If you liked the concept of a new iPhone 3GS but found the contract tariffs and Pay & Go up-front costs unpalatable, now might be a good time to obtain a pre-loved iPhone 2G or iPhone 3G. I have an iPhone 2G which I previously unlocked and used on Vodafone UK, but found myself drawn to O2's offer of unlimited O2 to O2 calls—not to mention avoidance of the need to unlock the device and the hassle around firmware updates that doing so entails. I had to dig around the Interwebs and make a support phone call to discover all I needed to know to get up and running with O2 Simplicity; that knowledge is summarized below. Feel free to contribute any further tidbits!
Know the limitations of your phone
As a glance at this chart from Apple will show, tethering and MMS are not supported on 2G iPhones:
© Apple
Despite the implications of this chart, you can receive picture messages on 2G iPhones, in a roundabout way (see below). Incidentally, MMS will apparently work fine on iPhone 3G but tethering requires purchase of a bolt-on plan from O2, although can be enabled without easily enough—but doing so risks disconnection.
Know the limitations of your tariff
A Simplicity tariff isn't the same as an iPhone tariff; O2 couldn't really make the former too attractive or they'd cannibalise sales of iPhones on contract. For the clear benefit of a month-by-month contract at a lesser price, you have to give something up. Not a lot, to be honest—visual voicemail, never-there-when-you-need-it WiFi hotspots, and pretty slow EDGE/GPRS data connectivity. You can combine unlimited O2 to O2 calls for £15 pm (Simplicity 15) with an unlimited web browsing bolt-on for data at just over £7 pm and still come in well under the starting price of a £30 pm iPhone that's locked into an 18 or 24 month contract.
First, restore your phone
Restoring your iPhone (also known as 'revirginizing') if it has been unlocked makes sense if you're moving to O2, since there will be no need to unlock the phone (unless you travel a lot and want to retain the ability to swap out various local network SIMs).
Restoration is straight forward, and Apple provide clear instructions. You should end up with and activated and carrier-locked iPhone running OS 3.0:
Make sure you have your new Simplicity SIM card inserted when you do a restore/ attempt to activate your phone. iTunes will let you know if the SIM from your previous carrier is still inside:
Don't panic: just pop it out with a paper clip and insert the Simplicity SIM at this juncture. Activation should proceed normally.
Setting up your iPhone 2G for data
As detailed by O2 a newly activated iPhone defaults to settings that assume your are on a pay monthly iPhone-specific contract. If you try to use data at this stage you'll see the following message:
You'll need to change the cellular data settings for use with the Simplicity contract. In the Settings app go to General > Network > Cellular Data Network and in the Cellular Data section replace the existing APN with mobile.o2.co.uk. Retain the Username vertigo and the Password password:
Notice there are settings for visual voicemail (ignore this), and none for MMS (see below).
Data calls on Simplicity are charged at a maximum of 98p per day for those who do not take out the web bolt-on.
I experienced a 'Cannot connect to YouTube' error. I'm not sure whether it was correcting the cellular data settings, connecting to WiFi, or syncing to iTunes—or a combination of actions—that cleared this error.
Warning: If you are seeing unexplained data usage charges and/or battery drain see the updates below (09.08.09 & 12.08.09).
Setting up your iPhone 2G for MMS
It's free to receive an MMS on the iPhone 2G, but what you get is an SMS notification with a link to a website for viewing the picture (and doing so will require a chargeable data connection—unless you have the unlimited web bolt-on).
There is an unofficial MMS Photo Messaging app in the iTunes App Store that enables some sort of MMS send capability on the iPhone 2G; in fact O2 Customer Support even mentioned it when I spoke to them on the phone. The app is free and you pay per MMS sent using pre-arranged credit—but as of this writing it is incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0.
To get set up for receiving MMS messages—which are not enabled by default—text 'MMS' to 1010 from your iPhone. The first SMS reply should confirm receipt of the request:
The fact that you have an older iPhone won't escape O2's notice, as per the follow-up SMS:
When you do receive a picture message, you'll get an SMS with a link to a website where you can log in to view the picture (using your mobile number and the PIN sent along with the notification SMS):
Make sure you're wearing your eye glasses, because O2's site inexplicably isn't optimized for mobile viewing. Once you've logged in and clicked the hard-to-see line that might be the message, the picture will be almost visible:
Use the 'spreading fingers' gesture to make the page bigger until you can see the button below the thumbnail for viewing a larger image. Let's hope it was worth all that effort:
Setting up your iPhone 2G for voicemail
Notice I wrote 'voicemail' and not 'visual voicemail'; you won't get that except on an iPhone contract. While using the 2G on Vodafone I did however use a hack to link the Voicemail tab in the Phone app to my voice mailbox. Dialling *5005*86*121# the once thereafter put a red notification dot over the Voicemail tab whenever there was a new message (I did not receive an SMS notification):
I have seen a similar instruction floating around for O2 (replacing 121 with 901) but this seemed to have no effect on my phone (I suspect that's only for unlocked phones). As it happens, the Voicemail tab was already linked to O2's regular (non-visual) voicemail 901 service.
