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[Q] Caught Red Handed - Data Plan

Was there a way around this: Didn't have a smartphone before so I had a fifteen dollar "unlimited" plan. Then bought the captivate sans contract off ebay. Received a text this morning that I was switched to an appropriate limited smartphone data plan.
What really irks me is I haven't been using AT&T's data! I've been strictly wi-fi at the house since putting the SIM in.
Was that the sound of inevitability since they know the IMEIs of all Captivates? Or would rooting / custom mod helped? I hate being forced into the age of data caps.

AT&T's policy is if it's a smartphone you have to have a data plan.. period..
And yes, they know if you are using one by the IMEI.
Sucks yes.. and not much you can do. I had a Tilt for a long time without a plan and lived quite nicely by just using wifi.. ahh.. those were the days..!!

You may be eligible to be grandfathered in and keep your plan. Call 611 and ask for the cancellation department (I think they refer to themselves as "Customer Relations/Care/whatever") and let them know you aren't happy and why. Can't hurt to try, right?

I doubt seriously that you'll be able to keep your MediaNet plan. Most of us think that data is data is data, but not where AT&T is concerned. They tend to place this magical premium on smartphone data in the name of maximizing revenue.
If you don't use more than 200 mb a month then the $15 plan should be fine. If you think you'll use more, which is very likely with these phones, you'll want to get the 2gb plan.
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I won a Samsung Epix a year ago and signed up for the MediaNet plan on my old feature phone. I swapped in the SIM, and I have been on $15 unlimited data ever since. This is a WinMo smartphone, and they have never caught on.

You have a pretty good argument if you bought the phone from e-bay. AT&T didn't subsidize your phone and you didn't agree to any plan changes. You just have to call them on their BS be firm but polite and see where you get. You should also check your account and see if they actually changed it. I received one of those text messages too but still have my mediamax plan.
Charging different $$ amounts for the same thing simply because you MIGHT use more is absurd. Hopefully one day they'll be called out on price fixing along with the other cellular carriers. Data IS data, just because you consume it using a smartphone instead of a dumbphone or a laptop doesn't make it any different or more costly for them. Data plan prices are a subject that will instantly send me into a frenzy.

Yeah, I might just let them win this one. Was using a Nokia E71 on the MediaMax and they were never the wiser. I guess this will end my long run with AT&T.
I absolutely love this Captivate and will hate to part with it...but because of their "smartphone" logic I'll be switching carriers within 6 months (as soon as T-mo has a good android HSPA+ or Metro has a good LTE). In the meantime I'll be wary of the 200 MB limit and use lots of wifi.
Thanks for the input! I love discussing corporate cents (non-sense)

ScottyNuttz said:
I won a Samsung Epix a year ago and signed up for the MediaNet plan on my old feature phone. I swapped in the SIM, and I have been on $15 unlimited data ever since. This is a WinMo smartphone, and they have never caught on.
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You were grandfathered in. Before september 09 you could easily switch plans. They restricted this and customers who had already done it now have a smart phone exclusion soc code on their account.
Essentially if you had already cheated the system your grandfathered. If you hadn't then youre screwed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

ag4vr said:
Most of us think that data is data is data, but not where AT&T is concerned. They tend to place this magical premium on smartphone data in the name of maximizing revenue.
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Isn't it obvious? Bits and bytes and packets that go to a smartphone device are inherently more expensive to produce and transmit than bits and bytes and packets that go to a "feature" phone!

nbohmer said:
Essentially if you had already cheated the system your grandfathered. If you hadn't then youre screwed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Damn... maybe I should buy w/o a new contract then...

ScottyNuttz said:
Damn... maybe I should buy w/o a new contract then...
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Won't matter. If you use the captivate on ATT at all they will add the $15 plan to your account.

dontshakepandas said:
Won't matter. If you use the captivate on ATT at all they will add the $15 plan to your account.
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This is true. But once you're on a smartphone plan, it doesn't really matter which one. FWIW, I am running my Captivate on my Blackberry Enterprise Plan. They insisted it wouldn't work but it does. I often switch between a Bold 9700, 3GS and the Captivate for testing purposes on the same SIM. All work on the same account.

