[Update 3] Well, that didn’t take long. Two days after we bought our iPhones, I was able to find an online reseller who was providing the iPhoneSimFree unlock service without any delays. We went with FreeOuriPhones.com, a European reseller who was listed as an iPhoneSimFree authorized reseller. Within minutes of sending off my PayPal payment of $59.99US, including my iPhone’s IMEI number in the PayPal notes, I received an email back with a link to the iPhoneSimFree software and instructions for installing and performing the unlock. The email catered to Windows users, but the reseller was quite helpful when I asked Mac specific questions, responding to my emails within minutes each time.
As stated on many other blogs already, the process requires you to have already jailbreaked (jailbroken?) and activated your iPhone. I recommend using iNdependence version 1.2 (or newer) to accomplish this, as well as updating the firmware of the iPhone to the latest 1.0.2 version. Then you copy the SimFree application to your iPhone’s /Applications folder using whatever method you prefer (iNdependence offers this functionality, but I used SFTP myself), install your new SIM card, run the SimFree app and press the Apple logo that appears on the screen. The actual unlocking process takes 2-3 minutes, and the software keeps you informed of it’s process quite nicely. Once it’s done, it will inform you that your phone was unlocked successfully, but you’ll have to re-activate your new SIM card using iNdependence before you can start using it.
Once you’ve done all of that, you will be able to make and receive calls, send/receive text messages, and even use EDGE internet access, once you’ve entered your carrier’s specific APN server, username and password in the appropriate fields under Settings–>General–>Network–>EDGE. For Rogers, these are:
- APN: internet.com
Username: wapuser1
Password: wap
Also note that you may have to upgrade your SIM card, if it’s an older one. Rogers recommended a SIM card version of 8930 2720 4000 or greater. If you have problems, check to see if your SIM is an older one.
So what doesn’t work? Visual voicemail, which is an AT&T specific feature, but you do get standard voicemail notifications, and tapping the voicemail icon on the Phone screen will automatically call your provider’s voicemail number. The YouTube app also doesn’t work, which is a known issue for which there is apparently a workaround. Otherwise, it’s functioning as one would expect, and functioning well. A word of caution to Rogers customers though: Rogers data rates are VERY expensive. These are the rates I was quoted by Rogers on the phone:
-
Rogers Mobile Internet Data Plans:
$5/month for 5MB combined upload and download, 3¢/KB thereafter
$10/month for 10MB combined upload and download, 3¢/KB thereafter
- Rogers MyMail Email Data Plans:
$15/month for 1.5MB combined upload and download, $21/MB prorated thereafter
$25/month for 3MB combined upload and download, $10/MB prorated thereafter
$40/month for 7MB combined upload and download, $6/MB prorated thereafter
$60/month for 25MB combined upload and download, $7/MB prorated thereafter
$100/month for 200MB combined upload and download, $5/MB prorated thereafter
$210/month for 500MB combined upload and download, $5/MB prorated thereafter
To give you an idea of how much data certain features use, I checked the weather for 4 cities using the Weather widget, and updating the Stocks widget for 5 stocks used up 14KB of combined data (5KB upload and 9KB download). Not too bad, then I loaded two web pages, one from a forum post on ehmac.ca, and then the home page of the Art Of Geek blog. The usage jumped to 347KB (29KB upload and 318KB download). I signed up for the $10/10MB Mobile Internet plan, which appear to be the best value, provided you don’t go over your limit in a month since each extra MB will cost you $30. Ouch! Checking and receiving about 40 emails added another couple hundred KB to the usage, most likely because the iPhone has a full mail client which downloads all the new emails rather than just mail headers like some other smart-phones do. It’s clear that Apple intends users to have an unlimited data plan like that offered by AT&T, as they haven’t gifted iPhone with many features to help the user limit data use such as only downloading headers in Mail, or disabling the loading of images on web pages in Safari. So anyone planning on using an iPhone on Rogers in Canada should be conscious about what features they’re using and whether they are connected to EDGE or a free WiFi network.
I was fully aware of these issues when I decided to buy the iPhone, and had it not had WiFi built-in, this would have been a deal-breaker for me. But all this isn’t new to anyone who has an internet enabled smart-phone in Canada. I had the same issues to contend with on my previous mobile phone, a Nokia E61, which also had WiFi. But the iPhone’s larger, higher resolution screen, and far superior desktop-like web browser, email and Google Maps clients make the iPhone a far more useful and capable mobile internet device than the Nokia E61, which was considerably slower and woefully underpowered, occasionally unable to load certain web pages due to lack of memory. In contrast, the iPhone loads full emails with inline images and browses complex web pages very efficiently, even over the Rogers EDGE network.
