11/09/2010

Good news for all US tourists: Pre-Paid Data Plan on an unlocked iPhone is finally possible in America


AT&T new GoPhone data plan is the best news for all travelers to the US in 2010. After years and years of waiting it is finally possible to use your unlocked Iphone, Blackberry, HTC or whatever Data phone you might own.



In October 2010 AT&T launched a new GoPhone service that finally makes sense for short time visitors to use their service while in the US and helps them to avoid the horrendous roaming charges applied by mobile phone companies. Their new $2 a day plan for unlimited talk and text is what we were waiting for since ages. Basically as soon as you make or receive a call you are charged $2, but then the rest of the day you can call or text as much as you want. Sounds pretty good to me. See below for more pricing options.




Once you have chosen a plan that suits your needs all you have to do is walk into an At&T store and ask for the GoPhone Plan.

You can put money on your account based on how long you plan to stay in the US/ how long you want to keep your new US phone number. The different options are the following:

Screen-shot-2010-10-27-at-4.36.46-PM.png


If you also want 3G data on your phone to stay connected when away from WiFi then you will also need to add the $19.99 100MB data plan to your account or pay the 1cent per kb as per your chosen plan.

Screen-shot-2010-10-27-at-4.43.12-PM.png

Now once you get your SIM Card and are connected to the AT&T network all you need to do is to configure your phone with the below settings:

APN: wap.cingular Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1

On the Iphone 4G simply go to Settings/General/Network/Cellular Data Network and fill in the first 3 fields.

Now you are all set to enjoy your iphone abroad and save hundreds of dollars just don't forget to enjoy your holidays!

4 comments:

  1. Aug 18 2011. Hi there, Thanks for the helpful info. However, I just called AT&T and was told that GoPhone plans won't work with my unlocked phone. I'm from Canada and my smartphone's model is LG-P500h (Android). I'll be traveling to the U.S. and staying in California for about 2 1/2 months. Do you have any idea what cell phone services/plans I can use with my own phone? Thanks.

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  2. Hi,

    I only used it on my Iphone so not sure about other smart phones.
    However last December in an AT&T shop in Waikiki they also told me that they can't guarantee it will work with my unlocked phone, that I won't get a refund if it doesn't and so on. Basically tried to talk me out of it. Guess it's one of their policies.
    I just got it anyway and worked like a charm.
    Might be worth to give it a go. Worst case scenario you burned 20 bucks.

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  3. Hi. Is the Iphone GoPhone sim still a working possibility? I just chatted w/ an ATT rep and they told me that they don't support the Iphone or Blackberry. Is that canned info, or does a GoPhone sim work on the Iphone? I don't mind cutting it down to size if it works for me.

    Thanks.

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  4. Hi,

    I think ATT never officially supported the Iphone or Blackberry with their data plans. They gave me the same story back then, but nevertheless everything just worked. I'd say it's still worth giving it a go - obviously depends on your data needs during your stay in the US and your alternatives. I will try it again for sure. No matter what ATT says :-)

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