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So again, the answer is yes, if you have a non-smartphone IMEI attached to your account in AT&T's billing system.
 
Hows it been so far after a month?

Yes you can!!!

A few years ago I had a Sony a710 (regular phone) and my plan had a discount from my employer. I was paying $32 for the $39.95 450 anytime minute plan plus my plan had 200 anytime minutes added to my account for a total of 650 minutes. When the iPhone first came out I bought it and upgraded/downgraded my plan and hated it because I lost all my bonus minutes and discounts, so I returned it within 7 days. I had AT&T revert everything back to what I had before I purchased the iPhone. Later that month I upgraded my current a710 to an HTC 8525 (PDA phone). Now I had the $35 Media net package ($15or unlimited internet and $20 for unlimited texting) on my a710. When I upgraded my phone they just took the SIM out of the a710 and put it in the 8525. They told me that I needed to upgraded my data plan to a PDA plan but I didn’t and it’s been working for more than a year and they haven’t automatically upgraded my account!

Now I’ve recently upgraded my 8525 to the 16gig iPhone 3g. I was not eligible for the discounted $199 8gig or $299 16gig pricing for the iPhone because I only had my 8525 for a little over a year. AT&T wanted me to pay $200 more for the phone and still have me on a 2year contract with a $175 ETF (early termination fee). What I did was setup another/new account which I intended to close after 30 days and pay the $170 ETF to get the $200 discounted price of $299 for my 16gig iPhone saving $30 and also staying out of any new 2 year contract with an additional $175 over my head.

When I got home I took the SIM out of my 8525 and put it in my iPhone and it worked! I had access to 650 anytime minutes for $31.99 and unlimited internet/email and texts for $35. I was paying about $67 a month for a plan with more minutes instead of $90 a month ($69.95 + $20 for unlimited texting) for the iPhone plan. Saving about $23 a month, $276 a year, or $552 over the 24 month contract I would have been stuck to (about a 16 gig iPhone a year and NO I didn’t get the apple care)…

I never really texted that much in the past with my a710, but a month before upgraded to my iPhone I noticed that I was going over my 200 texts. As a courtesy AT&T sent me a text telling me that the unlimited text plan would save me from over paying on my bill. I looked at my bill since I have auto pay and I didn’t notice it and the prior month I paid about and additional $40 in over charges for my texting, and I was going to pay an additional $70 in my current month. I called AT&T to upgrade to the unlimited texting for $20 a month (a $15 increase in my bill). AT&T told me they couldn’t upgrade my texting because it was part of my Media Net package ($14.95 for unlimited internet and $5 for 200 texts) and I couldn’t have Media Net on a PDA phone (HTC 8525). Now knowing that I could because I’ve had Media Net on my 8525 for more than a year I told them to hold off on making any changes and that I had to think it over. AT&T wanted me to pay $32 for my minutes 30 for unlimited data and $20 for unlimited texting about $82 a month instead of $32 for my Minutes, $15 for data, and $20 for my texting which is $67 a month. They wanted me to pay an additional $15 a month for having a PDA screw that!!!

Here’s the Trick:

I took the SIM out of my 8525 (PDA phone) and put it in my a710 (regular phone) and called back and told them that I lost my 8525 and to changed my account. They asked for the IEMI# in my a710 which I gladly gave them, and they upgraded my account to unlimited texting. The rep even backed dated it to the beginning of the month. I hung up and swapped the SIMs again and it was over!

I’m currently only paying $67 a month for my iPhone plan, but I did get a text from AT&T saying “Your iPhone is ineligible for the iPhone 3G. To prevent excess charges and enable Visual Voicemail, contact your telecom manager or AT&T.” I’m not calling them back not with my SIM in my iPhone… I know when my bill cycles (I’ve set a calendar reminder in my iPhone) and I’ve checked my account since the text and nothing has changed. I’ll keep checking it for the next few months.

Happily sticking it to the man!
~B :D

Hey sbbrian805, so i got the message:

“Your iPhone is ineligible for the iPhone 3G. To prevent excess charges and enable Visual Voicemail, contact your telecom manager or AT&T.”

And i was just wondering since its been one month, has anything changed, has ATT billed you sporadically, or was it just a bluff that you called? I hope anyone who is in the same situation can provide feedback. Thanks in advance!
 