You can call em and they may credit you back the money and take the plan off your account, but next month it will just go right back on...its a completely automatic system and they don't currently have a way to override that from happening.

they are doing this with all smartphones now. Once I got my captivate, I gave my old Fuze to my little brother. Within a day, AT&T had signed him up for a data plan. I had bought my phone subsidized from AT&T and had it with them up until the release date of the captivate without a problem, but as soon as my brother put his SIM card in the phone, AT&T decided it was a smartphone... They also charged the $18 upgrade fee too, which I thought was f***ing obnoxious...

ag4vr said:
I doubt seriously that you'll be able to keep your MediaNet plan. Most of us think that data is data is data, but not where AT&T is concerned. They tend to place this magical premium on smartphone data in the name of maximizing revenue.
If you don't use more than 200 mb a month then the $15 plan should be fine. If you think you'll use more, which is very likely with these phones, you'll want to get the 2gb plan.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Don't forget the 30 dollar surcharge for the "privilege" to tether your computer to your phone and use "your" data.

I've been kicked back and forth through various AT&T departments for the past month over this...
According to AT&T's official line, if you were using a smartphone on a non-smartphone data plan before November of last year, you have a 'smartphone exclusion' added to your account. This will keep you from automatically getting 'upgraded' to a smartphone data plan as long as you don't change to a different smartphone.
Actually, it's a bit more complex than that. The above is true... as long as you're talking about AT&T smartphones. They have a database with the IMEI number for all of the smartphones they offer... but it does not include smartphones that they don't offer. As a result, if you plugged your SIM into a Nexus One, AT&T would be perfectly happy letting you continue on a 'featurephone data plan'. Same goes if you picked up a sim-unlocked HTC Desire from Telus.
Anyway, if you get stuck that way, just move your sim back to your featurephone and give customer support a call. They can get you back on the cheap data plan.
Actually, there's been reports of people trying to add a smartphone data plan to an account using a Nexus One and having AT&T refuse because 'it's not a smartphone' - or rather it's not in their list of smartphones. AT&T insisted on putting them on a featurephone data plane instead.
Now what's really nasty (and what happened with me) is that if you had ben running on an ancient data plan (like a $20 per month plan that provided unlimited data, unlimited text, and 200 mms), and you stuck your sim in a Captivate, you're screwed. Actually it was the AT&T rep who stuck my sim in and tried to process the upgrade. And before the upgrade had even completed, my old data plan was gone and a 2gb smartphone plan was stuck in it's place. What's worse, when told to cancel the upgrade if I can't keep my old data plan, it was too late. Once that data plan is gone, it's gone for good. I tried to get it back for the next month, going through about 9 support cases and hitting multiple levels of support in 3 different divisions. About the best they could do was to give me a heavy discount on the Captivate and put me on the old smartphone unlimited plan.
With the amount of jerking around I was given before anybody could give me a straight answer, I'm seriously considering returning my Captivate anyway and giving Verizon a shot. Except that they're going to cost the same amount I'm paying now, and they don't (yet) have any good android phones that work international.

mesasone said:
Don't forget the 30 dollar surcharge for the "privilege" to tether your computer to your phone and use "your" data.
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Or the $20 "privelege" of connecting to an "enterprise" email system

ag4vr said:
I doubt seriously that you'll be able to keep your MediaNet plan. Most of us think that data is data is data, but not where AT&T is concerned. They tend to place this magical premium on smartphone data in the name of maximizing revenue.
If you don't use more than 200 mb a month then the $15 plan should be fine. If you think you'll use more, which is very likely with these phones, you'll want to get the 2gb plan.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I'm on this plan and it's not too bad. Only things I don't really do with my phone while I'm on data: browse the web, use google navigation, or use pandora radio. those things seem to eat up bandwith more than anything else.
Also, use a program like NetMeter, it'll let you know how much data you're using via data plan and wifi, very handy. It let's me monitor my use so I can be sure I won't go over.
And last thing to consider: The way AT&T's billing plan is that you're paying 15$ a month for the first 200mb of data that you use. If you go over that 200mb, they're going to charge you another 15$ for the next 200mb of data, and so on..
It really sucks they've done it like that, but they definitely had a lot of leaks in their network as far as data goes, which is why they've cracked down on it so much. I used to have the same 15$ unlimited data plan for the longest time ever and enjoyed it with my various HTC phones (Wizard, 8515, tilt), but ultimately, I hurt myself in the end since I didn't bother to get on an unlimited smart phone data plan back then, which would have cost me more at the time, but would more than make up for it as far as being grandfathered in goes.

