No Data Plan once 2 yr contract expires?

I'm pretty certain all iphones, regardless of contract status, require a data plan.

I think theonly way to skirt the data plan is to cancel the line and get a prepaid sim. Logic would say after contract expires you SHOULD be able to get any plan but cell companies dont really subscribe to logic when it comes to them losing money

scotland007 said:

My wife has a 3GS that her contract is up this May. She will be moving up to a new iPhone however since the contract will have expired on the 3GS (ATT pockets full), could this phone be handed down to one of our kids without the data plan since the contract has been fulfilled?

I know ATT can tag the IMEI and force the data plan but just wondered if anyone has got round this once the contract is over?

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There is a way, at least it has been working on one of my lines on an iPhone 3G for almost 3 years now (1.5 years on contract and the rest out of contract). I must mention though that the iPhone 3G itself was bought off eBay to use on a line that was already on contract with an AT&T dumbphone.

Insert the SIM in a dumbphone, call AT&T and request them to restrict all data on that particular line (there is no charge for this). Check on the dumbphone if you can still access data and after you confirm that you cannot, reinsert the SIM back on the iPhone and voila.

OP - All the posters are assuming you want the iPhone to function as a an actual phone. I notice you didn't say that for certain, though.

If that's what you wanted then listen to them. But if that's not the case and you really just want it to be an iPod then you can cancel the contract, put it in airplane mode, and keep using it as an iPod Touch forever.

The canceling all data strategy doesn't always work. They still added the data plan to my wife's 3G after a few months.

scotland007 said:

Thanks Guys, yes the intention is still to use it as a Phone, she is 12 so i want to limit her to Phone and Wifi only.

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I think prepaid sim is the way togo then, can you unlock it?

Get a GoPhone SIM and make it into a GoPhone. I do this with my littler sister and pay about $15 a month for unlimited text and just 10¢ a minute, which she doesn't talk that much. I don't buy her data.

Diode said:

I'm pretty certain all iphones, regardless of contract status, require a data plan.

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This is my understanding as well.

The last time I looked at prepaid sims was 2 years ago, back when it didn't work on iPhones. They do now?

vincenz said:

The last time I looked at prepaid sims was 2 years ago, back when it didn't work on iPhones. They do now?

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My sister currently uses an iPhone 3G with a GoPhone SIM, it works perfect. All you need is the SIM, no jailbreaking or altering required.

benhollberg said:

My sister currently uses an iPhone 3G with a GoPhone SIM, it works perfect. All you need is the SIM, no jailbreaking or altering required.

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Thanks for the clarification. I'm guessing you can cut the prepaid SIM down and get it working in an iPhone 4 also?

vincenz said:

Thanks for the clarification. I'm guessing you can cut the prepaid SIM down and get it working in an iPhone 4 also?

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I'm guessing you could do that. I don't think there are any GoPhone phones that support a MicroSIM so I think cutting down a normal one would be the only choice. However, it might be worth asking AT&T to just give you a MicroSIM activated with a GoPhone.

wacky4alanis said:

The canceling all data strategy doesn't always work. They still added the data plan to my wife's 3G after a few months.

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Same here.
They will detect you're using an iphone without an iphone data plan and they will send you a message that the appropriate data plan has been added to your account.
Only way to avoid it is to go prepaid gosim or unlock it and use it on tmobile.

Applejuiced said:

Same here.
They will detect you're using an iphone without an iphone data plan and they will send you a message that the appropriate data plan has been added to your account.
Only way to avoid it is to go prepaid gosim or unlock it and use it on tmobile.

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Was this recently implemented by AT&T? I've bought iPhones on MR or EBay and used them with my AT&T account without being put on a data plan. Since I have wifi network majority of the time, I never wanted to pay for a data plan.

I did disable cellular data though, maybe that prevents it from happening? My wife has a iPhone 2G currently with no data plan attached, also data disabled (maybe I should double check our account!)

madmaxmedia said:

Was this recently implemented by AT&T? I've bought iPhones on MR or EBay and used them with my AT&T account without being put on a data plan. Since I have wifi network majority of the time, I never wanted to pay for a data plan.

I did disable cellular data though, maybe that prevents it from happening? My wife has a iPhone 2G currently with no data plan attached, also data disabled (maybe I should double check our account!)

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It has been happening since last summer to alot of people. They dont do it with the iphone 2G but with 3G, 3GS and i4 once the system does IMEI scans and detects it then it adds the data plan and sends you a text.
Some have got away for months others got caught sooner. Try at your own risk.

Gotcha, thanks. I am actually on a plan now anyway so it's no longer an issue for me.

The cheap 200MB/month plan works fine for me (even though it's poor value per MB), I get the benefit of push email, GPS maps, etc. and the occasional web browsing, and I have never gone over 200MB.

madmaxmedia said:

Was this recently implemented by AT&T? I've bought iPhones on MR or EBay and used them with my AT&T account without being put on a data plan. Since I have wifi network majority of the time, I never wanted to pay for a data plan.

I did disable cellular data though, maybe that prevents it from happening? My wife has a iPhone 2G currently with no data plan attached, also data disabled (maybe I should double check our account!)

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My AT$T contract ends on Monday and I'm looking to dump the data plan as well since I'm usually near a wi-fi connection (have a 3G). Is it possible to just renew w. AT&T, ask for a free phone that requires no data plan and then just put that sim into my old 3G w. the 3G, cellular data, and data roaming switched to off? Thanks.

whawhat said:

My AT$T contract ends on Monday and I'm looking to dump the data plan as well since I'm usually near a wi-fi connection (have a 3G). Is it possible to just renew w. AT&T, ask for a free phone that requires no data plan and then just put that sim into my old 3G w. the 3G, cellular data, and data roaming switched to off? Thanks.

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Nope... they will still tac a data plan on your account when they see you're using an iPhone.

rjohnstone said:

Nope... they will still tac a data plan on your account when they see you're using an iPhone.

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sucks - but thanks for the quick reply....

Until you cancel it, the plan will continue as normal except that it'll be on a month to month basis.

whawhat said:

My AT$T contract ends on Monday and I'm looking to dump the data plan as well since I'm usually near a wi-fi connection (have a 3G). Is it possible to just renew w. AT&T, ask for a free phone that requires no data plan and then just put that sim into my old 3G w. the 3G, cellular data, and data roaming switched to off? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Also, no need to renew (and be subject to a contract).

2 options:

1. get a used dumbphone from CL, get the data block and then try to get by with that. some have reported success.

2. port your number to gophone, then put that SIM card in your iphone. No data required for gophone

sbddude said:

Also, no need to renew (and be subject to a contract).

2 options:

1. get a used dumbphone from CL, get the data block and then try to get by with that. some have reported success.

2. port your number to gophone, then put that SIM card in your iphone. No data required for gophone

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good idea - gonna drop my SIM into my old motorola and get the data block turned on tuesday. worth a shot. thanks very much.

I would also use a custom APN from this website so data is turned off on your phone side too-

http://iphonenodata.com/site/

I always used this just to make sure I wasn't racking up data charges. Maybe it could help prevent AT&T detecting you have a smartphone and automatically applying a data plan to your account, I don't know. No harm in using it though-