I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more iPhones roaming the streets of Canadian cities in the weeks to come. The Rogers rep I spoke to on the phone said I was the third person he had spoken to this morning. This is likely to grow since Apple slashed the price by a third and affordable software unlocking becomes widely publicized. In fact, just today, news broke about a free software unlock solution having been released, available here. I knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen, but certainly didn’t expect it just a day or two after the iPhoneSimFree solution was released. Had I known, I could have saved the $64CDN I paid to have my phone unlocked. Thus is the price of early adoption, and it’s a price that I was not only fully prepared to pay, but in my opinion, was worth every penny.
Update 1 – 9/16/2007, 12:01 am: added the $100 and $210 Rogers data plans to the list of plans. Thanks to DataGridDotRedraw for providing the info.
Update 2 – 9/16/2007, 6:33 pm: added the $5 and $10 Rogers “Mobile Internet” plans to the list and updated the article to indicate I’ve signed up for the $10/10MB plan.
Update 3 – 10/4/2007, 11:10 pm: I’ve been reading on the ehMac forums that Rogers has a $65/1GB data package which was originally intended for PC Card cellular modems but is being offered to iPhone customers. This is the first package that seems somewhat realistic if you want to use the iPhone’s capabilities to it’s fullest. I’m tempted, but just can’t justify spending that much just for mobile data. When added to a voice plan, that would push my monthly cell phone bill over $100. If/when it drops down to below $40, I’ll probably jump all over it.
Thanks for the great article. I am just going to be using my iPhone when wifi is available but I do think my SIM card is older then 8930 2720 4000. Am I going to have any problems using the phones features or does this just effect the EDGE network which I don’t want to use anyway.
@brandon
I think the January rumor has been confirmed as fake, unfortunately. The waiting continues! If you’re getting an iPhone, I’d forego signing any contract, and just buy the SIM card on it’s own. It’ll cost you $25, but you may be able to get them to throw it in for free when you sign up for a new phone number. If you have a family member who is looking for a cheap free replacement phone and you’re willing to help them out by signing a contract, then go that route and give them the phone.
@saul
You should be fine. Worst case scenario, you find out something doesn’t work like your voicemail notification or something, and you just take a quick trick to a Rogers dealer and get a new SIM card for $25. Not worth stressing over.
Thanks!
I hv an unlocked iPhone running 1.0.2. I am really anxious to upgrade to at least 1.1.1 since the upgrade improved the ringing and volume. However I don’t know what software was used to unlock my phone. Would you hv any recommendation as to whether I should take the risk to upgrade? I am afraid it might brick the phone! Any comment is appreciated.
@Brian
You might want to try installing iPhoneSimFree (the commercial software unlock) and try to run it. If your iPhone was originally unlocked using this method, it should run since your IMEI number will already be registered with their servers as having a license to use the software. If your IMEI gets rejected, then this means your iPhone was most likely NOT unlocked using iPhoneSimFree, in which case, it was one of the free unlock solutions that had a problem with the 1.1.1 update. In this case, the hacker community has from recollection released a virginizing tool that will repair the damage that the original unlock did. Alternatively, purchase a license for iPhoneSimFree and use it to re-unlock your phone. Their website says
At least this way you’d know going forward which unlock solution your iPhone has. It will cost you a bit of money, probably $60-$70, but that’s small change for the peace of mind and an easier solution. Good luck, and please post back with your results!
Hi Madgunde:
Appreciate yr quick response and the advice. Will certainly consider trying iphonesimfree and advise the outcome. Thanks again!
Hi,great page.
I’m thinking about buying an iphone in the US. But, what happens with the supposed contract with at&t?
Thanks
Hi there, as Apple has now released f/w 1.1.2, my only option now is to upgrade from 1.0.2 to 1.1.2. and not 1.1.1 Do you know if iphonesimfree would still work on 1.1.2? Thanks again!
@Manny
The contract is only signed (electronically) when you try to activate the iPhone on a new AT&T contract with iTunes. That’s why we need to use an activation crack to bypass this, otherwise the iPhone won’t work. See my latest article entitled A glossary of terms for iPhone hacking newbies for more about activation.
@Brian
I’ve updated my iPhone to firmware 1.1.2 and it’s working fine. You can read about it in my article titled (Somewhat) easy iPhone firmware 1.1.2 unlock/activation finally available
I have my unlocked iphone from HK. I can use everything except the EDGE. I have data plan with Rogers and I just called Rogers and was confirmed that the internet.com was blocked and I can only use EDGE with my blackberry pearl phone. Can you help?
