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AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

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Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#71

Post by edandersen »

padmanabhan01 wrote: post #69
kevingadd wrote: post #3

AT&T are scum and this sort of stuff is standard practice with them. You shouldn't be giving them your money if you can avoid it. If you've got a GSM phone with the right radio bands, I suggest taking a look at the $30 plans here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans For CDMA I believe Sprint and Verizon offer prepaid plans without contracts at around $50 for talk/data. The key is that IMO, a prepaid p…

Telcos like AT&T are scum and they have a thousand shady ways to get money out of customers. But I don't think this is one of them. There is no way to use a smartphone without using data. Smartphone OSs use data in the background for so many things, for even voicemail. So, in this case, I think they are justified in adding a data plan. It is near impossible to use iOS or android without data, even when using them wit…

>> There is no way to use a smartphone without using data?

Er, turn off mobile data and rely on wi-fi. Calls and texts still work and your phone will behave as if you are roaming abroad (i.e if you crack and turn on mobile data, prepare to open your wallet).

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#72

Post by easternmonk »

padmanabhan01 wrote: post #69
kevingadd wrote: post #3

AT&T are scum and this sort of stuff is standard practice with them. You shouldn't be giving them your money if you can avoid it. If you've got a GSM phone with the right radio bands, I suggest taking a look at the $30 plans here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans For CDMA I believe Sprint and Verizon offer prepaid plans without contracts at around $50 for talk/data. The key is that IMO, a prepaid p…

Telcos like AT&T are scum and they have a thousand shady ways to get money out of customers. But I don't think this is one of them. There is no way to use a smartphone without using data. Smartphone OSs use data in the background for so many things, for even voicemail. So, in this case, I think they are justified in adding a data plan. It is near impossible to use iOS or android without data, even when using them wit…

If you turn off the data your phone is as good as a dumb phone it can not use data at all unless you are on a wifi network.

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#73

Post by padmanabhan01 »

edandersen wrote: post #71
padmanabhan01 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telcos like AT&T are scum and they have a thousand shady ways to get money out of customers. But I don't think this is one of them. There is no way to use a smartphone without using data. Smartphone OSs use data in the background for so many things, for even voicemail. So, in this case, I think they are justified in adding a data plan. It is near impossible to use iOS or android without data, even when using them wit…

>> There is no way to use a smartphone without using data? Er, turn off mobile data and rely on wi-fi. Calls and texts still work and your phone will behave as if you are roaming abroad (i.e if you crack and turn on mobile data, prepare to open your wallet).

Before you get a chance to go to settings app and turn off mobile data, the OS probably already made 10 data requests to check 20 settings. It is data call. Whether the telco should count that as data and charge for it is a different question.

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#74

Post by coopdog »

padmanabhan01 wrote: post #73
edandersen wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> There is no way to use a smartphone without using data? Er, turn off mobile data and rely on wi-fi. Calls and texts still work and your phone will behave as if you are roaming abroad (i.e if you crack and turn on mobile data, prepare to open your wallet).

Before you get a chance to go to settings app and turn off mobile data, the OS probably already made 10 data requests to check 20 settings. It is data call. Whether the telco should count that as data and charge for it is a different question.

So.. change the setting before you put the sim in?

And if they don't have data in the plan the carrier by default just doesn't forward the packets

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#75

Post by mikeevans »

benmccann wrote: post #34
ewillbefull wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you've got a GSM phone with the right radio bands, I suggest taking a look at the $30 plans here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans Keep in mind the top $30 plan (unlimited data) requires you to activate a new phone that you have to buy from Walmart.

It does not require a phone from WalMart. I ordered a new SIM card from t-mobile.com and activated it with the $30 plan. However, you cannot get it in T-Mobile stores.

They let me activate it in the store. Just ask politely and they'll do it.

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#76

Post by padmanabhan01 »

coopdog wrote: post #74
padmanabhan01 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before you get a chance to go to settings app and turn off mobile data, the OS probably already made 10 data requests to check 20 settings. It is data call. Whether the telco should count that as data and charge for it is a different question.

So.. change the setting before you put the sim in? And if they don't have data in the plan the carrier by default just doesn't forward the packets

That must be possible I guess

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#78

Post by lgg »

trotsky wrote: post #65

A little known aspect of the tough as nails deal that apple cut with at&t for a lengthy US exclusive deal was that that apple got a not insubstantial piece of every iphone subscriber's service fee from at&t. Not far below $10/mo/subscriber when the iphone first rolled out as I understand it. This is why AT&T has had a variety of fee recouping schemes on the iphone over the years. This is where all the verizon iphone…

Another part of that deal was that the phones were unsubsidized, and the data plan was a lot cheaper than AT&T's other data plans ($20 for unlimited, everything else was $30 at the time). I am pretty sure that Apple sacrificed all of the monthly revenue from AT&T when they moved to the more conventional US subsidy model with the iPhone 3G.

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#79

Post by aneth4 »

kevingadd wrote: post #3

AT&T are scum and this sort of stuff is standard practice with them. You shouldn't be giving them your money if you can avoid it. If you've got a GSM phone with the right radio bands, I suggest taking a look at the $30 plans here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans For CDMA I believe Sprint and Verizon offer prepaid plans without contracts at around $50 for talk/data. The key is that IMO, a prepaid p…

AT&T is a company providing a service for a price. They are not scum.

I've used AT&T for many years. I'm not always delighted with every policy - the now changed policy of refusing to unlock out of contract iPhones was a particular bone. However I have almost always been satisfied with the service and have had no problem contacting them to correct billing issues.

Why people feel entitled to services at the price they choose is beyond me. Telecom is a competitive market. Just because someone somewhere can get cheaper service doesn't mean you deserve the same.

In the last 15 years we've gone from Dewey decimal to better than Hitchhiker's Guide. Stop your bitching and appreciate what you have. Your ungratefulness is likely to bring a well deserved meteor strike leaving you with fewer telecom options.

Re: AT&T Will Force Your Data Plan For Your Unlocked Out-of-Contract "Smart" Phone

#80

Post by w1ntermute »

aneth4 wrote: post #79
kevingadd wrote: post #3

AT&T are scum and this sort of stuff is standard practice with them. You shouldn't be giving them your money if you can avoid it. If you've got a GSM phone with the right radio bands, I suggest taking a look at the $30 plans here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans For CDMA I believe Sprint and Verizon offer prepaid plans without contracts at around $50 for talk/data. The key is that IMO, a prepaid p…

AT&T is a company providing a service for a price. They are not scum. I've used AT&T for many years. I'm not always delighted with every policy - the now changed policy of refusing to unlock out of contract iPhones was a particular bone. However I have almost always been satisfied with the service and have had no problem contacting them to correct billing issues. Why people feel entitled to services at the price they…

> Why people feel entitled to services at the price they choose is beyond me. Telecom is a competitive market.

Because it isn't a competitive market. Wireless telecoms have been granted licenses to spectrum by the FCC so they can run their businesses. There's a limited amount of spectrum and it's hard for new companies to get any of it. The wireless telecoms industry is anything but competitive.

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