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Gettin out of the $30 a month

S

SpitFire000

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
13
0
So after a week or so, the iPhone will undoubtedly be unlocked and jailbroken(software dependant so it already is....) so after a month of the service, can we unlock; cancel the data plan(tell att we got rid of the iphone); then hit up the $15 a month MEdia net package? Or in my case the $35 a month for data and text.

The 2year agreement only covers the voice plan correct?

Will this screw over the app store?

I just dont want to pay freakin $30 for data and $20 for texting, its ridiculous. Texting, or SOME should be included with all PDA/BB/iPhone data plans.
 
the first iphone took 3 moths to unlock
this could take just as long (although jailbraking will take much less time)
no one knows if the app store will still work, but it should

and you would have to pay an ETF/hand the phone back in
 
Why is it I can't find any evidence of the $30 data plan for the iPhone 3G on the AT&T site since they introduced the combined voice and data plans?

People keep referring to the $30 data plan...which as far as I can tell, no longer exists with AT&T in the US.

I think you are dealing with old info.

With the new plans it's not possible to get out of the dataplan since it's unified with the voice plan.

But let's say the $30 plan still exists and somehow you were able to get a separate voice and data plan on the 3G iPhone on Friday.

You would need to somehow replace the iPhone with something else, like you're old phone perhaps, just temporarily though for changing plans. Not sure how the contract would be handled since you would be in the contract period where the ETF would apply. I'm not sure if by going back to your old phone they wouldn't just switch you back to your old contract, or lack of contract if you don't have one, and in the process cancel the iPhone contract and stick you with the ETF.

Whichever way it would work out, my bet is they can tell which phone you are using, even if you change the SIM cards, and charge you accordingly.

and you would have to pay an ETF/hand the phone back in
Click to expand...

Actually if it's after the contract starts after the 30 day trial...you're not required to turn the phone back in...but you would have to pay the ETF if your iPhone contract does get cancelled...which I think it would in this case.
 
but your not canceling the Voice plan, only the data, i thought the contract restricted the voice, so there would only be a ETF if you canceld the Voice plan. This is what i think the contract covers.


Data plans are an extra service that can be added at any time.

i give it a week because of how the "iphone-dev" team has figured out how to Pwn the first iPhone, they have a great idea of where to start now.
 
SpitFire000 said:
but your not canceling the Voice plan, only the data, i thought the contract restricted the voice, so there would only be a ETF if you canceld the Voice plan. This is what i think the contract covers.


Data plans are an extra service that can be added at any time.

i give it a week because of how the "iphone-dev" team has figured out how to Pwn the first iPhone, they have a great idea of where to start now.
Click to expand...

The key is...you would have to switch phones with AT&T....that change must take place or according to them you wouldn't have a phone.

So how is that phone switch handled? My bet is you resume your service where you last left off or have to sign a completely new contract...and have to pay the ETF because you would effectively cancel the new iPhone contract. Maybe I'm wrong on this and you can stay with the iPhone contract after "getting rid of your iPhone". Somehow I doubt it's that easy. And if I were an AT&T employee I would certainly view it as suspicious.

What I said in the first part of my previous post is...according to the AT&T site, with the iPhone 3G...there is no such thing as Data as an extra service. Text becomes the extra service which you can choose to use or not. The Data is unlimited for all plans and is tied to the voice plan. So in order to get out of the data plan you have to cancel the voice plan too since they are a single plan. Which effectively cancels your service. Look at the AT&T Wirless site and tell me if you can find any evidence that the $30 data plan will be available on Friday. Only thing I can find are the unified voice and data plans.
 
This could account for some of the confusion with the data plan:

* AT&T's super-fast mobile broadband network puts iPhone 3G in the broadband fast lane with download speeds of up to 1.4 Mbps.
* Find your location, get directions, and even track your progress along your route using Maps with GPS.
* With support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, iPhone delivers push email, calendar, and contacts.
* The App Store lets you browse applications and download them directly to your iPhone.
* Available in 8GB (black) and 16GB (black or white) models.
* Add a Consumer Data Plan for iPhone 3G to a qualified voice plan for $30 per month.
* Add an Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone 3G to a qualified voice plan for $45 per month.
Click to expand...