I just bought 2 iphones, one I want to use to replace my work blackberry and the other I would like to give to my wife on a basic plan. I’m concerned about the phone’s compatibility with coworkers blackberry’s phones, email, and SMS. Will I have any problems if I unlock the phones?
@meowmeow
If Rogers is putting some sort of block on the internet.com APN, then it’s something you have to fight with them to remove. One thing you could do is try using another unlocked phone of any brand (say a friend’s), to see if you can connect with it. If you can, then it should work for the iPhone. If it doesn’t, then it’s an issue with the iPhone. You might try restoring and re-activating it to see if that solves the problem.
@ctann
The iPhone will not be able to connect to the Blackberry server to send/receive email, contacts and calendars. You’ll have to set up an IMAP or POP3 email account (with a different email address) to send/receive mail on the iPhone, which will your coworkers will receive just fine since sent email is standardized. SMS will also work fine. You will not be able to do PIN to PIN messaging however.
@meowmeow
I also have an unlocked iphone from Hong Kong. I’ve tried connecting with Rogers’ Edge network and it worked fine, at the expense of my wallet as it cost me xtra $50 testing it with a few minutes of using the browser!! (the data rates Rogers charges is outrageous!).
Has anyone been able to unlock 1.1.2 yet?
I know you havent talked about this in the article, but I was just wondering if you knew what my options are if I have a new iPhone with preloaded firmware 1.1.2 out of the box since there is no successful unlock for it at this point.
Thanks!
I have an unlocked iphone 1.1.1 – can I download any updates, without it relocking? Also, every once in a while, it jumps out of the ipod function – any idea why it would do that, or how to prevent it?
@ Brian
Hello Brian, do you have data plan with rogers now? I also have a blackberry pearl from Rogers and it works fine with EDGE but of course I want to use iphone with EDGE if I can.
Out of the Box 1.1.2 cannot be unlocked as of yet. I purchased one and ended up returning it 2 weeks ago.
I will be getting my EBay purchased iphone next week. It was unlock and running 1.1.3. Hope it works.
Thanks to all for the excellent information, up to now, the best site I have found on explaining all about connacting to Rogers Canada.
There is a vision plan in rogers that offers unlimited internet access, does it apply to the iphone?
@ed
I don’t believe the Rogers Vision plan would apply because according to the Rogers website:
FYI, out of the box (OTB) iPhones can be unlocked now. Ziphone can jailbreak and unlock v1.1.2 and 1.1.3 OTB phones.
The 1.1.4 firmware just came out, but I wouldn’t expect to see them on store shelves for at least a week or two.
Hi madgunde,
I desperately need your help again. I was using my installer application on my Iphone and installed a bunch of apps. After resuming to the menu screen where the icons appear, I find that my installer 3 icon is gone! Please help! Thanks.
Jonathan
@Jonathan Zabala
This installer program for Mac should be able to reinstall it for you. Alternatively, you can use iNdependence to copy the Installer.app program to your iPhone’s Application folder.
Does it cost more if I text message? I text message alot. I have a rogers plan that is $10/mon unlimited text messaging.
@Luon
How much you pay for text messaging or how many text messages you get for free is dictated by your Rogers calling plan and is no different for the iPhone than for any other phone.
Still curious if the rogers vision will work without detecting iphone as 3rd party device.
@ Mike
I would really like to get an answer to that issue of the Rogers vision plan working on the iphone myself. If I could get an iphone to work with that Rogers Vision plan I would definitely purchase one right now!
@Mike & Pio!!
The problem is, it might work now, but there’s no guarantee that Rogers won’t wake up and start billing at some point in the future, and it could be rather expensive by the time you finally figure it out, so unless you’re prepared to take a chance and can afford the potential hundreds or thousands of dollars that your bill might add up to if they do start billing by the KB, you’re best to just avoid going over your plan’s ‘tethered’ data limit.
Love this site. Excellent info. My question is do you have to pay for the google maps or how does that work exactly? I just bought an iphone off of ebay and i am trying to get educated before it arrives, so is there any other first steps i should be taking since i am a virgin to all this iphone stuff.
Hi guys. If anyone knows or has any idea on how to get the Iphone to work with Exchange. I will be more than happy.
Question? Must the smtp be Rogers? or my internal network?
Help
@Heather
Thanks! To answer your question, you have to pay extra for any and all internet data that you use over the EDGE network that isn’t included in your data plan and that includes Google Maps, email, Stocks, Weather, YouTube, web browsing and iTunes. You can avoid incurring charges by connecting to the Internet using a WiFi connection like you might have at home or many hotels and cafes offer.
