How to use iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go iPhone

Mar 6, 2011 - 259 Comments

iphone-4-pay-go Want to turn an iPhone 4 into a pay go phone? David chimed in on our past prepaid iPhone article to describe how he got his iPhone 4 setup with a pay-go plan by transferring sim cards with AT&T. This method works to get pay-go calling and data use!

How to setup an iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go phone

Note: this applies to the AT&T iPhone 4 model only:

  • Be sure you have an existing pre-paid phone with an existing pay-go sim card
  • Get an iPhone 4 off contract with a micro sim (FYI: you can buy iPhone 4 without contract directly from AT&T or Apple, but it’s expensive)
  • Call AT&T at 1-800-331-0500 and say “Customer Service” to talk to a service representative
  • Request assistance in transferring your old pay-go plan to a new sim card
  • Provide the old pay-go sim card ICCID number and the new micro sim ICCID (from the new iPhone 4 About Screen or iTunes)
  • Provide your iPhone IMEI number, printed on the microsim caddy or from the iPhone About screen
  • AT&T will recognize from the IMEI and ICCID that this is an iPhone 4, they will say that while they can do the transfer you will not be able to use the internet (read on for enabling data). Agree to this, and get the pay-go line transferred to your new micro sim
  • Now connect the iPhone 4 to iTunes to activate the phone, once activated you will be able to make phone calls on a pay-go basis

You may need to restart the iPhone once to get calls to work, but activation is usually immediate after speaking with AT&T customer service.

Now that you have the pay-go calling part taken care of, you can get data working too by installing a custom APN.

Note: Some users say this requires a jailbreak and others have been able to get it working without one, here’s how to jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 with Greenpois0n RC if you require a jailbreak.

How to Enable Data & Internet on a Pay-Go iPhone 4

Again, this applies to the AT&T (GSM) iPhone 4:

  • Jailbreak the newly activated iPhone 4
  • Connect your iPhone 4 to a WiFi network so that you can access the web
  • From the iPhone 4, open Safari and visit http://unlockit.co.nz and tap “Continue”
  • Choose “Custom APN” and select AT&T as your carrier
  • Tap on “Create Profile” to download and install the new custom APN

Once you get a “Profile Installed” message, your custom APN profile will be working. Now restart the iPhone 4 and try using your data plan, it should work perfectly. You may want to temporarily disable WiFi on the iPhone to be sure that your are using the data network and not WiFi while you test this.

Don’t have an iPhone 4? No problem, setup an iPhone 3G or 3GS as a pre-paid iPhone, it’s even easier since you can just swap sim cards directly!

Thanks for the iPhone 4 instructions, David!

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Related articles:

Posted by: William Pearson in iPhone, Tips & Tricks

259 Comments

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  1. Big Al says:

    I have a working Gophone, got a used ATT iPhone 4 with used microSIM. Called ATT to request xfr from Gophone SIM to new (used) SIM. I was told they will not xfr to a previously used SIM and I must buy a new microSIM, approx $25. I was told they support voice & SMS text on iPhone using a prepaid (Gophone) plan, but not data. Next stop, ATT store.

  2. […] Pay-As-You-Go: You’ll need the IMEI when you call AT&T for setting up an iPhone 4 as a pay-go phone on their network, this is how they identify the […]

  3. Brian says:

    This worked perfectly for me, thanks. Customer service told me I needed a new microsim. I went to the At&T store where they gave we one for free and transferred the contacts

  4. Michael says:

    Everyone knows that At&T make their money on packaging in ANY form. that is why the phones are much cheaper if you buy them on a contract. The deal about that is, you are Locked in their web from 1-2 years… If you are buying a data plan as well as your pay as you go phone; IT IS NOT STEALING. You are simply changing a default problem with a phone manufacturer. That is even set up for the large providers to get you within their grip. Trust me, THEY ARE MAKING MONEY! This is just a step to protect you from their full control. Come on guys; this isn’t rocket science. It should be as clear as the brightest day, to know that an AT&T agent would actually LIE to tell you that this cannot be done. Why the lies and what are they hiding!!? I have a regular service through AT&T and it is ridiculous. I want to thank you guys for helping the under dog from the mass corporate monopolies that are as bad as the banking systems that robbed us all during the bail out. It is the little man that works two jobs just to eat and make ends meet, that are getting abused by these people. Everyone knows that the percentages of the poor out weigh they rich; and also the ones who are paying for ANY TIME PLAN AT ALL!! WHO DOESN’T HAVE A CELL PHONE THESE DAYS?

  5. […] sense to buy an iPhone within a standard two-year agreement. Unlocked iPhones can be set up as pay-go and as prepaid phones in the USA, though the process is unofficially supported by AT&T and you […]

  6. June says:

    AT&T prepaid just came out with a $65 per month unlimited talk/text & 1 gig of data. I just changed over my plan & am no longer getting data on my iphone 4. If I go back to the $50 unlimited talk/text plus $15 for 200kb of data I will have to pay all over again. I am hesitant to all AT&T because they will ask wha kind of phone I am using as a prepaid. Any suggestions?

  7. Janyee says:

    If i want to do prepaid, does the phone have to be factory unlocked or i can just buy one locked to AT&T?

    • Greg says:

      An iPhone locked to AT&T will work fine for a prepaid AT&T plan. This also includes plans that operate on AT&T network like H2O and Airvoice. You only need an unlocked phone if you want to use it on T-Mobile’s network.

  8. John W says:

    I have the iphone4 exactly what phone/sim card do I need to buy before I make the call to AT&T? or is there someplace that I could go to just have someone do this for me?
    thank you
    John W

  9. Michelle says:

    So I went out and bought a cheap go phone-put the sim card in my old iphone. Phone works and texting works. My only problem is that when I make calls from this old iphone the go phone number comes up as blocked on other cell phones. Why is the number coming up blocked??

  10. loraine says:

    what if i just take out my sim from my current phone and insert it into my iPhone 4, will that work?

  11. Darrin Near says:

    So if I call AT&T and tell them to switch my old prepaid device info to my Apple iPhone 4, they will switch it no questions asked?

  12. Kawi says:

    Oh also tried it without jailbreaking my phone and it still didn’t work.

  13. Kawi says:

    I just jailbroke my phone with redsn0w and did all the steps for the data plan service on here and its not working. Help please?

  14. Trinity says:

    I just bought a used iPhone 4. Also bought a new GoPhone sim card from Amazon. Followed the instructions on this website. (The Amazon seller already cut the sim to fit iPhone 4’s micro sim slot.) Popped in the sim card and activated it online. I entered 15 0’s for the IMEI number instead of the iPhone’s IMEI number. Worked like a charm… Added money to the GoPhone account online. Two minutes later my iPhone was activated as a GoPhone.

    I bought the $25/month plan and $5/month data plan since I use my Wifi at home most of the time anyway. Also went to the .nz website to change my APN settings and data now works too. (My phone is currently still locked. I didn’t have to unlock it to get the data to work) However, I will have to download 3rd party app to get visual voicemail.

    I paid AT&T approx. $70 a month for the past 6 years for “limited” 2-year plans. I’m now paying less than half what I used to pay for a “less-limited” non-contract plan.

  15. Manny says:

    I currently have an iPhone 4 that is on contract with AT&T. Can I just use this phone versus going out and buying a totally new one when switching to prepaid?

    • Greg says:

      Yes, your current phone will work fine. AT&T will even switch you to GoPhone at your request if you ask them to when your contract is up.

  16. Corinne says:

    Hi, I bought an iPhone still locked to AT&T for $260 off eBay. With my pre-existing AT&T GoPhone service I cut my minisim as I saw done on YouTube and inserted it into the phone. All I could do was text, I can make and recieve calls and hear the other party, but they cannot hear me. Thank you for making this post so I could use the internet at my disposal, it was very helpful! As for people saying that this is theft, i just dont get it. If you pay for the phone, especially those who paid at a ridiculously high price directly from Apple at retail value, and you pay for the service, then where is the theft? Thanks again :)

  17. Doug says:

    howdy, i got the new iphone 4S 64GB and i got my 50 dollar unlimited plan i have had for years and have been with AT&T for 20 years. anyway i followed instructions as stated on here and i can get my email etc. but when i go to Safari and try any site it says “API failed could not connect to server”? anyway suggestions?

  18. Question says:

    I am planning on getting an UNLOCKED iPhone 4s straight from Apple. I currently have the .10c/min ATT GoPhone plan.