The best way around it is getting a Tmobile phone because you dont need 3g and ATT usually doesnt mess aorund with there imei numbers. But Att has made data plan very cheap $15 and if u usually use wifi then u will never go over. I have never gone over 200 in the past year and its basically i download apps on wifi using other features in moderations u should be good.

First off, this is my first post on these forums.. second. I had the unlimited data plan on a dumbphone, switched to the smartphone. Was told I couldn't keep my plan. Called customer support. Explained I had been with ATT since 1998 and I don't understand why I couldn't keep my plan. They said I couldn't, agent was rather rude IMHO, I said, well I can change carriers, can I speak to a manager. She put me on hold. Came back rather quickly and said in a nice voice. Sir, I spoke to my manager and they agree to give you your plan back, since you have been with us for so long. But you know, it will cost you 5 dollars more a month. I laughed and said, that's not the point."

Captivate WITHOUT Data Plan?

Hey everyone! Hopefully I will go to the at&t store to pick up my Captivate tomorrow. However, I have a problem.
You see, my family has 5 members who have phone line, 2 of which have data plans. My father has a data plan and is content with his iphone 3gs and is eligible for an upgrade. So, he plans to pay $250 for a new Samsung Captivate that will SUPPOSEDLY be for him and his line. However, he is going to give it to me instead, and I don't have a data plan.
Is there any way I could unlock my phone in the sense that I can use it without a data plan? Like can I have 3g turned off 24/7? I plan to get my phone rooted, does rooting automatically do this/allow me to do this?
Thanks in advance.

No as soon as you put an AT&T Sim in it it will register on their network and a data plan will be added...

Sadly AT&T requires smartphones to have Data plans. You're not going to have any choice. Hopefully your old man won't notice, eh?
$250?!? How long has he had the contract with them? I picked mine up for $99.

terrigan said:
Sadly AT&T requires smartphones to have Data plans. You're not going to have any choice. Hopefully your old man won't notice, eh?
$250?!? How long has he had the contract with them? I picked mine up for $99.
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For a little less than a year, he didn't wait out his whole 2 years lol.

well thats not possible if you have att but if you pay like 250 more and buy a vibrant off contract and unlock then you only pay 10 dollars for unlimited data

You can have AT&T put a data block on your phone, but that blocks mms also. Then the system wont put you on a data plan. btw data block is free to do, we know how they like to charge for most of there features.

Gaidheil said:
You can have AT&T put a data block on your phone, but that blocks mms also. Then the system wont put you on a data plan.
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You better research this - AT&T won't put a datablock on a smarthphone that requires data. Phones transmit their IMEI numbers when on the network - AT&T will see it is a Captivate and force a data plan on the customer.
If you bought it off contract, you may have a chance, but if you buy it via the subsidized contract price you need to play by their rules.

no even if u buy the captivate off contract you still have to pay for data but if you buy a vibrant off contract unlock it then its up to you whether or not you want a data plan

If you have a GoPhone sim card in it, they won't charge you for data. I have a GoPhone sim in mine and I've never been required to purchase data for it. I'm not sure about monthly bills though...they may require data on those.

NeoXer0 said:
Hey everyone! Hopefully I will go to the at&t store to pick up my Captivate tomorrow. However, I have a problem.
You see, my family has 5 members who have phone line, 2 of which have data plans. My father has a data plan and is content with his iphone 3gs and is eligible for an upgrade. So, he plans to pay $250 for a new Samsung Captivate that will SUPPOSEDLY be for him and his line. However, he is going to give it to me instead, and I don't have a data plan.
Is there any way I could unlock my phone in the sense that I can use it without a data plan? Like can I have 3g turned off 24/7? I plan to get my phone rooted, does rooting automatically do this/allow me to do this?
Thanks in advance.
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yeah i dont understand why people even want to try this.
if he is getting it for that price just unlock it and try to go to another provider....

alphadog00 said:
You better research this - AT&T won't put a datablock on a smarthphone that requires data. Phones transmit their IMEI numbers when on the network - AT&T will see it is a Captivate and force a data plan on the customer.
If you bought it off contract, you may have a chance, but if you buy it via the subsidized contract price you need to play by their rules.
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i spoke with them about this yesterday, as i wanted to open a 3rd line w my old blackjack, and they told me that it would HAVE to have the min 15$ data plan on the phone, no way around it.
smartphone = smartphone plan. thats just how it is now.

