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U.K. 1.1.2 Unlocked iPhone with O2 Simplicty Tariff and Data Bolt On

CD3660

CD3660

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 6, 2007
5,483
2,797
Cheshire, United Kingdom.
My brother has been admiring my iPhone and would like one himself but is not keen on the O2 iphone tariffs. Who could blame him for that.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has managed to unlock their U.K. 1.1.2 iPhone and is using it successfully with an O2 non-iPhone sim card such as Simplicity 15 which gives 200 minutes and 400 texts per month for £15 and has the option of a data bolt-on (200Mb fair usage limit) for an additional £7.50 per month. This £22.50 per month arrangement would suit him down to the ground.

If you are in this or a similar position I would be grateful if you could post your experiences here.

Does everything except visual voicemail work, e.g. EDGE (when available),
Email, YouTube, Safari, SMS etc?

Have you noticed any downsides such as reliabilty issues?

What method did you use to jailbreak? I'm aware of the tutorial at http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15849 but it all seems very involved and suitable only for computer nerds.

What about http://www.iphoneunlockuk.com/ ? I appreciate that it costs money but if it works and can be achieved without the hassle, it may be worth it.

I'd appreciate your comments.
 
i'm also thinking about getting the simplicity 15 plus the data bolt on. at the moment i have an 02 online pay as you go plus the bolt on. i put £10 on the account and that got me 50 free mins. from that £10 they deducted £7.50 for the bolt. where my arrangement falls down completely is that email doesn't work on pay as you go. and supposedly EDGE doesn't work (not that i can test that as there is no EDGE around this part of london). the GPRS browsing is seriously rubbish.

i followed this guide for activation and jailbreaking: http://modmyifone.com/wiki/index.php/Getting_Started_iPhone_Modding_OS_X_current

and then this one for the pay as you go settings: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/383315/
 
My girlfriend use iPhone + O2 simplicity 15 (200 minutes + 400 text).
Apart from 'Visual Voice Mail' and 'call waiting', all other functions works great. Edge works very good where it is available.

Simplicity allow you 1MB/month of web downloading, so you can enjoy weather, maps, and stock checking which do not require many data downloading.

I use O2 PAYG sim, and everything works same as my girlfriend's one.

O2 website mentioned that 'Call waiting is free for all O2 customers', but by some reason we can't enable it. :mad:
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3B48b Safari/419.3)

metoo6000 said:
My girlfriend use iPhone + O2 simplicity 15 (200 minutes + 400 text).
Apart from 'Visual Voice Mail' and 'call waiting', all other functions works great. Edge works very good where it is available.

Simplicity allow you 1MB/month of web downloading, so you can enjoy weather, maps, and stock checking which do not require many data downloading.

I use O2 PAYG sim, and everything works same as my girlfriend's one.

O2 website mentioned that 'Call waiting is free for all O2 customers', but by some reason we can't enable it. :mad:
Click to expand...

you need to be really, really careful with that 1mb data allowance otherwise you'll blow straight through it and start clocking up some serious data charges. To give you an example, I really only use data via edge during the day as I have wifi at home and the amount of data I've used this week since Monday would have cost me £40 on that tariff. You really need to get a data bolt on or you'll end up with huge bills...
 
Phil A. said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3B48b Safari/419.3)



you need to be really, really careful with that 1mb data allowance otherwise you'll blow straight through it and start clocking up some serious data charges. To give you an example, I really only use data via edge during the day as I have wifi at home and the amount of data I've used this week since Monday would have cost me £40 on that tariff. You really need to get a data bolt on or you'll end up with huge bills...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know I should be careful, so we always watch the EDGE usage in the setting menu, and when the usage is almost reach to allowance we turn off EDGE service. :) Later, if we really feel we need data plan we will go for it.
 
CD3660 said:
Thanks sananda. :)

Just had a look at that, and although it is an involved process, the instructions are clear and nicely illustrated with screenshots.