    1. This article says I have to call ATT to switch my plan to the new iPhone’s microsim. However, when buying an unlocked iPhone, shouldn’t it come with no microsim at all? Can’t I just cut my GoPhone’s sim card into a microsim and stick it into the iPhone 4s without having to contact ATT?

    2. Some people seem to be having an issue where ATT is forcing a data plan on them after the carrier finds out they are using an iPhone. Since my plan is the .10c/min that can’t have a data plan added on, would they automatically switch me to the $25 prepaid monthly plan and THEN add on a data plan?

  19. Cheryl says:

    Natasha, you still have to purchase a data plan. However data carries over so you can buy a gig for $25 and then go on auto refill for $5. I am on $25 plan and use my data like I said. Its really the best deal out there. I use skype app for most my outgoing calls. It will mask your number so it appears as your cell phone number, no one knows you are on skype and it works on data or wifi.

  20. Natasha T says:

    Okay, I downloaded the APN thing on my iPhone 4, factory unlocked 16gb phone… I have the $50/month unlimited everything, and still when I restart my iPhone after installing the custom APN and turn the wifi off, it doesn’t work… I really don’t want to be locked into a 2 year plan… What’s the easiest way to get data without paying like $100/month? Or am I doing something wrong?
    PLEASE HELP!!!!

  21. Tina says:

    I have an Iphone 4s that was used as a Contract phone ,however the service is now shut off. I still have the micro sim that came with the phone. My question is do I have to get a specific pay as you go sim or can I activate my old contract sim as a new Pay as you go.

  22. Capufo says:

    I used to have AT&T but I got tired after 5 years of having to pay this huge bills. At first they forced their customers to
    Get the 30$ unlimited plan when the iPhone first came out. They didmt mind stealing their customers money. Offering 3G when they didn’t evem have 3G. It took AT&T 4 years to provide 3G at my town meanwhile 20 miles from me they were offering 3G since day one… But again AT&T didn’t mind charging ppl for a service they didmt have but as soon as people were using their unlimited data AT&T got all
    Bitchy about it. My bills use to go from 120-150 for just one line until
    I got the lowest plan possible 500 minutes for 95 dollars n Internet m text….

    But then I moved to straighttalk where for 45 dollars I get unlimited calls and text and also 2gb of Internet use. I mean seriously this was the best thing I ever done in my life I was able to cut my services from 95-120$ to only 45$ I wish I would have left AT&T a. Long time ago.

  23. Boss says:

    For some reason I’m having problems sending and receiving pictures. I was able to get the Internet to work but still have the pic problem. Help please

  24. blond says:

    T- mobile has data for 50 dollars a month unlimited data, talk and text nation wide :) pay as you go :) That’s what I ended up doing as this was too confusing for a blond and I don’t want a 2 year contract

  25. Greg says:

    IMPORTANT UPDATE: AT&T now requires a $25/month plan to purchase data packages! With a $5/month data package, you’ll be spending a minimum of $30/month.

    For a cheaper prepaid alternative consider Airvoice wireless’s $10 plan (calls 4 cents/minute, texts 2 cents, data is $.33/MB). Or if your phone is unlocked take a look at Tru (calls $.17/minute, data $.17/MB) which runs on T-Mobile’s network.

  26. Sean says:

    Will the internet and data charge minutes from the prepaid card or will it be free

    • Greg says:

      For smartphones you need to purchase a data package to use data. See my post below for AT&T recent policy change.

  27. 3E says:

    i’m using att go phone basic 50 data/txt/voice plan. since it has unlimited basic data it works…

  28. Alex says:

    can the iphone 4 use the data from the $50 prepaid plan? PLZ Reply Me

    • User says:

      No you cannot. You needto buy Data Package to get data.

    • 3E says:

      YES YOU CAN!!! I’M USING A 32GB iPhone 4 O.S. 5.1 without jail-breaking… all you have to do is:

      1.make sure you are connected to wifi on your iphone
      2.open safari and tipe http://unlockit.co.nz
      3.click on continue
      4.click on Custom APN
      5.select your country
      6.select your carrier
      7.create the profile
      8.install
      9.click done
      10.once you are out and about, you will see that your iphone has Internet, once you do, you must turn of wifi so it doesnt reset the Dynamic I.P. Address…

      WUALAAAHHH!!!

      B]

  29. Alicia says:

    OKAY, so has it been CONFIRMED that you cannot get ANY data even with these APN settings on an Iphone 4 with the at&t go phone 50$ att talk, txt, web package?

  30. Trel says:

    I don’t want to get rid of my iPhone nor do I want to renew my contract. I am looking to do this before my next billing cycle.
    1. Has anyone had success with their iPhone 4, iOS 5.1.?
    2. Does it matter if I’m using iTunes 10.6?
    3. Will I need to jailbreak my phone w/ the above software?
    4. Will I be able to keep my current phone number?

    Thanks in advance for your help.

  31. Rita says:

    I have a 7-hundred iPhone and switched to the prepaid plan.
    It works fine. I had no trouble switching & AT&T was very helpful
    in their assistance. It’s not stealing. Besides, read my first line
    I think AT&T is doing ok in the end.

  32. Patrick says:

    I set up the plan $25 with 250 minutes and unlimited text and 500mg web…used the unlockit site and it works like a charm! My question is, once it is set up, can you then switch to the $50 unlimited? Or does that never work?

  33. Chavez says:

    Haveing some difficulty, getting this to work on my phone can anyone help please & thank you.

  34. hector says:

    can u connect to wifi at home? even if you dont have the data plan?

  35. ELA says:

    I HAVE AN IHONE 4 WITH IO5 I CANCEL MY CONTRAT WITH AT&T BUT I WOULD STILL IKE TO USED MY PHONE HOW CAN I GET IT ON A PREPAID PLAN I AM STILL LOST AND DONT KNOW HOW TO DO IT??? ANY HELP PLEASE

  36. James Jones says:

    I just purchased a used iPhone 4s running 5.0 off eBay and was able to successfully get a NEW sim card activated using AT&T.

    I have jailbroken (absinthe) the phone and installed the Custom APN as described above. However, I have been unsuccessful in getting data on the phone.

    I have tried both the ATT and Cingular APNs, with no luck.

    I will try it again, and report back if successful.

    • James Jones says:

      I still have not had any luck however, I just realized that I am on the ATT $2 a day plan. So this is likely the reason why I am unable to connect. I will be upgrading to a different plan and will report back.

      If anybody else sees why I am having issues please let me know.

  37. Troy Pickle says:

    Ok, so I went to Walmart and purchased a go phone, when I put the sim in my iphone 4 (ios 5.0.1, baseband 4.11.08) itunes says there is no sim card in the iphone (sim is activated with the $50 unlimited plan. Any ideas why this happened?

  38. Doug says:

    I had purchased my Iphone 4 on craigslist for 300 …went to the att store and signed up for the prepaid plan and they gave me the sim card to put in the phone. I did have find the right guy though….the first guy I talk to said that prepaid didn’t work with the Iphone 4…so I went to a different store and they got it going for me.

  39. Doug says:

    I had spoken to ATT and they told me they offered data packages but they didn’t work with the Iphone. They said down the road they would be offering that service for the Iphone. I followed the instructions and purchased the data package and it work like a charm. I didn’t even have to jailbreak my phone. Thanks so much!

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  41. Javier says:

    I have iphone 4 unlocked/jailbroken. If I skip the first part and just buy the $50 gophone unlimited plan on the micro sim would it still work 3g or do i have to buy a regular and then transfer to micro sim. Oh by the way I told this to a friend of mine he has an iphone 4 he went to AT&T and bought the $50 plan on the micro sim for $54 with tax and yes they said the data would not work on iphone blah blah anyways we did it but only works on edge but his iphone cant be unlocked because it has the last baseband update but is jailbroken. Im thinking that has a lot to do but dont know if its only posible to do edge instead of 3g?. comment or replys anyone before I buy it. does unlock got to do with anything?.

  42. JustSerge says:

    Hey, I followed the guide almost exactly but probably did something wrong, can some one have a look?

    – iPhone 4, jailbroken, 5.0.1., not unlocked (unlucky modem firmware).
    – micro SIM precut w/adapter bought off eBay for like $5, listed as iPhone compatible, labeled ATT Go Card.
    – Old AT&T Nokia clamshell (SIM-unlocked by AT&T)

    I activated the micro SIM with that old Nokia, chose pay-per-minute plan, no extras, put some money there.
    Inserted this card into iPhone and got non-stop “Invalid SIM” / “SIM Error” messages. Checked the same card with iPad – it sees card ICCID number and doesn’t complain about invalid SIM.

