iPhone 3gs and straight talk questions

[KE4EST]

Thinking about getting an apple iPhone 3gs for a teenage niece for Christmas. I have a few questions, that I hope someone can answer, that knows more about iPhones than me.

1. Does the Phone have to be jail-broken to work on straighttalk?(I know I have to order the sim card for it)

2. If you yes to no. 1 does it have to be factory unlocked, or can I jailbreak it myself?(I have rooted android devices before)

3. Can she get on iTunes with a phone set-up like this and get music through an itunes account?

Thanks in advance.

 

[osu1991]

It doesn't need to be jailbroken or unlocked to work with Straight Talk, just get the ATT sim from Straight Talk, and yes to using itunes with it.

 

[KE4EST]

Thanks for the quick response.

 

[Anole]

Depending on your area, Straight Talk may use AT&T or Tmobile.
If you are in a hot AT&T area like I am, you're set.

There are a lot of considerations to know & understand.
- I wouldn't invest much in a 3GS ($50 max?)
- a handset locked to AT&T is fine on (AT&T) Straight Talk 'cause it IS on AT&T
- getting it set up with talk/text/email/Internet is not hard; you just need to follow a proceedure
- getting MMS (picture messaging) working is the challenge (I used a technique that relied on jailbreak)
- you can request free sim-unlock from AT&T, or I have a cheap 3rd party under $5 (may not need either)
- put a screen protector & case on it: $1 & $3 @ Amazon!
- be aware that users can easily upgrade firmware with iTunes , & probably shouldn't
- I can recommend car & home charger $4 @ Amazon, if you need
- anybody can set up their own iTunes account; even without credit card (to get free stuff only)

I spent the last year repairing 3GS & several iPhone 4 handsets.
... and shopping Amazon for parts & accessories ( and testing many).
So happy to recommend; have many bookmarked.

 

[Brea]

Can I upgrade my iphone 3g straight talk for instagram & facebook?

 

[T_N_T]

If you are a moderate phone user, do not get Straight Talk. I have had them and they throttled me down from HSPA+ speed to .22mbps for the rest of the month because I went over 2gigs of use. The "unlimited" service they advertise is really deceptive as they have not only cut off people for too much data use but too much phone calling use. I have seen many complaints around the internet about them cutting off people randomly. The customer service is very poor and I've had to be on hold for almost an hour before I can get through to a CSR before. It also says in Straight Talk Terms of Service that they prohibit you from streaming video or audio through the service on your data at all. Thats right. No Streaming at All. Although it can be done you are not supposed to and your service could be terminated for doing so.