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I think AT&T is on to me :-/

I

ichy

Diamond Member
For over a year I've been able to use an iPhone on AT&T's network without paying for a data plan. I got an old 3GS from a friend who upgraded to an iPhone 4, popped in my SIM card, and never said anything to AT&T.

Everything worked beautifully until I got a hand me down iPhone 4 (the 3GS was on its last legs.) I try to switch SIMs and realize that I need a Micro SIM card. Go to an AT&T store, get the new card, but make the mistake of asking them not to activate it yet. Get home, pop the new card in, call on my old phone to ask them to activate the new SIM. This is where the fail begins. The customer service person says they recognize that I'm using an iPhone, and that I'll need to sign up for a data plan. I spout some BS about borrowing someone else's phone and tell them I'll call back.

I then tried to cut my old SIM card down to the size of a micro one, but somehow screw that up so it doesn't work anymore. Contacted customer support online, asked them to activate the card & claimed I didn't have the new phone with me so I couldn't tell them the IMEI number. It's been about 20 minutes and the new phone still isn't working. Why do I have a bad feeling that my data-less days are over 🙁
 
Yes, yes it could have. Having them activate the new SIM card at the store would have probably saved me this as well. I'd been using an iPhone on their network for so long without a data plan though that I didn't realize I was supposedly required to get one.
 
Yup he stole ~$1 of electricity. That stuff costs them almost nothing to operate yet they charge so much for it.
Besides its not like the fact he was using it was hidden, actively using the network and all.
If they cared they would have charged who the phone was registered to.

And its not like he prevented the use of the service to anyone either...
 
I don't think he was even using data. ATT makes you pay for data plan on smart phones whether you want it or not. You get out of this in the way he described, but I don't believe it gives you free access to data.
 
GoodRevrnd said:
I don't think he was even using data. ATT makes you pay for data plan on smart phones whether you want it or not. You get out of this in the way he described, but I don't believe it gives you free access to data.
Click to expand...

Correct. An iPhone without a data plan is just a nice dumbphone. There was no stealing involved.

SandEagle said:
so you were cool with stealing? stay classy OP
Click to expand...

This is just sheer ignorance, as usual.
 
I thought that even if you use your old sim from a dumbphone, AT&T can still figure out that you're using an iPhone by IMEI # and activate a data plan on you.
 
I didn't steal anything. I could only use my iPhone's smart phone features if there was WiFi available.

And yeah, according to my AT&T account page they did recognize that I was using a smartphone but for some reason they never added a data plan. The fact that they require one even for smartphones I didn't buy from them is extremely obnoxious, but it looks like there's nothing I can do about it.
 
ichy said:
I then tried to cut my old SIM card down to the size of a micro one, but somehow screw that up so it doesn't work anymore.
Click to expand...

Woah, I had no idea that was even possible, does this actually work if you can do it carefully? Do the contacts even match up? I thought the size difference of the casing actually meant the internals filled the whole case.
 
Matthiasa said:
Yup he stole ~$1 of electricity. That stuff costs them almost nothing to operate yet they charge so much for it.
Click to expand...

This.

Because rolling out and supporting cellular broadband networks is free. No need to recoup those costs. The equipment, licenses, and labor grow on trolls trees in the magic Get a Clue forest deep in the lands of ATOT.
 
Matthiasa said:
Yup he stole ~$1 of electricity. That stuff costs them almost nothing to operate yet they charge so much for it.
Besides its not like the fact he was using it was hidden, actively using the network and all.
If they cared they would have charged who the phone was registered to.

And its not like he prevented the use of the service to anyone either...
Click to expand...

So, please enlighten us. How much power draw does a GSM BTS have?
 
Lifted said:
This.

Because rolling out and supporting cellular broadband networks is free. No need to recoup those costs. The equipment, licenses, and labor grow on trolls trees in the magic Get a Clue forest deep in the lands of ATOT.
Click to expand...

I never used AT&T's broadband network! My phone didn't place anymore demands on AT&T's network than a regular dumb phone would have.
 
ichy said:
I never used AT&T's broadband network! My phone didn't place anymore demands on AT&T's network than a regular dumb phone would have.
Click to expand...

clarify your posts then. so your phone was able to make calls without a data plan? other providers already allow this. glad to hear you stopped stealing though :thumbsup:


YHPM

ATOT Moderator ElFenix
 
Last edited by a moderator:
SandEagle said:
clarify your posts then. so your phone was able to make calls without a data plan? other providers already allow this. glad to hear you stopped stealing though :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Actually, you can use a smartphone on ATT's network if you had a data block placed on your phone prior to September 2009. The data block (Smartphone Data Exclusion on your bill) only gets removed when you add a data plan or when you sign a new 2yr contract with a subsidized smartphone. I make calls just fine on my smartphone and only use wifi when I need data.
 
Am I the only one actually reading what is going on here?

He is using a smartphone (as a dumbphone unless he has wifi) on a cheap calling plan, and NOT using or paying for the data plan. That's it. Not stealing anything.

So sad right now...
 
SandEagle said:
clarify your posts then. so your phone was able to make calls without a data plan? other providers already allow this. glad to hear you stopped stealing though :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

My god, are you retarded? I never STOLE anything. I used their network the same way I would have used it if I'd had a dumb phone, and I was billed the same way. If I wanted data I had to bet at home or somewhere else where I could use Wi-Fi.
 
Wait so with AT&T you don't have to buy a data plan if you don't want it? With Verizon you have to have it no matter what with a smart phone.
 
paperfist:

I didn't get the phone through AT&T. It was a hand me down from someone else. I just popped the old SIM card from my dumb phone into the iPhone and didn't tell AT&T.
 
ichy said:
911paramedic:

Yeah, you and PrinceMyshkin appear to be the only ones who actually read my post.
Click to expand...
I understand because I was going to get an iPhone but didn't want to be forced into the data plan, I just wanted the phone itself. I was fine without data but AT&T wasn't.

I really hate AT&T. After this contract it's time to move on.
 
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