So I have tried the above with switching postpaid to prepaid PAYG (the $1/day + $0.10/min plan). I ordered the unlimited medianet option.

Some problems, though -- I am not getting incoming calls! They go straight to voicemail and there is no voicemail indicator. The only way I get incoming calls are either 1) being on the 3G network already on a call in which case I get the standard call waiting, or 2) being on the 2G network where I do get the incoming call.

When on the 3G network and not on a call, I do get a prompt that says the transaction cost $0.00, but the phone doesn't ring.

Any ideas? This sucks...
 
Billing

Hey sbbrian805, so i got the message:

“Your iPhone is ineligible for the iPhone 3G. To prevent excess charges and enable Visual Voicemail, contact your telecom manager or AT&T.”

And i was just wondering since its been one month, has anything changed, has ATT billed you sporadically, or was it just a bluff that you called? I hope anyone who is in the same situation can provide feedback. Thanks in advance!

My current bill is $63.81 so I'm guessing it was just a bluff... I still have my 2,281 rollover minutes, I'm at 78.52mb of unlimited MediaNet Internet, and 477 of unlimited in messaging as of today. My bill cycles on 10/13 so we'll see what happens next month...
 
My current bill is $63.81 so I'm guessing it was just a bluff... I still have my 2,281 rollover minutes, I'm at 78.52mb of unlimited MediaNet Internet, and 477 of unlimited in messaging as of today. My bill cycles on 10/13 so we'll see what happens next month...

you really think att is going to let you continue to get away with not paying them $30/month?

it could be a bluff or they could be preparing to rape you with overages. att knows what phone you are using with what plan, and they could have easily changed you to the correct $30/month iphone plan but they decided not to. this is just my thinking but att might be preparing to make examples out of a bunch of people to discourage using the wrong plan.

dont say you werent warned.
 
I just went in yesterday to an ATT store and bought a PAYG sim for $25 in cash. Stuck that sim in my unlocked sony phone, called to get unlimited medianet, was told i have $5.01 left in my account and than left after making sure it was on my plan. Got home plug the sim in the iphone 3g and works like a charm :D

I am sure they could raise the price on your or cancel your service but that is about all they can do. I mean they can charge me $30 bucks but than you can just go buy a new sim and repeat the process. Unless they block your iphone somehow I doubt it can change. Nevertheless take advantage of this while you can :p
 
I have been using 3G with Media Net Unlimited and it works like a charm.
I doubt they can do anything about that because you can always claim that you "just borrowed friend's iphone to try" and that you actual phone is your old whatever it is ... My guess is that unless they have a technology to block use of iphones on MedNetUnl ... there is nothing they can do. I suspect that data communications work exactly the same on all plans. I am able to use my phone to tether to the laptop ... run up tens of gigabytes a month ... and pay only $15 ...
 
I have been using 3G with Media Net Unlimited and it works like a charm.
I doubt they can do anything about that because you can always claim that you "just borrowed friend's iphone to try" and that you actual phone is your old whatever it is ... My guess is that unless they have a technology to block use of iphones on MedNetUnl ... there is nothing they can do. I suspect that data communications work exactly the same on all plans. I am able to use my phone to tether to the laptop ... run up tens of gigabytes a month ... and pay only $15 ...

There is something they can do. They (AT&T) are canceling unlimited MEdia Net service and instituting 1, 5, 10 meg. only.

Bye bye tethering apps.
 
????

YES! In fact, I'm
Using my prepaid MEdiaNet unlimited to write this post! I have used ~40MB so far and LOVING the plan! The best part is that you can use the 3G which is really fast!

I'm using a Cingular GoPhone SIM (3G compatable).

hey, does this still work for you.??? i did it just like you and i am wondering if this will keep on working
 
AT&T caught me trying to use Unlimited MediaNet w 3G

After looking at these posts I decided to try getting past AT&T's $30/mo. Data Plan requirement for the iPhone, but I was foiled. I had a Nokia 6555 3G that I bought (with an AT&T 2-year contract) specifically because the Costco salesman said I would be able to upgrade to an iPhone on the same plan. But when I tried to do it (the plan was 9 months old at that point) I ran into the $200 extra charge plus new 2-year contract for the iPhone. When I asked Costco phone folks why, they said that the agreement changed with the introduction of the 3G. I felt like AT&T had been unfair and would have been happy to cheat them, but it didn't work. I registered my Nokia 6555 for Unlimited Media Net. I put the SIMS chip in a 4-month-old iPhone I bought on craigslist. Within a week I had an email from AT&T titled iPhone 3G xxx xxx-xxxx (my phone number) and saying:

Our records indicate that your service does not include a Data Plan for iPhone.

