Using an iphone with a pre-pay AT&T SIM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: DL PM, AA GLD.
Posts: 532
Using an iphone with a pre-pay AT&T SIM
Hi,
Apologies if this is a silly question. I am based in the UK, so my knowledge of US cell providers isn't great. My family live in the US. I'm trying to find a used iphone for my daughter for Christmas. Currently, she has a pay-as-you-go AT&T SIM. I see that the majority of used Iphones seems to be locked on to AT&T. I know that certainly on my provider here (T-Mobile), I can put a pre-paid SIM from the same company in a contract phone, and it works.
I don't want to spend $200 on an iphone, only to find it doesn't work with her existing SIM. Plus, can you imagine how well that wouldn't go over on Christmas morning? A fate worse than death
My questions therefore are these :-
1.) If I buy a phone that is still locked to AT&T, will it work with an AT&T pre-paid SIM?
2.) If the phone is unlocked, will it work with the SIM?
3.) We generally buy her the $60 vouchers for her current phone, which get her unlimited calls/texts for a month. This avoids the horrors of a teenage-based phone bill weighing 50 pounds flying through the letterbox
Assuming the SIM works in the phone, I assume the $60 voucher wouldn't cover any data costs? Is there an AT&T voucher that allows unlimited data?
Thanks for any help,
Apologies if this is a silly question. I am based in the UK, so my knowledge of US cell providers isn't great. My family live in the US. I'm trying to find a used iphone for my daughter for Christmas. Currently, she has a pay-as-you-go AT&T SIM. I see that the majority of used Iphones seems to be locked on to AT&T. I know that certainly on my provider here (T-Mobile), I can put a pre-paid SIM from the same company in a contract phone, and it works.
I don't want to spend $200 on an iphone, only to find it doesn't work with her existing SIM. Plus, can you imagine how well that wouldn't go over on Christmas morning? A fate worse than death
My questions therefore are these :-
1.) If I buy a phone that is still locked to AT&T, will it work with an AT&T pre-paid SIM?
2.) If the phone is unlocked, will it work with the SIM?
3.) We generally buy her the $60 vouchers for her current phone, which get her unlimited calls/texts for a month. This avoids the horrors of a teenage-based phone bill weighing 50 pounds flying through the letterbox
Assuming the SIM works in the phone, I assume the $60 voucher wouldn't cover any data costs? Is there an AT&T voucher that allows unlimited data?
Thanks for any help,
#3
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,299
To answer one of OPs questions, if it's unlocked, it will work on AT&Ts network (with an AT&T sim) or on T-Mobiles network in the USA (with a t-mo USA sim). However, if you use it on t-mobile in the USA, you should turn off 3g, since the iphone doesn't use t-mobile's USA 3G frequencies. It will work using GSM/Edge/etc just fine in that case. (That's what I do, but I don't have a data plan. I only use wifi for data.)
-David
Last edited by LIH Prem; Dec 16, 2010 at 5:09 pm
#4
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: Dirt
Posts: 949
The prepaid unlimited plans are voice and SMS only. Without a plan, data are billed at 1 cent per KB. There is a $75 per month unlimited voice and SMS plan that also includes 200MB bucket of data, or you can purchase 100MB buckets for $19.99 each time. There is no unlimited data plan any more.
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 11,439
#6
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,299
Thanks pm!
-David