    So the activated Go card is alive but my iPhone 4 hates it, what to do in this case?
    Is it enough to call ATT and tell I changed phone and give iPhone’s IMEI? I don’t need mobile data currently, but need calls and maybe texting.
    Or it’s necessary to buy micro SIM card again?

    Plz advise

    • Tina says:

      I spoke with a man who works for AT&T and he said just give them a IMEI number that was all s yhose were his exact words. But I think he was just saying give the a fake 15 digit IMEI number and they wouldnt say anything. Hope this helps

  43. james says:

    Love you! This saved my budget for the year!!!

    Thank you so Much!!! iphone 3gs on ATTs go network with data: 30 bucks a month!! If I don’t over use it.

  44. Art says:

    I just bought the cheap $20 go phone, went to at&t store, got a 3G micro SIM and transferred service to the new SIM.

    Told them the old phone broke and the iphone was all I had.

    “Normally we don’t allow iphones because there is no data” is what they said, but they still added it even though I said I don’t need data right now.

  45. Peyton Rebel says:

    So i got on here and read the detail description. So far it sounded awesome! I have been paying AT&T 240.00$ for the past two years now. I own a 32 GB Iphone 4 on the 5.0.1 with a unteathered jailbreak. I was done out of my contract but i still wanted my iphone so after reading this i attempted it. I went to my local Wal-Mart and said i would like a micro sim card. He gave me one i paid him 15.00 and some change. I came home called AT&T GoPhone’s 1800 did the steps said at the top and it worked. If you need a video of it i can send you one. Just wanted to post and say it worked for me. Thanks

  46. Bill Condie says:

    PS: I canceled my Amazon order.

  47. Bill Condie says:

    First I went to ATT&T store who told me it could not be done because there were no micro GoPhone SIMs.

    I don’t argue with ass-holes any more.

    So I ordered a micro GoPhone SIM from Amazon before I re-read your excellent “How to setup an iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go phone.” (I’d done it twice already with iPhone 3s)

    My 4 experience was slightly different.

    I had activated a Samsung GoPhone minutes before I called AT&T, so was able to provide them with a phone number.

    After verifying it, they didn’t need the old pay-go sim card ICCID number, just the ICCID from the iPhone 4.

    Not did they need the iPhone’s IMEI number.

    But first I had to ignore repeated warnings that this did not work and was not supported and that even if it did I could not surf the web or get email!!!!

    Only minor hitch was I had to remove iPhone SIM and reinsert it.

    So don’t take no for an answer when you call for Support!

  48. Drew says:

    I have an iphone 4 and an old iphone 3g. after reading about this decided to try. I was unable to get just the sim card. I had to buy a phone. Bought the cheapest one and put the sim into my 3g and all worked great so, i cut it down to put into my iphone 4. When i did it kept flashing sim failure. What did i do wrong?

  49. bmer says:

    hello all.well i bought a at&t iphone4 from Craigslist i do have the sim it came with.its ios 5 firmware 4.11.8 .if i buy the pay as u go will it work on my phone.it is jailbroken with oltra snow.ive bin trying to unlock it but unlocks not out for my phone yet.

    • usman says:

      i have a similar iphone, i had to purchase a micro sim from ebay and then called att to transfer service from my old go sim card to the iphone 4 sim card. i cant however get data to work at all.

      • Drew says:

        Same thing here only i dont have any kind of service on my iphone 4. Works in my old iphone 3g though. I called att and they said pre pay does not work on iphone. How did everyone else get this to work? Help!

        • Craig says:

          I have a iphone 4 base band 4.11.08. I use it as a go phone on ATT. No problems with voice. I got it to work with data after install the APN fixer as discussed above. However, att chareged me an outrageous rate for 3G data (see my previous post). So it is not practical to use data.

  50. ATL says:

    I’ve used it it works for me I’m going out of my local area and give it a test drive on other 3g towers. But I wondering whats the rate and how APN has this is billed on your acc. Does it come off as data or does the APN disguise the data to make it look like txt or voice to AT&T side (people)

  51. Tom says:

    I have the original iphone plan, and have been paying 20 bucks a month for the UNLIMITED plan. Ever since I changed phones, I could not use the data plan. It worked slightly for a few days before ATT BLOCKED me. I continued to play for the plan eventhough I did not get eh service. This plan is the Oringinal Go Phone Plan for iPhone.

    GREAT NEWS! The Jailbreak and Installation of this Data Unlock of the new custom APN has UNLOCKED MY DATA PLAN, and NOW I can surf the net! YEA! Thank you so much for creating this. I have been totally ripped off from ATT, and now it’s my time to get them!

  52. Bobby says:

    Does this work with a Verizon Go-Phone…regardless of the iphone model?
    Does the iphone model have to be Verizon for Verizon Go phone to work?

    Thanks

  53. jash says:

    i have a jailbroken iphone 4, no sim….i need to go to att, get a micro sim, then call and activate it? or have them activate it at the store?

  54. […] My understanding on this topic is somewhat limited, but here's the little I think I know: I believe you can use a pay as you go SIM with no data on it to activate the iPhone and use the iPhone without a data plan. I also believe this is the ONLY way to use an iPhone 4 with AT&T without purchasing a data plan. You are correct that they will detect the IMEI number of the phone associated with the account and if it is a smartphone, they will require a data package be set with it. The only loophole here is the pay as you go, since they cannot change the pricing. Take a look here, it doesn't DIRECTLY touch on your question, but it indirectly does and gives the same answer — you can activate a Pay-Go SIM without data for an iPhone 4. How to use iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go iPhone […]

  55. Chris says:

    Will visual voicemail and mms work. Also will it work on 4s.

  56. Hawksfan says:

    Hello, I just got off the phone with the service and they wouldn’t allow me to do it, why is this? They said they haven’t done it since 2009

  57. vivek says:

    pllzzz tell me how do i enable personal hotspot…

  58. michelle says:

    hi,
    I currently have an att go phone. I’m thinking about buying an iphone 4. could I just cut the sim card on my current go phone and put it into the new iphone and activate it that way, or would it not work? Thanks

  59. Craig says:

    I have an iPhone 4 and was able to buy $10 on the 10cents/min go phone plan. The I bought $5 of data (10 mb) to see if it would work. Downloaded from unlockit to set APN (Big Thank You!). 3G data worked perfectly. But then I found that ATT charged 4 mb for loading one simple web page (which was actually ~400 kb). So my $5 data package was quickly exhausted. Called ATT support, the person said since I was using an iPhone, which did not support data, there was nothing they could do about. So, it looks like although you can access data usage, the crazy charge from ATT makes it not practical. Anyone with similar experience? Any way to correct this overcharge issue?

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  61. James says:

    Switch go Phone to an At&t sim which I got off of eBay

  62. James says:

    If I were to switch it to a regular AT&T sim and then give them an old phones imei would I be able to use an unlocked lg g2x for talk and text still or should I just give them my lg g2x imei and tell them to still switch to a regular sim please help!
    REGARDS THANKS!

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  64. FIR3 says:

    side note, i just added the $15 100mb and the same apn that would take me to there media net redirection page, now works for internet, so some how based off of imei they know i have an iphone4, it is an att branded phone so i think that is the issue. if you were to have an iphone4 that would be completely non att i believe you would be able to still utilize the $50 unlimited and have data but i can not say 100% for sure

  65. FIR3 says:

    Ok, went to AT&T today, asked for a micro sim, no questions asked, recieved micro sim. I called at&t to activate because i wanted to port my number from tmobile over, port went smooth, activation went smooth, note i used an old moto razr for imei portion of activation. As soon as i put my sim into the phone got phone and txt working, data is a different beast. The closest to getting data is i can get redirected to an AT&T page saying i need to add time/ choose a plan, so i think maybe we need to figure a way to spoof our brower or something as crazy as a imei transplant, but that hasn’t been easily do-able since 1.0.2 lol

  66. Doreen says:

    at&t just told me to do all this u need a brand new sim for the iphone 4. grrr :(

  67. koji says:

    Actually, all you need is an AT&T sim card and a non-iphone IMEI number. You don’t need to buy a gophone. You can use the IMEI number of any GSM (new or used) phone that is not an iphone.

