Can I use a prepaid SIM card on an unlocked Iphone 3g

T-Mobile, where, exactly? And what pre-paid service do you want to use?

In theory, if the phone is unlocked, you should be able to use a pre-paid sim from a compatible GSM carrier. Not all functions may work as if you were on a supported carrier. Not all carriers support or even allow the use of pre-paid SIMs in iPhones. AT&T will not, for example. It can be made to work, but as soon as their system realizes you have an iPhone (yes, they can tell), they will shut the account down.

Keep in mind that T-Mobile USA is NOT a supported carrier of the iPhone. You will very likely not get FaceTime activated, you won't get Visual Voicemail, you probably can't send MMS, and most importantly, you will only get data at EDGE speeds.

Indeed t-mobile is VERY happy to take iphone users.

They can send a data packet for your data settings and MMS, if you need, or they will help via phone

Yet i figure you already have them working now with the post-pay plan

They can place you on a package that was/is used with the blackberry

The old tzones is still a great value of unlimited data @ $3.99, if you have that now, you will forever lose it if you move to pre-pay

as it is no longer offered, once in awhile they will offer unlimited data @ $9,99

Any t-mobile pre-pay sim will work

btw:

Face time on the iphone 4 CAN be activated and works fine via wifi even if the phone has a t-mobile sim

Yet that is for another forum, if can be done and works great 😉

Not everyone wants or needs speed on the phone when the screens are so darn small.

What's the point, and we are really not talking about REAL speeds, i mean the iphone 3G/3Gs/4/4s is not yet capable of real data speeds via cell, maybe the iphone 5 will finally catch up with the competition.

I also carry a xoom with 4g lte and i can tether it to the phone if i need mobile data speed on the phone, yet i never do.

My lte d-loads speeds hit 3-4x that of my 12mbps comcast cable, att & tmobile 4g not even close, and now att needs to also fork over spectrum to t-mobile in the failed so called slam-dunk merger along with that $3bil, ha ha pompous corporate fools, now they just pushed t-mobile into sprints hands... will not be long before att will be sitting in third place,

Most people rather not pay att or even t-mobile for thier current phoney 4G data speeds 😉

Hence the reason tmobile & att want to build further on lte networks

So you like speed or you don't? I get faster speed on my 3G connection at home than I do with my DSL. The T-Mobile and AT&T phones that are HSPA+ do more than 3 times the speed I get. EDGE gets maybe 200k.

I had a Treo with EDGE. I waited until the iPhone 3G in 2008 to get one because I wanted the speed, small screen or not.

T-Mobile has no plans whatsoever to build an LTE network.

http://www.tmonews.com/2011/12/deutsche-telekom-ceo-comments-on-need-for-lte-net work-in-united-states/

Sure i want speed, yet i have no need to have it on a small phone screen, maybe my 50 years old eyes now or soon will need the aid of glasses

I am sure we ALL will be reading more on the t-mobile Sprint merger in coming months, they are the perfect mates and the fed's will let that happen

deggie wrote:

T-Mobile has no plans whatsoever to build an LTE network.

Big difference between stating the need for it and actually doing so. And currently T-Mobile has not money, spectrum or facilities to do so. Deustche Telecom has been trying to unload T-Mobile USA for 4 years, ironically originally courting Sprint who didn't want to pull the trigger. And apparently they don't want anyone else to do so.

Unless T-Mobile can become self-sustaining (and they are not even close right now) you can look for DT to shut it down and have an auction of their towers, spectrum and equipment. Then everyone working for T-Mobile USA can lose their jobs instead of some of them and the Justice Department will be happy.

I'm 61.

I have taken this thread way OT, sorry op

deggle, don't take me wrong, i have had multiple iphones of each and every model short of the 4s

For the past three + years i have been out of contract with t-mobile and all these years its been with

unlocked iphones, yes the data speeds are around 200-250k, never had any issues with service and all three

current iphones 1x4G 2x3Gs are covered with unlimited data, txt and we never come close to even using 1000 minutes with all the free time/weekends/tm to tm calls, all this is still under $100 on month for all three lines

Fits our needs and leaves cash available for tablets with real 4g lte speeds and screen sizes worth having those speeds..

Noetheless, sorry for going way off topic

Depends on the carrier. Not all carriers (AT&T in the US for example) allow the iPhone on PAYG plans.

That depends largely on where you are and whether the phone is unlocked.

Since he is already using T-Mobile on a post-paid plan I'm guessing he is aware of all that. Plus with an iPhone 3G I'm guessing even on AT&T FaceTime would be an issue.

you're absolutely right. My bad.

And how do you get 3G speed with T-Mobile on an iPhone? The lack of that would be a deal killer for me.