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From what I've read, you can put a GoPhone (AT&T prepaid) sim into an AT&T locked iPhone and it will work. The only trick is that the iPhone and GoPhone need to have been activated prior to the sim swap. So you could buy a cheap used locked iPhone on Craigslist, then buy a GoPhone and activate it, and then move the GoPhone sim into the iPhone and have an iPhone running on a prepaid plan, with no data. I also read this doesn't work with postpaid plans as AT&T will automatically add a data plan when it detects an iPhone on a postpaid plan on its network.
I did this exactly, and it did not work but it was a post paid plan.
I am not under contract. Maybe I should change to prepaid plan.
I gave my daughter my old Iphone which was used on my at&t account. I bought a cheap go phone and put the sim in the iphone and no she has unlimited text and 250 minutes per month for only 25.00 a month which is cheaper than at&t plans. I prepay each month. She has wifi capablities and youtube and apps from the app store if she wants. They wanted to tell me that i could not use it but I insisted and they set it up.
I called ATT this week with the intentions of deactivating the iphone and getting into contract to get a new non-smart phone.
But I just decided to try the call with canceling the data service on the iphone. It worked. I just told them the phone was for an 11 year old and I did not want unsupervised access to the internet. That I only wanted her to access the internet from our home wifi, but I wanted her to be able to call and text.
They did it. I was very surprised and please. Please note that this 3GS is my phone no strings attached and has been out of contract for over a year now.
Don't forget virgin mobile. The have a limited selection of phones, but the price is right, $35/month. (I'm grandfathered at $25/month )
It's true, we've all been tricked into thinking we need data plans, but the fact is, most people don't get their money's worth out of them. Well, some people do, usually in the case of business use or frequent travel, but for most of us it's excessive and a waste. They don't care, it's data plan or nothing for all providers if you want a smartphone. Virgin is this way too, but the price is so low, you'll probably pay less with them, including unlimited data, than your current voice-only plan.
Drawbacks include: no roaming, so you will only be able to use sprint towers. Depending on where you live/travel to, this may be a deal breaker, or it may be a non-issue. I've found it to be a non-issue, as there is plenty of signal in any urban area, and I've gotten a signal in many out of the way places too. T-mobile or at&t seem to be about as likely to not get a signal in an out of the way place as virgin, based on my non-scientific tests, going hiking and skiing. Also, no 4G, though that may change in the future. But if the goal is to minimize costs, then I think it's fairly obvious that you can't expect to get the same level of service as someone paying twice as much as you, or more. 3G is plenty fast for simple data tasks like browsing the internet or using apps. If you need to make a big download like music or video, wait until you are at home on the wifi. Pretty easy to plan around the lack of 4G.
I had the same goal as you. I liked the idea of mobile internet, but I didn't think it was great enough or useful enough to pay more for, considering I have internet access at home and at work, and the growing access to free wifi. After trying to figure out a way to do it for a long time, I tried virgin and am very happy I did. Now I have my wife on there too and she likes it also.
I think you can get a pay as you go deal on t-mobile that will allow you to get a smartphone without a data plan, but not sure on the ins and outs of that.
Hmm, it's a pleasant coincidence I came across this question, which is similar to the question I have...
Right now I want to be able to try out all the mobile operating systems so that I have a good sense of their strengths and weaknesses and know which one I'd like to commit to going forward. I've had a Motorola Droid 2 for a year, and I just bought an HTC Trophy (Windows Phone OS) this past week. I also plan on getting an iPod Touch for Christmas, and in early November bought an HP TouchPad (webOS) as part of a laptop/TouchPad bundle. I'd still like to get a Blackberry OS device, preferably the Blackberry Bold 9930, and even though I already have a TouchPad, I'd still have interest in getting a Palm Pre 2 or other webOS smartphone (despite the fact that webOS' future is very much up in the air, especially on smartphones, after this past Friday's announcement by HP that they'll make webOS open source). Now that I've stated all of the above, here are my questions:
1) Can I buy a new (i.e. unused), no-contract smartphone (either Blackberry OS or webOS) on Verizon (or unlocked CDMA smartphone that is Verizon-compatible) that I would not have to activate for voice/cellular data and could use like an iPod Touch or a Wi-Fi only, miniature-size tablet? I'd only want to use the device at home or in Wi-Fi locations (possibly using the Wi-Fi hotspot on my Droid 2 for the latter). However, I'd also like to be able to use the device(s) as a smartphone if desired/necessary, switching out one of the phones I already have on contract and putting the no-contract device in.