    1) Buy an AT&T sim (ebay or Amazon $2-$3) and activate it here: https://www.wireless.att.com/GoPhoneWeb/goPhoneLanding.do?method=activatePayGo

    2) After activating the sim card with a non-iphone IMEI, put it into the iphone and check if you’re getting the AT&T carrier signal. If you are, add funds to the sim card to make calls at $.10 a minute.

    3) If you want to use data, you must configure the “custom APN” as detailed above, AND add a data package to your number/Sim. I usually add the 10MB data package for $5 to test if it works. After verifying that the data works on your iphone, you can add a higher data plan (500MB $25). Unused Data usage rolls over at the end of the month if you renew another month before it expires (30 days).

  68. lala says:

    I see some people said this method does not work anymore for data. is it true? Please reply if you still have iphone 4 working as PAYG with data service.

    • FIR3 says:

      I am under the assumption that the data MIGHT work, but only if you provision the phones apn correctly. Phone and SMS work out of the box, MMS will work after apn tweats as well. Apple’s iPhone Configuration Utility will be able to send the phone the settings you want, but you have to google around for the correct apn settings, try “GO PHONE INTERNET/MMS APN” i will be getting a go phone sim for my iphone4 next week, and i will actually respond with a quick working not working or what it took to make it all work.

  69. lana says:

    hi I have a question if you can help me¸please !!!!

    i have a samsung phone normal sim(usualy my internet is blocked )…my friend gaved me her iphone 4 with bell so iam unlocking it with a gevey micro sim and i have a micro sim from bell that is not activate it with my number….my question is ….if i call tomorrow and i activate my micro sim card will my internet still be blocked ? I just want to use it as wi-fi..i dont want to pay extra for data !!! is it possible?

  70. attuser says:

    i just purchased a $50/month unlimited gophone sim. after updating the APN settings (using Apple’s iPhone Configuration Utility), data works!

  71. Eric says:

    This works! I just did it. I bought a $9 go phone locally and used the SIM from that. The trick is to NOT activate the go phone SIM in a go phone. Activate the go phone SIM online using the IMEI of the cheap go phone, then trim the SIM and just insert into iPhone 4 on IOS5. Instant AT&T service, no unlocking, no jail breaking required.

    I signed up for the $.10/min plan and added more minutes online after verifying service activation. I’m only using it for voice right now, not data.

    Brilliant!

  72. Xiuh says:

    hi i just follow the intrusions and when i try to open a website in safari it says that its not possible to connect to the server…. why?

  73. […] card. In the USA, this means an unlocked iPhone would work with T-Mobile, AT&T, and some pay-go plans. Additionally, anyone in possession of an unlocked phone can use the device in another country […]

  74. Tom Savage says:

    You can use http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/ to set your APN.
    You may not get MMS but you will get data.
    You can also use h2o wireless to get service on iphone with out using a jailbreak unlock.
    This is what i use on my iphone which is still locked to ATT, not having MMS is a small price to pay for significantly cheaper service.

  75. KP says:

    Hello guys..

    its worth reading forum..
    am using official unlocked iphone4
    didnt wanted to pay a hell for DATA n unwanted charnges so sticking to Prepaid.
    started with Simple Mobile.. i loved the service..$40 was steel deal.. when needed tried $60 for unlimited Data.. but can only used with Edge..and service does not allow confrene calls.
    So Tried ATT $50 Pay go.. i have 2 pay go accoutns
    1 for iphone4 and 1 for windows phone with mango both are smartphones.
    iphone never worked with Edge inspite of putting custom APN.. however windows phone works with apn setting and edge works fine as haven…
    dont understand the reason why edge does not work with pay go.. iphone4.. inspite of apn n unlocked ipohne

  76. Misty says:

    Does the face time feature work with the iphone 4
    Go phone. All i really want is it to talk, txt and use
    The facetime.

    Thanks

    • Bobby says:

      Misty, from what I’ve gathered, facetime works over wifi right out of the box. It’s getting facetime to work over a prepaid data plan that takes some extra work. So, if you only plan on using internet and facetime while wifi is available, you don’t have to do any work-arounds.

  77. Jacob says:

    I have a htc freestyle with unlimited data. It is a feature phone. Can I swap sims with an iphone 3gs and get this to work? Thanks!

    • Bob says:

      lol im in the exact same sort of situation with the same exact phones it would be cool to have unlimited data on an iphone for only 10$ a month

  78. Jacob says:

    Will ALL the data features work? I read somewhere that only only certain things such as checking email work. Any response would be nice. Thanks!

  79. Bobby says:

    Man. Everyone here is worried about the data. lol, i guess i’m old. I just want this to work so I can have t mobile’s $15 prepaid unlimited text/150 mins + skype’s $5 voip number for a $20 phone bill and use wifi for data. I have wifi at home, work and school. If everyone started doing this, at&t would go down HARD. They’d have no choice but to give us better options. :) You vote with your dollars folks.

    • Manster says:

      Couldn’t agree more! I calculated my usage and more than 90 percent of my data use was usually with my Wi-Fi at home and work and out and about at Starbucks, etc etc.

      If more and more people would take advantage of Wi-fi at merchants and limit their use or not even bother with those outrageously expensive data rates, those providers would drop down to their knees and hopefully drop the prices accordingly.

      Viva la HACKS! :)

  80. pdx_luddite says:

    I don’t think that this works anymore. I talked to a guy at an AT&T store; he was sympathetic to my desires, but ultimately said that he has seen countless people try this type of thing; it will work for a while, but then AT&T catches on, and wipes their account. He did say that he had heard through the grapevine that Apple was likely to provide some sort of pay-as-you-go solution in the not-too-distant future. YMMV.

    • Greg says:

      I think you should stop taking advice from the AT&T sales guy who (1) probably doesn’t know anything and (2) is motivated to sell you a service plan to make his commision. I’ve used a prepaid iphone for over a year with zero problems, and I have yet to year of a single person who’s account was suspended after AT&T caught on. Issues reported on messageboards are likely user error in most cases.

  81. lcookie says:

    I’m definately going to try this, we’ve recently moved from Australia to Spain for a couple of years and I brought my iphone 4 with me.
    Being used to having an unlimited data plan back home and have NO experience in pre-paid but am finding I am chewing through money like no tomorrow with the data !!!!!!!!

  82. Leo_HCKR says:

    Hello Fellow Penny pinchers, I have yet to try this and I will do so today. However I do know of a guaranteed prepaid method that my friend has been using for the past year. Its called “simple mobile” (i am not a sellsman for them, just passing along useful info). Basically they dont sell phones, just service. Google for more info. They piggy back off the Tmobile network so the fastest you’ll get is EDGE :( but it is like 65 per/mo for unlimited everything. Hopefully the At&T method will work so I can get 3g otherwise this is a valuable alternative.

  83. Mat says:

    Thanks alot Edgar and everyone else!
    I had been using my Irish unlocked iPhone 4 with T-mobile for the last few months which sucked because they’re only 2g and i’d been paying $70/80.
    I bought an AT&T go phone card for $50 today and initially thought i had just wasted my money.
    This blog has been a HUGE help!
    I installed it – turned off my phone – Reset Network settings – and it took maybe 5 minutes or so before it started to work. I turned 3G on/off a few times but i have it on now and it’s working great.
    Not quite 3G speed but definitely not Edge either.
    I recommend everyone do this. Hopefully AT&T won’t discover this.

    – Just a word of warning; there is absolutely no refunds when buying a prepaid Go card. So make sure that your iPhone does indeed work with AT&T.

    • slarty55 says:

      @Mat, I just tried the steps and no joy. Here it is 10 days after you successfully got a GoPhone sim to work on your iPhone… surely AT&T hasn’t figured out a way to prevent this yet…

      I get “No Service” in the upper left corner where it should say “AT&T 3g”.

      No voice, no text, definitely no data.

      I’m fairly certain i didn’t do anything wrong… i even unlocked the phone with the latest sn0breeze.

      Any thoughts? Still working for you?

      • Greg says:

        Perhaps you’re trying a prepaid card that’s still tied to the phone you bought it with? If I recall you can’t pull the SIM out of an existing Go Phone to use in an iphone for the first 90 (?) days.

        I’m sure Matt’s phone still works fine. AT&T couldn’t care less about this.

        • slarty55 says:

          It actually turned out to be the phone :P
          I messed it up somehow during one of the 20xs that i’ve jailbroken it. Fixed it yesterday and now i have service using the gophone SIM.

          BUT, ABSOLUTELY no data/internet connection. Even after jailbreak, unlock and changing the APN via Unlockit.co.nz

          any ideas?

