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iPhone can be used with Sprint or Verizon data card??

M

mike147

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 8, 2010
3
0
I am currently on Sprint right now, and am on a family contract, however the prices and coverage are two good to pass up. We have 2000 shared minutes, unlimited text, web, and navigation for five lines for $205.

Plus I have never gotten a dropped call.

the iPhone however is the most stable phone I have ever used. It is the most fun to use, and the apps/games is unparalleled to any other phone, the music player is awesome. I have the HTC Hero, and android is cool but it is not smooth, its still buggy, and 2.1 is cool but it doesn't add that much more functionality at all. Plus the iPhone has a bigger scree, much bigger app/game selection, and the best virtual keyboard ever.

I have friends that use the iPhone and all they get are dropped calls and missed or late texts. Not to mention unlimited texting with 450 minutes and web, will cost you roughly $100, so its not worth it.

However I have read about Google Voice, and how it is available on safari, because apple rejected it in the app store. If it doesn't work as it should I am sure their is a version you can download from cydia, if you jailbreak.

Anyway I believe that because I am a sprint premier costumer I can get a 3G/4G data card for unlimited data for either $20 or $30 a month. As I read Google Voice on the iPhone gives you unlimited Texts/Calls (incoming and Outgoing.) The Sprint or Verizon card appears as a WI-FI device. So If I were to jailbreak the iPhone (without a sim card) I would have to carry the Sprint card which is very thin, and ideal to carry around, I can use google voice on the iPhone as a phone, I could text, call, and surf the Web very cheap and on Sprint (or Verizon's) coverage. Would this work. Also if it does as long as I am connected to the wi-fi (Sprint data card) would I be able to get live incoming calls using google voice, or only make calls?
 
Sigh

good luck with that if you can you will be the only customer that can! Sprint Verizon use CDMA AT&T T-Mobile GSM and there are thousands of threads that will explain more of why you can's even if you are the CEO of Sprint!
 
Google Voice is not VOIP - it does not work over wi-fi only like Skype or other VOIP services, so you could not use it as you've described for voice calls. (Plus, you'd need to carry around a laptop to create a wifi hotspot with your 3G card anyway, right? Unless you get a MiFi that is capable of creating a wifi hotspot on its own.)

Google Voice simply gives you a single number through which you can route all of your phone calls (and the service will ring your home, cell, work, and any other phone) so you can choose which one to pick up (or call from). Google Voice calls on a cell phone still use your minutes and require a cellular connection.

You will be able to send and receive SMS messages over wi-fi only through the Google Voice web portal in Safari since this is just using the web.
 
Thanks for the above post. I meant a Mi-fi card So technically if i keep my sprint phone I can use the iPhone with google voice at home (which has wifi).

So will me using my cell phone number use my Sprint minutes, or Just my number.

to the first poster I did not mean sprint or Verizon to use alone, becasue I know it is CDMA and AT&T is GSM. They are completely incompatible.
 
mike147 said:
I am currently on Sprint right now, and am on a family contract, however the prices and coverage are two good to pass up. We have 2000 shared minutes, unlimited text, web, and navigation for five lines for $205.

Plus I have never gotten a dropped call.

the iPhone however is the most stable phone I have ever used. It is the most fun to use, and the apps/games is unparalleled to any other phone, the music player is awesome. I have the HTC Hero, and android is cool but it is not smooth, its still buggy, and 2.1 is cool but it doesn't add that much more functionality at all. Plus the iPhone has a bigger scree, much bigger app/game selection, and the best virtual keyboard ever.

I have friends that use the iPhone and all they get are dropped calls and missed or late texts. Not to mention unlimited texting with 450 minutes and web, will cost you roughly $100, so its not worth it.

However I have read about Google Voice, and how it is available on safari, because apple rejected it in the app store. If it doesn't work as it should I am sure their is a version you can download from cydia, if you jailbreak.

Anyway I believe that because I am a sprint premier costumer I can get a 3G/4G data card for unlimited data for either $20 or $30 a month. As I read Google Voice on the iPhone gives you unlimited Texts/Calls (incoming and Outgoing.) The Sprint or Verizon card appears as a WI-FI device. So If I were to jailbreak the iPhone (without a sim card) I would have to carry the Sprint card which is very thin, and ideal to carry around, I can use google voice on the iPhone as a phone, I could text, call, and surf the Web very cheap and on Sprint (or Verizon's) coverage. Would this work. Also if it does as long as I am connected to the wi-fi (Sprint data card) would I be able to get live incoming calls using google voice, or only make calls?
Click to expand...

I've thought of doing this as well... You can download SIP clients for VOIP calls on the iPhone. Look into Gizmo5. It offers compatibility with Google Voice as well. Then if you have a good SIP client (may have to buy one) you can use that as your phone. I wouldn't really rely on this as my only device though...

I'd recommend an iTouch and a Sprint Hero. You can root your Hero and install a Wifi Tethering app so you can feed 3G to your iTouch.

I thought about doing this a couple months ago (instead of iTouch I was going to use my 3G without a SIM), but I didn't because it was going to be too much as hassle to break my AT&T contract.
 
mike147 said:
Thanks for the above post. I meant a Mi-fi card So technically if i keep my sprint phone I can use the iPhone with google voice at home (which has wifi).

So will me using my cell phone number use my Sprint minutes, or Just my number.

to the first poster I did not mean sprint or Verizon to use alone, becasue I know it is CDMA and AT&T is GSM. They are completely incompatible.
Click to expand...

Again, you won't be able to do any voice calls on an iPhone without a SIM card and associated active cellular account. Here's how Google Voice works:
  1. You get a Google Voice number assigned to you when you get an account.
  2. You designate which phone numbers Google Voice should ring when you receive a call (home, office, cell, etc.).
  3. Someone calls your Google Voice number.
  4. Google Voice then rings all of the phone numbers you've designated in step 2. An iPhone without a SIM card does not have a phone number, so it won't ring (nor can it make any outgoing calls). A wi-fi connection only does not give an iPhone a working phone number that Google Voice can ring or accept connection requests from.
  5. The end.
 
r6girl said:
Again, you won't be able to do any voice calls on an iPhone without a SIM card and associated active cellular account. Here's how Google Voice works:
  1. You get a Google Voice number assigned to you when you get an account.
  2. You designate which phone numbers Google Voice should ring when you receive a call (home, office, cell, etc.).
  3. Someone calls your Google Voice number.
  4. Google Voice then rings all of the phone numbers you've designated in step 2. An iPhone without a SIM card does not have a phone number, so it won't ring (nor can it make any outgoing calls). A wi-fi connection only does not give an iPhone a working phone number that Google Voice can ring or accept connection requests from.
  5. The end.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification. Their are VOIP's on the appstore are their any that are cheap that could work without a sim card, but over WIFI?
 
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