Mr. Savings
This is a guide for those of you thinking of getting the
iPhone but don’t want to pay for the ridiculous data plan or already have the iPhone and want to get rid of the data plan.
For those of you that didn’t know, the
AT&T forces iPhone customers to get a data plan when they purchase the
iPhone 3G. The data plan is $30 dollars a month without any text messages.
I had the previous iPhone and now have the 3G iPhone and both times was successfully able to get rid of the data plan without any problems. If you call
AT&T to get rid of it they’ll say no, but there is a way to slightly manipulate the situation to get rid of the plan:
- Get an old phone compatible with AT&T or Cingular. You should have one considering you just got an iPhone or planning to get one. If you don’t have an AT&T phone, just call your previous service provider to unlock your previous phone, takes a few minutes
- After purchasing the iPhone and it’s service plan, call AT&T customer service, or you can chat with them through their website.
- Tell them you just got iPhone but you’re thinking of returning the phone but want to keep the voice plan since you’ll be using a different phone (you’re allowed to return the phone but keep the service). Make sure to tell them to get rid of the data since you’re no longer using an iPhone.
- If you’ve already had the iPhone for a few months then just tell them you’re no longer planning to use it so you don’t need the data plan but would like to keep the service on a basic service.
- The rep will ask you for the serial number of your other phone. Give them that.
- They’ll then ask you to take the SIM card out of the iPhone and put it into the other phone.
- Once you see service is working, ask them to block out the Internet service (WAP) completely. This will come in handy later.
- After you’re done hang up and switch the SIM card back to the iPhone.
- On the top right hand corner you should no longer see the 3G data sign, which means you no longer have data service.
- The reason for asking to completely block out Internet service (WAP) is so that if you accidentally hit the Safari browser you don’t get charged per kilobyte, which can get expensive.
- Now with wi-fi you can access the Internet. There are some people who believe you get charged for using wi-fi, YOU DON’T. If the wi-fi is free, ATT cannot charge you for that.
For the rest of you who are thinking what’s the point of getting rid of a data plan on an iPhone, well for me it’s useless. I work in an office with Internet access all day, I have wireless Internet at home (iPhone has wi-fi capability) and almost every block around NYC has wi-fi hot spots.
Plus iPhone customers get free Internet service anywhere ATT has wi-fi, which are places such as
Starbucks,
McDonald's,
Barnes & Noble. So for me to pay an extra $30 dollars a month makes no sense.
For international iPhone users, you can try this method for your service providers. This method is not guaranteed to work internationally but has worked for a number of people here in the States.
Do you have or thought about getting an iPhone? Does this help make your decision easier? What phone do you have?
Comments (42)
Well, now I am curious. I don't have the iphone, but I have tmobile's version of the phone. We too were told we must have the data plan in order for the phone to work correctly. Any idea if the same thing would work on the G1 from tmobile?
this seems pretty interesting. it is a nice trick to save a lot of money!
@gwacemom@momaroo - haven't heard anything about the G1. I asked a friend who works at google. I'm sure there is something to get around it. If I find out anything, I'll post it
I have the SidekickII, but I am on pre-paid and switched phones while already on a voice plan. For Sidekick users, you can't access internet, the download catalog, or use the e-mail application.
@gwacemom@momaroo - It should work, but you may not be able to use some features like t-zones (I don't know if that is on the G1 or not, though...)
I have no intentions of getting an iphone... but that is AWESOME!
I have the 3G iPhone and the data plan, but compared to what I was paying for my blackberry plan, I saved by switching to the iPhone. I have 5 phones on my plan so I already pay for unlimited text, switching saved me 20 dollars a month. :D
I love my WAP. It's funny cause when you get a non-AT&T smart phone you get charged less for the service and you get unlimited text messaging. With my blackjacks I was getting charged around $20 extra each month just to get 1500 texts.
hoorah for saving money!
not sure step 4 would work. you'd incur the penalty wouldn't you? otherwise, lots of people would just buy the iphone with the plan and then cancel....
step 3 is genius though!
jin
@Mr. Savings - cool! but if it's just a matter of "not using your iphone anymore", what's stopping everyone from just buying an iphone and then cancelling their plans altogether (saying they're not going to use it anymore [which sounds pretty dicey to begin with... you're not going to use the mp3 player? or the gps? or the....]) and then keeping the iphone? again, this is not to question your success... i believe it worked and i'm amazed and delighted that it does but just wondering when/if/how the cancelation penalties start being incurred....