Did it all go without a hitch?
Click to expand...


i had some problems. after downgrading to 1.1.1, i couldn't get it out of recovery mode. this was because independence wouldn't accept the mobile device framework file mentioned in the guide. i just kept trying and it did it eventually. but i was getting pretty worried!! and then i could get access to the iphone to change the settings for pay and go. the second guide didn't mention installing openssh from installer app, but after i got access.
 
I'm currently on o2 simplicity 20 with the data bolt on and apart from visual voicemail it all works a treat.

took no more than 20 mins to setup.

Its worth it

The iPhone is amazing

Cheers
 
sananda said:
ginsters: i'm thinking about changing to simplicity so that i can get email and EDGE. what sort of EDGE speeds are you getting? try using http://www.inetworktest.com
Click to expand...

Just tried the test and I'm getting 225.7kbps on edge

It works fine if your out and about for emails and basic browsing

I've run up about 10mb in a week and a half

Even the maps work really well

Cheers
 
i've concluded that i'm not getting edge on pay and go. using the test site i posted above the maximum i got is around 120 Kbps. i just went into the apple store and, having turned off wifi, got around 400 Kbps. obviously the test isn't that accurate as these results are above the maximums for both GPRS and edge.

anyway no edge for sananda.
 
sananda said:
i've concluded that i'm not getting edge on pay and go. using the test site i posted above the maximum i got is around 120 Kbps. i just went into the apple store and, having turned off wifi, got around 400 Kbps. obviously the test isn't that accurate as these results are above the maximums for both GPRS and edge.

anyway no edge for sananda.
Click to expand...


Hi, i bought a uk iphone, unlocked it and have it running on a o2 simplicity contract, yes youtube works i was told visual voilcemail does too but havnt tried it yet, i found the whole process really easy to unlock even with limited knowledge of such things my only mistake as that i paid £39.99 for the unlock info from iphoneunlock uk, before you all state that it was on here the reason i did it was that i thought they would supply an automated package that you just ran, but it was basically the same guides that are on here. I am not overly peed off though as i do recieve support in the form of a phoneline - very helpfull actually also they advise of when an update is available after they have tested it and will supply a full unlock for free when available, i know all these points can be obtained for free but i figured that if im gonna spend 3270 on a phone i dont want to load some corrupted files onto it for the sake of £40, anyway i'm pleased to say that the phone is working perfectly, and am really impressed with it, to be honest the price (for me) was neither here nor there cos i just looked at it like - ell if i'm gonna buy a new ipod touch (which i was ) i may as well pay the extra £69 and get a phone. If i was to do it again i'd just unlock it by myself but hey you live and learn
Also i'm super impressed with the speed of edge i live in the south but it seemed way faster than i expected it to be.

If anyone wants to know anything regarding the process please feel free to send me a pm
 
sananda said:
i'm also thinking about getting the simplicity 15 plus the data bolt on.
i followed this guide for activation and jailbreaking: http://modmyifone.com/wiki/index.php/Getting_Started_iPhone_Modding_OS_X_current
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for pointing me in the direction of this excellent step by step guide.

I used this in combination with the tutorial at http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15849 which has a long but useful discussion thread following on from it. I used both to resolve uncertainties when they arose.

I bit the bullet on Thursday afternoon and got down to it with a brand new U.K. iPhone straight out of the box.

I stumbled a couple of times but persevered, and after about two hours I appeared to have completed the task successfully. However I was unable to know for sure as I had to wait until yesterday for a new O2 Simplicity sim card to arrive.

It was quite an anxious wait but when the sim card arrived I popped it in and it worked!

In fact, everything works except for visual voicemail (which I think is pretty overrated anyway). Edge and YouTube work perfectly and I'm feeling very satisfied, if not a little surprised that I managed to do it without messing things up.

Many thanks again!
 
hello people, just wanna check, the 02 data bolt on, that deffo covers the edge costs??

did you setup the edge on your iphones as described in the information as this forum??
 
ollyclio said:
hello people, just wanna check, the 02 data bolt on, that deffo covers the edge costs??

did you setup the edge on your iphones as described in the information as this forum??
Click to expand...
Yes, it covers the EDGE costs. There is a fair usage limit of 200mb per month.

