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
Ncce post, Definitely awesome. BUT, the major reason to use the iPhone is so you have unlimited data, download apps on the fly, connect to wifi, download podcasts, use it as a GPS, making fart noises
and with 3.0 other cool stuff; if we are very limited to doing what you can do then no point in having an iPhone.
OMG!! What a cheap SOB! If you want an iPhone, you’re going to have to pay for it. What’s the point in having one if ALL the features don’t work? Its like having cheap cable TV and 1 out of every 3 channels is broken.
Then again, you could all move to the UK and get the iPhone handset for free then its only £35 per month, approx $53. That includes all calls, texts and web that a normal person would use – not going overboard.
Great!!
I like it!
I tried to do this. I got up to adding the 100mb MEdia Net package and the automated store told me it couldn’t add it, then the operator said the MEdia Net packages are only available with prepaid if you have the “Pay As You Go Unlimited” service which has a $1/day use fee.
In other words, to do what you are talking about doing, assuming you used Skype 25 days in a month and didn’t go over the 100mb limit, you would have paid AT
Firstly, the iPhone looks sexy. No denying it it just does, and the great thing about having a phone/mp3 player that is really popular is all the gadgets and apps you can get. Its the most customizeable phone for the common man (not the netFreaKz who would pwn your face on WoW if you’re not careful)
I have an iPhone, not because its the best phone, but because its so damn handy. I take a funny pic in college and can upload it to Facebook in seconds. I use it to check mail when I’m too lazy to turn on my pc and sometimes I even make calls and send text messages.
The fact of the matter is folks that its a phone that normal people can use to be connected, this is the kind of problem solving that would get you a job in the real world and for that I commend you Codey.
This is how price plans are driven down, when companies are forced to compete with their own (cheaper) plans its the consumer who wins
Thanks Dec =)
Cody: Great post. Sorry you have to wade through some of the more crass comments. You detailed instructions inspired me to get a 3G 16GB iPhone on eBay and start hacking. Everything works, and on 3G though I’ve found my data usage to be higher than yours (fewer WiFi nets in our rural area). Thanks for the information. I’ve consolidated two other phones and a PDA into a single device… JAS
Good Job with the Article, I myself love my iPhone and find plenty of use for my day to day!
Can you help me figure out how your go phone MediaNet was set up to work?
i have a iphone 3g 16gb with 2.2 and 2.28 baseband jailbroken
Have you figured out how to disable the Pay-As-You-Go balance notifications by text message?
If I am reading this write, you would give out your skype number for people to call, correct? But then those same contacts would need your GoPhone number to send an sms to you… Am I reading this right?
For people that are concerned about texting, you can send text messages through your email for free to any number and when the other party replies, it just sends the new text back to your email. Shouldn’t be a problem on WiFi and probably won’t use that much bandwidth on EDGE. It doesn’t cost the other party anything extra to send to text to email – it should be covered under their normal texting package. Just search for text or SMS to email and there are plenty of websites that will give you the address you need to use for each carrier (i.e. phonenumber@vtext.com for verizon).
@Brandon Yes that’s how I first had it setup. Now I have fully integrated it with my Google Voice account. When I make outgoing calls, my GV number shows on caller ID. When people call my GV number, my Skype number rings. When I send/recieve texts, my GV number shows. Also all my voicemail and texts can be monitored via the unofficial Google Voice App, which works great over Edge. I assume this will only get easier when Google officially releases the GV service.
It looks like this may end:
http://www.examiner.com/x-8134-SF-Gadgets-Examiner~y2009m6d16-Release-of-OS-30-to-shut-off-some-ATT-iPhone-users
I’ll just switch to T-Mobile – AT&T can suck it.
how will this work with this recent news?:
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/att-angers-prepaid-iphone-gophone-users-20090616/
This change only affects legitimate Pay as you go customers. I am not a legit Pay as you go customer since I’m using an unlocked iPhone. Once the jailbreak community releases iPhone 3.0 Jailbreak & 3.0 unlock I will be upgrading and probably switching to T-Mobile just because AT&T is using very poor business practices and doesn’t deserve another dime from me. (or other iPhone users)
Can you update us as to whether or not you can get the Sidekick Prepaid data plan for $1/day to work? And if not, what t-mobile options you are using. There doesn’t seem to be a clear answer in other forums.