You do need to turn voicemail on, however, by dialling 1750 from your phone (1760 will turn it off again). Henceforth when someone leaves you a voicemail you get an SMS notification:
Tapping the Voicemail tab in the Phone app will dial 901 for you (calls to voicemail are free). If you prefer not to receive an SMS notification and would like the symbol notification instead (i.e. the red dot), dial Voicemail and go into the greeting and mailbox settings menu (* > 4 > 1). There you can choose between notification of new voicemail via SMS (option 1), ringback (option 2), or via the red dot as shown above (option 3, which will show up as '1+' on the Phone app icon if a missed call is also recorded).
Dial 1780 to hear the number to dial for voicemail from abroad if 901 doesn't work (dial the +44 number given and key * at the greeting to use your mailbox PIN).
To change time before diverting to voicemail dial **61*901*11*nn# then Call (where nn is the number of seconds in increments of 05, up to a maximum of 30).
If you obtained a PAC code to port your number to O2 from your previous network, don't bother setting up your customized voicemail greeting until after the change has gone through. You'll need to do it twice otherwise.
Other useful O2 tricks
To review the state of your minutes and SMS allowance, SMS 'bundle' to 21202:
Dial 2302 for iPhone customer service (you are, after all, a contract customer on the Simplicity plan!).
To receive an SMS receipt acknowledgement, prefix your message body with *0# as noted here.
Update 09.08.09: My O2 bills contained twice daily data usage charges at regular times (e.g. 00:00h and 23:00h) amounting to approx. 80p per day. As I do not have the data bolt-on I was careful not to use apps that required Internet connectivity except when connected to free WiFi. I did not use the phone at these times, but O2 say the timings are misleading and are not like a call log. They could not explain the charges to my satisfaction, saying that it's 'easy to use data with an iPhone' and that the charges were probably because I launched a third-party app before the device had time to connect via WiFi. I don't buy this at all, because I never had such charges while using a Vodafone PAYG SIM and my usage pattern has not changed.
The choice seems to be between coughing up for the data bolt-on, or disabling data services. I elected to do the latter, by deleting the entry for Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network > Cellular Data >APN. Note that if you choose to do this you will have to turn off voicemail notification via the red dot and revert to SMS notifications (your phone will otherwise divert straight to voicemail without ringing, you will not be notified of a missed call, and you won't receive notification that there is a new message!).
Update 12.08.09: Using no APN or a faux APN caused a severe battery drain—but there were no further data charges. It was then apparent that push notifications were enabled, which probably explains both the regular data charges and the subsequent battery drain (owing to repeated attempts to connect to an APN that didn't exist). If you don't have the data bolt-on then cellular data and push must be disabled together; more information here.
Update 20.09.09: You'll likely want to install the free My O2 app for monitoring your usage, reviewing your bill, and accessing O2's iPhone help documentation.
![[Photo of Bruce McKenzie]](data:image/jpeg;base64,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)
Unlimited web data add-on for 7 pounds per month?
Data here is $30 as an add-on. $50-60 standalone.
For a while now there have only been official iPhone plans. I'd be happy with a pretty limited number of minutes and unlimited data ... and provided it is not GSM, but CDMA for rural access.
I must admit to not knowing anything about CDMA. I'd always thought GSM networks were better, being more widely supported (at least outside of the US; not sure if technically superior or not). Are you implying there's a problem with GSM, or is it simply a rural coverage issue?
check out:
http://iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=4370
mms enabler for iphone 2g
Thanks Joe. Yes, I saw this on Hackint0sh, where a forum comment suggests O2 customers still get the SMS with the web link. Besides, in this post I mention the update benefits of not unlocking and the same is true of jail-breaking. Personally I've never found a use for MMS as IMHO it sits uncomfortably between the greater flexibility of e-mail and the generic utility of plain old SMS.
Fantastic stuff, this fixed a big problem since upgrading my unlocked iphone 2g to OS 3.0 I wasn't receiving calls and getting the network error problem, works a treat now. Thanks a lot for this Bruce, must have taken time to put this together..
Thanks Bruce - This fixed my voicemail notification problem on iPhone 3G on a simplicity SIM :-)
I had a 2g Iphone on simplicity - all worked fine.
But since updated to 3.0 I can not get it working. It wont receive calls, has anybody else had this?
I have had 2 new sim card, that both work in other phones and even work in non 3.0 Iphones, but not 3.0 Iphones.
My phone works fine with a PAYG o2 sim card.
It is just the combination of o2 simplicity, Iphone 2g and 3.0 firmware.
After hours of calls, a guy at o2 hinted, that o2 dont want people using Iphones on simplicity and they may have stopped it??
Simon, a Simplicity SIM in a previously jailbroken/unlocked but revirginized iPhone 2G works as above for me, running OS 3.0. I'll I can say is no, it's not that combination that's the problem. Perhaps it has to do with the unlock/ jailbreak history of your phone? Not all procedures were created equal I gather. Perhaps try a factory reset to 3.0 if you previously did an upgrade/ restore from backup?