@ jOHN
Apple just announced Exchange support was coming in the 2.0 firmware coming out in June. If your Exchange provider has enabled IMAP access, you can use that to send/receive your Exchange mail, but it won’t be push email and won’t give you calendar and contact support. For full support, you’ll have to wait until June. Regarding the SMTP server, you should be able to use any SMTP server that you are permissioned to use.
Great article, thanks.
I can’t seem to find the $10/10MB plan on rogers.com anymore. Does it still exist, and if not, is there a current plan that’s comparable?
Thanks again,
- Judd
@Judd
See my Feb. 5 article:
Rogers new $20 unlimited mobile browsing plan an error?
In short, no, the $10/10MB plan is no longer available.
I’m still not clear about the WiFi.
When you unlock your iphone is the wifi free when you do not have a data plan.
or are you charged as if you were using the internet on your other phones.
Cause i don’t want a nice surprise come time my next phone bill. I’m with Fido by the way which is owned by Rogers
@TooTall
A WiFi network is not utilizing the Rogers cellular network in any way shape or form, so it has nothing to do with Rogers and Rogers can’t charge you for it. WiFi is simply someone’s wireless internet connection like one might have at home to use with their laptop. It might also be wireless internet offered by a coffee shop for customers. If you have your own wireless internet connection at home, it won’t cost you a cent to use your iPhone on it. Likewise for public free WiFi networks.
Of course, not every WiFi network is open or free. Your first clue will be if the network asks you for a password when you try to connect to it. Some open WiFi networks are offered as a pay-for service. With those, you’ll be able to connect without a password, but the second you try to surf the web, you will be taken to a web page which will either ask for your credit card number or for you to enter a username and password if you have a pre-arranged paid subscription.
In no case will you ever be charged for using WiFi without your express permission or knowledge since there’s no way for them to know who to charge.
nice article… explains a lot to me….so as long as u have Wi Fi around u internet is FREE?
I am happy to report that I just took the plunge to upgrade my unlocked iPhone firmware from 1.0.2 to 1.1.4 using ziPhone 3.0 by zibri. The upgrade went without a hitch, and it proves that zibri’s software does work very well indeed! I had always hesitated to do an upgrade since I was not sure whether any software would work on an unlocked iPhone with firmware as old as 1.0.2. But after reading many comments about zibri and his Ziphone, and the considerable no. of downloads since it was launched, I knew his software would work. Now, I am so happy being able to use so many bells and whistles that are so iPhone unique. What’s more, it’s free!!
These are great posts. I have an unlocked iphone that works fine with my sim Card from my old phone (Rogers) but my plan is up and I wanted to upgrade it. Can anyone give me advice on a “data plan” that will work with my iPhone or should i wait till the plans for the Canadian iPhone comes out – realizing there is no guarantee they will work with my unlocked iPhone – so confusing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
@DaNa
You might as well wait until July 11 when the iPhone 3G is launched in Canada before upgrading your plan. Rogers will no doubt bring out iPhone specific plans which may be better than what they have on offer right now, maybe even an affordable unlimited plan (fingers crossed). Your existing plan will continue to function as it did previously.
This page is great! Just received/purchased an unlocked iphone online (version 1.1.4) – the first thing i read as i opened the box was: “upgrading the software on your phone will relock it permanently. please do not upgrade the software as reunlock is not covered in warranty” – this topic (things that will bugger up ur phone, eg. firmware upgrades) has been covered rather well on this page…i’m still ??muddled?? about the fun looking items within the INSTALLER ICON & the updated installer version 3.11….(scared to tap on those icons)…should i assume installing any of these items falls under “upgrades” that might mess up my unlocked iphone? :-/ (newbie)
@slow
No, things you install via Installer.app will not re-lock your iPhone. Just be wary about what you install though, as that doesn’t mean that you can’t mess up your iPhone if you do something you shouldn’t with one of the programs you install. If you want to play it safe, stick to installing simpler programs that don’t hack/modify the built-in functionality of the iPhone. Games and useful programs should be safe though. I think the instruction sheet the seller included with your iPhone was referring to Firmware updates from Apple when saying not to update.
I understand that the Rogers Iphone Wifi works ONLY on Rogers or Fido hotspots, and will NOT work in a private wifi environment.
Anybody know about this?
@JoJo
You are mistaken. I can confirm that both the unlocked original iPhone and a Rogers bought iPhone 3G works on any standard WiFi network that you have access/permission to. Not sure where you got this misconception. Obviously you can’t use a WiFi network that is protected with a password if you don’t know the password.
