Unsuccessful atempts to get $20 unlimited data plan for iphone 2g

[Mugenized]

Thanks!

@lordofthereef @unlimtedsway Thank you both for being so active and helpful in this forum. As of 12/3/11 My phone finally updated on my att account, and I was able to upgrade both lines (one already had unlimited, one didn't) to new iPhones 4s with unlimited data for 30$ on each one.

I have one final question though. Currently the iPhone 2 I used is not working and it still says connect to iTunes. My old dumb-phone as expected is coming up as an unregistered SIM. If I pop this new SIM registered to my ATT acoucnt now with the Iphone 20$ unlimited plan back into my dumb phone so I can have a phone while I wait for the 4S will I lose all my progress? I've already ordered the upgrades and updated the accounts through atts website.

@Kender

Thanks for logging in to help out, REALLY appreciative of it. It seems I'm having the exact same issue as you. I will try your suggestion to address the above question and perhaps I won't have to go back to the dumb phone at all while I wait. I will give a status update soon...

 

[lordofthereef]

I signed up just to answer this as I had something very similar happen. I actually was intending to use my brother's old iPhone 2G for the remainder of the quarter I'm in before I upgrade so getting service on the phone was so important that I spent five days trying to figure this out. It has taken:

If you have a couple sims to burn, you can just run another activation (save the headache of all the time you spent on the phone) - obviously this won't help you, but it may help someone else!

Also, be warned they may give you crap about trying to use an upgrade with a 2G data plan.

 

[Kender]

If you have a couple sims to burn, you can just run another activation (save the headache of all the time you spent on the phone) - obviously this won't help you, but it may help someone else!

Also, be warned they may give you crap about trying to use an upgrade with a 2G data plan.

Good suggestion for sure for anyone who didn't get any activation complete emails . You're right as well it wouldn't work for me now and it wouldn't have worked for me before I went to all the effort. I did get the emails and my account had the correct information (I called to find out the IMEI was there as well despite no service on the phone itself). Anyone else who had this same scenario possibly has a very simple setting to fix to do and it really is a lot easier than getting more SIMs to burn through since the same issue would pop up again and again.

The length of time with my issue had more to do with the fact I'm down at school, it's the week before finals, and people were blowing me off initially not wanting to deal with the issue (and I look like a young high school student despite being in my mid-20s so few people like to take me seriously). I did find out from the first Senior Advisor that there is a known back end issue that affects some activations. Unfortunately, it can take time to find someone willing to escalate things for you as the fix requires a Senior Engineer. It took an extra two days because I kept only getting resolutions to escalate me after the staff person I needed had gone home for the evening. First it was the Senior Advisors and then it was the Senior Engineers who were already off the clock.


And they won't. I already checked on it that there is no issue with it. I know you already had your back and forth with others over whether there would be an issue, so I don't want to even get into it again (I mean this in the most sincere way possible, I just think it's a waste of time since we obviously have very different experiences/interpretations of written policy so it's easier to just agree to disagree, right ?).

I already have all I need and I know there will be no trouble. But thanks for caring . I understand you're just trying to be helpful.



Mugenized:
I'd really be curious to know if it works for you too My fingers are crossed it's that simple of a fix for you as it was for me!

 

[slick316]

You can go to eBay if you like. We can go cheaper outside of eBay, just text me 5159816826. Unfortunately that specific text plan will be dropped, however the 1,500 $10 text plan can be added, along with the unlimited one.

Do you mean $15/1500 text plan? If its $10 for 1500 texts then its no problem, but I always thought the 1500 text plan was $15.

 

[dave006]

That's awesome! Would this effect voicemail or anything? How about the bill?

Before you make any changes. Does your current "primary" line have Visual Voicemail? Moving to a Visual Voicemail server for your "primary" line will delete your current voice mailbox and any current or saved messages or outgoing message. By default moving to the iPhone Data plan of any type, you will be provisioned for Visual Voicemail.

However all is not lost since you can record a new custom message instead of using the default phone number and the default voicemail prompts. After the caller leaves a message then they get the normal voicemail canned message "you may hang up or press 1 for more options..."

No change to the bill if you just have the numbers swapped.

 

[dave006]

Do you mean $15/1500 text plan? If its $10 for 1500 texts then its no problem, but I always thought the 1500 text plan was $15.

The original iPhone activation has 3 options for SMS plans that are available using iTunes activation. The other poster, "lordofthereef". was answering about keeping an older $10/1000 SMS Txt plan.

