That's true for anyone who previously had the unlimited plan.
What these guys are doing is actually switching back to unlimited from the 2gb plan.
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How To: Change a 2GB data plan to unlimited!
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That's true for anyone who previously had the unlimited plan.
What these guys are doing is actually switching back to unlimited from the 2gb plan.
Thanks SpaceKitty.
So how about it guys...anyone in the Chicago area who wants to help us out?
I wonder how long this loophole will last.
I tried to get a SIM at an AT&T store and they gave me the runaround, saying I needed to bring the phone in to activate it, blah blah. I guess outright lying is the best thing to do, or buy the SIM on Ebay. I also called 611 to re-activate the original microSIM and she noticed my account was not eligible for the unlimited plan. Long story short, don't deal with AT&T if you don't have to.
I actually just cut my 2G SIM to size, inserted in the 4 and I was good to go. Got the text message a few hours later that my plan was upgraded to unlimited.
I tried to get a SIM at an AT&T store and they gave me the runaround, saying I needed to bring the phone in to activate it, blah blah. I guess outright lying is the best thing to do, or buy the SIM on Ebay. I also called 611 to re-activate the original microSIM and she noticed my account was not eligible for the unlimited plan. Long story short, don't deal with AT&T if you don't have to.
I actually just cut my 2G SIM to size, inserted in the 4 and I was good to go. Got the text message a few hours later that my plan was upgraded to unlimited.
Can anyone confirm having done this with their iPhone 4 SIM card taped into the 2G's like suggested in a few other posts/threads? And if I have to get a new one, do I need a new one ONLY for the 2G or for both the 2G and the 4? I know you guys have detailed the how-to pretty heavily, I just don't want to go to the AT&T store and have them activate it and deny me the unlimited data if I can do this all from my own computer.
just did it that way... well originaly i printed this http://gadgets.softpedia.com/media/SIM_Template.pdf and tried taping it to the paper to line it up right but it ended up being too thick to fit back in the iphone, so i just used that to get it lined up right and smacked some tape on the back of the tray (so it adhered to my micro sim through the hole in the bottom). worked like a charm
i confirmed it signed me up for the $20 unlimited plan now im just waiting for the txt saying they switched it to the $30 unlimited 3g plan.
i believe if you use a new sim for the 2g you will also need a new one for the 4. i had tried going this route but no at&t store would give me the sims, they said i had to bring the devices in store to activate. well they said i could activate a 2g from home but not a 3g, 3gs or 4
Currently have Iphone 2g on a T-Mobile. I have never had ATT. I am waiting to get the new Iphone White as soon as their available. Should I wait till their available and go through the process of porting the number and trying this method or should I just port the number now and then just upgrade and sign contract?
just did it that way... well originaly i printed this http://gadgets.softpedia.com/media/SIM_Template.pdf and tried taping it to the paper to line it up right but it ended up being too thick to fit back in the iphone, so i just used that to get it lined up right and smacked some tape on the back of the tray (so it adhered to my micro sim through the hole in the bottom). worked like a charm
i confirmed it signed me up for the $20 unlimited plan now im just waiting for the txt saying they switched it to the $30 unlimited 3g plan.
i believe if you use a new sim for the 2g you will also need a new one for the 4. i had tried going this route but no at&t store would give me the sims, they said i had to bring the devices in store to activate. well they said i could activate a 2g from home but not a 3g, 3gs or 4
Even if I had AT&T activate the 2G from the store, they can only select unlimited data, right? And if I take the 4 into a different store to activate it with a new SIM, they'll see that I have unlimited data and will let me activate it, right? I mean can they really say anything or stop me or put a hold of some sort without my permission?
And is that supposed to be a template for showing where to line up the microSIM with the regular size one? And can you take a picture real quick to show the tape on both sides? Someone said they tried that and got it stuck and I don't want the same to happen to me.
Just a word of advice to those of you using this "loophole"....FAN users beware!
Lets go back in history. The original iPhone was sold unsubsidized. As part of the $20 ($15 data plus 200 text ($5). ATT/Apple agree to eliminate all FAN discounts. FAN discounts are employee discounts given by certain corporations. Some run as high as 28%. I have a FAN that's 24%. I get voice and data discounts. The discounts vary by company and some offer voice only, while other offer voice and data. They used to discounts texting plans also but discontinued this 2 years ago.
