www.CostaRicaTicas.com

A few weeks ago I posted a response to a fellow member and offered to help in anyway to unlock and jailbreak an iPhone to be used in Costa Rica, or for that matter on any compatible network in the world.

The best source I have for you is a series of YouTube videos. I personally have used this source to unlock 3 of my personal iPhones as well as countless others for friends here in Costa Rica.

The user has posted videos on virtually every version of the iPhone as well as virtually every version of the software. If you have or are planning to purchase and iPhone and would like to unlock it make sure you investigate this guy's information on software and modem firmware versions prior to purchase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdWYW0sECpQ

Just fyi, if you use the phone in the states and are on AT&T, and the phone has the 3.1 firmware or newer be careful apple changed some stuff in the latest firmware to combat jailbreaking these. Last I really looked at doing this it was not possible. Granted this was about two months ago. What I was hearing then was if you had the latest firmware and tried attempted to jailbreak the phone it would end up locking up without a way to restore.

I briefly watched this video and he seemed to say not to do it if you were on At&t.

Basically just make sure you know what firmware the phone ha and you use a method that is proven for that version and I guess your home carrier.

If you have successfully done this to a 3GS on At&t I would love to know more.

Bill

I am "technically retarded"..........as in not very tech savvy.

Can anyone give advice regarding buying an unlocked phone (any brand) in the US and using it in Colombia? I primarily just want a phone with a keyboard for texting purposes.

Don't much care about all the other functions.

I want to be able to simply install my Comcel chip and have it function as a phone.

About how much and what is a good site to buy it?

GTG,

Here is a link to the unlocked cell phones at Tiger Direct. All of these will work with your Colombian sim card. Very good prices also ! When I feel like bringing one of my Paisa favoritas a little something this is where I go.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=5117

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Rainman3

I know nothing about the cellular networks in Columbia.
If you are unsure about which frequencies the Columbian cellular networks use then to be safe you should source yourself a quad-band unit. These phones will work on 850/900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies which covers every GSM network on the planet. With the proper SIM you could use the phone anywhere.

eBay always has lots of these phones for sale although I find the auction scene to be frustrating. Here are a few more places to purchase:

http://www.gsmmonster.com

http://www.cellhut.com

http://www.n1wireless.com

How much it will cost depends on the features you cannot live without. A basic phone that can send/receive calls and texts can be had for <$50. The price goes up from there depending on the added features like camera, full keyboard, music player...

If you are willing to play the system, you can sometimes find a quad-band phone for sale on the pay-as-you-go plans from AT&T or T-Mobile. These phones come LOCKED from the carrier but they will usually provide you with the unlock code (if that is what the phone takes to unlock it) after you have been a loyal customer for 3 to 6 months or more.

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Women are like beers. I've never had one that I didn't like. Just some that I like more than others! --Western

Got brave and looked in jailbreaking my 3gs iphone so it can be unlocked and used in other countries. To my knowledge there is no way to just un-lock the iphone without jailbreaking it without the carriers blessing and from what I've read this doesn't seem to be an option with At&t

Presently Blackra1n (blackrain) will jailbreak all 3g series phones and then blacksn0w (blacksnow) will unlock them. Details can be found here: http://www.redmondpie.com/jailbreak-iph ... 1n-zni327/

You will need to backup and update your iphone first. You need to be on 3.1.2 firmware and it should be manually installed via itunes (read the above site) as you do not want to update the base band.

My experiences:

Phone one – 3gs bought early August 09. Worked like a charm, phone continues to work normal. Not yet sure if it will accept another sim card as I am in the US now. Will try it next week in CR assuming I can get a sim card and report back.

Phone two – 3gs new fresh from AT&T store. All worked but the phone is a new release (after mid October 09) which has an update to the bootloader, when jailbroken and the phone is turned off or re-booted it will indicate that the phone needs to be connected to I-Tunes, I-Tunes will indicate the phone needs to be restored. The way around this at this time is to connect it to the PC, close out of I-Tunes and re-run Blackra1n. While this is basically quick and painless in is a PIA to do especially if one is not that computer savy and may not be around a PC regularly. Unfortunately this way won’t work out well for this person so this phone was restored and returned to AT&T…

Undoing this is not that bad, assuming you have a backup of your phone. Just use the reset and remove content feature in the settings screen, do a firmware restore to the phone via I-Tunes, reauthorize and restore from your backup. Some passwords will be lost as well as some e-mails depending on how your e-mail accounts are set up. Some apps may also not retain their settings.

I was unable to find out if there was anything in the works to get past this “tethered re-boot”. So far all that is out there is to connect to a computer and re-run the Blackra1n program.

There is another program used only on Macs to jailbreak the phone, I am not sure if there are different results using that program with these newer phones. I have no access to a Mac.

Will report how the one phone works with a CR SIM card.

Also once jailbroken there is a app on ROCK (ie Rock your phone) that will allow tethering with the latest firmwhere. Saw another app that will make apps think they are on WiFi when they are on 3G or E, a restriction of Skype when making and receiving calls.

Bill

Apple I Phones are a breed apart. It sounds to me like an I Phone owner is sometimes risking all in trying to unlock one of those. Especially the newer models. If you own one and want to unlock it to use in CR or elsewhere, good luck to ya. I hope that all goes well.