Original iPhone SMS Txt options

1. 200 SMS Txt as part of the $20 data plan
2. 1500 SMS Txt for an additional $10 above the $20 original iPhone data plan
3. Unlimited SMS txt messages for $20 above the $20 original iPhone data plan

Dave

 

[slick316]

The original iPhone activation has 3 options for SMS plans that are available using iTunes activation. The other poster, "lordofthereef". was answering about keeping an older $10/1000 SMS Txt plan.

Original iPhone SMS Txt options

1. 200 SMS Txt as part of the $20 data plan
2. 1500 SMS Txt for an additional $10 above the $20 original iPhone data plan
3. Unlimited SMS txt messages for $20 above the $20 original iPhone data plan

Dave

Okay, I get it now. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[lordofthereef]

Good suggestion for sure for anyone who didn't get any activation complete emails . You're right as well it wouldn't work for me now and it wouldn't have worked for me before I went to all the effort. I did get the emails and my account had the correct information (I called to find out the IMEI was there as well despite no service on the phone itself). Anyone else who had this same scenario possibly has a very simple setting to fix to do and it really is a lot easier than getting more SIMs to burn through since the same issue would pop up again and again.

For the record, this works even if you did get the emails and the sim is just sitting inactive. Has happened to me twice... email says active, but sim says otherwise. Ran it again on the same phone, same account, but different (new) sim. Got the "activation complete" email, and everything went through.

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Before you make any changes. Does your current "primary" line have Visual Voicemail? Moving to a Visual Voicemail server for your "primary" line will delete your current voice mailbox and any current or saved messages or outgoing message. By default moving to the iPhone Data plan of any type, you will be provisioned for Visual Voicemail.

However all is not lost since you can record a new custom message instead of using the default phone number and the default voicemail prompts. After the caller leaves a message then they get the normal voicemail canned message "you may hang up or press 1 for more options..."

No change to the bill if you just have the numbers swapped.

In other words, the VM is still wiped. SO... there is absolutely nothing to be gained by doing this NOT on your main line first. That is what I was trying to get cleared up.

 

[Kender]

For the record, this works even if you did get the emails and the sim is just sitting inactive. Has happened to me twice... email says active, but sim says otherwise. Ran it again on the same phone, same account, but different (new) sim. Got the "activation complete" email, and everything went through.

But I have to ask: did you have the setting error that I had? I'm going to make a wild guess based on your responses that you don't check, you just swap SIMs. Understandable since you've had other activations go through without a hitch. But it's worth it for others to check before wasting more SIMs if they are getting the network error message through the whole process. If it was something wrong with the SIM from my end, unchecking one thing would not have pushed it through.

In your case, it was possibly just an error with the SIM it sounds like (or maybe a hiccup in the backend possibly?). In mine, it was a setting. Don't get so defensive, you've made it clear your experiences are different, but that doesn't make them a rule just as mine don't. I was simply offering someone who sounded in my exact same situation (especially with needing the phone to work for a short while as a phone rather than as a gateway to unlimited) what had worked for me as an option to try before going to the trouble of your method. I very deliberately said in my initial post twice that I did not know if it would work for others.

Your method of burning through extra SIMs is a valid method to try and in some cases what needs to be done. I have not denied that, only that it would not have worked in my case nor in any case exactly like mine. I'm just saying there are other things to check before wasting SIMs. But hey, if you have the extra, feel free . However, there have been posts on this thread and others about this loophole where people have said they've burned through SIMs to no avail. My point? Not that your method does not work, but that it does not always work.

I have the problem that the SIM tray is picky and will not always open unless I go in to the store each time to have them pop it for me. I'd have wasted far more time doing your method since, as I said, in my case it would have kept failing to finish activation on the phone despite having "activation complete" emails.

Heck, want to talk other simple methods? Some have reported getting things to work just by using a different computer! There are so many ways to try to make this trick work that it is not wise to claim one method will definitely work just because it worked for you.

I sincerely wish you luck in all future endeavors, but I'm done discussing this with you directly. I've made my point and any further discussion would be just repeating the same position over and over again. I hope you have the decency to cease drawing this out and just accept my experiences are different then yours (I believe you've asked others to do the same previously). Feel free to get in the last word if that's important to you .

This thread should really be about helping others troubleshoot how to get this loophole to work for them rather than a back and forth like this. As I said, I only joined to offer the solution that worked for me as one more thing to try since I have yet to see anyone offer it as a possibility in any of the dozens of threads I've looked at. I'm ashamed I let myself be sucked into this back and forth even for a moment.

Ugh, I'm long-winded. Sorry

 

[steven5210]

Lordofthereef, don't know which reefs but thanks for the unlimited data upgrade! Worked fine a little complicated thanks to AT&T reps but it worked!