@jinchoung@xanga - Yeah I definitely understand what you're saying. It makes sense, but when I did it to my account, I kept the plan, which ATT wants you to.They don't care about the phone cuz I already paid the hundreds for it.
So me no longer using the iPhone doesn't matter to them because they still have my business, the phone plan. So in the end I was still with ATT but for my sake, no longer having to deal with an iPhone data plan.
not much wifi around here, but i have the most basic iphone plan and then family text messaging. which works out fine for me.
what if you don't have another phone? old one broke.
do all phones have an accessible sim card slot?
(noob boob).
i just read elsewhere on recent post that you ARE allowed to cancel the Data plan
after 6 months of having it on a new iphone. is this true?
thx mr. savish-ly and all.
I want the phone but not the data. and if I get it, i want it on my terms: not
shoved down my throat by suckers of satan's ****: whore-porate cum-erica.
Thanks for sharing this. I am wondering if you can subscribe for ATT unlimited medianet which is just $15.
Abul
@Abul - that I don't think is possible. I tried it but wouldn't work, don't know why.
@Mr. Savings - If you do not cancel the WAP and after getting rid of the original iphone data plan why can't you have that medinet plan?
And to add to the frustation the ATT site does not give you the option to upgrade to iphone( option is there for other phones. I am ATT customer for 3 yrs and when I try to go for upgradtion there is no option for iphone.)
i'm not sure if there's a way to straight up turn off data, but be careful if you cancel the data plan and accidentally hit a widget or something...you will be charged for usage per kilobyte, possibly negating any and all savings you had with canceling.
my dad is in town from japan and has an apple-unlocked iphone (purchased in hong kong). i added him to my family plan and tried to get just the voice plan. unfortunately, we realized that if he hit something other than phone or SMS, we'd be screwed. =(
@fayebernoulli@xanga - you can ask ATT to turn of WAP once the data is canceled. This way when you do click the browser or any of the apps, a message just pops up that says you don't have access to internet.
@kash@healthkicker - my fiance actually asked them if they could do this, and apparently it "may not work" since my dad's phone isn't from the states. but who knows, they could have been just saying that to get us to get the data plan. =P
All right, listen up party people.
1. Get ANOTHER craptacular SIM card enabled phone capable of whatever service you are on (ATT for me) (I found a working old phone on line for <$20)
2. JAILBREAK Your Iphone
3. Download BossPrefs
4. Turn EDGE off (Edge is Cellular Internet)
5. Swap SIM cards (working SIM card into old crap phone)
6. Call ATT and cancel data plan
7. Make sure crap phone can still make calls
8. Put SIM card back into JAILBROKEN Iphone
*** So long as EDGE is OFF, you should never be charged for data and therefore never need it!!!!!!
@brnrubbr - Thanks brnrubbr, your directions worked like a charm!
Does the phone I purchase to activate (not the iphone) have to have the capability of accessing the internet or can I buy the cheapest phone I can find? In order for them to deactivate the WAP. I'm just afraid that if I get a cheap phone (with no internet capability) then downgrade my plan, they won't deactivate the WAP because they'll think I won't need it anyway.
This is funny because I am currently faced with this crazy"must have data plan" problem from at&t. My husband got me an Iphone for valentines day and when he went to activate it, thinking it would only be 39 a month, they told him the Iphone cannot be activated without a data plan and our monthly plan was to be 89 a month.
We are constantly accessible to the internet and he gets id to his phone, I did not care to have it on mine. So I called AT&T to see why we had to carry the data plan. They told me the phone simply could not function as a regular phone without it. Then I asked her why it worked fine wen we put another sim in it. She then became snotty and told me to consult our local store. I don't think they thought it through when they decided to push the data plans on people who were not interested.This is genius...if it'll work. Been with AT&T for a while...been wanting the IPhone but absolutely could not justify the data plan. Ready to upgrade even though my current phone works fine so I could just tell them I'm switching back to my old phone and selling the IPhone. Just a little worried they would suspect. Any idea if you can still download the apps? Hmmm very tempting to try.