Unlocking the iPhone
by rborroto
on
Sep 16, 2007 at 1:23:44 pm
Has anyone used the new application SimFree to unlock your iPhone? What were your results? Was it simple or difficult, and what were the specific steps you took to achieve success?
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Ron Lindeboom on Sep 16, 2007 at 10:31:48 pm
I sure wouldn't do it. Not unless I could afford to do it as an experiment where I didn't worry about ending up with a brain-dead unit.
Also, I have been hearing from some people I trust who tell me that the deal with AT&T was just for a year's exclusivity and once the year passes, it will automatically end up rolling with other carriers. I hope it plays out that way as AT&T totally sucks. I have never been on a system that loses signal, gets lousy reception strength, etc.
If Verizon ends up being able to carry it, it would be a far better provider. Sure, I doubt that they'd do the $59 deal that AT&T does but at least it would be a lot better system. It's the ole "You Get What You Pay For" thingie, I guess.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by zrb123 on Sep 17, 2007 at 2:25:07 am
[Ron Lindeboom]"I hope it plays out that way as AT&T totally sucks. I have never been on a system that loses signal, gets lousy reception strength, etc. "
Really I have had excellent reception and coverage with AT&T. Even while travailing to see family in Idaho, I was expecting to get poor signal, but I had full bars, or nearly full bars the whole time.
THe only bad service I have had from AT&T was bad customer service in their stores. But with the iPhone you don't even need to go to one of their stores.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Ron Lindeboom on Sep 17, 2007 at 4:47:56 pm
My sister and I were trying to talk on the phone when I was traveling through southern California in major metropolitan areas and it kept dropping calls. I think we must have had to call each other back about three times during a single call.
It got so bad that I had to call AT&T and they referred me to an Apple rep who told me to activate 'aircraft mode' for 10 to 15 seconds and then turn it off. That helped but it still drops calls and gets lousy reception.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Mitch Ives on Sep 19, 2007 at 3:08:34 am
[Ron Lindeboom]"My sister and I were trying to talk on the phone when I was traveling through southern California in major metropolitan areas and it kept dropping calls. I think we must have had to call each other back about three times during a single call.
It got so bad that I had to call AT&T and they referred me to an Apple rep who told me to activate 'aircraft mode' for 10 to 15 seconds and then turn it off. That helped but it still drops calls and gets lousy reception."
That's the iPhone, not AT&T. I'm in southern California monthly and never have any issues with AT&T...
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Ron Lindeboom on Sep 19, 2007 at 7:33:58 am
[Mitch Ives]"That's the iPhone, not AT&T. I'm in southern California monthly and never have any issues with AT&T..."
I wouldn't know, as it is my first time ever being on Cingular/AT&T and I would have thought that Apple would not have released the iPhone with such crappy reception capabilities.
I never knew what a dropped call was until I got an iPhone.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Robert on Sep 18, 2007 at 3:40:52 am
Ron,
I couldn't agree with you more, I bought a IPhone from AT&T I had to take it back cause it was defective, So I told them I wanted another phone that worked (This was 2 days later) They told me that there would be a 10% restocking fee. How can you restock a defective phone. If anybody wants a IPhone I would urge them to get it from Apple.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Mitch Ives on Sep 19, 2007 at 3:05:30 am
[Ron Lindeboom]"I hope it plays out that way as AT&T totally sucks. I have never been on a system that loses signal, gets lousy reception strength, etc.
If Verizon ends up being able to carry it, it would be a far better provider. Sure, I doubt that they'd do the $59 deal that AT&T does but at least it would be a lot better system. It's the ole "You Get What You Pay For" thingie, I guess.
"
Ron, you need to really be careful with that statement. I've had a cel phone for 22 years so I feel qualified to speak of such things. Where I live, Verizon sucks. There is no other word for it. Cingular, now AT&T has only dropped one call in 2 years... it was an almost daily occurence with Verizon. More importantly, I'm all over the country, as well as Canada and Mexico, where reception is good. Verizon is a door stop outside the U.S. This is freakin huge and makes Verizon a part time cel phone company. Their rates are also uncompetitive. Changing from Verizon to Cingular, now AT&T was the single best business decision I've made in a decade.
In all fairness, it appears that the iPhone is not particularly good reception wise. This is why I don't want to part with my Blackberry. It is hands down the best phone I've had in 22 years. I routinely maker calls where no one else can. I'd wager that 10% of my minutes are spent giving the phone to someone else who can't get reception...
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Ron Lindeboom on Sep 19, 2007 at 7:39:36 am
Where I live, Verizon blows the doors off of AT&T and when I was on Verizon, I traveled the country and had great reception -- including southern California, where you live. Been all through the south, midwest and the New England area and never had a dropped call in probably four or five years.
That said, Verizon has crappy customer service and is one of the reasons why I left them to go to Cingular/AT&T.
Re: Unlocking the iPhone by Mitch Ives on Sep 19, 2007 at 12:34:20 pm
I thinks so much of network satisfaction is the phone. I had Verizon for over a decade and I had issues all over the country even with a good phone. Even so, it was better than most.
I have always chosen my phone carefully, which is why my phone will frequently make a call when others (on the same network) can't get out. I currently use a BB 8700c. Best phone (reception wise) I have ever had. Owners of the new BB Pearl don't seem to be as happy.
You have to admit that the iPhone has set a new bar for features and hardware. Given all it does, and the increased RF inside, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some compromise on phone reception. Perhaps in time this will change. I know Apple has a patent on special plastic to allow increased reception through the case...
