buying a unlocked iPhone for alltel

Okay I have seen some unlocked iPhones for sale on ebay that claim to work fine with alltel. I have been using a treo 700wx and like to get a iPhone. I don't understand the sim card and how does one get one and how hard is it going to be to get it to work through my alltel service

 

The iPhone is a GSM device. I believe Alltel is primarily CDMA, with some GSM coverage. More information on the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alltel

If you want to use the iPhone, you'll have to get a contract with AT&T or unlock the device for use with T-Mobile.

Here is a good reference for a SIM card. You do not need a SIM for use with CDMA networks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subscriber_Identity_Module

 

The Treo 700wx is a CDMA phone ONLY, and is not compatible with the GSM networks that the iPhone works on. It is unlikely that Alltel has both types of networks in your region, and thereforee not a good idea to purchase any iPhones from an ebay seller claiming that they work fine on other networks.

 

or just get AT&T

 

Plus, I would like to point out that Of all the iPhones I have seen on Ebay, None of them sold for less than normal retail. Most were higher.
Personally, I would recommend buying from Apple or AT&T and getting the 2 year standard warranty, because you probably will not have one with something sold off Ebay.
There is a post on here somewhere where some guys bought an iPhone off the internet on Ebay, and AT&T ended up biling him for the phone again because of some "jacked-up" misunderstanding. I would want to avoid that scenario like the plague.

 

I've never heard of any Alltel areas that used GSM technology, so I don't believe any iPhone will work on Alltel. And don't look for a CDMA version of the iPhone for at least 4.5 more years. At&t has an agreement with Apple for them not to produce a CDMA version for five years.

 

there are some blackberries on alltel that use GSM technology such as the blackberry world edition so if you were to get a blackberry which you have to pay $40 extra a month just to have one you could take out the SIM card and put it in the iPhone after unlocking it and so and so. hope this helps you. but i am not positive that it will work but it does on t-mobile and stuff you just cant go into the store and activate it you have to activate it over the phone.

 

It won't work. The so-called world phones are not tri-band; the only GSM frequency they support is one overseas. You could take the SIM card out and put it in your iPhone. But, you'd have to go oversees for it to work.

 

i have a friend that works on alltel and he might give me a free sim card and then i am going to try it out i will keep you posted.

 

Actually the Pearl supports the same GSM frequency that the iPhone does. N.A. 850 and 1900... So, yeah you can. I should know. I have alltel and the iPhone.

 

Ya I'm having a similar problem, i really don't like alltel but i guess im stuck with it. for a couple months i was hoping to activate my iPhone with alltel, but maybe not... so I'll have to use a dumb alltel phone or pay the early termination fee to switch to AT&T id really liek to avoid this help! thanks

 

How did you get your iPhone on your alltel service?
I would LOVE to be able to do the same
Thanks!

 

I'm have the same issue. I currently have Alltel service, and had an Alltel crappy phone, and my dog broke..well chewed it. So one of my friends has some friends and got me an iPhone that was "unlocked" and claimed it would work with Alltel. Upon receiving the phone, and calling Alltel to try and get the phone registered or whatever so that my cell number works with the phone, they claim they can't do it, something about the IMEI numbers are too long and not compatiable with their system. So any help making this phone work, would rock.

 

Gutsgurl, do you have a SIM card? The iPhone, even when unlocked, requires a SIM card to access a GSM network. If Alltel has a GSM network, then maybe you need to tell them to send you to that department and have them send you a SIM.
Otherwise I believe you are out of luck