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I know this subject has been covered but I am still confused. I just received an IPhone 4s from at&t. Will it work in the central valley or will modifications need to be made?
Thank You
Danny SpellYour new iPhone 4S [u]is fully compatible[/u] with the cellular systems in Costa Rica [b]with one caveat[/b].
Cellular phones purchased in the U.S. from carriers (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, et al) are “locked” into that carrier’s system. In order for them to be compatible with Costa Rica’s cellular systems, they must be “unlocked” (that’s a technical term).
In the case of your AT&T-sourced iPhone 4S, you may be able to get the staff in the AT&T Store to unlock it for you. It’s a matter of knowing which buttons to push and in what order. Otherwise, you can search online for instructions which you can purchase. Ebay is a typical source.
Costa Rica’s cellular system uses GSM technology, as does AT&T and others in the U.S., but Verizon and (I think) Sprint use CDMA technology which is totally incompatible with GSM. So if you have a cellphone (iPhone or otherwise) that you obtained from Verizon or (I think) Sprint, there’s nothing you can do to make it compatible with Costa Rica’s system.
If you are buying a cellphone in the States to use in Costa Rica, it must be “[u]unlocked[/u]” and, to be safe, it should be “[u]quad-band[/u]”. The quad-band feature assures that it will work on whichever of the four GSM frequencies is used here in Costa Rica. The ad for the phone should also specify “3G”. Not all GSM phones have 3G capability. Most modern cellular phones are quad-band and 3G, but check to be sure.
Unlocked, quad-band, 3G cellphones can be bought from Amazon and others.
Danny, your iPhone 4S takes a cut-down SIM chip. The staff at the ICE offices have the cutter to trim it down. The staff in the kiosks at the airport may have the SIM trimmer, too, but I’m not sure. As for Movistar and Claro (competitors for ICE), I just don’t know.
When we bought our iPhone 4S, the woman in the ICE office was adamant that, when installing or replacing the SIM chip, the “release” hole on the side of the phone [b]MUST[/b] be “penetrated” with the tool that Apple supplied with the iPhone and [b]NOT[/b] with a paperclip or the like. She said that could ruin the phone! You can buy a replacement release tool from Amazon for about $.50US.
It is important to note that the 3g capability on the AT&T compatible unlocked cell phone must have the 850mhz frequency. Global 3g phones do not run on this frequency as they use the 900 or 2100mhz frequencies. These are not compatible with the 3g in Costa Rica. The GMS (2g) quadband works in the larger towns and cities in Costa Rica but small towns and out in the country (think “the boonies”) are much more likely to only have the 3g network available and the phone won’t work if you are traveling between cities. I have seen many AT&T compatible quadband phones sold on the internet that do not have the 850mhz frequency for the 3g. Sometimes it is very difficult to tell what is the frequency for the 3g. The key words are “US version” rather than global.
If you unlock your AT&T 4g phone yourself, you might invalidate your warranty with AT&T. Since this is a new phone, that might be a concern.
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