          • Greg says:

            Did you try restarting your phone? And disabling WIFI? You sure your area has 3G?

          • Rajiv says:

            No luck for me as well for data on $50 prepaid ATT plan. It seems that AT&T has found a way to detect smartphones on their prepaid network. The only way I know to get data now prepaid is through one of their data packages.

          • Greg says:

            Rajiv, just because you can’t get it to work using a technique that nobody else has tried doesn’t mean “AT&T has found a way to detect smartphones on their prepaid network”. Stop spreading false information.

      • C says:

        you probably did not activate the new sim card, Did ya??? If you did not, even if you put it in a go phone it wont work unless you get it activated!!!

  84. Greg says:

    Anybody try this with an iPhone 4S? Does data work? Does Siri work?

  85. WhackyWildGal says:

    the prepaid is capitalism. to get prepaid data you have to pay for it. Prepaid vs contract:

    contract = locked in
    prepaid=not

    contract = data, talk and text
    Prepaid=data, talk and text

    Contract=taxes taxes taxes
    Prepaid = NO TAX

    contract is competing with prepaid. that is capitalism. sort of. ATT owns GoPhone. So GoPhone is ATT without taxes. sounds like a no brainer.

  86. Loudog says:

    It will work on any iPhone 4 provider… Just get a unlocked gophone sim from AT&T store

  87. Mia says:

    What about Verizon iPhones? Would it work if I bought a Verizon go phone and card?

  88. Loudog says:

    I got the unlimited everything to work, I got my unlocked gophone sim at AT&T . Cut it down to fit iphone4. I bought mine pre activated with unlimited everything. Calling and texting should after putting chip in. I did the unlockit.co.nz and did the us- AT&T . I also notice it will not work with 3G activiated. Turn it off. Reset network setting after you install the unlockit apn settings. After it reboots doesn’t work right away but I have Internet now for 2 days. I don’t need 3G lol. Hope it works for someone else

  89. mia says:

    can this work on an iPhone 4 that is still under contract? I’m a college student and I cannot afford this $100 bill every month.

  90. vishal says:

    Perfect!!! Actually it worked for me without even jailbreaking my iphone 4….great job :)

  91. Ian says:

    I have an at&t payg $50 a month and i was wondering if i just cut my sim to fit the iphone 4 could i follow the same steps minus the transfer and all will be good. Im a college student trying to save every penny.

    • vishal says:

      I think it will work, but require a lot of precision, I would recommend buying a micro sim cutter for this…I used that and everything works perfectly fine…I am currently using iPhone 4 with ATT gophone and my phone is not even jailbroken…its just an unlocked iphone

  92. […] How to use iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go iPhone – I so want to do this, hopefully a week or two until the new iPhone 4 comes out (with the iPhone 5?) […]

  93. […] How to use iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go iPhone How to setup an iPhone 4 as a Pay-Go phone […]

  94. Loudog says:

    I have a iPhone 4, I went to AT&T store and asked for a gophone chip. Told them I didn’t have phone yet. They sold me a unlocked sim for like 15 dollars. I cut sim down to micro sim and it work just fine. I bought the unlimited everything but wasn’t able to get data working. So I called AT&T and tried to change my plan to 250 talk, unlimited txt for 25 dollars. And buy the 25 dollar data but they wouldnt let me. Then he all the sudden ask me if I’m using iPhone 4, since his computer was showing him that. I said yes, he said I’m not support to but the I said the lady at the store said I can uses this unlocked gophone sim on any phone. He then say we can’t guarantee service to work especially data. I was like ok. That was that. So AT&T do know what Phone you uses.

  95. James says:

    I bought an iphone 4 from my friend and he canceled his plan. Am i able to use the sim card that came with their phone?

    • Martin says:

      Yes you can use the old sim card as long as you know the id. they will remove the old number ad add the new one.

  96. Tyler says:

    what a joke, apple is selling unlocked phones and you have to be a genius to figure out how to get everything to work! I tried with t-mobile sim but only limited me to 2g speed and face time not activating! What BS! I dont get it

  97. Tyler says:

    what a joke, apple is selling unlocked phones and you have to be a genius to figure out how to get everything to work! I tried with t-mobile sim but only limited me to 2g speed and face time not activating! What BS!

  98. t says:

    I used the apn changer on my prepaid iPhone 4 but my data (Internet) just stopped working….any suggestions?

  99. houlder says:

    btw, my phone is jailbroken.

  100. houlder says:

    guys, mine’s not working… ideas? I have an official unlocked Iphone4, at&t micro 3G sim and the pay as you go plan (same as two comments above) and I’m not getting any data transfer …

    help.. please? I can’t drive without data! haha

  101. jamie says:

    i did the jail break it worked i have a data package my phone in general works. but for sum reason now i cant get my txt msgs to work and att cant figure it out either they told me to call apple. and get my msg center number or something.. can anyone help please

  102. song says:

    doesnt work for me, even jailbreaked.
    i have: iphone 4 official unlock, at&t 3g micro sim (got at at&t store), pay as you go 50$ talk, text, data unlimited (do not work on smartphone > need data features)
    …that’s why i tried the methode above and so it doesn’t work…

    • beans says:

      i was wondering if that new 65$ plan let the data work on iphon? is it supposed to or no? oh and to answer your question, you moght be able to convince them that tou made a mistake, when tou call them tell them you picked the wrong plan and i bet they will transfer the plan that you want, and being that its the same price it should be ok !

  103. nael says:

    do i have to jail break it?

  104. Chris says:

    I think that AT&T has caught on: I had (spotty but) adequate 3G while travelling in NYC for the first week, but then I couldn’t connect anymore. At first, I attributed it to the poor coverage that AT&T is known for in NYC, but I couldn’t connect at all towards the end of my trip.

    I used about 200 MB of data over about three weeks, most of which was spent on Google Maps so I could figure out how to get from place to place. It certainly reduced my stress level by knowing when and where I could catch the subway. I’m disappointed that I don’t have an affordable way to do that anymore.

    It was fun while it lasted. I hope someone comes up with an affordable way to get pay-as-you-go data.

  105. John says:

    Ok so I bought an iPhone 4 from a friend of mines had already had an AT&T go phone account went into AT&T asked them for a new sim card dey gave it to me and I cut it with the sim cutter thing put it in my iPhone and the phone is saying no service! So one help me out plz and let me kno what I’m doing wrong!!

    • Kiebear says:

      I had the same issue and what I did to fix it is make sure the gold chip is fully visible through the tray. I also used a piece of clear tape on the back (cause I cut my sim card too small) to firmly hold my sim in place after doing that the signal bars showed up and it worked for me.

  106. Jin says:

    I tried this process and it does not work for my iphone 4. I have a $.10 per minute plan(not sure if that matters) and locked phone with the newest iOS update. Any troubleshooting info out there?

  107. billy says:

    How do you do this with Verizon Iphone 4

  108. Xeusariana says:

    Or did I need to purchase a data plan first before doing the APN thing?

  109. Xeusariana says:

    I did everything as followed up above on how to set data plan for Iphone 4 via PAYG so I can use the internet while being on the road without wifi, but it still didn’t work :/

  110. Vince says:

    So I followed the instructions on how to enable data and Internet, it worked perfectly fine for one day, then stopped working. What should I do to make it work again?

  111. Chris says:

    Thank you for this article! It worked for me. I basically did what Brian did: https://osxdaily.com/2011/03/06/iphone-4-pay-go/#comment-203948

    I am from Canada and am visiting the US for about three weeks. A pay-as-you-go plan was exactly what I needed.

    I have a factory-unlocked iPhone 4 from Rogers (which means it is a GSM phone). It is jailbroken on firmware 4.3.1 via Greenpois0n.

    I went to a AT&T store and bought a GoPhone SIM card. I said that I wanted the $2/day plan. I put on $50: I would use $25 for the voice+data and $25 for the data plan. I did NOT mention that I was going to use it for the iPhone.

    I then trimmed the SIM card to the size of the microSIM to fit into the iPhone 4. I used an Exacto knife.

    Once the SIM card was the right size, I popped it into the iPhone 4. Voice and texting worked!

    I called the customer service line to purchase the $25 data package. (As far as I understand, the iPhone 4 needs to have this $25 data package to use data; you cannot use the $50 GoPhone unlimited plan for data on the iPhone 4.)

    Since my iPhone 4 is jailbroken, I found a wifi connection to connect to http://unlockit.co.nz and created the custom APN. Data worked!

    A bonus to the GoPhone plan is that I could text unlimitedly to Canada, so I could keep in touch with people at home without additional costs to me!