It's odd, I've had mine for about a week now, and I still don't have a data plan. Hasn't been added, I've checked data usage, it says "information not available"...
I have a text and data block on it... but I'm not completely sure on that. Prick of a sister did that.

pokedoke said:
It's odd, I've had mine for about a week now, and I still don't have a data plan. Hasn't been added, I've checked data usage, it says "information not available"...
I have a text and data block on it... but I'm not completely sure on that. Prick of a sister did that.
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LOL! dude! I am also in the same boat. I had a data block put on my line about a year ago. I bought my captivate one week ago and no data plan yet. Its not on my bill and I can't connect.
I really have no need of a data plan. Everywhere I go, there is WiFi available.
I am loving it so far, lets hope they dont get wise to it.

xtremekilla09 said:
LOL! dude! I am also in the same boat. I had a data block put on my line about a year ago. I bought my captivate one week ago and no data plan yet. Its not on my bill and I can't connect.
I really have no need of a data plan. Everywhere I go, there is WiFi available.
I am loving it so far, lets hope they dont get wise to it.
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Indeed...but I was kinda looking forward to a data plan... living in the city = real time traffic updates are pure bliss. But I suppose the areas with traffic are areas with wifi anyway...haha.
What differs from yours is that my block started when I got the phone. You'd think somebody would catch on...

For some reason they allowed me to use the unlimited family data plan (non-smartphone) for my Tilt2 in the beginning of the year even though it clearly showed in my account that I was using a Tilt2 (bought off eBay). I did have a data block on my phone prior to the Tilt2. Picked up the Captivate off contract and still enjoying unlimited data since launch.

hey guys. i work at att as a sales rep and there is a way to get it without data...
lmk if interested.

People who have blocks on data plans are being grandfathered in.
You can no longer block data on smartphones.

again. im telling you i know how to do it

I didn't see your post, but I can already tell it's not available to just anyone.

lol ive been working with att for over a year. im tellinmg you i can do it. for Blackberry, iphone, any smart phone

[Q] Data Plan

Hi, I've recently heard that AT&T has a way of now detecting if you're using a smartphone and will automatically bill you with a data plan if you dont already have one. I was wondering if rooting the phone would help bypass this cause my brother is using a jailbroken iphone without a data plan. Thanks guys!

illegit said:
Hi, I've recently heard that AT&T has a way of now detecting if you're using a smartphone and will automatically bill you with a data plan if you dont already have one. I was wondering if rooting the phone would help bypass this cause my brother is using a jailbroken iphone without a data plan. Thanks guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to accomplish this you would have to get involved in much more complicated and nefarious things than just rooting your phone.
This forum is not the place for it, so for you the answer is no.

It is not so much they can detect a smartphone, but they can detect the type of phone, iPhone, Captivate, etc. If these are on the smartphone list, they will add a dataplan if you don't have one - or if you have the wrong type.
You can't change this -when the phone is on the network, it broadcasts information about itself - rooting doesn't change this.
AT&T has millions of subscribers and this information probably has to be mined out of a data base - pull list of all smarthpones seen on the network in the past X days; check all accounts related for data plans, etc. They probably have a bunch of older unconnected systems too. So, it may not happen the first day you connect or even 3 months later, but at some point they will figure it out.

Its true. Before I got my fiance her iphone 3gs, she had a blackberry pearl without data and a few months before she switched they added data to our bill unexpectedly and wouldn't let us drop it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

i dont get why someone buys a 500 dollar phone if they are too cheap to get the datra plan with it.
I could understand if you got a blackjack, but come on now....

iamamp3pimp said:
i dont get why someone buys a 500 dollar phone if they are too cheap to get the datra plan with it.
I could understand if you got a blackjack, but come on now....
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I think some people are convinced they are near wifi all day and don't want to waste the money on data they won't use.. But they do have that 200MB plan for $15 - i think it is overpriced - should be $5 - but if you buy a smartphone you should be ready to add a data plan.
If you don't want to add data, get a dumb phone and ipod Touch.

