!! isn’t it fun?! i love mine! did you buy yours on thinkgeek.com?
what about texting?
I’m going to spain this summer and really need to find a cheap way to call home. I have skype portable app, but don’t like the idea of having to pay for internet cafes or remain completely stationary and locked on my computer screen for the doubtlessly hour long calls i’ll be making to my girlfrriend and parents. If I somehow (don’t ask me how) acquire an iPhone, and take the steps required, would skype work for me in Spain? Is there any reason I shouldn’t believe that for around 28$ a month i can call everyone i need to from a mobile phone?
Also, I recently got my hands on a palm treo, its safe to assume that i have no way of using skype on that device, right?
So to leave an open-ended question for everyone out there, how best would use a u.s. mobile phone while in spain to contact other mobile phones in america? Or would you just rely on rebnet?
So how does this work? Don’t you need to go through the ‘Pick Your Plan’ prepaid option, which requires a minimum voice plan of $29.99?
it sucks that we consumers have to go to such extremes just to avoid getting royally fucked over by all the corporate marketing bullshit.
This was photoshopped. RIDICULOUS. you guys are so gullible!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just wanted to say thanks! Just got this setup today. For those wondering, sign up for the .25/min option, then once activated call 611 to enable the data plan. It will deduct $20 from your account. Works great, but seems to burn through bandwidth fast. I tested a couple apps over edge, all I can say is be CAREFUL and reset your phones usage every month when you renew. 100MB is NOT MUCH… (500KB using google maps and 1 street level view – 256KB using the woot app — if this helps anyone…)
Thanks again!
TIP: You can get used iPhone 2G’s (as the author has) or even pre-JAILBROKEN iPhone 3G’s on eBay. If you buy a new one, you MUST have a contract, but eBay.com is the best source if you want to get an iPhone without a contract.
My dandy voice makes the most. Anti-choice granny’s panties moist
What? This isn’t commo knowledge?
Wow, I bought my iPhone just so I can jailbreak it, wich ,btw, also enables you to install apps for free, as long as you have a source for the .ipa-s
To help mitigate the Skype over 2G issues, you might try Fring. Fring is a VoIP service that uses its own servers and low-bandwidth codecs to provide usable voice over GPRS (even slower than EDGE.)
It supports Skype, so can use your Skype account through the more bandwidth-friendly Fring servers…
I’ve used it on my Windows Mobile EDGE phone and the sound quality is quite reasonable at EDGE- better than Skype, at least on WinMo, which had more latency and was often “choppy.”
This is fabulous! Any chance this works on other phones besides the iphone?
It looks like you have to use the GoPhone Pick Your Plan to get 100MB for $19. How did you get Medianet at that level on the pay as you go plan?
hi, is it possible to use this sort of teathering way, but use a capped simcard in the 2g phone?
@Taylor Once you have sufficient funds in your Pay-as-you-go account you can just buy features by dialing 611. One of the features is 100mb of data for $20
does this work with the iPhone 3G?
Hey Cody congrats on making the front page of Stumbleupon. Kickin’ rad.
I am very impressed and very,very jealous! KUDOS.I am now hooked on your posts.Thanks for helping “us” little guys.
one more question, if you have EDGE disabled then how are you using
SKYPE over EDGE when you’re not in a WiFi Zone?
@NRav Yes this works just the same on 3G, and once I had the MediaNet enabled on my account I just turned edge back on with bossprefs.
How much usage does one call over 3G take on Skype?
Also, which part of the data accounts for the 100MB, “sent” or “recieved”?
The iPhone is hardly the best phone in the world. Offers no USEFUL features that a 6 year old Treo or Blackberry doesn’t already have. And they’re not locked down overpriced lumps of plastic, either.
Was hoping you could send out a google voice invite? Please? thank you
G
Because the writer believes that the iPhone is the greatest phone in the world, does not mean that it is a statement of fact. I would consider it his opinion, as that is exactly what it is. He believes, as do many other people, that the iPhone is the greatest phone in the world. No big deal. My uncle has a twelve hundred dollar cell phone that he claims is the greatest in the world, who cares.
Quote….the world’s best phone…unquote!!!
Enough said!!!
How much do you charge for the service?
Thanks
When I first tried the Skype app for a non-jb’d phone I didn’t rate it well and then I visited Singapore and din’t fancy paying extortionate data roaming charges so I tried it again.
This time I have to say I’m dead impressed – it’s not quite perfect but given the cost advantage it’s absolutely fantastic.
Enjoyed your blog and to the one or two people who question whether the iPhone is a great phone – whilst it may not be the world’s best phone (call quality isn’t the best) it is one of the best pieces of kit you can carry. I defy the iPhone haters to try one for a week or two… believe me, you won’t want to give it back!
Is any part of this illegal?
Cody can you please answer my questions.
iPhone text message app is the biggest pile of sh!t I’ve ever used.
good!
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