The temptation of a free iPhone 4 was never going to be easy to resist. Match it with a monthly call package costing the same as I’ve been paying for the last year but with more included minutes, unlimited data, and free landline calls, and it made sense to make the move.
Okay, it’s not a white iPhone 4. It’s a regular black model but I have a rather nice blue silicon gel case to protect it – soft enough to bounce if I should happen to drop it any time soon. So, I should be happy, right? But, what is it about technology that makes me stress out? Whatever, the reason, bringing home my shiny new iPhone 4 and attempting to set it up had my heart racing.
I plugged it into the laptop, waited for iTunes to recognise the new phone, and then was confronted with the first dilemma. Restore from backup or set up a new phone? I wanted all my data to come across to the new phone so I figured it was worth trying the Restore option. A word of warning if you are going to follow my example here. You might want to connect your old iPhone and back it up before you start, just so that what gets ported across to the new phone is up to date. That could be important if you’re relying on your phone for your calendar or if you have purchases on your phone that haven’t yet been transferred to your library. My backup was fairly up to date so I clicked Restore and let it work away. So far, so good.
Thankfully, the sync is now almost finished. While I wait for my 2,000 odd songs to sync to the new phone, I’m taking the opportunity to write this post detailing some of the installation and set up issues that I encountered and what I did to overcome them.
Network issues moving from 02 to Three
I had opted to bring my old number with me to the new network. The shop where I purchased the phone made the network switch for me and advised that I should wait until I lost coverage on my old 02 iPhone before trying to use the new handset. It took less than an hour before O2 waved me good bye. I immediately had a full Three signal on the new iPhone but no 3G, however that problem resolved itself within about an hour. I had worried about coverage but I have a full signal and 3G and the speeds are noticeably faster. So far, I’m happy. And, with the free landline calls, I may even be able to change my landline package and make some savings which is all to the good.
WIFI issues setting up the new iPhone 4
The first couple of attempts to hook on to my home WIFI network (Eircom with a Netopia router) were unsuccessful. I went the usual route (i.e. selecting the Wifi network in Settings). The tick appeared but when I tried to access the Internet there was no Internet connection. I surfed the forums and noticed many people had encountered the same issue. Various solutions were proposed. I tried one or two of these without success. Then, it dawned on me that I might have the wrong password for my Wifi network. It’s a complex password and I don’t have reason to use it very often. I went back and checked it using the router’s web page, and lo and behold, I was incorrect on one of the 50 or 60 characters in the alphanumeric sequence. Back to Settings. Forget this network. Re-enter the password and hey presto, all was resolved. You may wonder why I bother to write about this here, but considering that the iPhone didn’t tell me that the password was incorrect and appeared to have connected ok, it was sheer good luck that I tried checking and re-entering it from scratch. So, if you hit the same problem, it’s worth checking your password again before you try taking the back off the iPhone and getting out the soldering iron!
Moving iTunes Library to the new iPhone 4
My iTunes library didn’t port across to the new iPhone during the Sync but the reason was simply that synching wasn’t ticked in the iPhone Music tab. The sync is running as I type and appears to be proceeding according to plan and quickly.
Setting up My Account on the Three network
This required the last 6 digits of the SIM card number. I had to take the SIM out of the phone to find this. You poke in the metal rod that comes in the box to release the drawer which pops out from the side of the iPhone 4. No pictures in the documentation that came with mine but thankfully I figured it out before I broke the door.
Changing the Three SIM Pin on the new iPhone 4
Easily done in Settings – Phone – SIM – Change SIM.
Securing the iPhone 4 – Enabling the Passcode Lock.
Yes, it’s a nuisance but it could save you heaps if your iPhone was stolen so it’s worth doing. Easily done in Settings – General - Passcode Lock.
Email accounts.
All my old accounts ported across without issue except that I had to re-enter the Password for each account in Settings – Mail.
If you’re reading this because you’ve just got a new iPhone 4, congrats! I’m always on the lookout for non-techie help when I have to do these things so I thought I should take a few minutes to share what I learned. I hope you have found the tips useful.
So, that’s pretty much it. The sync has completed and all my music is back at my fingertips. Better still, I have brand new earphones to listen on. The only question remaining, is who will get my old iPhone. Apparently for €10 they can get a new SIM for it and it comes with €10 free credit. A nephew of my acquaintance may be about to get lucky!