I work for AT&T so I'll give you some inside info. The phones have a sim registration program that talks to the local server through the towers. Within 60 seconds of your phone being turned on it tells the network what kind of phone it is. It can tell the network the make/model but not the IMEI. If it could detect the IMEI then stolen phones would pretty much be useless. The only way around the forced data plan is to have a tag on your account for "smartphone exclusion". Everyone got this tag in September 2009 so we could all be grandfathered with no data plans. When you upgrade to a new phone with a 2yr agreement it removes the tage automatically. But if you buy your own smartphone, this tag allows you to keep data removed if you dont want it. Or in my case it allows me to have a samsung captivate with the $10 family data unlimited plan for dumbphones. The network knows I have a captivate but it cant force the data plan because I have "smartphone exclusion". You can go to a local AT&T store and see if someone is willing to tell you if you have this tag. If you don't have it then it is pretty much impossible to get it. And no I can't add it for you. Hope that helps.

Actually the IMEI is reported when the phone talks to the network. It is part of the GSM protocol. Europe enforces a ban on stolen phones via IMEI. American carriers just dont seem interested in banning stolen phones as they would rather have the revenue and not turn off the ebay buyer.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

alphadog00 said:
Actually the IMEI is reported when the phone talks to the network. It is part of the GSM protocol. Europe enforces a ban on stolen phones via IMEI. American carriers just dont seem interested in banning stolen phones as they would rather have the revenue and not turn off the ebay buyer.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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while this is true at&t actually uses the IMSI on the SIM to do its dirty work. Also the captivates ONLY transmit the IMSI while on 3G (reduces over head for more throughput on EDGE) which is why the option to force 2G is hidden on the captivate.

captivatesuperuser said:
The only way around the forced data plan is to have a tag on your account for "smartphone exclusion". Everyone got this tag in September 2009 so we could all be grandfathered with no data plans.
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I've been with AT&T since before 2009, does this mean I'll automatically have the tag? And how would I know if my account has this tag or not?
When you upgrade to a new phone with a 2yr agreement it removes the tage automatically. But if you buy your own smartphone, this tag allows you to keep data removed if you dont want it. Or in my case it allows me to have a samsung captivate with the $10 family data unlimited plan for dumbphones.
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Do you mean buying your own smartphone outside of AT&T? I currently have the $10 unlimited data plan for my "dumbphone". Talking to AT&T indicated there was no way to keep the existing data plan and I've have to move to one of the 2 new plans if I got the Captivate.

iamamp3pimp said:
i dont get why someone buys a 500 dollar phone if they are too cheap to get the datra plan with it.
I could understand if you got a blackjack, but come on now....
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Click to collapse
I would be interested in this simply because i want unlimited data. Hell i would pay the extra 5 bucks if they would let me in on the unlimited smartphone plan but it seems like fooling their network would be an easier task lol. Also i have had my sim for over 2 years now and they still were able to change me from the dumbphone plan to the smartphone one.

Captivate without Data Plan

Hey guys,
I'm thinking about getting the Captivate and I was wondering if I can get it without the $15/$30 per month data plan because 90% of the time I'm surrounded with wifi. I did some research and it says that AT&T will be able to track what phone your using with the IMEI number. I was wondering if I can bypass that if I get the Samsung Vibrant and then unlock it so I can use it with AT&T.
I also heard that data block might work is that true? Thanks for all the advice.

Seems kinda silly to get a smartphone and then cripple most of its functionality by not getting at least a minimal data plan. Even if you have ready access to wifi, there are situations where a little data access comes in handy.

I've got around att's data plan by taking a free dumbphone which i got with the "Add-a-line" option, and I swapped it out with an unlocked, not att branded device. Its been over 1.5 years, and I haven't had any data charge.
Just be careful the phone doesn't get any push email or anything like that. I once got charged for getting an email, because when you dont have a data plan, its pay per mb used
Its weird though, my friend did the same exact thing as me, but he bought a different phone, and he gets charged a data plan
EDIT: Actually, I think I got "grandfathered" in. You're most likely going to end up being forced into a data plan. Look at this article

It may sound silly but I am literally surrounded with free wifi wherever I go. Is there no way around this? What happens if I get a different smartphone instead?

