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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

#91

Post by chris_wot »

Harkins wrote: post #47
joelrunyon wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spent about 60 minutes on the phone with them today and they didn't back down (they'll take it off if I use a dumb phone, but they'll still charge me for this month). I'll try your line of thought. Thanks.

Chargeback. Your credit card company takes a dim view of people who try to bill you for things you haven't ordered.

Be careful about that. If you chargeback and the large company fights back, you could be in a world of pain with the phone company AND the credit card company!

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

#92

Post by learc83 »

I've been using republic wireless for about a year now. $19 a month for unlimited everything.

For people who don't know, it's a hyrbid wifi phone that also allows for unlimited 3g, talk and texts on sprint's network when you're not near wifi.

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

#93

Post by shurcooL »

Not related to AT&T's crappy move, but I found it interesting that I went the opposite direction and now own a data-only plan. I get my voice and texting using VOIP for nearly free, and the data only plan is much cheaper than smartphone or voice only plans.

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

#94

Post by illuminate »

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."

Sometimes, it's crazy, but people expect real competition versus oligopolists that mostly collude between themselves and show zero concern for regulatory action.

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

#95

Post by gcb0 »

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).

Reading that i think that the worst offender is the iphone that keeps phoning home. Not that at&t is not wrong as well. just that the iphone manges to screw the user even more.

if apple hadn't bent over so badly to allow telcos to screw the customers with the whole tethering fiasco (which is still going on. unbelievable. all you sheeple giving out free money) they wouldn't even know you had a special needs phone.

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

#96

Post by illuminate »

Chico75 wrote: post #60
benmccann wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I tried to do the same, but I can't activate the plan because my sim card is not activated. If I go into a store, they can't activate the Walmart Plan. How did you do it?

"I can't activate the plan because my sim card is not activated"

When you order the sim from T-mobile directly, you can activate it. You can purchase it online from them for 99 cents.

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

#98

Post by r00fus »

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

Ah, but why do that when you can just charge usurious rates for those who don't have the "benefit" of a data plan?

AT&T (and most of the wireless industry) are merely toll-gate operators - they are very good at making sure you pay for any usage - even the usage you didn't want to make (ie, receiving an MMS on your non-data flip phone that you didn't intend - sorry, that's $2).

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

#99

Post by accountoftheday »

mkhattab wrote: post #55
gergles wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T-Mobile stores no longer sell SIM card kits; you must buy them online. You can also regularly get a T-Mobile prepaid phone of some variant for $20 at Walgreens, which comes with the "Activation Kit" (SIM card and secret number) as well as a terrible GSM-only phone you can throw away.

They do sell SIM cards, I was at a T-Mobile store yesterday. I don't understand the rationale for selling SIM cards in-store at 20 times the cost of buying online.

If you are charming like me you can get a SIM card at a T-Mobile store for free (did so last week in SF). Everything is negotiable.

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

#100

Post by lesterbuck »

joelrunyon wrote: post #86
aneth4 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Your ungratefulness is likely to bring a well deserved meteor strike leaving you with fewer telecom options. I was perfectly happy with my previous contract. If I'm being "ungrateful" for the privilege of getting charged extra for a service I didn't agree to, then I guess we have different definitions of gratefulness.

You keep saying your got "a service didn't agree to", but, of course, you did agree to it. You didn't understand what you were agreeing to, but you accepted all of AT&T terms and conditions as you signed up for their service. And this is hardly news, as AT&T forced data plans on smart phones on Sept 6, 2009.

http://gizmodo.com/5342749/att-forcing-data-plans-with-all-s...

They have a humorous justification: to keep their customers from having massive data bills by accident. Yeah, right...

The key to having a WiFi only smartphone on AT&T is stealth. You must keep a dumb phone around to switch to as necessary, and then you can sneak a smartphone on the network that has never been seen by AT&T as a smartphone. For example, you might buy a T-Mobile (only) unlocked smartphone and then put your AT&T SIM card into it. Be sure to disable all the data network interfaces first thing, as they may give you away. You can buy a dumb phone to AT&T to verify for $15 on sales from GoPhone, or any number of other prepaid phones.

I would be interested to know if now, ab initio, AT&T is able to detect that a specific IMEI number is a smartphone. I think the worldwide range of IMEI numbers is too vast for that to work, and thank goodness T-Mobile didn't merge with AT&T.

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