Now if you were to "activate an iPhone 2007 (1st gen model...I hate it when people call it iphone 2g...to me that means second generation). If you were to activate it, you automatically lose your FAN. Read the iTunes disclosure when you are agreeing to the $20 iphone first generation unlimited data plan. It specially states that.
So when ATT "auto detects" you iphone 4 and changes you to the $30 unlimited data plan, there's a good chance you may need to "re-add" your original FAN back on.
Here lays a couple of pitfalls people face.
1. About 18 months ago, ATT started charging a small fee for "new FANs" add PER line. So if you have to re-add 5 lines to your FAN, you are going to get hit with this fee X 5 lines. I forgot what the amount is, but it's like $15 per line. Please correct me if this data is still wrong. I remember there was a huge thread about it over on Howard Forums about this FAN activation fee. Maybe ATT decided not to do it. But I knew it was in the works a while back ago.
2. If you've left your job, you may have to re-verify with ATT to re-add the FAN back on. This may need to be verified with a pay stubs or a company email.
3. It may take 2-3 months for the FAN to show back on to your account.
I get about a $50 savings from my FAN each month. So if it takes 2 billing cycles, I am out $100 in savings plus the FAN activation fee.
Just food for thought for those with FANs using this loophole
Lets go back in history. The original iPhone was sold unsubsidized. As part of the $20 ($15 data plus 200 text ($5). ATT/Apple agree to eliminate all FAN discounts. FAN discounts are employee discounts given by certain corporations. Some run as high as 28%. I have a FAN that's 24%. I get voice and data discounts. The discounts vary by company and some offer voice only, while other offer voice and data. They used to discounts texting plans also but discontinued this 2 years ago.
Now if you were to "activate an iPhone 2007 (1st gen model...I hate it when people call it iphone 2g...to me that means second generation). If you were to activate it, you automatically lose your FAN. Read the iTunes disclosure when you are agreeing to the $20 iphone first generation unlimited data plan. It specially states that.
So when ATT "auto detects" you iphone 4 and changes you to the $30 unlimited data plan, there's a good chance you may need to "re-add" your original FAN back on.
Here lays a couple of pitfalls people face.
1. About 18 months ago, ATT started charging a small fee for "new FANs" add PER line. So if you have to re-add 5 lines to your FAN, you are going to get hit with this fee X 5 lines. I forgot what the amount is, but it's like $15 per line. Please correct me if this data is still wrong. I remember there was a huge thread about it over on Howard Forums about this FAN activation fee. Maybe ATT decided not to do it. But I knew it was in the works a while back ago.
2. If you've left your job, you may have to re-verify with ATT to re-add the FAN back on. This may need to be verified with a pay stubs or a company email.
3. It may take 2-3 months for the FAN to show back on to your account.
I get about a $50 savings from my FAN each month. So if it takes 2 billing cycles, I am out $100 in savings plus the FAN activation fee.
Just food for thought for those with FANs using this loophole
I have read through the entire thread and I still have a noob question. Has anyone had an activated iPhone 4 sim on the 2Gb data plan and put it into the original iPhone and activated it. Does this work so I do not need to get a new sim or cut down an old sim. Also, I am able to purchase an original iPhone with sim; Will i be able to activate the sim it comes with. Thank you if anyone can clear this up for me.
I see two problems using this method:
1. Activating a 2G iPhone will result in a 2-year contract extension. When I had a 2G iPhone, I was having problems making calls, so AT&T asked me to stop at a store to get a replacement SIM card. After I activated the phone again with my new SIM card, I had to call AT&T and ask them to reset my contract date.
2. The 2G iPhone was designed so that it's married to the SIM card, so if you use a friend's 2G iPhone to do this, his SIM card will no longer work, and he'll have to re-activate again, which will result in a 2-year contract extension as well. There are ways around this, such as jailbreaking and forcing activation, but when you don't have a legitimate activation, you tend to end up with push notification issues.
