Virgin mobile question?

jcmitchell5

jcmitchell5

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My friend wants to purchase an iPhone 4 that is unlocked. Will he be able to use it on Virgin mobile? I have researched and have found very different answers. I know the people in this forum are full of info so I figured I would ask. Thanks in advance!
 
Europa

Europa

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jcmitchell5 said:
My friend wants to purchase an iPhone 4 that is unlocked. Will he be able to use it on Virgin mobile? I have researched and have found very different answers. I know the people in this forum are full of info so I figured I would ask. Thanks in advance!
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No. Virgin Mobile is CDMA and an unlocked iPhone 4 would be GSM. Your friend could use T-Mobile, though.
 
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Bambamone3

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Ok you have been misinformed some. AT&T does use GSM so you won't be able to use it on Virgin Mobile. However Verizon and Sprint use CDMA which can be unlocked and used on Virgin Mobile. VM uses Sprint's network anyway. And Verizon had the iPhone 4. Secondly AT&T is higher than VM but remember VM will cap you also on data if you go over 3gb. And that says a lot because Sprints network is pretty slow with the iPhone as is(well in the Chicagoland area anyway) so you phone will basically be a brick if they cap you. But I've had Verizon and there extremely high compared to AT&T.
 
Europa

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Bambamone3 said:
Ok you have been misinformed some. AT&T does use GSM so you won't be able to use it on Virgin Mobile. However Verizon and Sprint use CDMA which can be unlocked and used on Virgin Mobile. VM uses Sprint's network anyway. And Verizon had the iPhone 4. Secondly AT&T is higher than VM but remember VM will cap you also on data if you go over 3gb. And that says a lot because Sprints network is pretty slow with the iPhone as is(well in the Chicagoland area anyway) so you phone will basically be a brick if they cap you. But I've had Verizon and there extremely high compared to AT&T.
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The CDMA phones (Sprint and Verizon) can be unlocked and used on GSM networks but not other CDMA networks.

You can't use an unlocked GSM iPhone 4 on a CDMA network. They only work on GSM networks since they don't have a CDMA radio chip.
 
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L.I. Bruce Fan

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I thought all U.S. 4s were the same model (i.e. included both GSM and CDMA radios on all frequencies used here in the U.S.). I know this was not the case with the 4, nor is it so with the new 5.

So why can't an AT&T unlocked 4s be used on the Sprint/VM CDMA network if the hardware is present?
 
Europa

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L.I. Bruce Fan said:
I thought all U.S. 4s were the same model (i.e. included both GSM and CDMA radios on all frequencies used here in the U.S.). I know this was not the case with the 4, nor is it so with the new 5.

So why can't an AT&T unlocked 4s be used on the Sprint/VM CDMA network if the hardware is present?
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The hardware isn't present. All AT&T and factory unlocked iPhones (including the 4S) are GSM phones. They don't have CDMA chips.
 
Mthoroughbred

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iPhones on Sprint and Verizon (CDMA do not use SIM cards ) that are unlocked can only be used with networks that use a SIM card which are GSM networks like AT&T and T-mobile in the U.S. GSM network is also the most commonly used network in the world. With that said if you buy an unlock iPhone from Verizon it will not work with Sprint and vice versa.
 
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