Complete Guide: t-mobile on the iPhone (plus important apps)

Complete Guide: t-mobile on the iPhone (plus important apps)
Posted :: Nov 4, 2007 by Impact

Complete Guide: t-mobile on the iPhone (plus important apps)
Written By: Impact

This is meant to serve as a comprehensive guide to t-mobile customers who would like to use an iPhone. It goes through all of the basics, from activating and jailbreaking the iPhone to start with, to installing anySim for your t-mobile sim, and finally through setting up your t-mobile Edge service.

To start, lets look at what you're going to need:

t-mobile voice service, with a working sim card.
t-mobile unlimited "web & apps" ($5.99) (T-Zones)
an iPhone (version 1.1.1)
an accessible wifi network (unencrypted for now)
an ssh client

You shouldn't need any specific computer software or anything, almost all of this is done on the iPhone itself.

I'll assume you have a brand new, unused iPhone running the 1.1.1 firmware. If your iPhone has been used, restore it through iTunes to 1.1.1.

Lets start by bypassing that stupid "Activation" thing that you see when you first boot up your iPhone. The trick we're going to use here, is to get a safari browser without actually activating the iPhone.

Bypassing Activation:

Go ahead and slide the "Emergency" slider, which should give you a keypad to dial phone numbers. The next steps are slightly complicated, and I had to go through them a few times before finally getting to a working safari.
Dial *#307# and press "Call"
Use the backspace button in the upper right to delete the numbers.
Dial 0 and press "Call"
You should now see an incomming call.
Press: Answer. Hold. Decline.
Press the contacts button at the bottom of the screen.
Add a contact (the + in the upper right)
Name the contact anything you like - I used "Jailbreak"
Add a URL for the contact, and type in "http://jailbreakme.com"
Save the contact, and look at its details.
Click the web address listed for the contact (jailbreakme.com)
Safari should error out, and look like its crashed, this is good.
The next part is tricky - When you press your home button, safari will exit, and you should see a popup with wireless networks. This popup will only last for about 1/2 a second, you need to very quickly pick the wireless network you plan to use. If you don't hit it in time (very hard for the first time you try), just repeat the steps above, and try again!
If you manage to select the wireless network, you should see the wireless logo in the upper left corner of the screen.
Go ahead and reboot the iPhone (hold the power button on the top for 5 seconds and slide the slider)
When the iPhone comes back up, it should automatically associate with your wireless network (and still be asking you to activate). If it doesn't come up with the wireless, try the steps again, it took about 5 tries on mine). Note: You don't need to re-add the contact every time, just open it and hit the url.
Assuming you have a freshly rebooted iPhone, and wireless signal on it - Follow the steps again, open your contact and hit the url.
You should see the web page pop up. Scroll down and hit the install button.
It will take a good few minutes to finish hacking the phone. Don't get impatient, just wait a while, the phone should reboot and be fully jailbroken!

Now that you have a jailbroken iPhone, you shouldn't see the "Activate" dialog anymore, but at this point, all you can use is your wireless network. The next step is to get your t-mobile sim card working in your iPhone.