I’m going to be arriving in the US tomorrow with a Jailbroken/ultrasn0wed Japanese iPhone running 3.0. I need recommendations for which prepaid SIM plan to go with: AT&T, T-Mobile, or something else.
I will need the phone for exactly one month. I need a phone number to forward Google Voice to and would like a data package as well.
Thanks.
I’m not aware of 3.0 software being unlocked yet. It has been jailbroken but the baseband will still need to be changed in order to use T-mobile. I know with recent news of AT&T changing their prepaid plans has affected legitimate iPhone/GoPhone users. I, however have not been affected by the recent change. My iPhone still works exactly the same with goPhone and my 100mb data plan. This may be because my phone is running the 2.2 Jailbreak/Unlock and AT&T treats it like a normal smart phone rather than an iPhone. I am moving to BC soon and will likely be testing the 3.0 baseband unlock when it is released, I will be using a Rogers Pay-as-you-go plan. I will have to update with a blog post when that time comes. For not I will stick with the working 2.2 software unlock.
@Takeshi You can try using an AT&T Pay-as-you-go goPhone sim card and see what happens, I think they work anyways even if you’re phone is locked, but it probably flags you as an iPhone user. If you do this, select the $1.00 per day package and then you can order a data plan separately by dialing 611.
Good luck!
How about this site for unlocking a 2G with firmware 3.0?
I followed the instructions and it is jailbroken and appears to be unlocked. I haven’t purchased a sim card / gophone card yet to confirm that this works on the AT
How about this site for unlocking a 2G with firmware 3.0?
http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4255
(sorry, i forgot the link in my previous post)
I bought a GoPhone package and used the provided SIM card on a Jailbroken/Ultrasn0wed 3G Japanese iPhone with an un-updated baseband, i.e., the original baseband released with the phone. Although the package stated otherwise, it gave me the $15 credit when activated on the iPhone, though it seems the SIM is locked to the iPhone and will not work with the included Nokia after activation.
I want to try the data plan but I don’t want to throw away $20. Has anyone gotten the data plan to work with iPhone 3.0? Also, is this 3G or edge? Do I need to turn one or the other off? The phone seems to work on either one.
I noticed that location services don’t work under the Google Maps application.
@Takeshi You might try buying just the 1mb of data for $5.00 to test. It’s a rip-off for just 1mb but if it doesn’t work, at least you won’t be out the other $15. Let us know how it turns out. Good luck!
This is freaking great. Makes me want to get an iPhone if it cost so little per month with the mods.
To confirm, the data packages do NOT work at all on the 3.0 iPhone. I bought one for $5 but the message is always that I am not subscribed to a data service. Phone works fine, tough the battery life is terrible. I have heard other people in the States talk about battery life here, though, and it sounds comparable. I guess it just has to work harder to push the signal to towers that are further away.
Push on 3.0 software is pretty ridiculous. I was really excited about using Prowl with Growl but the battery life isn’t even worth leaving push on. With the recent blocking of goPhone data plans you’ll have to jailbreak 3.0 and get the APN Changer app then just use the settings in the screenshots on this page. http://tr.im/sUi6
i have the skype thing it works well but i have google voice and when i sms it sends a copy to my other cell phone. i went to the settings on the gv website and unchecked “send to cell phone” so they should just be going to the website like emails/post in the inbox tab but they still forward to my other cell it sucks if anyone knows why post about it.
Hi, Cody, how are you going to work with tmobile data since the sidekick plan does not work on iphones any more? And does the att data plan work like before after the fix on a 3.0 iphone?
Hi Qing,
Since this post I have moved out of country. I’m live in Canada now and I am using Rogers Network. Rogers has a PAYGO plan just like AT&T except they have an unlimited data plan for only $7/mo for *certified devices. The iPhone is NOT a certified device of course so it takes a bit of hacking the .mobileconfig file to get it working. I’m guessing it’s the same exact runaround for tmobile and just requires a .mobileconfig patch. You could look around on howards forum for a solution. I will probably update this post with the new plan I’m using in the near future.