If you use wifi there is no data plan utilized. AT&T has no idea what you do when you use wifi. Turn on wifi and enjoy email, the market, surfing...whatever you want.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

I'm using edge on mine. I have tmobile and just unlocked the captivate so that i could bypass the data plan. You could probably do it the other way around
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just get the phone, you will have to add the data plan to be able to buy it, but a few days later, tell them you lost it and you want to cancel the data, but tell them not only to cancel it, but to block it, because if they do not block it and you go online, they will charge you per MB of usage, but if they block it, there is no way to get any traffic if it isn't thru wifi

is that possible? wont they still be able to detect thatI'm using the Captivate?

A data plan is now required for any smartphone sold by AT$T or one of its authorized agents. So long as the SIM card is in it (it will show what phone it is in on the system and online in your account) they will not cancel the data plan for you. What some people do is put the SIM in a dumb phone, call and cancel their data plan, and then reinstall the SIM to their smartphone. Better be sure you don't use any data, though.
I found a couple of things that absolutely require a data plan and can not be done over wifi. For one, I have Market setup to bill to my AT$T account. When I buy an app this way I have to be on data connection, not wifi, or the charge does not go through. I'm guessing my account info needed to approve the purchase is not accessible via wifi. I also had a program tell me to turn off wifi so it could connect. Can't remember what it was, but it could not work over wifi, only the data connection. aGPS needs a data connection, as well, so you'd be rendering all your GPS apps useless without a data plan.

Process of putting a sim into a dumb phone used to work but it no longer does. Only customers that are grandfathered in can use a smartphone without a data plan provided they did not sign a new 2 year contract agreeing to the new terms and conditions. With a recent upgrade to their system they can detect what type of device the sim is in resulting in a text :data will be automatically added your account.

so nothing can be done?

kenwarez said:
so nothing can be done?
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Click to collapse
Only way is purchasing an unlocked smartphone from a different country. At&t system goes by imei and if it can't recognize the serial it will not classify it as a smartphone. I'm sure there is another way with all the custom options out there but not sure about that one.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

I'm not from USA and I don't know much about your carriers, but coudn't you alegate that the data service drains your battery till the.point you find your phone unusable and ask for at&t to block it threatening of changing your provider? The last part works for almost anything in my country. Also with a good excuse you can build up a consumers defense case asking to be removed from the plan. Like phone racism, all phones should be able to access all plans, and if for example you are on a no data area they are charging you more for the same service.
Just a few ideas... not sure if any of them could work

rastanthology said:
I'm not from USA and I don't know much about your carriers, but coudn't you alegate that the data service drains your battery till the.point you find your phone unusable and ask for at&t to block it threatening of changing your provider? The last part works for almost anything in my country. Also with a good excuse you can build up a consumers defense case asking to be removed from the plan. Like phone racism, all phones should be able to access all plans, and if for example you are on a no data area they are charging you more for the same service.
Just a few ideas... not sure if any of them could work
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i thought the iphone was the only ATT phone they could force you to have a data plan on even when purchased off contract? I know they may try to turn on your data plan if you are using an off contract but in my past experience when you raise a fuss they take it back off and say it was a mistake (this was on my last phone...a TILT 2). I had purchased it off contract and after a about 1.5 years use without data plan one day i got a text saying it was required and had been added. Logged onto my account and couldn't disable. Called them and told them i did not want the plan added, that i had purchased the phone off contract, and had been completely happy using it for the past 1.5 years without a data plan. They said it was a mistake and removed it. Continued to use it for another 6 to 7 months without data plan then finally decided to add an unlimited plan before they disappeared.
Unless something has changed (which it may have) the iphone was the only phone that they forced the data plan on even when you purchased it without any discount or part of a 2 year agreement to have a plan.

alaimar said:
Process of putting a sim into a dumb phone used to work but it no longer does. Only customers that are grandfathered in can use a smartphone without a data plan provided they did not sign a new 2 year contract agreeing to the new terms and conditions. With a recent upgrade to their system they can detect what type of device the sim is in resulting in a text :data will be automatically added your account.
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ah..sounds like it has changed this use to only apply to iphone...didn't matter how or when you purchased them once the system saw it you were getting a data plan like it or not.