Right off At&t's iPhone 3G site (Front Page)
 
Ok...I was wrong...didn't see that.

yeah that would be confusing....hmm.

The thing is...if you get the 450 plan (the plan I'll be getting) with the $30 plan (which is no doubt actually $29.95 instead, same as the current unlimited smartphone data plan I have now, without the sms though)...it is the same price as the unified voice/data plan. So I'm kind of wondering which way it is. Why would they offer both if one has their advantage of forcing people into paying for the dataplan to get the voice.

It just smacks of someone forgetting to remove the info about the $30 plan from that page.

edit: compared the rest of the individual plans...and they all come out to be the same price with the $30 plan as the new unified plans. That just backs up my suspicions that the $30 plan doesn't exist for the iPhone 3G.
 
Ok so I had to run an errand that happened to run by my AT&T store, so I stopped by tonight and asked them about the $30 plan. It turns out it's just the opposite of what I was thinking.

For the iPhone 3G the $30 plan is required no matter what. The "unified" plans in the graphic on the website are basically outlining the total cost of the voice + $30 data plan in a slightly deceptive way saying that the unlimited data plan is combined with the voice plan. They are totally separate plans, they are just being marketed that way to make it easier on the consumer to understand. Riiiiight.


So yeah the door to get out of the $30 data plan exists...just depends on how the switch to your other phone is handled.

Also found out that student equipment discounts (all I get from my school) won't count for the new iPhone. Something that was rumored I believe, not sure if anyone had confirmed that yet or not. So no cheaper iPhone for me.
 
excellent, now to hope that it gets unlocked and that we can change our imei(to one of my old phones that's not in use anymore) so they think its an older phone yay.

thanks thor!
 
They can tell what phone you're using by the IMEI. I'm currently using a Tilt that I got on ebay, I switched out the sim, and pretty much right after I started using it, when I accessed my account online, it showed that my current phone was the Tilt, not the piece of crap I replaced it with. They'd most likely just switch you back to the $30 plan once they realized you're using an iPhone.
 
so, is it possible to drop the $20 plan from iphone 2G and pick up the $15 media net and tell at&t you are using a different phone?

AND not get charged ETF?
 
no, no, im saying ill get the IMEI off of my old Motorola V180(my current phone :'( ) then wipe the one on my new iphone 3g, and put my old v180's on it so when they check the IMEI from there data base it says v180, just using LOT of data :p
 
Zibri and the iphone dev team was able to figure out a way, i think its written to the baseband. well thats my educated guess.
 
I would think this kind of thing would be locked down like MAC address is on a lot of network devices. Since it's a way to uniquely identify the device.

so, is it possible to drop the $20 plan from iphone 2G and pick up the $5 media net and tell at&t you are using a different phone?

AND not get charged ETF?
Click to expand...

That's yet to be seen. The OP's situation is kind of unique. We don't know how AT&T will handle him going back to an old phone. My bet is that they'll go back to the old arrangement or create a new contract both of which would probably trigger the ETF on the iPhone contract. The only way to get away with it is if they continue him on the contract started with the iPhone 3G.

I'm a little curious how it will work out. I'm not really in a need to do this myself since my bill will be exactly the same as what I had before with 1500 text messages. I lose the text but it doesn't really matter since I never used them anyway. If it works out and continues to work on the long term...I might try it to lower my bill a bit.
 
if it is possible I would so love to do this as I could get my corporate discount and lower my bill to $55 per month-%20off= $44 per month plus tax for 450 mins voice, 200 texts and unlimited data... wow...
 
so whats to stop you from going into an att store with an unlocked razr phone, telling them you sold your 2G iphone and you want to change your plan to the $15 media net plan for data, they give you a new sim with your phone number on it for the razr.... you take the sim out and use it in your unlocked iphone 2G? assuming you can get past the IMEI thing this should work correct?

would you be losing anything by doing this? text messages? data cap? what?
 
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