iPhone + cancel data plan?

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Short version: Is this possible?

Long version:

First, please don't say things like "Why would you do such a thing?" because I do have an iPod and yes I wish I had internet on the go, but this is a different situation

I would like to get my mom and iPhone but she's not tech saavy and can barely send me a text message. I want her to use something intuitive and yes I study my phones by reading gsmarena and hofo as actively as some of the P&N posters here argue things to death. I figure an iPhone is an easy solution.

My mom is the type who would rather not pay $30 and I don't know how much she can even use. Maybe she can grow to like it, but to be on the safe side I would only get this if I knew I could cancel the data plan.

 

[S Freud]

Be warned I'm about to ask an obvious question.

Why would you want to get your mom the iPhone if she isn't tech savvy? Wouldn't a phone with less functions be more suited for her? I read that you want her to use something more intuitive but what does she want?

Just curious to know.

EDIT: Also to answer the question you asked I have heard of people canceling the date plan after a few months of service but I don't know about right after activation.

 

[dinkumthinkum]

Technically you are required to have the iPhone data-plan and if AT&T finds out that you removed it they reserve the right to charge you for it anyway. Or so I've read in their fine print.

 

[DjUnternull]

they wont let you cancel the data plan , when you get the phone and sign the contract it says data plan is required , and if you manage to get it taken off their system detects what phone you have and could possibly end up getting put back on for you

 

[TheStu]

Why not get one of those flip phones they make for younger and older folks that have the ICE hard buttons, large digits on the keypad, large fonts on the screen, and generally incredibly stripped down in terms of features. It makes calls, gets voicemail. Has no browser, probably cannot text. All the carriers have one.

 

[gorcorps]

First, the iphone isn't that intuitive for non tech-savy people. It's the most intuitive smartphone maybe, but it's still a smartphone. There's way too many features she'll never use, and could possibly mess up.

And like stated before, you can't get one without a data plan. Which makes sense as the best uses of the iphone have nothing to do with a phone at all. In fact I think it's rather 'meh' as a phone. Since that's all your mom would be using it for I say look somewhere else.

 

[pm]

You can't buy an iPhone from either Apple and AT&T and cancel the data plan within the two year contract period without: a. paying the $179 cancellation fee, and even then it's not certain, or b. spending a bunch of time on the phone with a CSR and convincing them to let you out, and even even then it's not certain. AT&T requires the data plan with the iPhone, and I've heard stories - not certain if they are true or not, but I've heard it several times - of people who used an unlocked iPhone that they bought used on AT&T without a voice plan and then AT&T later on contacted them and told them they need to activate the data plan.

If you buy a used one on Craigslist or a used one or new one on Ebay that's either unlocked or you unlock it yourself, then you can use it without a data plan. Although as others have said, if you do this one AT&T, they can choose to activate the data plan any time that they want. If you do it on T-Mobile, they don't care. And I've heard if it's unlocked and on AT&T's pre-paid plan, that AT&T doesn't care.

I tend to agree with gorcorps, it's not that great as a cell phone - the voice quality is not great, reception tends to be worse than other phones (my wife's Nokia 6340 often has coverage when my iPhone says there's no signal... and we are on a family plan together on T-Mobile). I also think that, while it's about as intuitive as a smart phone gets, it's still not super easy. My mother really wanted to learn to love her iPhone and so she used to set aside an hour each day - a full hour - to learn each and every icon on the standard iPhone. So one day would be camera day, the next photo day, the next SMS/IM day. And so on. And she still doesn't check her email, or really use any of the data plan functionality of her iPhone at all - except very rarely to send pictures by email. And that's about once every 3 months or so. She uses it as a phone, as a MP3 player, and as a camera... and that's about it.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Judging from the reactions of non-tech-savvy people that have seen my iPhone, I would steer far, far away from it for someone like that. It just scares people and they'll get frustrated really easily. My girlfriend (non-tech-savvy) won't even use mine if she wants to look something up on the internet while we're out. First impressions are key, and I know if I had to thrust an iPhone onto someone like my gf, she would probably go to extreme lengths to avoid using it, just because she doesn't understand it.

 

[Naeeldar]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Judging from the reactions of non-tech-savvy people that have seen my iPhone, I would steer far, far away from it for someone like that. It just scares people and they'll get frustrated really easily. My girlfriend (non-tech-savvy) won't even use mine if she wants to look something up on the internet while we're out. First impressions are key, and I know if I had to thrust an iPhone onto someone like my gf, she would probably go to extreme lengths to avoid using it, just because she doesn't understand it.

Exactly. If the OP is truly looking for a simple phone their are plenty of simple flip phones out there that won't require any learning curve. Why even consider the iphone?

 

[zylander]

My friend is currently using a 3g iphone on the at&t network without a dataplan. He hacked his iphone and then installed some app that allows him to prevent the phone from going onto the 3g or g network, it stays on edge all the time. He also has another option that lets him turn off the data network, or what ever you want to call it. If he tries to load up a web page in safari or use anything that would normally use the data plan, it doesnt work. Then he called up AT&T and told them that he broke his iphone and would be going back to using his old phone and that he wants to keep his current plan but would like to cancel the data plan. They canceled the data plan no problem and he has been using the iphone like that for about six months now. No data plan and no calls from AT&T and of course he can still access the internet with it if its connected to a Wi-Fi. Now I am by no means guaranteeing this will work for anyone else, Im just saying that this is what my friend did and it worked, as always YMMV.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: zylander
My friend is currently using a 3g iphone on the at&t network without a dataplan. He hacked his iphone and then installed some app that allows him to prevent the phone from going onto the 3g or g network, it stays on edge all the time. He also has another option that lets him turn off the data network, or what ever you want to call it. If he tries to load up a web page in safari or use anything that would normally use the data plan, it doesnt work. Then he called up AT&T and told them that he broke his iphone and would be going back to using his old phone and that he wants to keep his current plan but would like to cancel the data plan. They canceled the data plan no problem and he has been using the iphone like that for about six months now. No data plan and no calls from AT&T and of course he can still access the internet with it if its connected to a Wi-Fi. Now I am by no means guaranteeing this will work for anyone else, Im just saying that this is what my friend did and it worked, as always YMMV.

I'm going to take a guess and say you didn't read the OP.

 

[zylander]

Did he or did he not ask if it were possible to get the data plan canceled on an iphone? I just told him how to do it. Is this a solution for his mom? Sure, if the OP sets it up for her.

 

[foghorn67]

Buy a really good flip phone with a 1yr contract and test the waters with an ipod touch. After a year if she likes the ipod touch, get her an iphone.

Silly idea, but throwing it out there.