2) If the above is doable, what stores (on-line or physical location) have the best deals on new, no-contract/unlocked smartphones?
3) If what I described in question #1 is not doable on Verizon (or Sprint) for unlocked phones because of the CDMA technology, would it be doable with a GSM service smartphone? Obviously I wouldn't be able to use such a device on Verizon (unless maybe the device I bought was a global ready device on Verizon that may have a SIM card), but hopefully I could use it in a way analogous to an iPod Touch.
Obviously I could pay for a smartphone off-contract and probably get what I want, but I'd rather not pay more than $200 for the no-contract/unlocked smartphone that I'll treat as an iPod Touch-like device with an unused but available if necessary cellular usage option. Any feedback that anyone could provide would be appreciated.
Hmm, it's a pleasant coincidence I came across this question, which is similar to the question I have...
Spoiler
Right now I want to be able to try out all the mobile operating systems so that I have a good sense of their strengths and weaknesses and know which one I'd like to commit to going forward. I've had a Motorola Droid 2 for a year, and I just bought an HTC Trophy (Windows Phone OS) this past week. I also plan on getting an iPod Touch for Christmas, and in early November bought an HP TouchPad (webOS) as part of a laptop/TouchPad bundle. I'd still like to get a Blackberry OS device, preferably the Blackberry Bold 9930, and even though I already have a TouchPad, I'd still have interest in getting a Palm Pre 2 or other webOS smartphone (despite the fact that webOS' future is very much up in the air, especially on smartphones, after this past Friday's announcement by HP that they'll make webOS open source). Now that I've stated all of the above, here are my questions:
1) Can I buy a new (i.e. unused), no-contract smartphone (either Blackberry OS or webOS) on Verizon (or unlocked CDMA smartphone that is Verizon-compatible) that I would not have to activate for voice/cellular data and could use like an iPod Touch or a Wi-Fi only, miniature-size tablet? I'd only want to use the device at home or in Wi-Fi locations (possibly using the Wi-Fi hotspot on my Droid 2 for the latter). However, I'd also like to be able to use the device(s) as a smartphone if desired/necessary, switching out one of the phones I already have on contract and putting the no-contract device in.
2) If the above is doable, what stores (on-line or physical location) have the best deals on new, no-contract/unlocked smartphones?
3) If what I described in question #1 is not doable on Verizon (or Sprint) for unlocked phones because of the CDMA technology, would it be doable with a GSM service smartphone? Obviously I wouldn't be able to use such a device on Verizon (unless maybe the device I bought was a global ready device on Verizon that may have a SIM card), but hopefully I could use it in a way analogous to an iPod Touch.
Obviously I could pay for a smartphone off-contract and probably get what I want, but I'd rather not pay more than $200 for the no-contract/unlocked smartphone that I'll treat as an iPod Touch-like device with an unused but available if necessary cellular usage option. Any feedback that anyone could provide would be appreciated.
You might do well to check out Howard Forums. Users there are fairly well versed in cellular.
With T-Mobile, as long as you don't have a supplemented plan, (A plan that makes you pay for you phone, every month).
What this means is if you buy your phone outright, with no contract, maybe on ebay, or whatever, you then sign up with a cell phone plan with NO DATA, the wifi works just fine on a Blackberry.
I use the Bold 9700 and it works just fine. Sometimes I have apps like Pandora and Google Synch work, and other apps, but the web browser works in every HotSpot.
It's one of those deals where they aren't going to tell you. You have to ask for it. They make Billions on people by overcharging for Data and for phones.
I picked up a brand new Bold 9700 for $150 and Tmobile wants to charge $450.
Good Luck,
BlackberryUser
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smartphone with no data plan
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T-Mobile
