AT&T allow you to upgrade a basic to smartphone than drop data switching back to basic?

You can change your data plan anytime you want with AT&T. However, you can not have a smartphone on your account with a "basic" data plan. You have to have a data plan that corresponds to the type of phone that you are using.

 

Please clarify what it is that you wish to accomplish.

 

No, you have to have a data plan with a smartphone.

 

Here what you have to do.

1. You upgrade the line. Choose 300 mb plan.
2. You need any basic phone, go phone works. You swap sim card using adapter.
3. You call att and ask them to remove data plan. If you want to continue to use dmartphone later, ask them to put "data block" on the line. They ask IMEI number.

I know some people use iphones for years without any data plan. I call them wifi hunters

 

I don't know if I am fully understanding this, but I will try to explain. If you upgrade to the Note 5 you will need to have a smartphone data plan. If you choose to go back to a non smartphone, you can go back to a basic data plan. Simply put, as long as you have a smartphone on your account you can not remove a smartphone data plan.

 

This is odd because as far as I know AT&T hasn't allowed customers to block data on their account as long as there is a smartphone on it for a few years now.

 

Good of AT&T to keep that policy still, unlike Verizon which changed it at one point so that even if you switch to a basic phone you still have to pay for the data portion nonetheless.

 

So if I understand the goal here with a 6S as an example:
- Upgrade basic line to get 6S
- Switch basic plan on line to lowest gb offered in order to get 6S
- Receive 6S and activate on current line with unlimited data
- switch the upgraded line back to a basic plan and add basic phone back to it
- in the end, gets 6S at discount price, keeps unlimited data, keep basic phones and plan, pays about 2-3 days worth of prorated data plan. Sound about right?

 

Hey Finn. This was a duplicate thread. The OP question was answered here: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads...an-drop-data-switching-back-to-basic.1937677/

 

If you have smartphone you cannot delete data. But if you have a regular phone, you swap a sim from smartphone in a phone like Nokia 6555 (you have to make a call or two and wait 15 minutes so system updates imei), you can cancel data, block data and after that swap the sim card back.
If you don't block data system can put you on a cheapest data plan again, but if your data is blocked system cannot do anything.
At least it was true 3 weeks ago.

You just need a sim adapter. The cheapest adapter right now is t-mobile 3 in one sim card 0.99 with SIM99 promo:

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...89490&cmpid=WTR_AF_189490&irpid=10451&irgwc=1



With VZW you cannot do this since you should give them ESN number for cdma. But may be you can now. I swapped my friends vzw sim into my iphone and it worked.

 

For AT&T If you get an iphone then you will get a data plan.
Then if you switch that line to a regular flip phone you can remove the iphone data plan.
Not every carrier is the same.
With AT&T I done it many times when using a flip phone line to get a subsidized iphone and then remove it since the phone will go to another line so the old flip phone is still used on the upgraded line. Then the iphone data plan is removed.

 

Verizon stopped this maneuver in August 2014 (buy subsidized smartphone switch to flip phone drop data plan in August 2014).

Essentially if u do this (say buy $199 iPhone 6S 16gb). Drop data plan. Put sim in flip phone. Keep $9.99 line active X 20 months before next subsidized upgrade.

When factoring taxes (line ends up costing around $13 for me after taxes).

$13/line X 20 months equal about $260 in line charges over 20 months.

ATT subsidies me $450 for iPhone. Even factoring in $45 activation fee/upgrade fee.

You still end up about $150 ahead by just keeping line active for 20 months till next upgrade.

Verizon bean counters stopped this maneuver last year. ATT hasn't yet.