EDGE did not require any special set up - it just worked automatically.
 
When Edge is available on an unlocked iPhone, you are unable to use GPRS. Any one know a way of disabling Edge on a 1.1.2 OTB unlocked UK iPhone?
I know this could be done on earlier firmware models, but the Network menu is different on mine - just settings for VPN (whatever that is), Wi-Fi and Data Roaming.

Have Apple removed this to prevent unlocked phones just using GPRS?

Thanks,

John
 
Johnnn said:
When Edge is available on an unlocked iPhone, you are unable to use GPRS. Any one know a way of disabling Edge on a 1.1.2 OTB unlocked UK iPhone?
I know this could be done on earlier firmware models, but the Network menu is different on mine - just settings for VPN (whatever that is), Wi-Fi and Data Roaming.

Have Apple removed this to prevent unlocked phones just using GPRS?

Thanks,

John
Click to expand...

why would you want to do that?
 
sananda said:
why would you want to do that?
Click to expand...

Because the presence of an Edge signal (reasonably strong around here) stops the iPhone using GPRS. The phone accesses in the order:

1.WiFi
2.Edge
3.GPRS

If no WiFi signal is present, but there is an Edge signal, it tries to log on to Edge, discovers the iPhone cannot use Edge as it is unlocked ( ie it's not supported by the pay as you go SIM) and stops at that stage with a 'Could not activate Edge. You are not subscibed to Edge.' signal. It does not move on to access GPRS.

So without a WiFi signal to log onto I cannot check Mail or use Safari.
That's why I want to turn Edge off, but leave GPRS on. At home and work I can log on to WiFi, so I only need occassional GPRS use - probably not enough to justify taking a Simplicity contact with a Web bolt on.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
John
 
I have a UK iPhone 1.1.2, and I've used the methods on the hackint0sh forum to activate and jailbreak it - it isn't as difficult as it sounds. Of course, it's still locked to O2.

I was using it with a Tesco pay-as-you-go SIM initially, but decided to switch to O2 to get the roaming data. So I went for the £15/month pay-monthly SIM option, which works fine with EDGE (no special set-up required).

Problem is that email can put you way over your 1MB free monthly data allowance very quickly (especially with push enabled), so I think the only sensible thing to do is buy the 200MB/month £7.50/month web bolt-on (which I haven't done yet). Either that or disable email push and be very careful about using email and web surfing away from your home Wi-Fi! I can't see any easy way of controlling (i.e. enabling/disabling) mobile data access - is there?

Has anyone tried their hacked iPhone on a free MacDonalds Wi-Fi network yet? This is run by The Cloud, but presumably will still work without the standard £35/month iPhone contract that includes free The Cloud Wi-Fi access anywhere?
 
Johnnn said:
Because the presence of an Edge signal (reasonably strong around here) stops the iPhone using GPRS. The phone accesses in the order:

1.WiFi
2.Edge
3.GPRS

If no WiFi signal is present, but there is an Edge signal, it tries to log on to Edge, discovers the iPhone cannot use Edge as it is unlocked ( ie it's not supported by the pay as you go SIM) and stops at that stage with a 'Could not activate Edge. You are not subscibed to Edge.' signal. It does not move on to access GPRS.

So without a WiFi signal to log onto I cannot check Mail or use Safari.
That's why I want to turn Edge off, but leave GPRS on. At home and work I can log on to WiFi, so I only need occassional GPRS use - probably not enough to justify taking a Simplicity contact with a Web bolt on.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
John
Click to expand...

i'm using an o2 pay and go sim, and safari works fine on GPRS.

rstubbs1 said:
Has anyone tried their hacked iPhone on a free MacDonalds Wi-Fi network yet? This is run by The Cloud, but presumably will still work without the standard £35/month iPhone contract that includes free The Cloud Wi-Fi access anywhere?
Click to expand...

i did pop into a mcdonalds a couple of weeks ago and while there surfed with my iphone.

i don't have the o2 iphone contract and the macdonalds wifi is free to everyone.
 
anyone knows if you can port your existing O2 contract's number to a simplicity tariff?
 
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