Noob questions: iPhone 3GS unlocking/jailbreaking

[jd195]

OK, I'm a total noob when it comes to iPhones (aside from what I could pickup in reading some of the stickies). I have experience rooting android phones, but nothing with iOS, so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

So, my wife has an old 3GS that I am unsure exactly what was done to it in the past, in regards to jailbreaking and unlocking. When it was bought, it was a gift on eBay for a family member overseas, and then was given to her to replace her old flip-phone when the family member got a new phone. Recently, she's been noticing more and more apps that she uses/wants to use need newer versions of iOS (I believe at least iOS5) and want's to upgrade from version 4.2.1, which brings me to my questions. She currently uses the phone on T-mobile (voice/sms only, no data), so I'm assuming that it's jailbroken and subsequently unlocked (either by the seller or her family member), correct?

Secondly, if it is indeed jailbroken and unlocked, from what I've gathered, it could be upgraded via plugging into iTunes, but this would cause her to lose jailbreak and unlock, rendering it at least temporarily unusable for her, correct? I plugged her imei into one of the unlock status checker sites and it came back as locked, which confused me slightly.

If I am correct, what would be the best course of action to get her phone up to date and unlocked to use on T-mobile prepaid? She doesn't use any jailbreak features other than the network unlock, so I don't exactly need to be able to do that.

Thanks for any advice. I had hoped to be able to figure this out on my own, but I kind of feel like I don't entirely know where to start, whatwith it being an old phone/software and not entirely knowing what was done to the phone already.

 

[rdiddy_25]

If no jb is required, then update to 6.0.1 thru iTunes and purchase a hardware unlock online. Shouldn't be more than $10. Then contact t-mobile and get the correct apn settings for it to work on their network. Voice, text, data and all. Good luck.

 

[Laelipoo]

My recommendation would be this:

First, see if her phone has Cydia installed. If so, open it and look for green text at the top, and see what SHSH she has saved. If she has the SHSH for 5.1.1, then I would download the correct 5.1.1 IPSW for the 3GS and use redsn0w to restore to that (just make sure you tell it to preserve the baseband, and when prompted, use remote SHSH), and you can rejailbreak/unlock for free.

If you cannot find this, then I would look into the IMEI unlock.

 

[Massie]

My recommendation would be this:

First, see if her phone has Cydia installed. If so, open it and look for green text at the top, and see what SHSH she has saved. If she has the SHSH for 5.1.1, then I would download the correct 5.1.1 IPSW for the 3GS and use redsn0w to restore to that (just make sure you tell it to preserve the baseband, and when prompted, use remote SHSH), and you can rejailbreak/unlock for free.

If you cannot find this, then I would look into the IMEI unlock.

This is ok if you're really dedicated to keeping the jailbreak but to me sounds like WAY more than you want/need...if all she wants is to use it on T-Mobile and doesn't care about jailbreak apps, then purchase an unlock and update it when the unlock is ready, (or just ask AT&T to do it, which they might do) and then go to T-Mobile. Much easier and much less likely to give you headaches later.

I mention buying the unlock first because you often need to restore the phone for the unlock to take effect--this way you'd unlock and update your iOS in the same step. Good luck!