Potential Buyer- EDGE Elimination?

[bobznc]

I've followed the daily iPhone buzz for over year now, and am finally in the position to buy one. I've been out of Cingular/AT&T contract since Dec '06 and have had a Samsung X-427m since December of '04.

Ok, here's my dilemma, I don't want to be associated with EDGE, I live in a college town and will NEVER NEED it. I don't want to pay for it, I don't want my iPhone to contact it. Is this a request I can make of AT&T?

I've read there are ways to drop the $20 per/mo data charges if you complain of slow EDGE reception, can I do this at the time of purchase? If that even goes down, will AT&T let me block EDGE contact indefinitely? I am aware of temporary blocks ( Topic: Need a way to turn off EDGE! https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/342583/ ,) but it seems unlikely they'll let me block it, but I know my Dad had them eliminate call waiting on his account, so maybe?

I won't be making a move until After September 5th in the slim event that Apple releases an iPhone Nano which possibly wouldn't implement EDGE at all, but that's a lofty hope.

 

[PatMack]

If you buy the iPhone, and sign up for the service, Im 99% sure theyll let you cancel the data portion.

Looking on my bill, i see that data is billed as a seperate feature, as "IPHONE DATA - $20". I have read that if you call, and ask them to remove it, they will do so. Worst case, you allways have the 14 day return peroid. I know they would rather allow you to drop the data plan then risk having you cancel your service. (Even if thats not your intent).

I hope this helps.

 

[d21mike]

I am pretty sure I read that someone was able to drop the data plan "after" they got the phone. I think in the beginning you could not buy the phone without it. You may want to just call AT&T and see what there current policy is.

However, I hope you know you are really removing a lot of the nice features of the phone. I use this phone more then any other phone I have ever owned because of the data network. And $20 per month is very reasonable.

If you really just want a phone with ipod support then I can understand. But if you want EMAIL, Stock Quotes, Weather and Internet Browser Access then you need the data plan.

 

[skubish]

You can probably drop it but I wouldn't recommend it. If you are every in a place without wifi the phone will try to connect to EDGE and since you won't have a plan you will be paying per use, which is expensive.

If you still want to go without EDGE, make sure to disable the auto email check and make sure you don't have any Yahoo accounts on the phone. Yahoo mail is push so it will periodically check no matter what.

Honestly, if you can't spring for the $20/month for data, the iphone is really not for you.

 

[bobznc]

Thanks for the quick responses, here are my rebuttals:

However, I hope you know you are really removing a lot of the nice features of the phone. I use this phone more then any other phone I have ever owned because of the data network. And $20 per month is very reasonable.

I do understand, but I have Wifi in my apartment, nearly every academic building and eatery on and off-campus has Wifi, also my job has Wifi. I acknoledge that $20 per/mo is a nice price, but all I need is SMS out of that data plan. IE my quest to eliminate EDGE.

And to skubish, wow. Thanks for evaluating my financial status. I guess knowing what you don't need out of your own cellular service is a sign of poverty.

d21mike and PatMack, I think I'll AT&T on Monday (or Tuesday if lines are closed due to the holiday) before making any move, but I'm unsure if they'll give me a straight answer, since they'll most likely be sales people aiming for me to add services rather than drop them. But, I'll try.

 

[JPark]

d21mike and PatMack, I think I'll AT&T on Monday (or Tuesday if lines are closed due to the holiday) before making any move, but I'm unsure if they'll give me a straight answer, since they'll most likely be sales people aiming for me to add services rather than drop them. But, I'll try.

What did you find out?

 

[bobznc]

What did you find out?

I ended up not calling, and after the $200 price drop and a reevaluation of my possible EDGE uses (I'm a computer lab monitor where there is no Wifi and I have a lot of free time, so in effect I'll be paying for my EDGE use while actually being payed), so I jumped and bought an 8 gb iPhone yesterday. I'm going to ride it out for a month or so and see if its something worth keeping.

Thanks for the interest, and I'll update if I do end up attempting to cancel it.

 

[gauchogolfer]

I do understand, but I have Wifi in my apartment, nearly every academic building and eatery on and off-campus has Wifi, also my job has Wifi. I acknoledge that $20 per/mo is a nice price, but all I need is SMS out of that data plan. IE my quest to eliminate EDGE.

(I'm a computer lab monitor where there is no Wifi and I have a lot of free time, so in effect I'll be paying for my EDGE use while actually being payed), so I jumped and bought an 8 gb iPhone yesterday.

I'm confused here. In the first post you said you have WiFi at work, and now in the second you say you don't. Is this a different job?

Anyways, congrats on your new iPhone, I hope you enjoy it.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Honestly, if you can't spring for the $20/month for data, the iphone is really not for you.

What about the people who, when the Dev team's free unlock comes out, will buy (or already have ) their iPhones and use another carrier? Is there any EDGE-proofing solution to prevent iPhone from connecting at all to EDGE through these providers and running up a bill without a data plan?

 

[AHDuke99]

i wouldnt recommend not getitng a data plan. the iphone connects to the internet a lot and i dont know about you, but i'm at UNC and we dont get WIFI EVERYWHERE .. and even where we do the iphone cant connect cause i first have to connec tto a computer-computer network. i use edge a lot here still.

 

[vega07]

how fast is your EDGE? I read somewhere that the max is 200kbps?

 

[skubish]

What about the people who, when the Dev team's free unlock comes out, will buy (or already have ) their iPhones and use another carrier? Is there any EDGE-proofing solution to prevent iPhone from connecting at all to EDGE through these providers and running up a bill without a data plan?

My original comment stands. You need a data plan regardless of carrier. If you are not going to get one, then just buy an iPod touch.

 

[emotion]

how fast is your EDGE? I read somewhere that the max is 200kbps?

Internal O2 comms suggest 100kbps here in UK (I think the max is 200 though).

 

[bobznc]

I'm confused here. In the first post you said you have WiFi at work, and now in the second you say you don't. Is this a different job?

Anyways, congrats on your new iPhone, I hope you enjoy it.

Sorry about the confusion, yes, I am bi-jobbed. Besides being a full-time student, I work 10 hrs/ week at a Falafel restaurant that has wifi, and 10 hrs/ week in a Final Cut Pro editing lab that has no Ethernet or wifi. When I wrote the original post I was only at the wifi position and had yet to consider my wifi-less lab monitorship.

On top of all this, I found out from a current iPhone user at the University of Iowa that the iPhone has yet to enable PPPoE network connectivity, which is what the UI uses for their student/faculty wifi.

So I will take the impact of $15 dollars more a month on my AT&T bill (I already had the 200 SMS a month charge, which I'll be canceling in place of the iPhone Data plan). I'm disappointed, but with my schedule as hectic as it is, the iPhone/ EDGE will be a great organizational addition as well as a recreational distraction.

 

[gceo]

First time your out on the road and retrieve an important number/address through Google Maps, you'll be stoked that you have EDGE. For people on the go (and not so much on the go) it's a real life saver. Enjoy your phone.


FYI- regarding the EDGE bandwidth comments, I average a steady 180k. In a couple of spots it was actually faster than wifi. (<10%)