iPhone as GoPhone?

In article <[email protected]>, John
Doe <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Or just walk into an AT&T store. They'll give you a SIM card
> > (at least they will if you put $100 worth of minutes on (that's
> > 1000 minutes).
>
> Is there any other fee/charge in addition to that 1000 minutes?
> If not, that makes it no different than the T-Mobile 1000 minutes?
> That's excellent, not having to jailbreak the thing.

at&t is $15, 25, 50 or 100 cards and the expiration varies from 30 days
to a year. you don't need to spend $100 (unless you want to).

t-mobile is $10, 25, 50 or 100 and the expiration varies from 90 days
to a year.

with either carrier, load as much as you need depending on your usage
patterns and which plan you pick.

> Should I disconnect my current AT&T wireless service ahead of
> time, before inserting the new SIM?

it doesn't matter. you get an entirely new phone number. they are two
totally separate accounts and one does not affect the other. sign up
and keep as many or as few you want.

---

› See More: iPhone as GoPhone?

In article <[email protected]>,
Elmo P. Shagnasty <[email protected]> wrote:

> > Or just walk into an AT&T store. They'll give you a SIM card (at
> > least they will if you put $100 worth of minutes on (that's 1000
> > minutes).
>
> But will they give you the RIGHT SIM card?

they'll give you a standard mini sim, which will work in any supported
gophone. the same sim will work in an iphone original, 3g & 3gs.

they won't give you a microsim for the iphone 4 since there aren't any
supported gophones that use microsims.

> The iPhone SIM is smaller than a standard SIM...

it is, and you can cut it to size and if you're lucky, the card *might*
be scored so that you can just snap it to size.

Not that it matters, but... I wonder why someone who has been on
UseNet for years and still does not know how to introduce prior
authors thinks he's qualified to provide technical help. Everybody
else on UseNet is smart enough to use a newsreader that properly
introduces prior authors.


nospam <nospam nospam.invalid> wrote:

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> From: nospam <nospam nospam.invalid>
> Newsgroups: misc.phone.mobile.iphone,alt.cellular.attws,free.UseNet
> Subject: Re: iPhone as GoPhone?
> Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:36:02 -0400
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> In article <4e6fa785$0$4525$c3e8da3$460562f1 news.astraweb.com>, John
> Doe <jdoe usenetlove.invalid> wrote:
>
>> > Doesn't AT&T still randomly audit their network for iPhones and
>> > shut off those without "proper" monthly plans? (After
>> > "warnings" via text message...)
>>
>> Did they ever? Why would they care after your two year contract
>> was over? How did they tell that the detected iPhone wasn't a full
>> priced unlocked iPhone? Wouldn't that drive customers to other
>> networks?
>
> when your contract is over, you go month to month on whatever plan you
> were on.
>
> if you pop a sim from a dumbphone into an iphone (and probably android
> too), the system will notice and give you a complimentary upgrade to
> the smartphone plan with a data plan.
>
> with prepaid, iphones are not supported at all, however, other
> smartphones are.
>
>

On 09-13-2011 14:18, Todd Allcock wrote:
> Doesn't AT&T still randomly audit their network for iPhones and shut off
> those without "proper" monthly plans? (After "warnings" via text
> message...)

I know someone who is using an iPhone on AT&T without data
after telling them they had gotten a regular phone.

Not an approach I recommend, but ....

--
Wes Groleau

There are two types of people in the world …
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett?itemid=1157

nospam <[email protected]> writes:

> In article <[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > > You might want to not tell them you are using this on an iPhone. You
> > > > won't need to unlock your iPhone for an AT&T prepaid SIM to work.
> > >
> > > you *definitely* don't, since iphone on gophone is not supported.
> >
> > By "not supported" you mean that AT&T says that you aren't allowed to
> > use the iPhone as a prepaid phone. But as far as I can tell, they do
> > nothing to enforce that on phones that are no longer under contract.
>
> they don't seem to actively block it, but if you need to call at&t for
> anything (or visit a store) they will see what device you are using.

If you choose to show them, yes.

> you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
> that's minor.

