iPad Owners With Original Unlimited Data Plan Get Unlimited, Unthrottled 4G

[jonhaxor]

"... for the time being..."

so only applicable to timelords then?

 

[jonhaxor]

Data costs nothing. Electricity however is not free and always goes up. That's why you see large companies investing generating capacity.

oh please .. energy (and hence electricity) is a philosophical construct in the realm of physics .. what you pay for is the transport and possibly the generation of electricity because the transport mechanism is so limited. If the transport mechanism wasn't so gated and could become ubiquitous - energy would essentially be free as natural resources (eg: thermal zones, waterfalls, etc) on the planet could be utilized to aid the generation and amortize the construction of the plants to almost near nil.

Large company investment in capacity generation is a bit of a sham .. kind of like saying we need more farms because my trading post where you can buy groceries off the fire road in the forest is out of stock .. the capacity exists out there - it's simply the trolls that gate access on the antiquated transport and the lack of expansion on the infrastructure (or alternative infrastructure) that pose more of the problem.

 

[NikeTalk]

I'm not sure you have to do all that or really what you're talking about (no offense). The only thing you need to be aware of is when your CC that you have on file for your data plan expires. You could change iPads everyday if you wanted and the plan would still roll over as long as your CC is valid.

 

[denaliOnDubs]

You make a great number of points here. This sounds totally correct and makes sense. I remember purchasing my first iPad and it was sort of a prepaid data plan per say, I actually remember finding it annoying that I could not just tack in on to my monthly bill. I mean it was an auto pay setup so it wasn't a big deal, I think I was also hoping for an equipment discount with a contract but that obviously was not an option. I concur.

Easy, they are in a catch 22. iPad plans are a recurring type of contract, different from cellular plans and renew monthly under terms of the agreement for which they were assigned. Fraud would occur if AT&T were to try to end them or modify them while in effect, and they are always in effect provided the end user maintains them.

Here's my opinion on the legal long and short of it, they cannot. The plan on the iPad is a recurring charge/contract/account tied to the device, not with the end user. Because it recurs, it never ends for new changes, features, or degradations in service to take effect. The reason it is transferable is because it is not with the end user. It auto renews each billing cycle per the original agreement for the device/plan/account. Additionally because it is with the iPad device account, it is valid with any iPad device, it can only be cancelled by AT&T if you use it in something other than an iPad or if you break the continuous billing cycle. It has to be maintained by AT&T or it violates their original agreement that has not expired because it has auto renewal built into the contract. A contract phone user has an expiration date with their service, it is not a recurring plan. AT&T has a better legal leg to stand on with phone services because those are with the end user and effectively terminate once your contract is up, such as a lease on a rental house. The only way for AT&T to get out of the iPad plans is for the end user to miss a payment, switch to a different plan or use the service in something other than an iPad. If you make any of those mistakes AT&T will not let you get it back. The plan will exist for life per contract law on auto renewing policies if you always maintain it. The reason they can keep you from getting it again is because they have a right to change their policy, which they have as the Unlimited Plan is no longer available; however, because it auto renews it never ends. ie, catch 22. Sony Online Entertainment got stuck with the same legal snafu when they did their 6th year Anniversary subscriptions, the other benefit is they are not able to increase the cost either. Yes, these plans are valuable. $32/mo total for LTE/HSPA+/3G ie. Unlimited Data, Unlimited VoiP - Google Voice/Talkatone (~$2/mo), Unlimited Text - GV Connect/Google Voice is hard to beat. iPhones are compact, but iPads are the better value when it comes to UL GF data.

You know what is also similar to this? Rent Controlled Apartments in NY, same theory except rent controlled have a maximum increase built into them, no cost increase is built into the monthly recurring GF UL iPad data plan, nor is data speed limitations outside of the naturally occurring limitations of use of service.

You know how there is a fee to be let out of a contract? Well the fee for AT&T to be let out of the iPad plan is not specified but would be on the level of fraud. It could be highly costly for them to break the semi-never ending cycle. This is why the plan was quickly pulled, they realized their mistake. Additionally, they still make money but where an iPhone will be throttled, an iPad will not. It is not because AT&T is making more money off of one or the other, but because of the nature of the contract. I never realized this until today when I read your question to know AT&T would not do this on purpose so there had to be a real reason why, and then it all made perfect sense. Can any legal professionals validate my points?

 

[einmusiker]

When you switch it over, at the end you will more likely than not have to "resubmit" to the unlimited data plan. Watch for this, because you only have two days to fix it. I will know more on the 16th when I switch my data plan over. I am sure there will be a few of us in this thread doing similar.

correction: 5 days

 

[Bheleu]

Just woke up and realized...

I know how I am going to set things up (these are my plans, some humor -as i really expect it to work, feel free to copy them):
1)First I am going to power off my ipad2 (required before you mess with the website data, or for an AT&T member over the phone to help). If you skip this step it will screw up the transfer from working properly.
2)Unopened, I am going to use the info off the box of the ipad3 to try to transfer the plan.
3)If it succeeds, I wll open it.
4)If it fails, I will call AT&T and ask for their ipad department for transfer help.
5)If AT&T refuses to help to transfer from an iPad 2 to iPad 3, I will call back in a few hours and say I got an bigger ipad 2 and i need help transferring the plan to it as someone sold it to me cheap, it being the iPad 3.
6)If that fails, I may work the angle of a replacement LTE microSIM.
7)If I run out of options and keep failing, the iPad3 will go on sale on eBay for the first week w/ AppleCare+.
8)Once I am successful, my iPad3 will be opened and ready for use, I will then synch all my data from ipad2 and transfer to ipad3.
9)If for some reason my plan does transfer correctly, but AT&T switches it off I will go to the Applestore to get my money back opened or not.
10)If they refuse to do so, I will take the ipad3 and smash it on the counter repeatedly, pay the $49 and ask for an unopened replacement.
11)The replacement will go on eBay with AppleCare+, with one more use of accidental coverage left.
12)I will make sure my iPad 2 gets its unlimited plan back on.
13)I will come back here and post my success or failure and mention any hiccups or workarounds.

