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iphone 4 data plan unlimited

F

fazzies

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 23, 2010
1
0
I'm using a 1st gen iphone with the $20 unlimited data. ATT wants to charge me $35/month if I upgrade to 4. Trying to save money but don't know if this would work. I can pick up the iphone 4 unlocked from Asia.

How can I keep my existing plan on iphone 4? Any ideas? Will this fly? Tell AT&T I lost my iphone, mail me a new 3G SIM?

I read people are cutting their cards to fit it in iphone4.

Thanks for any advice.
 
I activated an original iPhone to get grandfathered in on unlimited data. As soon as I cut the sim down and installed it in my iPhone 4 I got a text message. It was AT&T and they said I was on the wrong data plan. They then switched me to the $30 plan. So I don't think there is any way around it.
 
fazzies said:
I'm using a 1st gen iphone with the $20 unlimited data. ATT wants to charge me $35/month if I upgrade to 4. Trying to save money but don't know if this would work. I can pick up the iphone 4 unlocked from Asia.

How can I keep my existing plan on iphone 4? Any ideas? Will this fly? Tell AT&T I lost my iphone, mail me a new 3G SIM?

I read people are cutting their cards to fit it in iphone4.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

It wont fly, they will detect it and adjust your data plan.
Trust me the 3G speeds are well worth it over edge data.
But if you cant afford it, dont do it.
 
Do you have a FAN? No one should be paying ATT regular price it's too easy to get a discount unless you're all ethical and stuff.
 
Applejuiced said:
It wont fly, they will detect it and adjust your data plan.
Trust me the 3G speeds are well worth it over edge data.
But if you cant afford it, dont do it.
Click to expand...

Can AT&T detect iPhones from other countries? I was under the impression that they only have US IMEIs in their database. Whenever I used a phone from another carrier/another country, the IMEI always popped up as "unknown" in their database
 
terraphantm said:
Can AT&T detect iPhones from other countries? I was under the impression that they only have US IMEIs in their database. Whenever I used a phone from another carrier/another country, the IMEI always popped up as "unknown" in their database
Click to expand...

Yes, they sure can detect what kind of device is on their network.
I dont know where you heard that they can only identify US products but its false.
Give it a try and see how far you get.
 
jav6454 said:
AT&T knows what's on their network.
Click to expand...

They know the IMEI and usually identify the phone with that since every IMEI is unique. But I'm pretty sure IMEIs that weren't originally AT&T phones will just show up as an unknown device. I haven't tested this with iPhones, but I have a couple dumb phones that weren't originally from AT&T that they can't identify (CSR has told me my device came up as an unknown phone in his system)

Applejuiced said:
Yes, they sure can detect what kind of device is on their network.
I dont know where you heard that they can only identify US products but its false.
Give it a try and see how far you get.
Click to expand...

I don't have an international iPhone to test it with, but I know they weren't able to identify some other phones that I have. Like I said, as far as I know, they identify the phones by the IMEI. AT&T has a database of which IMEIs belong to which phones, but I think this database only covers phones that AT&T sells.
 
terraphantm said:
They know the IMEI and usually identify the phone with that since every IMEI is unique. But I'm pretty sure IMEIs that weren't originally AT&T phones will just show up as an unknown device. I haven't tested this with iPhones, but I have a couple dumb phones that weren't originally from AT&T that they can't identify (CSR has told me my device came up as an unknown phone in his system)
Click to expand...

Keep telling yourself that based on what a CSR tells you.
 
jav6454 said:
Keep telling yourself that based on what a CSR tells you.
Click to expand...

Why would the CSR lie to me? I didn't tell him the phone was from another carrier - I just gave him the IMEI and asked him to tie that into my account. He then asked me where the phone was from because he couldn't identify it - at which point I honestly answered that I was using an unlocked phone that I brought over from my travels.

The phone was never idenitified in OLAM until I popped the SIM into another phone that was sold by AT&T (in this case my old iPhone)
 
jav6454 said:
Oh they don't lie, they just won't spend time on the phone trying to identify it. That is the job of another group of people.
Click to expand...

In my experience the identification is almost instant. If I give them the IMEI for my current iPhone (which is locked to AT&T) and tell them to tie it to my account (if it weren't already), I guarantee you I'd only have the iPhone data plans as my options.