A Data Plan for iPhone is required. Data Plans for iPhone include unlimited data/email and Visual Voicemail and will prevent unexpected data overage charges.

If you get past them, go for it! I wish I had.
 
After looking at these posts I decided to try getting past AT&T's $30/mo. Data Plan requirement for the iPhone, but I was foiled. I had a Nokia 6555 3G that I bought (with an AT&T 2-year contract) specifically because the Costco salesman said I would be able to upgrade to an iPhone on the same plan. But when I tried to do it (the plan was 9 months old at that point) I ran into the $200 extra charge plus new 2-year contract for the iPhone. When I asked Costco phone folks why, they said that the agreement changed with the introduction of the 3G. I felt like AT&T had been unfair and would have been happy to cheat them, but it didn't work. I registered my Nokia 6555 for Unlimited Media Net. I put the SIMS chip in a 4-month-old iPhone I bought on craigslist. Within a week I had an email from AT&T titled iPhone 3G xxx xxx-xxxx (my phone number) and saying:

Our records indicate that your service does not include a Data Plan for iPhone.

A Data Plan for iPhone is required. Data Plans for iPhone include unlimited data/email and Visual Voicemail and will prevent unexpected data overage charges.

If you get past them, go for it! I wish I had.

I wonder how they do this. Does AT&T have a database of every iPhone 3G IMEI that is sold and compares this with the users prepaid plan?
 
How did AT&T know I got an iPhone?

I wonder how they do this. Does AT&T have a database of every iPhone 3G IMEI that is sold and compares this with the users prepaid plan?

I'm pretty sure they didn't have the IMEI because they asked me for it when I called to change the service. They did know I had an iPhone as soon as I put the SIMS card in. I could go to my account online and it said: Your Phone: iPhone 3G. Out of curiosity I put the SIMS card back in my Nokia, made some calls, checked my online account and it said Your Phone: Nokia 6555.
 
I'm pretty sure they didn't have the IMEI because they asked me for it when I called to change the service. They did know I had an iPhone as soon as I put the SIMS card in. I could go to my account online and it said: Your Phone: iPhone 3G. Out of curiosity I put the SIMS card back in my Nokia, made some calls, checked my online account and it said Your Phone: Nokia 6555.

Where do you see your phone in the PAYG online account summary? I don't see a phone section in my account.
 
I don't have a PAYG account. I have a regular 2-year contract. One thing I have thought of that might have worked - unlocking the phone. I didn't unlock it because I didn't want to end the warranty. If someone else has had success with a 3G that is already on AT&T (which the one I bought on craigslist was), switching to a SIMS card that is registered with unlimited media net (which I did) and unlocking the phone (which I didn't - the one thing I can think of that might have made a difference) - it would be great to hear from you.
 
Yes, you can. Although I do sometimes get an annoying txt that my iPhone isn't eligible but I've been doing it for close to a year.
 

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Jailbroke iPhone 3G yesterday - got the ominous text AND email from ATT today

Yes, you can. Although I do sometimes get an annoying txt that my iPhone isn't eligible but I've been doing it for close to a year.

:D Yesterday I
1 - jailbroke my iPhone (version 2.2.1 and modem 02.30.03)
2 - added the Unlimited Data Plan ($15/mo)

:eek: This morning I
1 - received a text message from ATT saying "Your data plan is ineligible for iPhone 3G. To prevent excess charges and enable Visual Voicemail, contact your telecom manager or AT&T."
2 - received an email to the same effect which also noted that my current device is an iPhone 3G... not the Samsung SYNC that I was using before yesterday.

:confused: Anyone have new information as to whether or not AT&T is sticking it to them at the end of the month for using an Unlimited Data Plan instead of the iPhone 3G Data Plan?

***I've read through this entire thread, but there seem to be conflicting reports and there's a pretty large gap from November until just about a week ago. Just looking for updated feedback or perspective. Any new MacRumors on this arn?
 