Thanks madgunde.
A Rogers representative told me this – albeit at a phone kiosk at Costco… I guess they need some training.
Hi I just got the new 3G data plan from rogers for my first generation i phone, but i was reading somewhere that I should not put under the edge network the WAP settings because I will be charged huge!
ex
APN: internet.com
Username: wapuser1
Password: wap
these are wap settings right?
so what do i put then?
thanks
@tiffany
Try leaving your WAP settings blank, it should work, but I really don’t think it makes a difference if you have it entered or not, you should be covered by your plan either way. But I suggest you don’t take my word for it, or anyone else’s except Rogers. Give them a call and ask them to confirm for you what the correct settings are and whether it makes a difference for billing purposes.
Hi there,
I have read your posts and that is what i think Wifi should do. You connect your iphone to your home network (for example) and you can download and surf the web without using your allotted data.
Now here comes the confusing part. I am a customer with rogers canada. I had to call in 3 times and all 3 times i am getting a different answer.
Me: “when i am connected to a wifi connection either at home or anywhere else, will the data that i am downloading be taken out of the 500mb plan that i have available with my iphone?”
answer 1:
“no it wont be taken out, but make sure you turn off your wifi option on your iphone, because we will charge you 0.05$/kb.”
answer 2:
“Nope, you can download 20Gb (just a fictitious number)to your iphone throu your own or any other Wifi network and it will NOT touch your 500Mb that you get per month”
answer 3:
“when you use your wifi on your iphone, the only thing you can do is surfing the web for free. If you download anything throu wifi, the amount you are downloading will be deducted from your 500mb, because when you download it will still go throu rogers towers”
So i have called 3 times after another and got 3 answers. Normally when you connect to a wifi network, it would make sense to me that the data bypasses the rogers towers entirely and there for it will not be deducted from my 500mb, because you are connected directly throu your own wifi network.
If anybody knows the REAL answer, let me know.
If you’re on a WiFi network, you’re not using the Rogers cellular network, so they have no control over what you do, and you will not be using even one bit of your Rogers data plan. The only exception might be if you’re connecting to a paid WiFi hotspot hosted by Rogers, but you’re going to know that since when you connect to the WiFi hotspot, you see the name and you’ll be taken to a login page when you try to connect to a web site.
This isn’t rocket science. Rogers charges you for using their network. If you’re not using their network, they have nothing to charge you for because they aren’t providing you anything. The data limit included in your Rogers data plan ONLY applies if you are using the cellular network.
Most of the people who work at Rogers customer service and sales know almost next to nothing about technology and get very little training.
wow that was fast!
that is EXACTLY what i was thinking. Starting to think i am going crazy here lol.
small addon:
i have downloaded a internet download speed app for the iphone and when i am at home using wifi i am downloading with 1.7Mb/s and uploading at 1.1Mb per second (which is my normal PC internet speed).
Now i am at work, no wifi and i am downloading at around 0.15Mb/s and upload of 0.01Mb/sec
So yea, you are right, they do not know anything. Kinda sad thou lol, they are the ones that give us the bill at the end.
you’re darn right the customer service reps at Rogers know next to nothing! I can tell for sure since I worked in one of their call centres recently. know what they do? they use actual customers in their live training sessions since it is too costly for them to make dummy scenarios as part of the training process. so what do you have? reps with only a few wks of classroom training actually handling customer orders, making many mistakes along the way. you now see why irate rogers customers not seeing their instructions carried out accurately until maybe the 6th time you call them! Yep. Rogers is now shaking in their boots as both Bell and Telus will be offering gsm mobile wireless services starting next month. meaning lovers of iphone will have choices finally. let’s not forget the newcomers such as Wind as well who will most likely offer much more competitive data pricing than rogers. I can’t wait to see their voice and data plan prices. it’s terrific to know that you won’t be held by your balls anymore by rogers. they have not treated their wireless customers with any dignity or respect, just continue to bombard consumers with price increases and absurd contract terms. i actually rec’d 4 phone calls from rogers’ so called courtesy calls. rogers is freaking pissing in their pants as they might see a huge churning rate very soon!! my response was to tell them to go to “hexx” as these calls are nothing constructive but time wasting. if they are serious in making customers happy, they would put their money where their mouth is and offer some ethical / less costly plans and terms, and not continue to pay lip service and continue to hire “unqualified” reps made to use customers as “guinea pigs” for training!! hooray for justice. even if they continue to spend billions on advertising, customers won’t be fooled by them anymore!!