Unlocked iPhone 4 wont work

[bdarknessb]

So I bought an iPhone 4 on Craigslist which was I intended on using with T-Mobile. The phone was listed as an "Unlocked phone"
So I met with the guy and I paid him $480, I didnt have a microsim at the time to test it out.. but the phone it self seemed to be working fine, so i didnt think nothing of it and just bought it. About 2 days later when I finally got a cut up microsim for Tmobile I put it in and it says "invalid sim." So I tried using my friends ATT microsim and it says the same thing. The phone has a baseband of 04.10.01 and is on version 4.3.3

I tried getting in touch with the guy who i bought it from, and his phone no longer accepts phone calls. So I took it to an Apple Store to find out if the phone was stolen. They said it wasn't and that its from Japan, and it is factory unlocked, and they couldn't help me figure it out, so i left. So I dont understand why I cant use it.

What are my options now? Should I call the cops and report the guy? All I have is his phone number, which is not in service.

I'm just not understanding the reason why I cant use it if its unlocked.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[fordfalcon]

what would you report him for He said it was unlocked and apple confirmed it.

Is it a GSM or CDMA both AT&T and T mobile are GSM could the phone be CDMA they are not compatible even if unlocked.

I just spend 2 mins looking and it appears Japan uses CDMA for cell service ( even that may not work here N.A. that is) and not GSM. I could be wrong but that is what I found

 

[Massie]

If it's a CDMA iPhone, your option is to get a verizon plan. It will not work with at&t or t-mobile, both if which use gsm technology. (Different radio types.)

Or you could advertise it as an unlocked CDMA iPhone and see if someone wants to trade a gsm version for it.

 

[entwined82]

If he put a sim card into it its not a CDMA iphone. He was doing something wrong with the simcard or maybe its invalid.

 

[fordfalcon]

from what I read even if it is a CDMA phone it may not work in North America

"Generally speaking it is not possible to use a Japanese phone with a foreign service provider due to network differences"

"Very briefly, there are three mobile phone technologies supported by the major networks within Japan - PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), CDMA (Code Divisional Multiple Access) and WCDMA. DoCoMo, Vodafone and TU-KA support the established PDC, and DoCoMo and Vodafone have also introduced the newer WCDMA, while AU supports CDMA. All three of these technologies are incompatible with each other. "

 

[Massie]

If he put a sim card into it its not a CDMA iphone. He was doing something wrong with the simcard or maybe its invalid.

Of course you're right. That's what I get for posting while sick.

 

[liquidzoo]

If it's a Japanese phone, it's CDMA. Period. Also, there are Japanese CDMA phones that do use SIM Cards (here is an example).

If it's CDMA, you're not going to get it to work on any of the major US providers (VZW or Sprint) due to their methods of activating phones (ESN has to already be in their system, and they can and likely will get fired if they even attempt to add one that isn't already there)