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legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
I switched to media max instead of iphone plan to use on the iphone and it works fine and everything except that when I get a new voicemail, I DON'T KNOW IT! No notifications!

Can anyone confirm this happens and also if there is a workaround? Thanks
 

Canuck4

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2007
580
0
Whats media max?
Maybe call up AT&T and have them checkout your account settings?
 

legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
If you're in a roaming area w/ the iPhone data plan, your iPhone will say "visual voicemail unavailable" and will revert to standard voice (which still gives u notifications of new voicemail)...

I would think it would at least give u some type of voicemail notification.... ???
 

question fear

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2003
2,277
84
The "Garden" state
I switched to media max instead of iphone plan to use on the iphone and it works fine and everything except that when I get a new voicemail, I DON'T KNOW IT! No notifications!

Can anyone confirm this happens and also if there is a workaround? Thanks

Just curious, why did you switch? Media Max and iPhone plans are the same price...:confused:
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,363
549
The only reason to use media max is to try to cheat ATT. He/She obviously is either using a hacked iPhone that bypasses activation (so they won't have to sign up for the 2 year contract).

Or they are trying retain their corporate monthly discounts by switching back to the media max plans because once you are on the iPhone data plan, ATT eliminates all monthly discounts.

I have a media max plan on the iPhone myself because I wanted to retain my 24% monthly discount. Saving $18 a month is well worth losing visual voicemail.

You just can't have your cake and eat it too with cheating ATT. You cheat, you are going to give up some features. It's just the way it is.

FYI, ATT definitely knows I'm using an iPhone even though I'm on the media max plan (supposedly with my Moto V3xx) because they update my phone's image when I am logging on to my OLAM (online account management). I have still been able to keep my discounts for 2 full billing cycles so far so I don't care if they know I'm doing this to them.
 

legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
This is what I did: I activated on ATT w/ a normal line. A couple days later I got an iPhone and activated it normally. A month later (now), I switched to media max. I am NOT getting any type of voicemail notification. When I click on "voicemail" it says "voicemail unavailable. Unable to initiate connection." So to get to my voicemail I just call myself and it goes to my voicemail box. Is there anything I should be doing?

I have a 25% discount and that's why I switched... It seems like everyone else who does this has voicemail notifications, so I want to know if I can fix it...?
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,363
549
Once again, there is zero chance you can get visual voicemail if you are using anything other than iPhone data plan.

I've had the iPhone since June 29th. I switched over to the media max plan on July 23rd to save my corporate discounts.

I have searched everywhere and nobody to date found a way to get visual voicemail when using a non-iphone data plan.

Just live with this fact. You (well me too) are cheating ATT by keeping the monthly discount. Is visual voicemail really that important? If it is, than, are you willing to lose your monthly discount and willing to sign up for the iphone data plan.

I think 99% of people on this message board would agree with me that saving $10-20 a month on discounts is way better than visual voicemail. You will have to manually check your voicemail.

I can live without visual voicemail.
 

legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
you are not understanding... I dont want visual voicemail. I simply want to know when i have a voicemail.
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,363
549
Let me clarify this once again.

No iPhone data plan= No Visual Voicemail= No Voicemail notification

The Visual Voicemail is the iPhone's notification method. There is no way around this. You will have to manually check for voicemail by pressing and holding down "1" on the number pad. ATT provisions your SIM card to initiate the iPhone's voicemail system and there is no other icon alerting you that you have new voicemail. If you have media max, it's a guess game whether you have a new voicemail or not. When I did the switch, I actually lost my voicemail all together and had to call ATT/cingular CS to have my mailbox setup again.

I'm cheap and I can live with this. If Voicemail notfication (either visual voicemail or just an icon alerting you) is so important to you, than maybe you should just suck it up and pay the full bill without the discount.

At least I'm still one of the few lucky individuals where my voicemail minutes still are considered "Cingular/ATT to Cingular/ATT " minutes so checking my voicemail is free to me.

I post a lot of messages over on Howard Forums so I'm not really a newbie, just a newbie to this forum. I've been with ATT/Cingular for quite a while so I know how they work.
 

legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
Other people who have done the same thing as us are reporting that they are getting notifications....
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,363
549
Well if you know people who have found other ways to get voicemail notification with media max, just PM them. I know there are a couple of people who have used hacktheiphone and gotten voicemail notification (not on the original ATT SIM that comes with the iPhone). These were "hacked" iphones.

You are not using a "hacked" iphone. You are using a "legally" activated iPhone. You activated your iPhone via the internet and than changed your data plan.

If you want to "hack" your phone, do it at your own risk and if you are comfortable. You void your warranty when you do this.

You are going through too much trouble just to get everything to work perfectly on your iPhone. Just live with it for now until simpler methods are released.
 

micropat

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2007
15
0
San Diego/Francisco, CA
For those that have "freed" their iPhones, and are using non-iPhone data plans on AT&T:
  • Do Voicemail Notifications work?
  • Does Visual Voicemail work?
And, how'd you go about it? :)
 

legaleye3000

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 31, 2007
1,368
31
OK I THINK I HAVE THE ANSWER:


I decided to restore my phone... After the restore I DID NOT use ifuntastic or do anything... (I still have media max).


I now receive voicemail notifications (not visual voicemail, just regular notifications). However, when I logged into OLAM, my FAN discount was gone- I do not know if the reactivation through itunes did this or if it was a coincidence (because I really am not supposed to have a FAN discount), (my buddy at att is re-adding the fan discount as I type this).

So I'm not sure if iFuntastic (ver 3.03) messes it up or if you simply have to do a restore after switching to media max...
 

question fear

macrumors 68020
Apr 10, 2003
2,277
84
The "Garden" state
For those that have "freed" their iPhones, and are using non-iPhone data plans on AT&T:
  • Do Voicemail Notifications work?
  • Does Visual Voicemail work?
And, how'd you go about it? :)

This information is repeated all over this thread and elsewhere on the forums but here it is again:
Visual voicemail is an ATT service available only with an ATT iPhone plan. An unlocked iphone, or a non iPhone plan, will not receive visual voicemail. You should receive regular voicemail notifications and if not then read about the OP's issues and see if his problem resolution fixes yours.
 
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