    I wanted to write out what I did to give a fresh comment about how this method still works!

  112. Ly says:

    It works BEAUTIFULLY!!!! THANK YOU! =)

  113. jibtar says:

    any one use this on the new gophone plan $50 unlimited?

  114. Brent says:

    Why isn’t the data plan working on my cell but the talk and text does? I have the iPhone 4 and changed my APN with the website that you provided and the internet still doesn’t work. Is it because I only have the $50.00 unlimited Go plan and need to buy the smart phone data plan? What haven’t I done or what do I need to do to make the data work on phone? Please help thank you.

  115. Chrystine says:

    I am also wondering too if there is a way to “trick” these settings for unlimited everything $50 a mo. I followed some other tutorials which said do not use the iphones imei when setting it up and they also went on with how to set up the apn using unlockit.co.nz So I was under the assumption this would “hack” the phone allowing me to get data unlimited as if I had a non smartphone. If I turn wifi off I have a 3g icon in my notification bar and I can connect to google but thats it. Im assuming it loads because its cached already. I get an error of safari cannot open the page because it could not connect with the server. So Im hoping to find a workaround as its not saying anything about a data balance being low so I have hope. And to those of you who might think it is stealing to do it this way, well my .02 on that is probaly 90% of americans use cell phones and its ridiculous that if you have bad credit (as I do) att wants $600 deposit JUST to get a line. When I used to be on my bf plan we paid 30 for unlimited data and now that has gone away and in an age where there are more and more competitors springing up with monthly all inclusive one price plans, its utterly ridiculous that att,verizon and tmobile are raising the price of data! So if you ask me, anyone on a regular plan likes getting ripped off and the only people I see as thieves are the phone companies!

    • Jeff says:

      If you sign a contract, you are saying you’ll abide by the terms. I’m not advocating taking services for which I never paid. If you don’t like the terms of the contract, move on!

  116. Henry Moran says:

    Any news on the iOS 5b3 update for the APN’s? Currently iOS 5 b2/b3 install but don’t work.

  117. Adam says:

    So you are saying that i can get unlimited data with my iphone by following the custom Apnsettings above? Or is it the apn will have the iphone data working but i have to choose how much data i want and then pay for it? Please get back to me asap!

  118. Edgar says:

    I am going to answer some questions that I saw here as best as possible. I didn’t read all the comments so if I repeat something somebody else said I apologize. My phone is factory unlocked so some things may or may not apply for your iPhone. You can try taking it to an Apple store and ask if they will unlock it for you, I heard they are unlocking them I don’t know if there is a few or what the requirements are.

    1) You can use iPhone 4 with AT&T Go Phone.

    2) Yes you can use data by following the steps above. (I tried it today and it worked, on an iPhone 4 ofcourse)

    3) You can purchase a data plan, they have new plans were you can purchase 500MB for $25, which is good enough for me. And to those that comment that we are stealing data using these settings we are not. The data plans are set up exclusively for smart phones, “dumb” phones get unlimited data with the $50 plan they offer. Check out the new plans at paygonline.com

    4) People who want a Micro Sim card you can cut your current sim card to a Micro. There is a tool I used for it and it worked great. It will cut a small piece of the metal part of the sim but will not affect the performance in any way. Here is the a short link to the item on Amazon http://goo.gl/nDdT3

    5) If you don’t want AT&T to know you are using an iPhone with them on their pre paid network. Use a friends phone that is not an iphone. Activate your sim and then put it in your iphone follow the instructions on how to set the APN and your good to go.

    • Sam says:

      Thanks for the heads up Edgar. Do you know or does anyone else know if there’s a way to trick AT&T into getting the 50 unlimited plan for an iphone? Would be pretty cool to have unlimited everything for 50…let me know thanks!

  119. Tyler says:

    can i do this at a ATT store? i walk in and ask them to give me a micro sim card and transfer my iccid from my GO PHONE SIM. to the new micro sim? and just pop it in and go?

  120. graanco says:

    Damn if I could get 3g unlimited service.. HMMM can I say voip?? Oh yeah!!!

  121. […] You will have to cut the SIM down to fit it into the iPhone 4. As OS X Daily points out, you can also get an AT&T PAYG SIM (but you may be better off not telling the salesperson you have an […]

  122. Brian says:

    Hey guys, I saw the back & forth on Twitter between @TUAW and @OSXDaily so I thought I would comment with what I know here.

    As long as you cut the SIM card down to MicroSIM size, you can plug in a GoPhone SIM directly, you do not even need to activate it with AT&T. For data, the iPhone Configuration Utility does work to adjust APN directly and you do not need to jailbreak – BUT with T-Mobile at least you will be stuck on EDGE network because there is no compatible 3G.

    I jump between China and the US and I have to do the SIM switch regularly. I use an unlocked iPhone 4 that I picked up in Hong Kong last year. The confusion with jailbreaking comes in because prior to the newly released unlocked US phones, you had to jailbreak to then unlock and use outside of the USA. This is why I ended up buying a factory unlocked phone in Hong Kong for full price. The provider lock is what led many to believe a jailbreak was necessary, but it is absolutely not if you use AT&T’s GoPhone. For the record I’ve used T-Mobile in the USA but I find AT&T GoPhone to be a more reliable network. Both let you cut your monthly bill down to about $30 though!

    • Mandy says:

      This works for the iphone 4 but an iphone 3gs wont accept the gophone card. I did it and it worked but i had to buy a 3g sim an call att to switch. It is now working perfecly. Thanks a lot for your help guys. have a good one.

  123. […] are geared towards the iPhone, mostly because a friend of mine just bought a used iPhone to setup as a pay-go phone and the phone still had the previous owners name on it. Not wanting to restore the iPhone because […]

  124. Raph says:

    Careful. My girlfriend has an iPhone 3GS on 4.2.1 greenpoison, and after we added the custom APN to be able to use data, she is getting random deductions for Internet usage even when she is just using wifi. In other words, she IS connected to a wifi network and sometimes she gets random messages about money taken from her go phone account. The charges on we go phone website are under GPRS and I have seen it charged her account as much as $25 on a single charge. Please be monitoring your account a couple of months after you enable custom APN which allows you to use data

    • Jeff says:

      I am on contract with AT&T. I was sick and disabled for a long time, and found that I was being charged for data that I never used! Since I was home all the time except when taken to a doctor, I could match up data usage on my statement to days I was and was not home. Despite having regular, reliable wifi connectivity, I was consistently charged for wireless data use. There was pressure from AT&T to upgrade my data service to a higher priced plan because I used so much data. To their credit, they did waive the excess charges after I pointed this out to them. Have any of you actually examined your carrier’s data charges to your actual data use? You might be surprised!

  125. Roy says:

    Man that is amazing, Thanks a lot, I just bought a brand new white iPhone 4 and have an AT&T pay as you go.
    Followed your steps without jailbreaking and it worked!!

    One question, do you know if the same thing can be done for Blackberry? I have a Torch 9800 but they don’t offer the Blackberry service data plan (bbm, blackberry mail, all bb apps)

    Thanks again
    Roy

  126. Miguel says:

    Hi Erick do you know if i get modified the APN to use the dara service, can i have any problems when i back to my country with my original carrier? Btw my iphone 4 is unlocked for any carrier worldwide
    Thanks in advance

  127. Gandalf says:

    This work perfectly for gophone and data plan over 3G!

    I activated with the cheap phone that came with the gophone sim, but got the girl in the call center to “unlock” the sim for me and I put it in iphone 4 ( 4.2.1 with baseband 03.10.01) and presto! it worked! Then used APN app and it enabled 3G data usage. I must say this is very nice consolation prize as I wait for UNLOCK on this crappy baseband I have….

    P.S. I agree with everything you said Erik (although your tone was very condescending), but I must point out that our freedom is also our weakness as we allow to many people in our borders who wish us harm or who do not support out way of life.

  128. Erik says:

    P.S. SKIP, I noticed you referred sarcastically to our freedoms twice, clearly out of envy, as you should. So numerous and great, they have paved a road of success for us so unlimiting that you can’t go anywhere in the world and not see an American company’s insignia or hear our music. Not one country’s goods and services are as prevalent in other nations as America’s are. Your countries companies are not here; but mine are there. Of course we do have other countries companies in the U.S., but not to the prolific end that we go. Our rights and freedoms resulted in the title of superpower by means of wealth. These freedoms I love so dearly are rarely referred to when speaking of cell phones.My countries gifts give so much more depth than that. Clearly, you equate your freedoms with the options of cell phone usage. How sad. The length to which Americas freedom’s afford me, you currently cannot understand. Whether you are naive or misinformed, just know that people of ALL nations do anything to come here and are cared for and given the rights and freedoms I was born with. BTW,just because we have it the best doesn’t mean we think everyone else is oppressed. In fact, you said America thinks everyone else is oppressed, America didn’t.

