need help with iphone 3gs please!!

jessie2sexy · May 22, 2012

I just recently bought a used at&t iphone 3gs 16gig. I was planning on using it as my phone, so I put my sim card in it and it goes through some set up where I have to select a language then country then connect to wifi and it tries to activate, however it never activates and tells me to try activating it through iTunes, so when i put i plug it into my computer and iTunes finally recognizes it, it says that there is not a sim card in the phone, although there is indeed a sim card in it. Much help would be appreciated as I do not know very much about thise phones and I spent $125 for it.

XamDam · May 22, 2012

Is the sim card a AT&T sim card?

If not then it will not activate as the phone is locked to AT&T

If the sim card is from AT&T then call them up and make sure the sim
has been activated on your account.

You bought a used iphone 3gs which is locked to AT&T if so then you need to
unlock it or use AT&T's service.

Now if the phone is unlocked and you have an active AT&T sim card
then i would say the sim is no good.

zig9449 · May 22, 2012

jessie2sexy said:
I just recently bought a used at&t iphone 3gs 16gig. I was planning on using it as my phone, so I put my sim card in it and it goes through some set up where I have to select a language then country then connect to wifi and it tries to activate, however it never activates and tells me to try activating it through iTunes, so when i put i plug it into my computer and iTunes finally recognizes it, it says that there is not a sim card in the phone, although there is indeed a sim card in it. Much help would be appreciated as I do not know very much about thise phones and I spent $125 for it.

$125 is a good price if the phone was in good condition.

You failed to mention what carrier you are using. Are you with AT&T?

If not then you cannot just activate an iPhone without the official AT&T SIM card without some trickery.

What carrier are you trying to activate to phone with..and also make sure the phone is not marked with a bad ECID...you call AT&T for that.

I think it's the ECID anyway. I know stolen iPhones can be marked stolen and won't be able to be activated or something like that.

jessie2sexy · May 22, 2012

I am trying to set it up with straight talk through a compatible at&t sim card.

zig9449 · May 22, 2012

jessie2sexy said:
I am trying to set it up with straight talk through a compatible at&t sim card.

Are you using an AT&T SIM or the Straight Talk SIM?

XamDam · May 22, 2012

Some info i found in google:

The plan is cheap too. For $45 a month you get unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data with no contracts and no credit checks. So you can bring over any AT&T iPhone 4 that is no longer in a contract (it does NOT need to be unlocked or jailbroken!), and you’ll still be using the AT&T or T-Mobile network with 3G data (for better or worse). You’ll need the $45 a month plan card to activate the SIM. I read some rumors about slow data speeds but others say it’s fine. I do doubt it’s really “unlimited” if you are an especially heavy data user. But for casual users, this would look to supplant the Sprint Employee EPRP plan as the cheapest iPhone plan with unlimited text and data available.

-----------

So if that phone you bought is still listed on an active account with
AT&T chances are the prepaid is not going to work.

I suggest calling AT&T up and tell them you bought this phone used
and would like to know if it still on an active account or has been listed as stolen.

Now if its on active account you might have to pay that account off or wait till it is.

My other sugesstion is to call up straight talk and talk with them to see what can be done
on their behalf.

Or

Just go get an AT&T account.

zig9449 · May 22, 2012

XamDam said:
Some info i found in google:

The plan is cheap too. For $45 a month you get unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data with no contracts and no credit checks. So you can bring over any AT&T iPhone 4 that is no longer in a contract (it does NOT need to be unlocked or jailbroken!), and you’ll still be using the AT&T or T-Mobile network with 3G data (for better or worse). You’ll need the $45 a month plan card to activate the SIM. I read some rumors about slow data speeds but others say it’s fine. I do doubt it’s really “unlimited” if you are an especially heavy data user. But for casual users, this would look to supplant the Sprint Employee EPRP plan as the cheapest iPhone plan with unlimited text and data available.

-----------

So if that phone you bought is still listed on an active account with
AT&T chances are the prepaid is not going to work.

I suggest calling AT&T up and tell them you bought this phone used
and would like to know if it still on an active account or has been listed as stolen.

Now if its on active account you might have to pay that account off or wait till it is.

My other sugesstion is to call up straight talk and talk with them to see what can be done
on their behalf.

Or

Just go get an AT&T account.

I think we know that here...thanks for sharing...but I'm just trying to find why in the heck the phone wouldn't activate with the SIM...

It's beat to actually activate the SIM card on the net, then put in the phone...them it works instantly...calling and Sam does anyway.

jessie2sexy · May 22, 2012

How could they tell if was still on an account because there is no way for them to know which iphone it is.

XamDam · May 22, 2012

jessie2sexy said:
How could they tell if was still on an account because there is no way for them to know which iphone it is.

By the serial number and or the IMEI number of the phone in which both info can be found under settings>general>about

jessie2sexy · May 22, 2012

i cant get to the settings on the phone because the furtherest it will go is to the activation screen, i have uploaded a picture of what it says

XamDam · May 22, 2012

Oh i forgot about you were trying to activate it.

Ok do you have the original box it comes with?
It will have that info on it.

If not then all i can suggest is bring to AT&T and see if they can activate it, meaning you may have to get a pre-paid pla
From them, but so what as it is pay as you go.

I am really am thinking it is on an account still.

Then go with that sim you have afterwards.

Or

Call straight talk to see what they can do.

zig9449 · May 22, 2012

XamDam said:
Oh i forgot about you were trying to activate it.

Ok do you have the original box it comes with?
It will have that info on it.

If not then all i can suggest is bring to AT&T and see if they can activate it, meaning you may have to get a pre-paid pla
From them, but so what as it is pay as you go.

I am really am thinking it is on an account still.

Then go with that sim you have afterwards.

Or

Call straight talk to see what they can do.

You don't have to get a prepaid plan to have AT&T unlock it. I'd the phone is not on contract then then they will unlock it, to use with whatever you want.