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Gryfon19

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 27, 2007
164
0
I currently have an AT&T iPhone 3G and will be moving to the UK in a few weeks. I'm attached to my phone and would like to continue using it while I'm there on a carrier in the UK. Do I need to unlock the phone in order to use it there? If so, what networks am I limited to? I suppose I will be doing a month-to-month plan. Frankly, I don't use a lot of minutes or texts so that may play a role in who has the least expensive plan with "unlimited" data and a small amount of minutes/texts. Thanks!
 
I currently have an AT&T iPhone 3G and will be moving to the UK in a few weeks. I'm attached to my phone and would like to continue using it while I'm there on a carrier in the UK. Do I need to unlock the phone in order to use it there? If so, what networks am I limited to? I suppose I will be doing a month-to-month plan. Frankly, I don't use a lot of minutes or texts so that may play a role in who has the least expensive plan with "unlimited" data and a small amount of minutes/texts. Thanks!

Use the Dev Teams app to unlock the iPhone - although I believe you can't do this on the new MacBooks, MacBook Pro's and Airs - but I could be wrong.

Then, when you get to the UK, since you're new and don't have residency (?) its unlikely you'll get a contract (I don't think, unless you pay a hefty deposit) so you can buy any Pay As You Go sim card and it'll work.

Just don't wonder into an Apple or O2 store and flash an unlocked iPhone around :rolleyes:
 
Haha, thanks. I had the original iPhone unlocked so I'm well aware of the idiots who waltzed into Apple demanding a new phone when theirs broke because they tried upgrading an unlocked/jailbroken phone.

I don't guess I will have residency (3 year UK work permit only), so it sounds like the Pay as You Go plan will be my only option (does that mean Monthly is not an option?). As far as carriers, is O2 the way to go? Thanks again.
 
Haha, thanks. I had the original iPhone unlocked so I'm well aware of the idiots who waltzed into Apple demanding a new phone when theirs broke because they tried upgrading an unlocked/jailbroken phone.

I don't guess I will have residency (3 year UK work permit only), so it sounds like the Pay as You Go plan will be my only option (does that mean Monthly is not an option?). As far as carriers, is O2 the way to go? Thanks again.

On a 3 year work permit they might let you - I'm not sure.

They might ask for a deposit or something - it could range from £100 to £500.

As for overall best network, I'll only use O2 and T-Mobile. By far the best customer service.
 
Once you have a UK address (I guess you will as you're staying for 3 years), you can get a monthly contract like O2's Simplicity tariff. Buying it online gets you the best deals and your SIM arrives in the post. No-one cares about your immigration status as long as you can pay.

You can get unlimited data for £7 per month on top of paying £10-£20 for your bundle of minutes and texts.

(Note: calling the USA will be expensive, and won't be included in your calls bundle. There are much cheaper ways to do that from a landline)

But you do need to unlock your AT&T phone to use it on a UK network, by using the Dev Team's YellowSn0w unlock. And that means you must not have updated to 2.2.1, which you can't unlock.
 
Once you have a UK address (I guess you will as you're staying for 3 years), you can get a monthly contract like O2's Simplicity tariff. Buying it online gets you the best deals and your SIM arrives in the post. No-one cares about your immigration status as long as you can pay.

You can get unlimited data for £7 per month on top of paying £10-£20 for your bundle of minutes and texts.

Can you do me a huge favor and post a link to where I can find those rates on the O2 website? I'm afraid I can't find them...

Thanks.
 
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