Look at any smartphone on the AT$T site. All have an asterisk stating that a data plan is required. You used to be able to request a data block, but their thinking now is that if you buy a smartphone on contract, you are doing so knowing that some level of data plan is required. AT$T has no obligation to customers that buy phones from other sources like eBay and Craig's List. I had a grandfathered $15 unlimited data plan since February 2009 that I used with my LG Incite. Last July I bought an HTC Tilt 2 off eBay. Almost as soon as I put my SIM into it AT$T tried to upgrade my data plan (since it was not a smartphone plan) I told them I did not want them to change anything as I would not be using the Tilt 2 for long and would probably be using my upgrade (new contract) in December. They weren't happy about it, but they left me alone until I did just that and got the Captivate a couple weeks ago. They are trying to close the loopholes and move people to one of the current data plans they offer. What does piss me off is that they still have the true unlimited data plans (no caps) available just for iPhone customers.

alaimar said:
Only way is purchasing an unlocked smartphone from a different country. At&t system goes by imei and if it can't recognize the serial it will not classify it as a smartphone. I'm sure there is another way with all the custom options out there but not sure about that one.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
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Sorry but no. If AT&T decides to carry that phone later, it will be sweep into the AT&T data plans. It happened to my Rogers X10a. Once AT&T decided carrying it, I got a text message that they were switching me to the proper data plan. So hope that whatever unlocked phone you want to buy will never be sold by AT&T.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Like I said before, are you sure you can't just unlock the Vibrant from T mobile and use that without the data plan? Sure, it isn't the captivate, but it is basically the same thing and could work. I purchased my captivate from some guy off contract and all I had to do was unlock it and it works perfectly without a data plan on T-mobile.

does the sim card affect anything because I have a Cingular SIM card.

I bought a locked at&t captivate on ebay for my girlfriend and she's been using it for almost 3 months now with no data plan and at&t has not added one to her line yet. the asterisk on the at&t website saying a data plan is required is only to get that discounted price on the phone itself. ($200 instead of $500 or whatever)

[Q] Data Plan

Not sure if anyone know's but let's say I get two of these phones one for me and one for the wife and Only one needs Data considering I am home all day with wi-fi access. Is there a way to get it so I can call in and drop one of the data plans after getting the phone?

The only way you could do that is if you buy it off contract. The carrier will force you to have a data plan.
Sent from my LG Thrill 3D using XDA Premium

Well what if I buy it and say I sold the phone and plug in My OLD Motorola Rokr to the Sim when I call them. I mean they can't prove that I didn't sell it.

But the network knows your imei and att will know what kind of phone it is.
Would your plan work? Probably. Would it be surprising for att to surprise you with automatically adding a data plan later? No.
If you look online at your account it will show you what phone you have. I once tested their system with a few phones I got from friends. One was an att branded flip phone, one was a unlocked HTC WinMo phone with a custom ROM, and another was a TMo blackberry. Each time within a day or two the website updated itself with my phone.
Sent from my Captivate running Continuum 5.6

you'll be able to switch to another data plan when you change device
or outright remove it
but when you switch back to the thrill it will detect it and automatically add the $15mb 200 meg data plan
just do the iphone or unlocked smartphone idea to get her unlimited data. that way at least she can listen to pandora, stream videos, and use gps when she's out.

againareku said:
you'll be able to switch to another data plan when you change device
or outright remove it
but when you switch back to the thrill it will detect it and automatically add the $15mb 200 meg data plan
just do the iphone or unlocked smartphone idea to get her unlimited data. that way at least she can listen to pandora, stream videos, and use gps when she's out.
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I have heard of the iPhone idea but what's the unlocked Smartphone idea. I mean I have an unlocked T-Mobile Mytouch 4G (That Work?)

plenty of other ways, port out number to another carrier.....port it back in, dont have to use same rate plan when you come back, dif phone now, no data needed...