:D Yesterday I
1 - jailbroke my iPhone (version 2.2.1 and modem 02.30.03)
2 - added the Unlimited Data Plan ($15/mo)

:eek: This morning I
1 - received a text message from ATT saying "Your data plan is ineligible for iPhone 3G. To prevent excess charges and enable Visual Voicemail, contact your telecom manager or AT&T."
2 - received an email to the same effect which also noted that my current device is an iPhone 3G... not the Samsung SYNC that I was using before yesterday.

:confused: Anyone have new information as to whether or not AT&T is sticking it to them at the end of the month for using an Unlimited Data Plan instead of the iPhone 3G Data Plan?

***I've read through this entire thread, but there seem to be conflicting reports and there's a pretty large gap from November until just about a week ago. Just looking for updated feedback or perspective. Any new MacRumors on this arn?

just wait it out thats what they did to me...
 
maybe it's different for the iPhone 2g, but I've been using the unlimited mMode internet package (since I'm still on old AT&T Wireless/Cingular Blue) for about a year now and never gotten an email/text regarding my package. And yes when I login to my account on the at&t website it shows that I have an iPhone. My brother's been doing the same thing for even longer.
 
I wish I hadn't responded to AT&T's threatening message

just wait it out thats what they did to me...

If I had read the notes from this person, I wouldn't have responded to AT&T's threats. I'll bet they can't legally MAKE you change to the $30 plan or they would have made him do it. If additional people have been successful in just ignoring AT&T's ominous message it would be great to hear from you (though it's too late for me because AT&T DID scare me into changing plans - Darn!)

To the person who has a 2G - that is only supposed to cost $20/month. It went up to $30/mo for the 3G.
 
So far so good....

Recently I bought an iphone 3g (without contract), previous months I had upgraded my phone to MediaNet Unlimited plan and because I couldn't sign up for an iPhone because they make you sign a whole new contract (i'm in a business/family plan) I wasn't able to do this.

So, to bypass that system I just bought an iPhone 3G off someone, then inserted my SIM card into it. Since my previous phone used 3G I was guessing that all my information would transfer. I checked my accounts and as long as you changed your APN to the MediaNet WAP server (this is due to to the recent 3.0 OS update), it should work. On the account it says that whatever MB and Unlimited next to it.

Recently I got this message:

Our service records indicate that you are using an iPhone 3G with pay-per-use data.
iPhone 3G requires a Data Plan for iPhone or an Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone. To avoid unexpected data overage charges and enable Visual Voicemail, please contact your telecom manager, or an AT&T representative at 1-800-331-0500.

And when I go to my features, neither of the two Data Plans are marked. I have yet to see the next statement and if they do bill me unexpectantly high I will call them...

Internet/MEdia Net*
GPRS WAP UNLTD DOM - DTAU UNLIMITED Unlimited

And yes I know this is an very old post, but I just wanted to see if anyone had done this yet...
 
Why is it so hard to understand that they know what phone you are using on their network....

If you don't believe me log on line and you will see your phone icon next to your bill plan....

How do they you know you might asked? Well, because they send their service data files to your phone...and that sends information back to them....Like if you check your carrier file it should be 4.0 right now for the iphone....

Usually it takes them time like a couple of weeks or maybe days...but they will update your account and than you'll be screw....
 
Why is it so hard to understand that they know what phone you are using on their network....

If you don't believe me log on line and you will see your phone icon next to your bill plan....

How do they you know you might asked? Well, because they send their service data files to your phone...and that sends information back to them....Like if you check your carrier file it should be 4.0 right now for the iphone....

Usually it takes them time like a couple of weeks or maybe days...but they will update your account and than you'll be screw....

I did a little test.
I bought my son a 3Gs on launch day Friday june 19.
The following tuesday we met for lunch. I pulled up my ATT and it showed his phone as some samsung. We swapped the SIM into the new iPhone and one we had bars the page was refreshed, so was his phone. It showed he was using an iPhone just like that.
 
I am not saying that it doesn't show that it has my phone.
It does say iPhone. I am referring to the plan. I know that they know I am using an iPhone. But if I did not sign with a contract, because technically I am not even able to get an iPhone or even use one non-the less.

But my Media Net Unlimited is still working, and my bill recycles soon, so if it does change I will call them.
 
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