P.S. Worth reading my directions from last April when I transferred it from iPad 1 to iPad 2.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1129205/

 

[robopath]

There have got to be far fewer grandfathered unlimited iPad users than iPhone users so definitely don't expect this to be the same path when the iPhone goes to 4G LTE.

This.
"but it's possible that the number of affected users is so small that they're simply not worrying about it"
http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/7/28...at-t-unlimited-data-plan-is-still-unthrottled
No idea what the actual number would be but it's a fraction of the unlimited iphone plans out there.

 

[jdovejr]

Ipad 1 sim

Whats the chances that att will keep this loophole open as a way to dump limited unlimited plans for massive profit?

Each sim sold on ebay or wherever claiming to be an unlimited sim sale for 600 and are a finite resource. Att can crank out as many of these as they want.

Sale 1000-2000 per month and thats a extra 600000-1200000 per month. Plus 30000-60000 per month recurring.

 

[Bheleu]

It's official, straight from AT&T

http://forums.att.com/t5/Apple-iPad...Pad3-new-iPad/m-p/3075727/highlight/true#M563

Well sorta, read the fine print at the end of his tag... Still coming from a Community Manager instead of a news website is a better source in my opinion.

Re: Transfer data plan from iPad to iPad3 (new iPad) ?
Options
03-09-2012 06:34:08 AM

We will continue to offer an unlimited data plan to grandfathered customers who currently have an Unlimited Data Plan for iPad for $30/month.
*
If you don't have an unlimited data plan, you have a choice of postpaid or prepaid (session based) data plans for iPad with Wi-Fi + 4G.*Both plan types include free unlimited Wi-Fi connections at over 29,000 AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots nationwide.
*
Here's the pricing:
*
Data Amount Monthly Price
250 MB $14.99
3 GB $30.00
5 GB $50.00
--------------

AT&T Community Manager
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I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s position, strategies or opinions.

 

[10smom]

That said, AT&T's contracts -- including those for iPad data plans -- do allow for the throttling of unlimited plans, but we're told that AT&T has no current plans to do so.

THey are waiting for all of us unlimited ipad suckers to fall for the scam, buy the ATT version, and then they will Throttle us!

I am not falling for it.


When is the sprint version coming out.

 

[surefooted]

I don't think there are as many grandfathered unlimited iPad plans left as many suspect.

 

[Fofer]

I sold my unlimited sim, but I really don't think this will last forever. i am currently regretting it though :/

----------

sounds reasonable to me and makes me really kick myself for selling

How much did you sell it for?

And how do you transfer ownership/billing of a SIM like this?

 

[NikeTalk]

How much did you sell it for?

And how do you transfer ownership/billing of a SIM like this?

Go to att.com/ipadlanding and login, change the IMEI number ICII number (not sure if the abbrevations are accurate iPad not in front of me) to the buyer and change the login/billing information accordingly. That's it, no need to ship the SIM anymore.

 

[jtara]

I'm thinking I may be better-off selling my plan than keeping it. I have an iPad 1, and ordered the new iPad, and have the grandfathered plan. I hardly ever use 3G, almost always WiFi. I can't remember when I last took the iPad out of the house, and have only used it during outages from my cable company.

On the other hand, I have used it in the past when I worked in an office (where they didn't allow employee devices connected to their WiFi) - I am a programmer, and use it for reading documentation, e-books, etc. for reference. So, if my circumstances change, it would cap my cost.

But as it is, it seems that selling the data plan would practically pay for the new iPad...

 

[Fofer]

But as it is, it seems that selling the data plan would practically pay for the new iPad...

What $ amount are these data plans selling for these days, realistically speaking?

EDIT: I just did a quick search on eBay, whoah:

I have a new AT&T iPad 3 sitting here, unopened, and I continue to waffle. Sheesh.

 

[Imahottguy]

I would be quite wary of anyone trying to sell their unlimited MicroSIM on eBay or Craigslist. I remember reading when the iPad2 came out that AT&T was terminating unlimited plans where the billing name and card billing name had changed. I may be wrong, but I distinctly remember reading about this.

Either way, I cannot wait until I can afford the new iPad (I still have the unlimited on my iPad1)! I am glad that I skipped over the iPad2, this new one looks pretty slick. AND by the time I can afford the new iPad, the jailbreak will likely be out, and I will be able to transfer my unlimited plan to it

 

[ultramet]

Received my iPAD3 yesterday...went directly to my local AT&T store and actually found someone who actually knew something about this issue. They told me that all I had to do is to go to cellular data on my iPad and sign on with the same username and password that I use at the ipadlanding site. I logged in and my unlimited plan was checked off (along with the 3 new data limited plans). I just kept the unlimited plan selected and hit "next". Now my iPad is indeed listed as the unlimited device and the phone number from my iPad 1 3G was transferred to the new iPad 3. Very simple and yes they will honor unlimited 4G. I am giving my son the iPad 1 3G and they gave me a new microSim card at the ATT store so I can switch out the old SIM. Good luck!