Most other cellphones are no where near as difficult to unlock. Many only require an alpha numerical code that is unique to each phone that is entered in that phone to unlock it. Sometimes the owners carrier will provide this code upon request. Otherwise there are several websites where the code can be purchased for $10 to $50. I have not heard of anyone "bricking" their Nokia while attempting to unlock it.

If you've got an I Phone and can't live a day without it, go ahead and unlock it so you can use it in CR. Personally, I prefer to carry something more "disposable" in CR so I won't shed a tear if it gets lost, stolen or broken. The prepago SIM only enables sending and receiving calls and texts so all of the advanced data features of the more sophisticated phones are useless anyhow.

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Women are like beers. I've never had one that I didn't like. Just some that I like more than others! --Western

I don't have one yet but this post caught my attention:

I hear you on that, I watch where I use it in CR, normally in the bars etc. I could live with out it but keeping up with business at home makes it easier to stay away for longer periods.

Even though the ICE service is only for calls and texts, anywhere there is an unlocked Wifi signal data portions of the i-phone will work. Even when the signal is locked many places will give you the code if you ask, HLH, Chubbs .
As I speak very little spanish if I have a wifi link I can communicate with the little darlings who speak no english Isn't technology great...

Bill

If you are referring to the Vonage app, they also make one for Blackberries..

Bill

Yes, he was correct in what he said, however it's really important to remember that this solution only works within an area with WiFi. In addition, you'll have to be using some sort of VOIP phone solution like Vonage or Skype.

If you try to use your iPhone on the local wireless carrier (i.e., ICE), you'll need to Jailbreak it as described above. If not, you will end up being the victim of ATT's crazy international roaming charges for calls and data. Those $600 bills for several days of connection are not a joke.

I still think the best solution by far is to buy a separate unlocked quad-band GSM cell phone and use that internationally with a local SIM chip. Both the Motorola RAZR and the SLVR L7 are quad band and have cameras and can play music. You shouldn't have to pay more than $65 including shipping for an unlocked phone like this.

Then, if necessary, you can bring your U.S. SIM card with you and use it in your new Motorola phone on those occasions when you need to receive calls on that number. I wouldn't even bring an iPhone to CR. Just the SIM chip.

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"All them women gonna make me,
teach 'em what they don't know how..." TMIB

Pardon my ignorance, but......:

What is "jailbreaking"? I just bought a new 3G S iPhone and am bringing it with me next week. I spoke to AT&T and bought one of those international packages for $5.99 p/month which slightly reduces the per minute cost from $2.29 per minute to $1.99 per minute when using the phone in Costa Rica. Incoming text messages are free while outgoing texts are .50 cents per text. I don't plan to use my iPhone for checking e-mail or any sort of internet browsing so my data roaming is turned OFF. I only plan to use it for emergency calls or business related calls (which my company will reimburse me for) and to impress the chicks.. . In any event my only exposure if I've done my homework right is $1.99 p/minute for phone usage. If anyone notices I may have missed something then please advise. Thx.

Jailbreaking is when the phone has been altered via software to operate in ways Apple and the carrier don't want and or support.

Typically it is to install Apps that can't get into the Itunes store, unlock the phone so you can use it on another carrier ie: get a prepaid sim card from ICE while in CR, use tethering which the iphone was designed to do but AT&T still has not implemented, etc.

Go to the Itunes store and download the Vonage Mobile App. Sign up and you will be able to make calls to the US (not receive) via Wifi while in CR for free.

Unless you want to get a CR number to call girls or give them a way to call you I would not worry about jailbreaking the phone. If you just got it most likely it is the latest release which I described above that ends up being a tethered jailbreak.

Also they may not have told you, if you leave your phone on while in another country and it rings and then goes to voice mail you are billed International rates for the duration of the call / message.
I always leave mine in airplane mode for that reason....

Bill

While on International Roaming practically EVERYTHING is at long distance rates. Making local calls is at the $1.99/$2.29 rate but if a local wants to call you it is an international call to your US #. If someone from home calls you, you get nailed for long distance. It really kind of sucks. But if you need to stay in contact for business purposes, and will be reinbursed, no importa.

For me, I don't want to hear from anyone back home while I'm im CR. I'm on vacation! If a friend or family want to make an emergency call to my US cell #, okay, it's an enmergency. For my calls back home, if I REALLY need to, I can use my laptop, a high speed connection and a VOIP application to make a free call.

What is more important to me is to be able to send and receive calls and texts in CR at local rates. That is why I really like the prepago SIMs available now from ICE. I've had a pay-as-you-go (prepago) SIM from the UK for years that I've used in the UK and Europe for years for the same reason. It's about time that ICE got with the program

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Women are like beers. I've never had one that I didn't like. Just some that I like more than others! --Western

From my understanding this is not correct. I am very interested in this because I am buying a friends used iPhone 2G in 2 weeks and I want to unlock it, so I can use it with other services than AT&T and in other countries, but I was hoping not to have to jailbreak it. From my research so far, that is not possible. Basically what I've come across has been that before unlocking your iPhone, you will have to jailbreak it.

If you know anything different I would appreciate if you could post the source so I can look into it further. Thanks.