re-unlocking an iphone4.. fix booting issues

[dan330]

i need to ask for iphone owners help.
yeah.. i know.. wrong forum. but I am not a member of any iphone forums.

my girlfriend.. she has an iphone4. it is from AT&T.. but she had someone unlock it so that it can be used on T-mobile. I am guessing it is jailbroken too (since it has to be..so you can unlock it, right?)

it is still on ios4.. not sure of the exact version.

the issue is that..
when it reboots or battery dies.. it has a very hard time to get/find T-mobile service. She has to go through a very long procedure when booting up. takes over 5 minutes.. and it still might not work.. and she has to start and reboot.

a friend said.. that it is most likely that the original unlock method used was not a good one. I need to find a better unlock method.
here is one method i found: How To: Unlock the iPhone 3G/3GS/4 on iOS 4 - TheUnlockrTheUnlockr

1. can i assume her phone is jailbroken?
2. has anyone used this method? or have a better method?
3. since, it is already currently unlocked.. what must i do so that i can use a new unlock method? Do i "relock" it, if so what method?
4. once i use the new unlock method.. and assuming it goes well.. do i just put in the sim card.. and it should find service with T-mobile and work?

dont know what else to ask.

thanks,

 

[huh]

yes you can assume that it has been jailbroken.
I think the problem you are having is that t mobile runs on a diff frequency than att. I believe that if you were using any other carrier like sprint or verizon you would not be having this issue.

however you can try to restore it to itunes and then start over ..

there is a website called hackthatphone that has a lot of good info and can walk you through it!
good luck

 

[dan330]

thanks for your response.. but you have confused me more.

iphone 4... you have different versions for carrier radios.
ATT & T-Mobile are on GSM
Verzion and Sprint are on CDMA

................


- so, i should look at restoring the phone back using iTunes.. still jailbroken, but not unlocked.
- then i can use a new unlock method?

question:
restoring using itunes... does that assume she backed it up ..using itunes before the phone was unlocked? that might be an issue, because it was unlocked by someone else; and i do not think she did any backups. She doesnt even know what itunes is!

how does an ATT get unlocked for VW or Sprint??

 

[huh]

sorry for the confusion!
without knowing the method used to unlock the phone, It's harder to be certain what exactly is going on. I know that unlocked iphone 4 is not compatable with tmobiles 3g network and data transmition may run very slow on the company's edge network. Also you will need a micro sym card. you can buy one at tmobile or cut it down yourself.

some questions that might help..

Was the phone originally locked to an ATT contract plan? currently or expired? Also is the application cydia installed on the phone? also

I wouldn't restore it to itunes just yet without knowing what's going on, as you may loose some data if it is not done on the same machine used when activating or backing..

if all else fails...you can always bring in your unlocked phone to tmobile and see what they can do...most employees are pretty cool with helping you out even if it wasnt a factory unlock!

 

[dan330]

Was the phone originally locked to an ATT contract plan? currently or expired? Also is the application cydia installed on the phone? also

I wouldn't restore it to itunes just yet without knowing what's going on, as you may loose some data if it is not done on the same machine used when activating or backing..

if all else fails...you can always bring in your unlocked phone to tmobile and see what they can do...most employees are pretty cool with helping you out even if it wasnt a factory unlock!

i am guessing:

that the phone was on a contract... at ATT.. dont know what happened to that contract.

i dont think there is cydia on her phone... because she only get apps from the appstore.

asking her anything about that phone.. gets a blank stare.. so she does not have a clue of tech stuff. her sister got it for her, and it came this way. sister got it from a friend.... so, it-is-what-it-is kind of thing.