Buying Used Unlocked IPhone 4 and Connecting to T-Mobile

[Stromie]

Hello guys, I am an IPhone noob that's just overwhelmed with info on the internet, and would appreciate if someone could summarize it in plain terms.

The intent is to get a used IPhone 4 GSM (AT&T) off of craigslist, get it unlocked, and use on
T-Mobile's network. Several questions:

1) Anything to look out for when buying a used phone? Certain oper system and firmware versions that will not work for my purpose?

2) Automatic updates, ITunes, and the chance of overwriting the unlock. I have no idea how ITunes work and the purpose, and do not know whether IPhone has an option to prevent automatic updates.

3) After such non-factory unlocked device is connected to T-Mobile, how does the user get access to apps, music, and stuff from the internet AND the home PC? Also, how does one transfer taken pictures and videos from IPhone to home PC?

4) Will there be any issues running Skype on Iphone 4 on T-Mobile's slower EDGE network?


Thank you very much for your help, and look fwd to hopefully join the owners club soon.

 

[anon(5335877)]

1) If you're planning to jailbreak and use ultrasn0w, 1.59.00 is the only unlockable baseband right now. It shows up in the "About" in settings under "Modem Firmware" I think. Whenever you update, you have to preserve that baseband.

2) AFAIK, iTunes asks you about updating, but for the over the air updates, I have no idea if it's automatic. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment on that.

3) I don't what you're asking in the first part. Second, I usually use Windows Explorer to browse the iPhone's files (as if it were a camera or a USB drive) and just copy and paste from iPhone to computer.

4) Definitely no video calling, as for voice only, I've never tried it.

 

[Stromie]

Thanks, Red Chirp.

My friend has a Verizon IPhone 4 and able to have a videochat via Skype on his phone. I am asking whether T-Mobile's Edge network will support that feature.

After reading some online posts, it seems that data exchange to/from the IPhone is different if the phone was purchased as factory unlocked vs. "illegally" jailbroken and unlocked. I am trying to understand whether the unlocked phone needs to be synced up with ITunes in order for it to work on T-Mobile's network.

Wish there was someone on here that has converted their to TMobile who could share the experience.

 

[anon(5335877)]

Thanks, Red Chirp.

My friend has a Verizon IPhone 4 and able to have a videochat via Skype on his phone. I am asking whether T-Mobile's Edge network will support that feature.

After reading some online posts, it seems that data exchange to/from the IPhone is different if the phone was purchased as factory unlocked vs. "illegally" jailbroken and unlocked. I am trying to understand whether the unlocked phone needs to be synced up with ITunes in order for it to work on T-Mobile's network.

Wish there was someone on here that has converted their to TMobile who could share the experience.

Oh, well I was saying you can't videochat over EDGE because I think it'd be too slow. You'd probably need WiFi.

Do you have a link or example? Back then, I had an unlocked 3GS on T-Mobile. Normally you had to plug it into iTunes to activate, or you could "hacktivate" it during the jailbreak process, but that would sometimes break your push notifications. What I did instead was insert an old AT&T SIM and plug it into iTunes to get past the activation process. I don't know if any of that has changed because now I don't think you need iTunes to activate.

After that, I needed to update the carrier settings so I could use data and MMS. I downloaded some .ipcc file someone made on another forum, and updated the carrier settings from that file using iTunes.

That was pretty much all I needed for my 3GS to work on T-Mobile.

 

[Ipheuria]

Now that the 4s is out the price of the iPhone 4 is going to go downhill fast. So instead why not just buy a factory unlocked phone so you wouldn't have to worry about basebands etc.? If you're going to buy one online like it was said make sure it's the unlockable baseband. Then from there just be cautious enough not to "accidentally" upgrade the phone or you will lose the unlock forever. You will need to hacktivate it most likely so you can use Pwnage Tool(Mac only) or Sn0wbreeze(Windows) and just make sure the "Activate this phone" option is checked. Otherwise everything else is just like any iPhone around, the way you access files, download games etc.

 

[Blackbelt]

The price of IPHONE 4 will not going down any time soon. Friend of mine just sold his 16G for $425 and his wife's 32G went for $500

 

[Stromie]

The price of IPHONE 4 will not going down any time soon. Friend of mine just sold his 16G for $425 and his wife's 32G went for $500

thanks for highjacking my thread.

Bull... prices for used ones are already down by a 100-150 in my area, I see some are selling theirs for high 200's, while others are still in denial wanting 400+.

 

[anon(5335877)]

The price of IPHONE 4 will not going down any time soon. Friend of mine just sold his 16G for $425 and his wife's 32G went for $500

They got lucky IMO. I see the 16GB going for $350 on craigslist. Verizon ones seem to be worth a little less, even with clean ESN.

 

[Stromie]

Just picked up 2 used Iphone 4s locally, 16gb for 250 and 32gb for 280, both iOS5. Surprisingly there have been some naysayrs even amongts my friends, for some reason ppl get jealous of me being able to try use it on TMobile network and save 2x on the monthly service cost, WTF.