Possible to put iPhone SIM in AirCard?

[advisor011370]

I purchased a Novatel Wireless XU870. I pulled the SIM out of the iphone and plugged the SIM into the XU870. I then plugged the XU870 into my computer. I used the following dialup settings:

APN: wap.cingular
Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1

web proxy - wireless.cingular.com:80

I am able to connect to the Internet and surf. According to the LED on the XU870, I am running on EDGE. The HSDPA / UMTS in my area is very spotty so most of the time, the XU870 LED is violet colored, indicating EDGE. The speed I get is definitely EDGE speed. When I move to a balcony or window, I get the blue and green LED colors, which indicate UMTS / HSDPA. If I run a SpeakEasy speedtest when I have the UMTS / HSDPA connection, I get 429 kbps down and 233 kbps up. Clearly this is better than typical EDGE speeds.

Based on my tests, I believe that the iPhone SIM with a Novatel XU870 and the settings above will allow you to connect to the high speed 3g UMTS / HSDPA data network that is run by AT&T / Cingular. However, when you do this, you will obviously not be able to use your phone. I cannot find any software that allows the SIM to be used to receive text / SMS while being used for data service. Verizon has software that does this for their aircards and it is quite handy, but I cannot seem to figure out if it supported or possible with the AT&T / Cingular / iPhone / XU870 combination.

I will try to find an are that has good UMTS / HSPDA coverage and re run my tests to see how much faster I can go. Obviously one should not be using this except for the occasional jaunt.

[jptsetme]

If this can be done (put the iPhone SIM in an AirCard), I guess it would be worth it to get 3G speeds on the same data plan, but I'd be almost as happy to simply be able to use the iPhone as a Bluetooth DUN modem (even at EDGE speed).

Losing this capability will be a big step backward from my existing (and otherwise far less cool) Samsung SCH-a930. It seems odd to me that this feature doesn't already exist unless it was deliberately left out. Thoughts?

[jptsetme]

Yesterday morning, there was nothing on HoFo, and today there's a solution posted -- these hackers work quick, this newbie needs to keep up.

Tethering to EDGE via WiFi. It's not bluetooth, but it will work fine for me. I'm still curious about the 3G via aircard idea...

[Protagonist]

Great news! Thanks!

I purchased a Novatel Wireless XU870. I pulled the SIM out of the iphone and plugged the SIM into the XU870. I then plugged the XU870 into my computer. I used the following dialup settings:

APN: wap.cingular
Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1

web proxy - wireless.cingular.com:80

I am able to connect to the Internet and surf. According to the LED on the XU870, I am running on EDGE. The HSDPA / UMTS in my area is very spotty so most of the time, the XU870 LED is violet colored, indicating EDGE. The speed I get is definitely EDGE speed. When I move to a balcony or window, I get the blue and green LED colors, which indicate UMTS / HSDPA. If I run a SpeakEasy speedtest when I have the UMTS / HSDPA connection, I get 429 kbps down and 233 kbps up. Clearly this is better than typical EDGE speeds.

Based on my tests, I believe that the iPhone SIM with a Novatel XU870 and the settings above will allow you to connect to the high speed 3g UMTS / HSDPA data network that is run by AT&T / Cingular. However, when you do this, you will obviously not be able to use your phone. I cannot find any software that allows the SIM to be used to receive text / SMS while being used for data service. Verizon has software that does this for their aircards and it is quite handy, but I cannot seem to figure out if it supported or possible with the AT&T / Cingular / iPhone / XU870 combination.

I will try to find an are that has good UMTS / HSPDA coverage and re run my tests to see how much faster I can go. Obviously one should not be using this except for the occasional jaunt.

[advisor011370]

Yesterday morning, there was nothing on HoFo, and today there's a solution posted -- these hackers work quick, this newbie needs to keep up.

Tethering to EDGE via WiFi. It's not bluetooth, but it will work fine for me. I'm still curious about the 3G via aircard idea...

Geese... they were not kidding about the part where it says not for the faint at heart... I am by no means faint at heart, but damn, doing that process is just not the way I want to be spending my time. It's a time / money thing I suppose... for me, the $350 for the aircard seems quite worth it compared to that hack.

Internet note, that aircard is quite capable... can be used overseas with pretty much any data capable SIM as long as you know the right GPRS
settings... here is a good list:

http://www.unlocks.co.uk/gprs_settings.php

[tnf]

Good luck with this!!! Almost every phone that people have have an internet pay-per-use feature, so in reality though the internet is working on other phones/devices with the iphones sim, it is more likely that you are being charged per use for the data, which can range in price. If anyone decides to keep doing this, have fun with the next bill.....more than likely CS will not deal when you explain why your bill was so big.

jmtc -tnf

[Roy]

yeah, it is not uncommon for "fast data" and "slow data" to be billed differently... in brazil there is a difference between the WAP access (i guess this is just GPRS) and the "Fast"(haha) access, which is Edge...

Try it out, sparingly, then wait till next bill, check, the try again with a bit more courage.... but be prepared, you just *could* one day be hit with a huge bill when they "catch on"

[advisor011370]

Good luck with this!!! Almost every phone that people have have an internet pay-per-use feature, so in reality though the internet is working on other phones/devices with the iphones sim, it is more likely that you are being charged per use for the data, which can range in price. If anyone decides to keep doing this, have fun with the next bill.....more than likely CS will not deal when you explain why your bill was so big.

jmtc -tnf

Naturally this is a concern. Hence why i said that this should be used sparingly. That being said... I am on prepaid... Both here in the US and abroad...

[serilkila]

Dum dee dum.. Put it in my palm treo 750v and used it as a modem and was able to get 400k both ways :P I ordered a card dell 5510, doesnt look like I am billed, anything extra. besides i do pay for unlimited internet, they wanna give me ****, I'll sell the iphone and cancel my service early then pay their ****ed bill with the early termination fee. I pay for unlimited internet I intend to use it, regardless.

Keep this thread updated guys, lemme know if you get charged. My bill for next month should be here anytime soon.

[faithie999]

probably won't charge you for tethering per se, but sooner or later the bandwidth police will probably shut down your acct, you will need to call att to get reactivated, slapped on the wrist, etc........

[jtludwig]

So any update on this? Is anyone successfully using the iPhone SIM in an aircard on ATT's high speed network?

Thanks

[advisor011370]

Still running the config that I reported earlier. Works great. I have tested in denser HSPDA/UMTA coverage areas and do get speeds in excees of 1 Mbps down in good areas.

[mikasn]

My Iphone sim works fine in my friends Sierra 875, but don't for a second kidd yourself into thinking that if you do this regularly, that AT&T is dumb enough to allow it-Your IP address is recorded in your data plan, and phones have different type addresses than CPU's...

[jtludwig]

My Iphone sim works fine in my friends Sierra 875, but don't for a second kidd yourself into thinking that if you do this regularly, that AT&T is dumb enough to allow it-Your IP address is recorded in your data plan, and phones have different type addresses than CPU's...

How did you come across this information regarding IP's? I seriously doubt this.

[Protagonist]

I dont doubt that it is possible. I do doubt that at&t cares enough to look into the matter that deeply. Worst comes to worse just use a paygo iphone acount in your data card, what are they going to do if they figure it out?