    • AFriendlyInternational says:

      @Erick: you are not a very good advertisement for america or american people – your parents would be ashamed of you behaving in this way. I love the USA and visit friends there regularly – Im very happy to say they are nothing like you (other than being multi generation citizens).

      USA has many benefits and many flaws. I dont think any country should be boasting about their financial or consumer systems given almost every economy in the world is in the tank.

      Fact – it is BS and unnecessary for ATT to make it so hard/restricted for customers to use a variety of cell services incl some that iphone can provide, and does elsewhere in the world.
      Fact – consumer goods tend to cost less in USA than most other countries (including the *expensive* factory unlocked iphone).
      Fact – this thread started as a guide to work around one of the unnecessary and consumer unfriendly restrictions that ATT places on their customers. How about everyone keeps to topic hmmm?

    • JoeBlow says:

      What even mexicans!

  129. Erik says:

    Hey Skip, almost every thing you claim is wrong. 1st:Americans can get any phone unlocked (just not by the provider);2nd:We don’t need 2 phones, our cell phones can always make international calls (sometimes our providers have to turn this feature on) 3rd: We travel overseas more than any country in the world due to the fact that we own/operate more company’s in other countries than any country ever could.(we designed the global free market) 4th: Our consumer protection IS better than yours in all aspects and for this Iphone discussion, way better. Please refer to this url to find out how much more you’re paying than the U.S. for Iphone service.
    http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2008/06/16/iphone-3g-pricing-us-199-germany-1-euro-uk-free/
    Maybe you should stop LOL so majorly.

  130. andy says:

    once the phone is activated through itunes and use a a pay go phone, does that mean the iphone 4 is now unlocked? or is it unlocked to pay go?

  131. anon says:

    so anyone tried the enable data and internet part?
    do you have to pay for the data plan after you enable data and internet with a custom apn?

  132. Jay says:

    I’m from Ireland and I can have Vodafone unlock my iphone4 so I can get this to work for my visits to the states. What happens when I go back home? do I just slip in the old sim card? Do I have to reconfigure anything?

  133. Jay says:

    You don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone. You can use the iPhone Configuration Utility to create your custom APN. I got it working on my iPhone 4 by following these instructions:

    http://www.amirnaor.com/?p=49

  134. Tony says:

    You don’t even need a new micro sim card. You can do as i did and traced the sim tray onto the full sized sim cards and use sharp scissors to trim it down to size :) works perfectly.

  135. Skip says:

    “no iPhone has been officially released as a pay as you go phone” Major LOL. Maybe in the land of the free, in other parts of the world, where consumer protection exists, you can buy an iPhone unlocked from any provider, on contract or PAYG or from Apple (unlocked) and put ANY SIM you want and off you go.
    Luckily Americans don’t travel much overseas as they would need two phones, iPhone to enjoy their freedoms and something else to visit the rest (oppressed) of the world.

  136. Lyndon says:

    So complicated in USA. In asia (even CHINA) you just buy a pre-paid SIM, put it in and you are good to go…no red tape, no restrictions, true freedom which unfortunately is not available to americans

    • Bryan says:

      What’s the best way to get a SIM pre-paid card from Asia then?

    • TheGooch says:

      Actually, I’m in Japan right now, and Softbank will not sell you an unlocked phone. They use IMEI locking and won’t carrier unlock you phone for any reason.

      You must be talking about other Asian countries…

    • Jeff says:

      How do US Carriers get all this control? Is there anything a democratic society can do in order to have choice like other countries do? How did the US Carriers get and maintain all this control?

    • Manoj says:

      Dude !! In america, the carriers bundle the service and the phone and offer the phone at a subsidized price. Where in the world would you get an iPhone 3 GS for FREE or an iPhone 4S for $ 200. At that price it is extremely affordable to the masses which is exactly why this is so popular otherwise who in America will spend 650 bucks on a phone (cashdown). The flip side of this is you have to deal with carrier restrictions. They too are running a business.

      • iKarlos says:

        Actually the whole Free or subsidized is a complete and utter lie. They have really expensive plans which in the end make up for the price of the phone, like it’s crazy paying more than $100 a month for unlimited talk and text plus 2-3gb of data. So u see the whole free thing is just a lie, other companies offer unlimited talk and text for even as low as $40, so u are truly paying $50 or $60 just for a few gigs of data? Nope u are paying like $30 for that and the rest is for covering the price of the phone every single month so sum it up that’s $30x 12months x2yrs is $720 which is about the price of an unlocked iphone 4S 32gb.

  137. […] Remember, no iPhone has been officially released as a pay as you go phone, but we have showed you how to get an iPhone 4 setup as a pay-go AT&T phone and you can also setup a prepaid iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G too. Both of these work without […]

  138. […] Here’s how to setup iPhone 4 as a pay-go phone, it’s pretty […]

  139. Rico says:

    Ok so lets say i buy a iPhone (whatever version) without a contract and i transfer a sim card from a regular phone with just voice. will it work or would i have to buy a data plan if i do that?

    • Tony says:

      it will work just fine

    • Natasha says:

      Is this credible? I have a prepay phone thru AT&T and someone wants to sell me their iPhone 4. I do the 60-day unlimited talk/text. I dont use any data, I have home wi-fi for that… Will this work if I call and tell them to transfer my info?

  140. David says:

    Dave, actually using data through pay as you go plans is ridiculously expensive. 1mb goes for about $10! There is no theft here, don’t worry.

  141. Mark says:

    Dave, calm down, it’s not theft of service. Using data uses up credit that would otherwise be going to minutes. I don’t recall the figure, but it’s not cheap.

  142. Dave says:

    Why is this site condoning the theft of service? Like it or not, theft is wrong and if you are using a service (data), you should pay the service provider for it. The whole basis of capitalism is free market (not as in free service). If you don’t like the fact that you have to pay for data service, you simply don’t use it, that’s your choice. Unless I am reading this wrong, – and if so, it’s not worded well – the above information enables pay as you go voice, and free data service. Plain and simple it’s theft.

    • Edward says:

      It’s not theft when you pay for it, it just enables the feature which isn’t enabled by default on pay-go sim card.

      You can also get a voice & data sim to begin with, not sure why nobody suggested that

      • John says:

        do you really think that if ATT gave you unlinmited data on an IPHONE 4 that they would profit on your prepaid account. No, it would cost them more to allow you to suck their servers dry and they would loose profit. ATT does not want to pay you to use their service

        • 3E says:

          DO YOU WORK, OWN, OR HAVE SOME SORT OF CONNECTION TO AT&T?! BECAUSE YOU ARE JUST HATING THE FACT THAT EDWARD IS A GREAT GUY, THAT IS HELPING A COUPLE OF PEOPLE THAT AT THIS BULL “CAPITALISM” MOMENT CANNOT AFFORD TO PAY FOR SUCH SERVICES THAT YOU STRONGLY BELIEVE WE SHOULD BE PAYING FOR…?!
          AT&T CHARGES U $130 FOR “LIMITED DATA” and all the other goodies.

          GO AT&T CHARGES U $50.00 FOR “UNLIMITED DATA” and all the other goodies.

          So don’t waste your time on putting RAW NEGATIVE comments if you are NOTHING TO THEM.

          sometimes is NOT about being cheap… is about being SMART!

          • Derrick says:

            I have an iPhone 4 already. Can i just get a prepaid sim card an cut it to fit an it’ll work? No have to call Att for anything? Just wondering looking to go prepaid but want to use my iPhone 4. Please help. Thanks

          • kaz says:

            well said 3E :)

          • Marc says:

            AMEN

          • Thomas says:

            Sorry, all capitals does not excuse your stealing services no matter who the company or individual is. If you cannot pay for such services then do as many of us do, do without. Instead of complaining you deserve anything you want and want it for nothing. (Please tell your buddies at the 99% bull movements that the defacating is just a bad reflection on them and not to anyone out there working for what they want.)