 

[NikeTalk]

Once I get the unlimited together I can convert to a family plan without hassle right and retain it?

 

[deonlee1]

Yes you all. Just go down to a at&t store. Its better that way & you dont have to deal with the hassle. Sometimes you get reps that wont do it for you, or that will give you a hard time calling in to 611. But if you go down, & make sure it is a (corpate store) they very rarely have any problems doing it at all for you. You want to make sure that the system doesent switch you back to a capped plan on its own. Better to have someone do it manually. 3rd party at&t stores and those mom & pop booths that are in the mall sometimes doesent have enough access, to switch for you. Thats why i recommend you go to a at&t (official) store.

unlimited sway can you contact me? what is the best way? IM or text?

 

[dave006]

Once I get the unlimited together I can convert to a family plan without hassle right and retain it?

Yes you can convert to a FamilyTalk rate plan at any time and it does not impact your Unlimited Data plan. You can also use the original iPhone loophole to get the Unlimited Data plan after you are on a FamilyTalk plan.

Dave

 

[unlimitedsway]

unlimited sway can you contact me? what is the best way? IM or text?

Hey deonlee,

Yes i can or either you can contact me.

716-771-2545

Sorry i went out of town, and hadnt been on in the last day or two

But i am back now and ready to handle all request. I have a open schedule right now. Just text me

 

[hexonxonx]

Is it a good idea to keep helping people get unlimited data when there are threads here now telling how AT&T is throttling people when they reach 2GB?

 

[unlimitedx]

Is there a way to get the $5 texting plan too with this method?

 

[unlimitedsway]

hexonxonx

Yes (in my opinion) its still a great idea even though that's apparently happening,
#1 Ive went over up to 5GB so far and have no experienced any slow downs.
#2. Even if the speeds slowed down, its better that to get over charged on each gig you go over.

Ill take being capped on data speeds, vs being capped on actual data anyday


unlimitedx

yes it is available.

$4.99 for 200 text messages

depending on how you go by it, as well as what phone youre gonna be using

 

[NeshyD]

Hey everyone'

I just wanted to come here and say that I managed to get unlimited as well!

I ran into a common problem with the activation taking a long time so I gave up and then 2 days later I got an email that my iPhone got activated! I checked my AT&T account and low and behold the plan showed up on my account.

I then called AT&T and got them to upgrade the plan and made sure my unlimited texting was still in place.

This was all done thanks to this thread, thanks everyone have a great day!

 

[lordofthereef]

Lordofthereef, don't know which reefs but thanks for the unlimited data upgrade! Worked fine a little complicated thanks to AT&T reps but it worked!

Your welcome! Glad I could help. And reef refers to coral reefs. I am a saltwater addict!

Anyone else need help, feel free to text!
515-981-6826

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Is there a way to get the $5 texting plan too with this method?

No, there is not.

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But I have to ask: did you have the setting error that I had? I'm going to make a wild guess based on your responses that you don't check, you just swap SIMs.

You're right, I didn't check, but I wouldn't be surprised if the situation was the same. I had a "pending" for 4+ days some weeks ago. Since then I figured if I get a pending for more than a few hours, I'd just run it again. Like I said, worked a handful of times. Unfortunately, I can;t confirm it was the exact same situation as you, but I would think your case wouldn't be 100% unique being that all of these processes are automated. I could be wrong.

Anyway, if you have an extra sim to burn, I figure it's worth a shot, right? I;d rather give that a try than spend 3 hours on the phone, like you said you had to do. Just a suggestion, anyway.

 

[slick316]

Your welcome! Glad I could help. And reef refers to coral reefs. I am a saltwater addict!

Anyone else need help, feel free to text!
515-981-6826

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No, there is not.

Hey, my phone is deactivated and I tried calling AT&T to have them switch me over to my iPhone 4. In myAT&T it was showing that I was on the iPhone Data + 200 Text plan. The lady on the phone didn't want to switch me to the $30 unlimited plan and told me I had to choose from one of the new plans. I refused and was eventually disconnected. Now I check on myAT&T and the unlimited plans are no longer available, yet I have no data plan chosen and my phone is still deactivated. Please help me this, I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[lordofthereef]

Heck, want to talk other simple methods? Some have reported getting things to work just by using a different computer! There are so many ways to try to make this trick work that it is not wise to claim one method will definitely work just because it worked for you.

(

This was not my intention. However, I have used 5 different computers, both mac and pc, 10 different iPhones, and done nearly 300 activations, so I have done this just a few more times than the average person viewing this thread. I am simply saying, if you have another sim (it costs a buck), try and run the activation again if you get stuck. To me, a buck is worth bypassing the potential time sink of being on the phone with ATT reps who may or may not know what they are doing.

