Vodafone NZ iPhone 3G

I bought a 16G iPhone today <3

We tried it with a pre-paid SIM card (after activating it through iTunes with my SIM which is on account – not an iPhone plan) and it worked fine for phone and txt.

VFNZ data will work while on pre-paid. It doesn’t even work on corporate APNs, believe me I have tried! Even the Apple Corporate configuration utility didn’t help 🙁

After talking to the Vodafone NZ iPhone help desk, they mentioned that iPhone has its own APN (like a blackberry on the special blackberry plan), so that would explain it.

Don’t let the store people convince you that you need a data plan to activate it, you definitely don’t! iTunes does it all.

WiFi works of course, If you are in Hamilton then drop an email to shane@velocitynetworks.co.nz – they have set up a WiFi network in the CBD and are providing free access to iPhone users!

Hopefully when the jailbreak arrives we’ll be able to use non iPhone APNs on it like people with hacked 1st Generation iPhones can now!

Update: Talked to the iPhone support team again today, they might be able to set up the corporate APN on my iPhone, they need to talk to level 2 support who don’t work on the weekend of course!

The person I talked to confirmed that they lock down the APN so that people on pre-paid can’t access data. (Bastards!)

Update 2: Got a call back, apparently I need the iPhone APN set up on my SIM to be able to access my corporate APN (which didn’t even make sense to the person I was talking to). Of course to have the iPhone APN set up you need a data plan on your SIM, which negates the whole point of a corporate APN!

Back to waiting for the hacks….

Update 3: You can get data to work on prepay (and apparently corporate APNs, just not mine… 🙁 ), details:

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=76&TopicId=24033

http://www.unlockit.co.nz/

7 thoughts on “Vodafone NZ iPhone 3G”

  1. John

    try here: C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Carrier Support

    maybe you can force itunes to load it somehow. with a modified APN

  2. Danzel Post author

    I’m on a mac, that folder is
    “~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Carrier Support”
    There is a Vodafone_nz.ipcc file in there, but I’m not sure on the format.
    It looks like some kind of packed file with a few images and plist files.

    If you google the file name you can find a copy on apples site:
    http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/com.apple.jingle.appserver.client.MZITunesClientCheck/version
    links to it at:
    http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/CarrierBundles/061-4903.20080710.3eTr5/Vodafone_nz.ipcc

  3. Craig

    Any Corporate APN should work fine
    The “custom” APN maker should do it as soon as I get it working (not working due to a bug I think on the iPhone).

    Email me (contact details on the website) and I’ll sort you out..

  5. CrazyCanuck

    So I had this problem where I could connect fine to our corporate APN, then it stopped working. A few tests with my sim in a half dozen other mobile phones and they all work, except the iphone. Vodafones managed support gave me a rather Offical and assertive fob-off line “Vodafone do NOT support coporate/private APN’s on the iPhone” – solution, go buy a nokia!

    It would seem that they actively preventing “iphones” from using private APN’s.

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