          • TaDah says:

            Spoken like a true champion 3E

      • HelloKitty4S says:

        i am using an iPhone 4S on the $50 pay-go plan. i just bought my phone about 2 months ago, & i bought it without contract, so it was pricey! i have been thinking about trying jailbreaking it, but i am kinda nervous about it! i don’t want to mess my phone up; it’s the only 1 i have. i couldn’t just run out & buy another iPhone 4S if something went wrong. i have been using wifi to get on the internet, but i want to be able to connect whenever i want to. my question is: if i purchase a data package, like the $25 one for smartphones, would it use up my data when i’m connected to wifi? any help would be very appreciated! :)

    • Jack says:

      P*ssy. This is not theft of service. You are getting what your paying for. Data + text + voice. Except it is working on a different phone of your choice. It’s just that the data service is not meant to worth with the Iphone. You are merely enabling the data service to work with the Iphone.

      • Mandy says:

        Jajajaja soooo right. Your comment is da best and most strainght foreward. Have a good one.

      • Sam says:

        Jack knows. The idea of the go plan, for AT&T, is for them to reduce their “accounts receivable” which in turn allows them to reduce their collections department and cashiering teams, this is a huge reduction in over head and they do it because they know the market is stabilizing (commoditization) and the cost of replacement SIM cards is cheaper than a few salaried employees.
        This is mostly personal opinion derived from research of pay as you go business methods.

    • Donna says:

      Dave – Not to disagree with the idea that theft is horrible – I was just going over my huge phone bill this morning and looked closer to surcharges only, totalling $86.52!!!! I looked at the “explanation” when I followed the question mark provided, which states, “Includes charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us by government. Other charges and Credits – includes charges for products and services, and credits owing” Another example of double-talk and theft perhaps?
      No I won’t cheat, nor will I any longer use a “service” provider that is so deceitful – while blaming it on our government or on capitalism. Thankfully my contract ends in December – and I will continue looking for companies that have ethics.

    • John Lover says:

      how is it theft when they charge you the same for the service on Iphone as they do on there cheep ass 5 dollar phone and allows data on it but not on Iphone.

    • luis says:

      dave u idiot ! its not theft its called being smart

    • Jordan says:

      Why are you condoning the fact that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint can feel free to charge it’s customers UNGODLY amount of money for a phone, and a plan. I invite you to go look at what other international providers, I’m talking like O2 wireless, T-Mobile, and other’s charge there customers. What we pay for our phones, in other countries we’d be completely unlimited iPhone users. Look it up.
      I think that these “unofficial” prepaid plans aren’t theft, and AT&T is a big enough company to easily put the breaks on any “unofficial” usage they don’t want. It’s apparently fools like you don’t mind paying half a pay check for a phone, and they know that, so they are fine with it. If the provider provides, take.

      • Thomas says:

        LOL So AT&T should be responsible for your conduct. If you want to steal services from them they should stop you or you are clear of any wrongdoing?
        RE: “It’s apparently fools like you don’t mind paying half a pay check for a phone, and they know that, so they are fine with it. If the provider provides, take.”
        What a sad statement on today’s values. No, I would say ‘fools’ like me just don’t use their service if I cannot afford it. We don’t try to justify theft from anyone regardless of how large or small. Wal-Mart is a large corporation, daresay larger than AT&T, so do you shoplift at their stores, too?

        • TIm says:

          Other countries allow pay as you go iphones and also enable date at the same price. (example: vodafone australia) why wont ATT do it. cause they are thieves and are ripping us off.

          • HelloKitty4S says:

            i agree thomas! my friend works at AT&T, & they have brainwashed him! i told him they were liars, because my 4S says “4G” with the newest upgrade, & he said it’s “4G compatible.” hmph! i understand the HISA+ thing, but the funny thing is, 4G is not available in my area yet, at least not on iPhone. i also asked him about jailbreaking my phone to use my data with the $50 pay-go plan, & he said i can’t use it.

        • b says:

          Your not being very smart. 1st of all you cant do it, if you put your sim card in a smartphone it won’t let you use data period unless you buy a package. 2nd Att is stealing from their smartphone users when they force them to pay for unlimited data but they cannot use it. also att charges a smaller fee for prepaid because they are trying to get more market share. Many people don’t want to pay 90+ a month but they will pay 50 so instead of letting them got to tmoble they charge lower prices for prepaid.

        • terry says:

          Dave, your not listening, there is a $50 unlimited text, data, talk plan on gophone. Att doesnt WANT to allow iphones to use this plan, this is just a way around it. It is NOT stealing if you are paying for a service that works on any other phone but the Over Priced, Over Rated, POS iPhone! Regardless of the phone a plan is a plan as long as you pay for it.

        • Anonymous says:

          Jordan, your smart and know what your talking about.
          Thomas, your stupid and stubborn.

      • Pinkie says:

        Very true Jordan! They have to know people are easily using the internet on iPhones – I’m sure someone that works for their company has read forums like this one, or even MAC forum, where they give you a step-by-steps tutorial on how to use the unlimited internet on an iPhone by jailbreak… I personally think it’s ridiculous to pay $50, not be able to use internet, and then have to pay $25+ for a data feature package! I have been paying the $50 for unlimited talk + text, and using wifi for internet, but it is very annoying! I have an iPhone 4S and I love it. I cannot get a plan – AT&T told me in order to have a plan, I would have to pay a $500 deposit for each line, because of an old bill from 7 years ago, when I was young and stupid. I can’t afford a $500 deposit so I can have a plan. So, I use the prepaid plan and can’t use what I pay for, just because I have a smartphone. SMH it angers me. >_<

        • Pinkie says:

          P.S. I do not think it’s theft either – you are simply using what you paid for, in my opinion! I don’t think it’s anything like stealing, in any shape or form. If anyone is stealing, it’s a phone company that makes you pay for something you can’t use. Sorry if you disagree; to each their own. ;)

    • JoeyB says:

      There is NO THEFT in what we are doing here dummy you should re read the posts we must pay for data service as a matter of fact an amount that is 8 times the amount that post paid customers pay The post just enables us to use data on a specific cell phone!! We still have to pay for the data package the only difference is with this infor we can actually use the service that we are paying for with that phone they offer data service for pay as you go customers for just about any phone or smart phone just not for the iphone so before you accuse any of us of being theives or being dishonest be sure you know what you are talking about ALSO WHOEVER POSTED THIS METHOD I WILL KISS YOUR BARE FEET THANKS SO MUCH IT WORKS GREAT!!!!!

      • Thomas says:

        The article and most commenters may not be suggesting something that is theft but some commenters clearly have no problem with stealing from others if it was the case and it was something they wanted.

        • Wayne says:

          Firest of all, AT&T sucks, overcharge and have customer no service. I spent 3 days trying to speak to someone this week and only got the runaround and automated answers, which never addressed the issue……..They are so big, they don’t care . I have no problem in screwing them if I get a chance. They have screwed us for years.!!

      • deerfriend ^_^ says:

        joey u mean u changed the apn & r able 2 use the internet on an iphone ? i was reading thru this forum & saw a lot of ppl say it worked. im on a prepaid plan with att & i pay $50 & cant use the internet unless i use wifi. i dont know ne thing about changing the apn & fear if i do it ill mess my phone up. but if it worked for u i & others ive seen on here i might have my friend do it for me because they know pretty much everything about iphones & pc. it would be awesome to be able to use the unlimited internet that i pay for…

  143. Pixxi says:

    Or just live in a more civilized country where you can buy one! ;-)

  144. Jonathan says:

    What a great idea. I’m out of contract soon, I may give this a try, prepaid is much cheaper.

    • Steven says:

      Will the go phone 50 unlimited work and also data? Does dis work on dat new iphone 4s or is it jus the iphone 4?

      • alex says:

        no it wont work. for smartphones user they have to buy a feature package from $10 15 and $25 which gives u only 500mb monthly

        • Steven says:

          Dam thats it…do they have a plan with at least 1gb i blow thru 500 n lik 2 days

          • AVERY says:

            Just jailbreak your phone so you can use the internet using the custom APN. Very easy. Never buy the data plan unless you want 3G. The custom APN is using EDGE.

          • j4s0n says:

            @AVERY how are you getting EDGE data without a go phone data package? I’ve activated an ‘unlimited’ $50/mo gophone plan sim and the ‘PAYG’ APN config from unlockit.co.nz The phone show ‘4G’ on iOS 5.1. Did not need to jailbreak to install profile. But, Safari redirects to a MediaNet page that says “To use data service, you must have a data package.” With other APNs it did not connect at all. Please explain how are you getting EDGE data without a dat pkg, what APN ?

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