Cody,
I’m using OS 2.2 still based on the comments you’ve left here. Do you know if it’s safe to upgrade to 2.2.1 (or even 3.0)? I don’t want to lose my ATT GoPhone data service. Can’t tell from other websites what to do.
Your advice has been invaluable, and I love being able to get ATT without the 2y contract.
Hi Jas,
If you’re on a 2G iPhone you can Jailbreak & Unlock at the same time here. If you’re on a 3G iPhone you’ll have to first Jailbreak and then Unlock.
Once you’ve successfully upgraded to 3.0 software on your phone, your GoPhone data service will be broken. This however can be fixed by changing the APN settings on your phone. Instructions are here.
If you have any problems with getting the data plan working, just let me know. There are alternatives to the APN changer, but they tend to be a little more drastic.
Good luck!
Thanks Cody. Has a Jailbreak version of Pwnage been released for Windows? (I’m on a VISTA machine; not my choice.)
Nice tips on changing the APN settings. Thought 3.0 had wiped out any chance for GoPhone data plans.
James
A google Voice Post maybe?
Love to see someone to this with a 3G/3GS iPhone with google voice app
Cody
Done. And works!
Do you have any idea if the new Skype app (1.2) still works with Voip3G? Don’t want to upgrade the app if it’ll kill my cell Skype workaround.
Thanks again
Jas
VOIPover3G still works on the new Skype update. Call quality still isn’t all that great on 3G but it works!
@Cody
So let me see if I have this right… You left the U.S. and moved to Canada just so you can continue to avoid paying a contract because AT
I am doing the same thing but I don’t like Skype for many reasons. I use my Vonage service and have added Google Voice. Thanks for the great post!
very impressive!! I love the simplicity of the site in particular. It looks really nice.
@What a cheap arse,
he leaving the country was apparently unrelated. Gawd.
This is GREAT!! I’ve been thinking of ways to use my iPhone 2g and an very excited to try this out.
Great info
I live in an area where 3G coverage is questionable (I’ve heard good and bad stories) can I use the iPhone over GSM? Would the GoPhone card support this and am I to understand that the GoPhone card does support text messaging?
PS
Thanks for doing the leg work for all of us. Please don’t take offense at the poor slobs hurling insults your way. Some of us just aren’t willing to pay outlandish prices for poor service from these brand name companies (are you also listening Comcast?).
would this work on an iPhone that has the latest firmware on it (3.1)?
if i jailbroke my iphone 2G, then turned off edge with boss prefs, do i have to use skype (would i still have to use the pay-as-you-go card) or would it just be $23/mo?
@Jonathan
It is my understanding that the iPhone 3G’s data will work on 2G networks. I don’t see why the GoPhone would not support this, it uses the same network for data. GoPhone texting is just an optional package in the “GoPhone Mall” which is available to purchase.
@eric stern
I haven’t tested this with the 3.1 software update. Last I read there were problems with jailbreaking 3.1 and unlocking the baseband. But I haven’t checked since, I assume they have fixed them by now, you would just have to do some research
@eric stern
as far as using the GoPhone voice plan instead of the data/skype approach – yes, of course you can still use the GoPhone normally at it’s rate which is 10¢/min $1.00 per day OR just 25¢/min – depending on how much you use your phone it can be more or less expensive than the original contract price.
Loved your original post — jailbroke my phone for the first time after reading it! Thank you… Just curious though, the MediaNet 100MB data plan no longer works for me since upgrading to the iPhone 3.1 software (w/jailbreak). Apparently AT
@Scott Ueland Check out the comments, I believe this was addressed using the APN changer. I haven’t personally tested it with 3.1, but I know it was the fix for 3.0
Cody – Yup! Sure enough, the instructions included in your 22 Aug 09 comment did the trick. The settings and APN Changer worked fine on my iPhone 2G with 3.1. It was nice to see a data IP address again using a 100MB GoPhone MediaNet package. A nice, easy fix…
Will be moving forward with the info provided…many thanks for all of your efforts!…
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