Any time you put your Sim card in a smartphone, the phone will update the IMEI on your account and send you a text saying it added the plan within about two days of use. Pretty much no way around it that I know of.
Sent from my LG-P925 using xda premium

The price of your phone is subsidized by the contracted data plan. As far as I know they would leave it on your account no matter what actual phone you are using, since they gave you a $550 phone and will be getting their money back one way or another.

Not actually. You can start a contract with a smartphone but later change your IMEI to a regular phone and drop the data altogether. They get their money back from your monthly rate plan.
Sent from my LG-P925 using xda premium

TylDurden said:
The price of your phone is subsidized by the contracted data plan. As far as I know they would leave it on your account no matter what actual phone you are using, since they gave you a $550 phone and will be getting their money back one way or another.
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If you got the phone for a reduced price then switched to a non smart phone you could drop the data, but if you use any smartphone with att they add a data plan.
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AzraelsVoice said:
Not actually. You can start a contract with a smartphone but later change your IMEI to a regular phone and drop the data altogether. They get their money back from your monthly rate plan.
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So why are data plans contracted and required on some (smart) phones and not others?

Data plans aren't contracted. smartphones require data plans because of the large amounts of
data they consume due to the full html browser, app downloading, and app data use.
Sent from my LG-P925 using xda premium

Interesting. I don't have too much experience with ATT but on TMobile when I got a BB and sold it, I attached a different phone and tried to remove the Data plan and it gave me a disconnection fee. I had to get a sales rep friend work some magic, when ATT says that a phone "requires data and a 2 year contract" I just put 2 and 2 together. Glad to hear I'm not locked into a data plan.

That's crazy that t mobile contracts plans. No wonder they're going out of business lol. with AT&T, pretty much the only thing that is contracted is your service. You can change any rate plan or data plan anytime as long as it's within the guidelines for your device.
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AzraelsVoice said:
That's crazy that t mobile contracts plans. No wonder they're going out of business lol. with AT&T, pretty much the only thing that is contracted is your service. You can change any rate plan or data plan anytime as long as it's within the guidelines for your device.
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Makes sense to me. Data usage of a phone has nothing to do with a required data plan. You can always turn it off (the data) from the phone. Getting money back for a more expensive phone is a much better excuse to require data. I'm still doubting that I can just change to a flip phone and turn off my data plan on ATT. I liked tmobile (and still do) better than ATT. I just wanted a Thrill and I joined my Dads plan so I pay less, but I almost payed the same with my own plan on Tmobile without splitting the bill with anyone. ATT is way more expensive.

TylDurden said:
ATT is way more expensive.
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I keep hearing this. I shopped around and couldn't find another carrier that had a significantly reduced rate from what I pay.
5 lines
2 smart phones w/unlimited data
2 non-smart phones w/unlimited data
1 non-smart phone not on any data plan
1500 minutes
unlimited text
Total monthly=~$230
We had 2100 minutes but since AT&T went free mobile to mobile calling and up 10 non-cell lines free to and from calling, we had a ton of rollover minutes.
US Cellular was like $250
Verizon was $160 before you even threw in data plans and insurance
Sprint is terrible in my area for reception
T-mobile was ~$240
Granted I get 15% off my bill so it'd be a bit more expensive. But when price comparing, all the companies are about the same when it comes to family packages.

I have 4 lines
3 smartphones w/ $25 data
1 regular Joe
Insurance on all 4
Unlimited texting for all
Around $225 before my discount
Sent from my LG-P925 using xda premium

Mobile to Mobile is sweet

Clearing things up
Ok ok ok, so I work for ATT Customer Care, and I have to deal with this every darn day. ATT's systems are smarter than you, sorry, it's true. They do random sweeps and see what IMEI (id for phone) the sim card is attached to. They also look at the calls, and every call has an IMEI attached to it. I promise you, even if you buy the phone outright, or say you have a different phone, it will catch you. It will also notify you saying your busted, and it will put on the $25 2gb with $10/1gb overage on it. You cannot get around it, sorry. The only way was to have a smartphone exclusion on the acct, and that is not possible because you are changing IMEI's. Sorry, deal with it.
On a side now, if you want unlim data, then buy an ORIGINAL iPhone, put it on your acct for a few days, call back in and have the imei changed to the thrill, and you get to keep the data package.
Have a great day!