Maybe things have changed and they identify the phones by some other means now. But it definitely was IMEI at some point in the not too distant past.
 
terraphantm said:
In my experience the identification is almost instant. If I give them the IMEI for my current iPhone (which is locked to AT&T) and tell them to tie it to my account (if it weren't already), I guarantee you I'd only have the iPhone data plans as my options.
Click to expand...

Like I said, whatever makes you sleep at night. AT&T is the oldest communications corporation ever, I am willing to know, they always know what is on their network. You can't fool them that easily.
 
terraphantm said:
They know the IMEI and usually identify the phone with that since every IMEI is unique. But I'm pretty sure IMEIs that weren't originally AT&T phones will just show up as an unknown device. I haven't tested this with iPhones, but I have a couple dumb phones that weren't originally from AT&T that they can't identify (CSR has told me my device came up as an unknown phone in his system)



I don't have an international iPhone to test it with, but I know they weren't able to identify some other phones that I have. Like I said, as far as I know, they identify the phones by the IMEI. AT&T has a database of which IMEIs belong to which phones, but I think this database only covers phones that AT&T sells.
Click to expand...

If you say so.
I dont know about any random cell phone but iphones are sold in the US by AT&T and Im sure their network can identify Apple iphones better than any other device.
Now if its other rare cellphones not sold or used in the US it could be a problem but the iphone is a world phone and Im sure every GSM network will identify it right away on their system.
 
jav6454 said:
Like I said, whatever makes you sleep at night. AT&T is the oldest communications corporation ever, I am willing to know, they always know what is on their network. You can't fool them that easily.
Click to expand...

Am I responding in a manner that's requiring your responses to be hostile? Look neither of us run AT&T, we don't know exactly how their systems work. I'm sure they'd like to know exactly what runs on their systems, but if their identification methods are based on IMEI, it's plausible that they won't know some of the phones on their network, simply because they don't have the data pertaining to what model phone that particular IMEI may correspond to. Why don't we wait to see someone post their own experiences on using an iPhone from another country over here. I offered you my experience with regards to other (dumb) phones, and you can take that however you want to. I've already accepted that things may've changed since I last looked into this.

Applejuiced said:
If you say so.
I dont know about any random cell phone but iphones are sold in the US by AT&T and Im sure their network can identify Apple iphones better than any other device.
Now if its other rare cellphones not sold or used in the US it could be a problem but the iphone is a world phone and Im sure every GSM network will identify it right away on their system.
Click to expand...

It is certainly possible that Apple provided them with a database of IMEIs that covers all iPhones, rather than US models, I won't deny that.
 
Just an example I send my cousin a JB and unlocked iphone 4 in Greece and she's been using it on Vodafone before it even is available to go on sale in that country.
When she called them for help on setting up the correct settings for carrier data and MMS they knew right away what phone she was using and were pretty excited to help she said.
 
jav6454 said:
My answers are not hostile. They are straight forward. I don't sugar coat stuff. also, dumbphones != smartphones (where the more revenue is and where more incentive there is to catch you)
Click to expand...

Then there's no need to speculate on whether or not my line of thinking makes me sleep better at night :p. Anyway, I'm not a total moron, and I'm not closed minded either. I offer my experience, and drew a conclusion based on that experience. However if there's a compelling enough reason to change my mind, I will. IMO, AT&T being one of the oldest companies isn't a really evidence pointing towards their ability or inability to identify phones. Maybe they can, maybe they can't, I just want to see some evidence (even if anecdotal).

Applejuiced said:
Just an example I send my cousin a JB and unlocked iphone 4 in Greece and she's been using it on Vodafone before it even is available to go on sale in that country.
When she called them for help on setting up the correct settings for carrier data and MMS they knew right away what phone she was using and were pretty excited to help she said.
Click to expand...

You see, my dad used his iPhone 3GS in India last year, and as far as I know, they didn't know which phone he was using (they have some plans that are meant for iPhones, and he wasn't forced onto one). I'll concede, I don't really feel like arguing the point. Either way, AT&T should be able to tell if 3G data is being used on an edge-only plan, so the OPs plan isn't a very good one imo.
 
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