Using an unlocked G1 in China with China Mobile M-Zone prepaid service (中国移动感动地带）

I'm in Beijing for a few days for work. I'm pretty busy so I don't even know if I will have time to take pictures, and unfortunately haven't had time to see any friends.

I did, however, get my unlocked G1 bought from T-Mobile working with full data services using prepaid service with China Mobile （中国移动）.

While it was pretty straightforward once I knew what had to be done, none of the discussions of it that I found on the web seemed to be complete in the sense of having all the details in one place, so I thought I would write a blog entry about it, based on pieces I put together from the web, and China Mobile's really incredible help line. Nothing to do with photography, but anyway...

Before I go on, note that this is based on experience in Beijing. Plans and so forth vary in different parts of China so if you aren't in Beijing, you will want to check with China Mobile locally. The China Mobile help line is just fabulous, at least in Beijing, and a few calls to them is a lot easier than digging around the internet where there seems to be a huge mass of conflict instructions.

1) First of all, if you are a T-Mobile customer in the U.S., get an unlock code for your G1 before you leave the country. All you have to do is call the customer service number in the U.S. and explain that you are leaving the country and they will email an unlock code to you. Two of my friends did this already, and I did it, with no problems, so I don't think you need to go through any odd third parties to get an unlock code.

2) Once you get to China, pop in your local SIM card. When you turn on the phone, it will recognize that you have a new SIM card and ask you to enter the unlock code, which you should have received via email from T-Mobile.

3) Once you enter the unlock code, you're good to go at least with voice and SMS. My friend and I both had immediate voice and SMS with China Mobile as soon as the unlock code was entered. Well it took a few seconds for it to find the service.

4) The big question of course is how to use all the cool features of the G1. That is a little tricky, but nothing too involved, at least once I knew all the pieces.

5) China Mobile offers two prepaid services, a cheaper one called Easyown (Chinese is 神州行) and a fancier one called M-Zone (感动地带). If you want to use the cool features of your G1, including apps, full Google access etc., you need M-Zone. The internet service available through Easyown is sort of limited, something called WAP, but when I tried it with my existing Easyown number, it was pretty flaky, and I couldn't do much more than basic browsing. I couldn't use any apps, and couldn't get access to Gmail or many other sites. M-Zone offers full internet access, and at least in my experience today, all the good functions of the G1 including apps, Google stuff like Maps (including Latitude!) all worked seamlessly.

6) If you get an Easyown SIM because it is cheaper and all you want is very basic browsing, you don't have data access by default. The easiest thing to do is to call the amazing China Mobile line and talk to a human being. China Mobile help line is amazing. Every time I called the help line I was speaking to a human being with decent English in about 10 seconds, much better than any American cell phone service. Explain that you need internet access and they will send a text message to your phone with a code to text message back to the help number (10086) to turn on service. They have several different plans which I won't bother to summarize here because I think they are constantly changing them. If you only travel to China occasionaly you will probably want a pay-as-you-go data plan, not one of the plans that deducts some fixed amount every month from your account. Now this is important: you should also ask them for the APN settings. They will send them as a text message. When I tried out internet access with my Easyown number, the settings were APN: CMWAP and Proxy: 10.0.0.172. But don't take my word for it, just ask them for the settings and they will send a text message to you.

7) After I tried out internet access on my G1 with my Easyown number, I became frustrated. Service seemed flaky, and I couldn't do much more than very basic browsing. No apps worked, and no access to cool Google stuff like maps.

8) I talked to the help line again and checked the web and learned that I would need an M-Zone number for full internet access. I just went and bought an M-Zone number, I paid 68 yuan for it at a store then went to a China Mobile service center and asked for a data plan and they set up my number for internet access. Then I called the help line and asked for the APN settings (they are different for M-Zone) and they sent me a text message with them. They were pretty straightforward: set APN to CMNET and don't bother with anything else.

9) I entered those settings and a minute or two later it was good to go. Very quickly I had full G1 goodness, including Google Latitude so my wife can turn on her phone and know where I am at any given point in time. Oh wait a second, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...

10) So key points if you are wanting to use G1 with China Mobile prepaid service: M-Zone not Easyown, make sure you get your number activated for a data service by talking to the China Mobile help line or someone at one of the service centers. If you don't speak Chinese, you're probably better off with the help line since you can get an English speaking representative very quickly. I wish the American cell companies had such prompt access to human beings. Once your number has a data service turned on, make sure to ask the help line for the APN settings, and you should be good to go.