Which call & text only phone? (T-Mobile, 3G, iPhones, contract)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are cutting our bills as much as possible, which has meant getting rid of the data plan on my iPhone. *sniff, sniff* (Actually, it's not that tough. As long as there's wifi, I can still access everything I could before. I think the only hitch is going to be... I'll have to get paper maps! Like, real foldable maps that I keep in the car. It's been kind of freeing, to not have access to email everywhere I go.)
The sales rep was kind enough to just take data off my bill for now, but she was very clear that a data plan is required with an iPhone, so I would need to get a replacement phone soon. (I'm fine "until the system recognizes that you have an iPhone, and not a data plan".) I'm not due for an upgrade with AT&T for quite some time, so the best she could offer was a go phone. I think I'd rather buy a phone, I just don't know which one!
Anyone very happy with their call & text-only phone? Which are you using?
I'd like a slide-out keyboard, but I don't text enough to make that a deal-killer if it's not there.
Status:
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me"
(set 14 days ago)
Location: Ocala, FL
6,497 posts, read 10,398,389 times
Reputation: 7962
Do a search for "feature phones" on the At&t internet site under available phones. Feature phones don't have the same data requirement as a "smart Phone".
If you get a factory 'unlocked' phone from a manufacturer and use your ATT SIM card, it will not detect your phone. It can be a feature phone, smartphone, whatever.
In other words, you can buy an unlocked smartphone and use WiFi if you like the smartphone services. Similar to the phones here: Amazon.com: Unlocked Phones
FYI: GSM systems (ATT and TMO) have registered devices that are cataloged into their system when phones are made for each carrier respectively (branded TMO or ATT). This is why when the rep took off the data plan and said its only a matter of time before the system reads your IMEI number to detect that its an iPhone. This is part of the subsidized prices etc.
With a factory unlocked phone, you can bypass the system, use the SIM card and they will never know what phone it is.
I use all unlocked phones for years and have been paying close to nothing for the basic data plan for feature phones. but dont get too carried away, its not like you can expect to stream netflix over cellular all day long or replace your modem at home with this tactic. I only use data sparingly for emails and maybe reading some websites
Status:
"I didn't do it, nobody saw me"
(set 14 days ago)
Location: Ocala, FL
6,497 posts, read 10,398,389 times
Reputation: 7962
Quote:
Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd
If you get a factory 'unlocked' phone from a manufacturer and use your ATT SIM card, it will not detect your phone. It can be a feature phone, smartphone, whatever.
Not entirely accurate. As a former CS rep for At&t I can confirm that even some unlocked/non-branded smart phones have been detected by At&t as such. A good example was the Nexus One sold by T-mobile that was never carried by At&t. There were many folks confirming this when the phone was introduced and used on At&t.
Not entirely accurate. As a former CS rep for At&t I can confirm that even some unlocked/non-branded smart phones have been detected by At&t as such. A good example was the Nexus One sold by T-mobile that was never carried by At&t. There were many folks confirming this when the phone was introduced and used on At&t.
This is spot on! To clarify, my post so not confuse...
There are very rare exceptions to what I was referring to but not the general rule when it comes to factory unlocked devices.
The Nexus One is a bit of an oddity simply because it was unlocked when it was sold with a Tmo plan. TMo themselves never sold it and it never had any branding etc.
I will save the history of what happened with that phone but T-Mo agreed to let google sell it and ATT dropped it at the 11th hour. There were two versions that were sold by Google. One unlocked subsidized price via Tmo and with the 1700 3g band and the other unlocked version which ran on 850/1900mhz for ATT no subsidized price.
With the hype around Nexus One, ATT treated it similarly to the iPhone and did in fact pay to have their IMEI grouping cataloged to address heavy data users. Which at the time was not what it is today
The same 'rule' also applies to facotry unlocked iPhones that are sold through Apple (not jailbroken). They will be able to detect and potentially enforce some kind of data plan, but not necessarily 'the' iPhone data plan they apply to subsidized iPhone on ATT.
We are cutting our bills as much as possible, which has meant getting rid of the data plan on my iPhone. *sniff, sniff* (Actually, it's not that tough. As long as there's wifi, I can still access everything I could before. I think the only hitch is going to be... I'll have to get paper maps! Like, real foldable maps that I keep in the car. It's been kind of freeing, to not have access to email everywhere I go.)
The sales rep was kind enough to just take data off my bill for now, but she was very clear that a data plan is required with an iPhone, so I would need to get a replacement phone soon. (I'm fine "until the system recognizes that you have an iPhone, and not a data plan".) I'm not due for an upgrade with AT&T for quite some time, so the best she could offer was a go phone. I think I'd rather buy a phone, I just don't know which one!
Anyone very happy with their call & text-only phone? Which are you using?
I'd like a slide-out keyboard, but I don't text enough to make that a deal-killer if it's not there.
What is "quite some time"? You can upgrade after a year and nine months. If your talking eight or nine months, it might make sense to go with the $20 data plan for eight months rather than buying a decent texting phone for $200 and then pay $36 for activation.
I can't believe you got them to take data off your plan mid-contract. Never heard of that before....
I wasn't sure they would do it, either! But they were willing to work with me. I think they want me to be able to pay my bill, and stay with them. When I called, I was told I would definitely need to get a different phone, but I could do that, and when I went by the store to see what my options really were, the rep. was willing to remove the data plan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr5150
What is "quite some time"? You can upgrade after a year and nine months. If your talking eight or nine months, it might make sense to go with the $20 data plan for eight months rather than buying a decent texting phone for $200 and then pay $36 for activation.
Well - I was thinking more of a decent texting phone for $40 or so, buying used on ebay. Actually, I just realized I could put a call out on facebook - I bet a friend has a phone they're not using. I'm saving $30/month with no data plan, and this is after cutting $30 previously by lowering minutes and moving from unlimited data/tethering capability. I hadn't considered the activation fee! Darn it.
Unrelated on this forum - I also handed in my cable box, and cut home phone service, now paying for internet only. Go, me!
I wasn't sure they would do it, either! But they were willing to work with me. I think they want me to be able to pay my bill, and stay with them. When I called, I was told I would definitely need to get a different phone, but I could do that, and when I went by the store to see what my options really were, the rep. was willing to remove the data plan.
Well - I was thinking more of a decent texting phone for $40 or so, buying used on ebay. Actually, I just realized I could put a call out on facebook - I bet a friend has a phone they're not using. I'm saving $30/month with no data plan, and this is after cutting $30 previously by lowering minutes and moving from unlimited data/tethering capability. I hadn't considered the activation fee! Darn it.
Unrelated on this forum - I also handed in my cable box, and cut home phone service, now paying for internet only. Go, me!
Thats GREAT. We ditched the cable box years ago and have an HTPC (home theater PC). We have some nice friends that cant give up cable but have HBO and let us log in with for their HBO GO account. Wife loves Game of Thrones and True Blood
If there are soccer games I watch on ESPN 3 and we pay for Hulu Plus. Amazon Prime which we belong to also has some ok content.
I fear this model will be changing though in the future with all of these network app devices like ROKU which are sold in Costco etc.
Its not the same as cable, but we never really watch much TV anyway. I think once it goes away, there are far too many other interesting things to do.
If the upgrade model is as successful as it is today for cell phones, I can almost guarantee that a friend has a phone sitting around you can use and its likely that a 2 year old phone would be more than enough for your needs
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