These are recommendations only. By no means Am I trying to pass them off as gospel.

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Hey, my phone is deactivated and I tried calling AT&T to have them switch me over to my iPhone 4. In myAT&T it was showing that I was on the iPhone Data + 200 Text plan. The lady on the phone didn't want to switch me to the $30 unlimited plan and told me I had to choose from one of the new plans. I refused and was eventually disconnected. Now I check on myAT&T and the unlimited plans are no longer available, yet I have no data plan chosen and my phone is still deactivated. Please help me this, I have no idea what I'm doing.

It would be easiest of you contact or text me. Responding in the forums like this will get
A) very lengthy, very fast
B) Pretty tough for me to answer here with others posting as well

 

[slick316]

This was not my intention. However, I have used 5 different computers, both mac and pc, 10 different iPhones, and done nearly 300 activations, so I have done this just a few more times than the average person viewing this thread. I am simply saying, if you have another sim (it costs a buck), try and run the activation again if you get stuck. To me, a buck is worth bypassing the potential time sink of being on the phone with ATT reps who may or may not know what they are doing.

These are recommendations only. By no means Am I trying to pass them off as gospel.

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It would be easiest of you contact or text me. Responding in the forums like this will get
A) very lengthy, very fast
B) Pretty tough for me to answer here with others posting as well

I don't have an active phone right now that I can text from. Any way we can do this from email? Email and this forum are the only methods of communication I have at this time.

 

[lordofthereef]

I don't have an active phone right now that I can text from. Any way we can do this from email? Email and this forum are the only methods of communication I have at this time.

We can do that. You should have my email address. I don't want to post it publicly. If I may recommend, sign up for google voice. It's fast, it's free, and it's unlimited texting to any US number. I use it to send hundreds of texts daily.

 

[slick316]

I first want to thank Lordofthereef for being VERY patient with me on this.

I messed up the process by calling AT&T and giving too much information to where they took my iPhone Data + 200 Text plan away from me and left me with the option of selecting from the new data plans only. If you do everything correctly and go by the instructions from Lordofthereef, it will work.

Here is some advice. Go to an AT&T store and get a sim card for your phone. Just ask for one, I didn't have to pay for it. If they ask why, just say you like to have an extra on you because you had sim cards have messed up on you in the past and you travel a lot. They don't want to hear you yammer, so they'll just give you one to get you out of there.

When you call to remove your data plan from your phone, have a prepaid non smartphone handy (Lordofthereef provided me with the IMEI number off of one he has, thanks again). Tell them your iPhone 4 doesn't work and you need to temporarily change to this go phone. They should knock the data plan off and allow you to keep the voice and text plan you currently have.

After I notified Lordofthereef that this was completed, he ran the activation of the iPhone 2G on his end. When that was done, I had to call in to AT&T to finish the activation process. All the information I needed when I called in was provided to me by Lordofthereef. Unfortunately for me, I had to go to an AT&T and verify my account in person by providing a picture ID. I don't know why, but its not Lordofthereef's fault that this happened. AT&T might be catching on or the account was flagged or something. So I went to the closest location and had the sales rep make a note on my account that I came in and verified the account with my ID. MAKE SURE THEY MAKE A NOTE THAT CAN BE SEEN BY OTHER REPS! The first time I went, the dude make a note that was only viewable by his store or some crap, so I had to go back.

When I called the activation hotline again, it was all good. They noted that I had to choose a data plan and only the $20 iPhone Data + 200 Text was valid for the original iPhone 2G. Once it was done, all I had to do was activated the new sim card I got from AT&T and pop it into my phone. But I didn't do that because I'm a dumb ass. Instead, I tried to activate my iPhone 4 over the phone, and even though I didn't give the rep on the phone any information, they sensed something was up and promptly removed the iPhone 2G data plan off my account, leaving me with the option of just the new plans.

Using advice from Lordofthereef, I called the activation hotline again, reverified my information and had them "activate" the phone again. This put the unlimited data plan back onto my account. Then I called AT&T and simply told them I wanted to activate a new sim card I had to replace a damaged one. They activated it and now I am enjoying unlimited data, again

This is not a one step process and can and will take time. It's easy to do if you are patient and follow orders. Honestly, if something goes wrong, its probably because you didn't do something right.

Be patient, don't give AT&T any unnecessary info and you should be fine.

 

[Mikebuzzsaw]

Glad you got it all worked out! I think best is to just give as limited information to the rep as possible. I usually just play dumb whenever they ask me a question that might not help my cause lol