I have an original iPhone (2G) on a family plan with my wife's dumbphone; we never use anywhere near our allowed minutes, and have something over 6000 rollover minutes right now. Since AT&T will no longer allow you to drop the data plan (since the 3G was released), and I don't really need iPhone service, I decided to get a cheap Nokia and trade the SIM card into it. Everything worked fine when I did (as expected), and when I checked my account on AT&T they immediately sensed that I had changed phones and showed a Nokia 6102i as the active phone on my line instead of the iPhone (again no surprise). However I did get a surprise when I checked my account today and all calls made since I switched have been charged as overage! Once I noticed this I changed the SIM back to my iPhone and checked the account; it properly showed the iPhone instead of the Nokia; it still shows the minutes of overage on the account (all from the Nokia) and shows all other minutes at 0 (my billing cycle just started again on 4/15). Does anybody know why this happened? I think after this that I will just keep my iPhone w/data until my contract ends in September and then port my number out to T-Mobile.
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AT&T charged overage minutes when SIM switched
- Thread starter danny_w
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Since you have a 2G iPhone, you CAN drop your Data plan......just FYI....
To answer the other part.....Call and ask ATT.
While you are at it, tell them to dump your data plan and to add a WIXBLOC to that line. If you text, then you might consider adding a text plan since you just lost 200 text by dumping the data plan on the original iPhone.
Up until the 3G was released AT&T allowed 2G users to drop the data plan; they even had the option on the accounts page online. However, after the 3G was launched they removed this option and now insist that the data plan cannot be dropped, even for 2G iPhones. I know several people have posted ways to get around this, like moving the SIM to a dumphone, calling to drop the plan/block data, and then putting the SIM back in the iPhone. I was in the process of trying this and explained what happened; now I'm scared to try it again. It is quite obvious (as I already knew) that AT&T knows what kind of phone you are using based on OTA interrogation of the phone; this can be seen by the fact that when I changed phones the account manager phone type immediately changed on its own.
Switching SIMs into another phone will not cause voice minutes overages. Your SIM and your account the minutes will come from your FamilyTalk minute pool. That is the first issue to try to resolve. Did you make any changes to your rate plan or did you mis-read the online summary? We need more details but it does sound like you need to call Customer Care and try to figure out the reason you were charged "overage" rates if you have existing Rollover minutes. How did you purchase the Nokia? Did you get a new SIM with it?
Now onto the detection of the device you are using. Everytime you phone connects to the AT&T cell network it self-reports the IMEI that your registered SIM is active in. This is also how the AT&T Online system OLAM reports the current phone active on your line. It is almost realtime using a system called DER.
Solve the minute problem first, before you move on to the data plan discussion.
Dave
If you want to see what AT&T and any other GSM carrier is able to receive from your device every time you connect to the cell network, just enter your IMEI here: http://www.numberingplans.com/?page=analysis&sub=imeinr
Dave
Dave
I called and they said that the overage minutes should be just a temporary system error that will be cleared by my next billing cycle.
Great, that sounds like the most reasonable answer. Just follow-up to make sure.
Now, when you are ready to drop the original iPhone data plan, just put your SIM into the Nokia. Call Customer Care and tell the rep that you just switched your phone and you want to drop the iPhone data plan. The rep will ask for the IMEI of the Nokia.
You also may want to add a SMS Txt plan as your current iPhone data plan includes 200 SMS Txt messages in the $20 price. Now you should also ask the rep to put a WIXBlock on the line. Just tell the rep that since you dropped the data plan you don't want to pay for any Pay Per Usage (PPU) accidents on your new Nokia. The WIXBlock is an AT&T term so you might just want to tell them you want to block any accidental internet usage. It does not block SMS Txt or any AT&T System messages.
Dave
Now, when you are ready to drop the original iPhone data plan, just put your SIM into the Nokia. Call Customer Care and tell the rep that you just switched your phone and you want to drop the iPhone data plan. The rep will ask for the IMEI of the Nokia.
You also may want to add a SMS Txt plan as your current iPhone data plan includes 200 SMS Txt messages in the $20 price. Now you should also ask the rep to put a WIXBlock on the line. Just tell the rep that since you dropped the data plan you don't want to pay for any Pay Per Usage (PPU) accidents on your new Nokia. The WIXBlock is an AT&T term so you might just want to tell them you want to block any accidental internet usage. It does not block SMS Txt or any AT&T System messages.
Dave
Sure, that's not problem. But if I ever do change back to the iPhone they will know it and could add the data plan back on if the like, and I'd have no argument for them.
Yes, they will know since your phone will self-report as soon as you turn on your iPhone with the SIM and it connects to the cell network.
Currently they are only sending warning SMS Txt messages to people using the wrong data plan. So you should be at the bottom of the list.
Dave
Currently they are only sending warning SMS Txt messages to people using the wrong data plan. So you should be at the bottom of the list.
Dave
The operative word there is *should*.Yes, they will know since your phone will self-report as soon as you turn on your iPhone with the SIM and it connects to the cell network.
Currently they are only sending warning SMS Txt messages to people using the wrong data plan. So you should be at the bottom of the list.
Dave