[fompsweeva]

Was the SIM ever activated?

[kungfucamel]

we're here on the last day of our US trip at the moment. We fly out of San Fran tomorrow night. I bought a GoPhone sim from AT&T reseller when we first landed. There was initial problems with the sim in that it said that I was connected but I couldn't actually make a call and when speaking with the AT&T rep, he couldn't see the sim connect to a tower.
The next day i went into an AT&T store to get it activated and for whatever reason, it actually connected to a mobile tower and started to work. We've been using it since then and it's been alright though AT&T coverage is fairly average.

Happy to lend the sim to any mactalker going over to the US when we get back...

[larssputnik]

I'm headed to LA in a couple of weeks with a jailbroken 1st gen iPhone, should the previous info on this page still work with my mobile? Anyone else done this?

Cheers

[DeKa]

This worked perfectly for me. Thanks fompsweeva.

I bought an AT&T 3G SIM on eBay for about AUD$14 which came in a week or so.

In Sydney airport, before I left, I went to unlockit.co.nz on the iPhone (over Vodafone 3G) and set it to use the AT&T APN with a profile. This immediately disabled Vodafone data, but that was OK as I was about to get on the plane anyway.

When I got to the US, I went to 7Eleven and bought $50 worth of credit. 7Eleven makes you dial a different number to AT&T's number, and that service then instantly recharges your AT&T account. It is NOT true AT&T credit, until you dial the 7Eleven phone number and recharge it, and it is then transferred over to AT&T. Luckly it's a free call so you can use it as long as your AT&T SIM has been activated. 7Eleven is open much longer than AT&T stores (or official AT&T pay as you go retailers) so it's easy to pop into 7Eleven at say midnight like I did and buy some credit.

I then activated the SIM using my hotel's ZIP Code and had the SIM in a Nokia 6121, and used its IMEI to activate. I had a phone number within a couple of seconds. I then added a $19.99 100MB data pack, and put the SIM in my iPhone. Within 2 seconds I had emails coming through.

I used 15MB in my first day, and I was there for 10 days, so I switched off push mail, and only checked mail when I wanted to, manually. I used Google Maps a lot. When I left on Sunday night, I still had 30MB left...

All in all, it couldn't have been any better. The AT&T network seems to be terrible, particularly in LA. I had no issues in San Francisco, except it went into meltdown during Oracle OpenWorld keynote sessions!

[sfcoy]

I am currently in the US using the T-Mobile 30 day plan that includes 300 minutes of talk time and unlimited data for around USD70.00 all up.

It was very simple to set up and the Edge data network seems to perform better than Optus' 3G efforts.

We have been on the road a bit and the coverage has been a bit patchy in places but mostly it's been perfectly OK.

Therefore if you are in the least bit concerned about the messing about you need to do to get going on AT&T then I think you will be pretty happy with T-Mobile.

[mal68]

Originally Posted by sfcoy

I am currently in the US using the T-Mobile 30 day plan that includes 300 minutes of talk time and unlimited data for around USD70.00 all up.

It was very simple to set up and the Edge data network seems to perform better than Optus' 3G efforts.

We have been on the road a bit and the coverage has been a bit patchy in places but mostly it's been perfectly OK.

Therefore if you are in the least bit concerned about the messing about you need to do to get going on AT&T then I think you will be pretty happy with T-Mobile.

Hey mate

I don't suppose you could elaborate on the exact steps you took to get this up and running???

I am not great with this sort of stuff but think the unlimited data would be the way to go for me.

So any advice as to how I would get this working with my Optus unlocked 3GS iphone would be great.

Feel free to email me at mal_68au@yahoo.com

Cheers

[gikku]

possibly this one.
though starts to become a bit steep if not there for a whole month.

t-mobile.com-Even-More-Plus-Unlimited-Talk-Text-Web

Even More Plus Unlimited Talk + Text + Web
This plan includes:
• Unlimited nationwide calling
• Unlimited domestic messages (text, picture, video, and IM)
• Unlimited Web access
• No annual contract
• Free domestic long distance and no digital roaming charges across the US
(USD)$79.99 per month

International call plan additional $5 + 7c/min to Aust landlines and 25c/min to Aust mobiles.
One time activation fee† $35


or perhaps this for US$59.99
t-mobile.com-Even-More-Plus-500-Talk-Text-Web
500 Talk + Text + Web
This plan includes:
• 500 Whenever Minutes®
• Unlimited domestic messages (text, picture, video, and IM)
• Unlimited Web access
• No annual contract
• Unlimited T-Mobile to T-Mobile calling
• Unlimited Nights and Weekends
• Free Overage Alerts
• Free domestic long distance and no digital roaming charges across the US

the 500 minutes will included incoming calls also.