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AT&T iPhone Customers Can Keep Unlimited Data Plan for Next iPhone

0092762 said:
If you are a heavy iphone data user who also wants tethering, this is your best option:

1. Buy a free phone with 2 year contract from AT&T, a nokia or something, but make sure it doesn't require any kind of data/messaging plan.
2. Add the $15 data unlimited plan to it
3. Buy your iphone factory unlocked from europe/asia, not a jailbroken/unlocked AT&T phone from ebay! This step is important. The IMEI of the phone must not be in the AT&T iphone database, so they can't tell that you're using an iphone and change your plan.
4. Jailbreak the iphone and install the unsigned AT&T carrier bundle that allows tethering.
5. Take the sim card out of your free phone and put it in iphone.

Cost comparison:

$799 (unlocked iphone) + $15*24 = $1159

vs.

$199 (contract iphone price) + $45*24 = $1279

Already more than the first option, AND that's just 2GB/month. If you're a heavy user and use 4GB/month on the average, you'd pay:

$199 + $65*24 = $1759

This is before any voice plan fees, which are the same for both plans. Also, a factory unlocked iphone can be sold for more money on ebay when you're done with it.

As you can see, even if you use 2GB, my method works out to be cheaper, the savings add up substantially when you use more than 2GB
Click to expand...

at&t routinely checks IMEIs as they report what the device is and they'll tack on the appropriate charges. They don't need to be in the at&t database.
 
douglaswilliams said:
Shoot, these caps do it for me. It's over the top. My wife and I were finally going to switch to AT&T but now were gonna wait for Verizon this Fall.

I'm sure I wouldn't go over 2GB/month but just the fear of the limit would make me not enjoy the phone's abilities.
Click to expand...

What is happening on Verizon this fall?

Also in a couple of years when Verizon gets the iPhone they are likely to have pretty much the exact same plans and pricing.
 
How are 1st gen iPhone users handled? Since we're a special-case scenario with $20/mo unlimited data + 200 text, I wonder if we will be exempted.

Can we upgrade to $30/mo unlimited with the new iPhone or do we have to go with these retarded new plans?
 
the 2gig cap sucks, but I just pulled down info from my company. We have 50+ iphones and 20 data cards. I use the most data because I stream SlackerRadio everywhere I go, and I my iphone is jailbroken with MyWi installed for tethering. My average data usage per month, over the last 3 months, was 1.2Gigs. The next closest person in the company was 500Megs and that was a data card. The majority of the company was between 100-300 for iPhone users.
 
marksman said:
Also in a couple of years when Verizon gets the iPhone they are likely to have pretty much the exact same plans and pricing.
Click to expand...

Exactly! These plans are eventually going to be an industry wide thing. The lone provider i could see sitting on the sidelines of this would be sprint. But eventually they will have the same plan too.
 
JediZenMaster said:
Exactly! These plans are eventually going to be an industry wide thing. The lone provider i could see sitting on the sidelines of this would be sprint. But eventually they will have the same plan too.
Click to expand...

Won't stop people from complaining now. Same thing about the ETFs even though Verizon was first.
 
Guy Carlo said:
I would tell you, but then I would have to kill you...
Haha, just kidding... Let me see, I am a poor, starving artist without a home Internet connection. Additionally this poor, starving artist likes to My-Wi teather his MBP and iPad, and consume video media on them while doing so...
Click to expand...

Seems like it would make sense for a poor starving artist to spend $30 on a hard wired internet connection instead of $110 on a mobile one.
 
Well it's about effin' time. Now I can finally upgrade past OS 3.0.1.

Though I'm sure there will be a lot of complaints about the 2GB limit...
 
I use to have an iPhone with the Unlimited Data Plan and I had to purchase a Go-Phone for $30 last month. Both of my parents already have iPhones w/ Unlimited Data plan and IF/When the new iPhone comes out, is it possible to take their Granfathered Unlimited Data plan to my new iPhone (whenever it comes out)? and have them drop to the 200MB plan?
 
What about original iPhone owners?

My question is whether or not original iPhone owners still on the $20/mo unlimited plan can be grandfathered in to the $30 unlimited plan or forced to choose one of the new ones...
 
Prices seem fair to me. I like them and will switch to the 2 gig plan. I don't even use 1 gig.
 
defboob said:
I have no problem at all with these new plans, in fact i'm happy to see them. In my case i think it will actually lower my bill.

My wife and I are on a family share with 2 iPhones - on a monthly basis she has never gone over 100MB usage on the data plan. Myself I vary anywhere from 300-450MB per month and I hardly feel restricted with that, i use it quite frequently.

So switching her to the $15 plan and myself to the $25 plan will reduce our monthly bill by $20. I'm pretty happy about that. I'm willing to bet over 50% of the people with iPhones could benefit from this change in reducing their monthly fees.
Click to expand...

I agree with you! Our bill will not change sin e I will be adding tethering. I thug I would have to pay $30.00 more a month. Right now my wife's 6 month high was 52 mb and mine was 547 mb. I am glad AT&T found a way not to charge us more. I also like the "if you go over will add more mb for you". This way we are nickeled and dimed to death.

Jeff
Sent from iPad
 
Okay, so let me get this straight:

AT&T's network can't handle the amount of call usage, so they try to sell me a micro-cell for $150 that uses my home internet and still deducts minutes from my plan. Comcast has a usage cap, and granted the micro-cell uses very little data, but it's still costing me money to buy the unit, to use the data on my home internet, and to use my plan minutes.

Then AT&T can't handle the data usage, so they cap the data plans at 2GB/month, charge only $5 less, and try to sell it to me like it's normal. This concerns me more so for future usage than for current - Skype is now available over 3G, video conferencing is supposedly coming to the iPhone, NetFlix should be coming to the iPhone, so my data usage will only go up from here.

If it looks like it, and smells like it, guess what it probably is? I've been with AT&T for 10 years, and Comcast for 9 years, but Verizon is looking better all the time for both services.
 
Warbrain said:
at&t routinely checks IMEIs as they report what the device is and they'll tack on the appropriate charges. They don't need to be in the at&t database.
Click to expand...

My experience says otherwise, I've been using my 3GS for over a year with the $15/month plan and I can tether as well.
 
essinger said:
You can keep your old data plan when you upgrade your phone. But I question whether your old plan will include new 4G service. I bet it won't.
Click to expand...

I love how we are all looking ahead to 4G, but a short drive down any interstate will usually result in my iPhone switching to big nasty EDGE.
 
Grimace said:
Someone will rate this as a negative....
Click to expand...

Sure, and with good reason. People who want to tether will have to upgrade to the new plan, even if they have reasons to want to grandfather their current plan. If you need to tether and also use Internet radio, or other data streaming services, you're SOL.

In my particular case, I don't care about tethering, I do stream Sirius/XM so the 2gb cap would be too low. So I'm personally happy, but, because I am not a solipsist, I realize other people will not be.
 
0092762 said:
My experience says otherwise, I've been using my 3GS for over a year with the $15/month plan and I can tether as well.
Click to expand...

Just wait. They'll get around to it.

The one thing I didn't think of is that the new at&t plans essentially kill the possibility of wifi hotspot sharing with the next iPhone.
 
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