I live in the Middle East and visit the USA (where I'm from) once or twice a year. I've got an iPhone 3GS and I got an AT&T GoPhone sim card. I pay $75 and get unlimited talk and text and 200Mb of data for a month. As my visits are rarely more than 4 weeks, that works perfect and I've yet to exceed the data limit. If I pay more than $75, they keep my number for a year. If I'm going to be data heavy, I pay a bit more into my plan in advance to carry over the extra data costs.
AT&T Doesn't officially support iphone data on their prepaid but going here: http://www.unlockit.co.nz/#_Custom will allow you to change the APN settings of your phone so you can access their data network.
To be fair, I'm not a big fan of AT&T. I had a contract plan with them for my iPhone before I moved to the Middle East but, as the previous commenters said, If you want GSM and 3G, they seem to be the best bet. (thought with Verizon's changes of late, they may be worth the look).
In short for AT&T GoPhone:
Pros(for me):
Works with iPhone (After changing APN settings)
Unlimited SMS
Unlimited Voice
Carry my # for a year.
Easy to use Web interface to manage account.
Free wifi at many places (Starbuck$, etc)
Cons:
It's AT&T
Dropped calls in busy network areas (Always been that way with AT&T)
Some folks find it a bit pricey.
Good Luck and enjoy your visit!
-maddog
Slashdot Mirror
I live in the Middle East and visit the USA (where I'm from) once or twice a year. I've got an iPhone 3GS and I got an AT&T GoPhone sim card. I pay $75 and get unlimited talk and text and 200Mb of data for a month. As my visits are rarely more than 4 weeks, that works perfect and I've yet to exceed the data limit. If I pay more than $75, they keep my number for a year. If I'm going to be data heavy, I pay a bit more into my plan in advance to carry over the extra data costs. AT&T Doesn't officially support iphone data on their prepaid but going here: http://www.unlockit.co.nz/#_Custom will allow you to change the APN settings of your phone so you can access their data network. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of AT&T. I had a contract plan with them for my iPhone before I moved to the Middle East but, as the previous commenters said, If you want GSM and 3G, they seem to be the best bet. (thought with Verizon's changes of late, they may be worth the look). In short for AT&T GoPhone: Pros(for me): Works with iPhone (After changing APN settings) Unlimited SMS Unlimited Voice Carry my # for a year. Easy to use Web interface to manage account. Free wifi at many places (Starbuck$, etc) Cons: It's AT&T Dropped calls in busy network areas (Always been that way with AT&T) Some folks find it a bit pricey. Good Luck and enjoy your visit! -maddog