I don't believe O2 have recently disallowed Simplicity SIMs in old iPhones: it's not in their interest to send customers to other networks.
Thanks for this guide, it is comprehensive and accurate. You have saved me a lot time searching the web to get my old iphone set up on the Simplicity tariff.
I have a 3G in the U.S. (locked on AT&T). I'm headed over to London for a week in late November, and I've been reading up on ways to take the phone and get it working with a pay-as-you-go plan.
Do you think unlocking my phone and using a Simplicity plan with web bolt-on is the best option for a short-term voice/text/data fix?
I'm not taking a laptop and would prefer to load up some travel apps and music before I get on the plane, so a full restore while in the UK wouldn't be the best option. Do you think this can be done without iTunes closeby?
Thanks for the guide, and thanks for any responses.
@Bob as Simplicity tariffs are pay-monthly and require a (presumably local) credit card they are subject to a credit check; that might cause you problems as a visitor. Assuming not then £20 would buy you 600 local minutes (the same for texts, since you won't double them by buying online and waiting for delivery) plus unlimited data (not WiFi). However, you do need to give 30 days cancellation notice, so it doesn't seem ideally suited to a 7 day visit.
Unlocking would also give you the option of Pay & Go SIM Only (£5). You won't be able benefit from the Your Country variant (free international minutes—depending on how much you topped up in the previous month). Unfortunately the O2 website isn't fully working just now, so you'll have to check back later for yourself what rates data is charged at. It may be worth calling O2 via SkypeOut, if you have it, to discuss what they can offer.
I'd suggest installing one of the apps that finds free WiFi; that will work whether you unlock your phone or not. You can even check out WiFi prospects for your location(s) by inputting place names from your itinerary before you set off.
If you decide not to unlock your phone make sure you have Data Roaming set to Off in Settings > General > Network, or you'll be in for some ouch!
You can't do a restore without connecting to iTunes, although I'm not sure I understand why you anticipate a need to restore your iPhone in the UK. You can unlock your phone in the US and still use AT&T until you leave, then pop in a local SIM as you arrive. Exchanging SIMs won't loose any of your apps etc. You'd only need to restore if you wanted to undo the unlock on return to the US wouldn't you?
@Bruce -
Thanks -- I'm starting to get a better idea of the offerings. Unlocking the phone over here and popping in a SIM when I get over there does seem to be the right answer. If I do that, I guess I'm not limited to O2, though their Pay & Go Sim isn't a bad deal.
I had read that unlocking the 3G for overseas use was problematic in some way, but I'm having trouble finding confirming that. I'll chime in when I find more out.
Thanks for this post! You may get some traffic on this one again soon. I hadn't sync'd my phone with my MBP for some time, so yesterday I did so in order to upgrade to the 3.0.1 patch. At the same time iTunes wanted to update the carrier bundle. Not being able to tell what was in the update I let it. Then I popped into town.
And of course, data was no longer working. So it looks like eventually Apple / iTunes will push the intended iPhone monthly contract settings onto you if you're at all unware, and then you're going to need this page to fix it :o)
Thanks again!
Well, I do go abroad fairly frequently and thus use nonO2 and I guess I need to keep it jailbroken. So, if I use the redsnow, or similar to jailbreak, what do I need to do for it to use the data, or for me to use the data? I got data bundle, but always get message that not connected. Have changed apn as per above to mobile.o2.co.uk
Thanjs
OK all, here is a bit more.
My iPhone is originally not from UK, I think.
Done all the steps above, had to use redsnow after restore. Now on 3.0.1 have followed all the advice above except does not have MMS setting as per O2 site.
Upshot is every thing works, except I can not get on internet (I do have the Web bundle). I can get with Wi-FI but not with cellular networkd, altough I see either E symbol or small circle on the top line of display after O2-UK.
Any help will be appreciated, or is it never going to give me internet through mobile?
Thanks
Narendra, this post concerns 2G iPhones that have been activated for O2 without being jailbroken +/- unlocked, so your circumstances are different. My understanding is that not all hacks were created equal. As the history of your phone is unclear there may be additional factors causing your difficulties. Unfortunately you will get no sympathy from O2 as, despite being a current contract customer, if you admit the phone has been previously unlocked the tone of any support conversation will change (that was my experience).
OK thank you Bruce. Yes the guy on support was friendly but told me can't won't help. It is from US, bought soon after iPhones came out but before they were available in the UK. Been working on Orange fine, did not have data plan, only just got the o2 Simplicity cim and every thing works except data, even though I have 'E' symbol on the status display, I assuming meaning Edge.
Thanks for responding. Guess I will have to do without data or change phone.
Narendra
Bruce, many thanks for all advice and information setting up a 2G iPhone, all works great.
John
Thanks, very useful information. Really helped my transition into using a 2g iphone on a simplicity contract.