But if you happen to have a 2G iPhone collecting dust in a drawer, and you just extended your contract by purchasing an iPhone 4 anyway, then I guess you have nothing to lose.
1. Activating a 2G iPhone will result in a 2-year contract extension. When I had a 2G iPhone, I was having problems making calls, so AT&T asked me to stop at a store to get a replacement SIM card. After I activated the phone again with my new SIM card, I had to call AT&T and ask them to reset my contract date.
2. The 2G iPhone was designed so that it's married to the SIM card, so if you use a friend's 2G iPhone to do this, his SIM card will no longer work, and he'll have to re-activate again, which will result in a 2-year contract extension as well. There are ways around this, such as jailbreaking and forcing activation, but when you don't have a legitimate activation, you tend to end up with push notification issues.
But if you happen to have a 2G iPhone collecting dust in a drawer, and you just extended your contract by purchasing an iPhone 4 anyway, then I guess you have nothing to lose.
I just bought a used 2g on eBay for this, I hope the loophole doesn't get closed before I get it. Gonna re-sell when I'm done if anyone wants to buy it off me.
1. It does not start a new 2 year contract when going through these steps. I've done it many times.
2. Inserting someone else's sim will simply prompt you to connect to iTunes and then it will activate the phone once again.
Well I finally got a 2G from a friend and made my own, shoddy and very bad, microsim adapter using instructions from here. I'm waiting for the confirmation email from AT&T. I just got this one:
"We are currently processing your order. Your order number is xxxxxxxxxxxx.
You will receive an additional e-mail when your order is complete that will provide further instructions to activate your iPhone."
From those that have done it, is this the email that means I'll need a new SIM or does this mean it's a matter of time?
"We are currently processing your order. Your order number is xxxxxxxxxxxx.
You will receive an additional e-mail when your order is complete that will provide further instructions to activate your iPhone."
From those that have done it, is this the email that means I'll need a new SIM or does this mean it's a matter of time?
You should never receive that email. It should activate your iPhone in a matter of seconds. You didn't use a brand new sim and this is why this is happening to you. You will be waiting a very very very long time. Do it over again using a full size brand new sim in a restored 2G iPhone.
This may actually work! This is what happened to me:
I had the 3GS, it went through some software problem, so I let is restore, and in the mean time I took my sim out and used it in my old original iPhone. I only used it for one day, soon as the 3GS was working again, I put the sim back over. SIX MONTHS LATER, at&t called me and told me that I was on the $20 unlimited plan and they need to put me on the new $30 plan.
I didn't notice it before, but when I checked my bill, sure enough, I'd been paying $10 less for over 6 months. (3G service worked fine too.)
I had the 3GS, it went through some software problem, so I let is restore, and in the mean time I took my sim out and used it in my old original iPhone. I only used it for one day, soon as the 3GS was working again, I put the sim back over. SIX MONTHS LATER, at&t called me and told me that I was on the $20 unlimited plan and they need to put me on the new $30 plan.
I didn't notice it before, but when I checked my bill, sure enough, I'd been paying $10 less for over 6 months. (3G service worked fine too.)
Hmmm but what is the difference between simply using a new one versus using my current one? If I had a phone that accepted microSIMs, wouldn't that work?
All I know is that I have never had this fail using a brand new sim on a freshly restored iPhone.
People who are having these problems are using the sim from their 4G. I have never heard of this failing on a brand new sim card in a restored iPhone.
You should never get the email saying that your activation requires more time.
not sure what you did, but using your micro sim wasn't the problem. i used mine, just taped it into place on the 1st gen iphone sim card tray. what exactly did you do to require an "order"? I completely restored the 1st gen iphone, inserted my "taped in" micro sim, connected to itunes and followed the on screen instructions, it activated immediately. then put my micro sim back into my iphone 4. done. got a txt and email about an hour later saying they were changing my iphone data plan to an "appropriate" one. checked my account online and it said $30 unlimited plan was selected.
What exactly do you do to "restore" it? When I turn it on without the sim, it only let's me do emergency calls.
Or do you mean Restore it from iTunes? It didn't give me that option, I don't think. Only the option to activate it.