And only matters if you have data usage.

nospam <[email protected]> writes:

> In article <[email protected]>, John
> Doe <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > Doesn't AT&T still randomly audit their network for iPhones and
> > > shut off those without "proper" monthly plans? (After
> > > "warnings" via text message...)
> >
> > Did they ever? Why would they care after your two year contract
> > was over? How did they tell that the detected iPhone wasn't a full
> > priced unlocked iPhone? Wouldn't that drive customers to other
> > networks?
>
> when your contract is over, you go month to month on whatever plan you
> were on.
>
> if you pop a sim from a dumbphone into an iphone (and probably android
> too), the system will notice and give you a complimentary upgrade to
> the smartphone plan with a data plan.

I don't believe this.

> with prepaid, iphones are not supported at all, however, other
> smartphones are.

Again, when you say "not supported" you mean AT&T doesn't want you to
use them. But as I wrote before, they don't seem to actually _stop_
people from using prepaid sims in iPhones, and the prepaid sims work
just fine.

Wes Groleau <[email protected]> writes:

> On 09-13-2011 14:18, Todd Allcock wrote:
> > Doesn't AT&T still randomly audit their network for iPhones and shut off
> > those without "proper" monthly plans? (After "warnings" via text
> > message...)
>
> I know someone who is using an iPhone on AT&T without data
> after telling them they had gotten a regular phone.

Yes, I know several such someones.

Lat summer (well technically still this summer), I got an AT&T sim card
via EBAY. I was pre-punched to micro-sim card format.

Called AT&T, got it activated as prepaid, told them I was in Canada
still so they couldn't see my phone. When I got near the border, I put
the AT&T card in the phone and it worked almost instantly.

I got a 100mb data plan for a few days and surprisingly that worked.
(the year before, I wasted %25 in data which never worked on a sony
ericsson phone)

On 9/13/11 PDT 8:51 PM, Doug Anderson wrote:
> nospam<[email protected]> writes:
>
>> In article<[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>>> You might want to not tell them you are using this on an iPhone. You
>>>>> won't need to unlock your iPhone for an AT&T prepaid SIM to work.
>>>>
>>>> you *definitely* don't, since iphone on gophone is not supported.
>>>
>>> By "not supported" you mean that AT&T says that you aren't allowed to
>>> use the iPhone as a prepaid phone. But as far as I can tell, they do
>>> nothing to enforce that on phones that are no longer under contract.
>>
>> they don't seem to actively block it, but if you need to call at&t for
>> anything (or visit a store) they will see what device you are using.
>
> If you choose to show them, yes.
>
>> you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
>> that's minor.
>
> And only matters if you have data usage.
>
Not a lot of point to having an iPhone without data, is there?

In article <[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:

> > they don't seem to actively block it, but if you need to call at&t for
> > anything (or visit a store) they will see what device you are using.
>
> If you choose to show them, yes.

you don't have to show them. they can tell which phone you have by its
imei.

> > you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
> > that's minor.
>
> And only matters if you have data usage.

not too many iphone users who don't use data.

nospam <[email protected]> writes:

> In article <[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > they don't seem to actively block it, but if you need to call at&t for
> > > anything (or visit a store) they will see what device you are using.
> >
> > If you choose to show them, yes.
>
> you don't have to show them. they can tell which phone you have by its
> imei.

Presumably this is true. But since I know several people using an
unlocked iPhone as a prepaid phone on AT&T, I have no reason to think
they _bother_ to screen for iPhone IMEIs.

> > > you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
> > > that's minor.
> >
> > And only matters if you have data usage.
>
> not too many iphone users who don't use data.

Right. But most of the people who want to use an iPhone as a prepaid
phone are in exactly that category.

In article <[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
<[email protected]> wrote:

> > you don't have to show them. they can tell which phone you have by its
> > imei.
>
> Presumably this is true.

it is true. there used to be a webpage that showed which phone you
have, but the link is now dead (it was at cingular.com) and i don't
know what the new link is.

> But since I know several people using an
> unlocked iPhone as a prepaid phone on AT&T, I have no reason to think
> they _bother_ to screen for iPhone IMEIs.

they don't actively look for iphones as far as i can tell, but if you
call them or visit a store and they pull up your account, they *are*
going to see what phone you use.

> > > > you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
> > > > that's minor.
> > >
> > > And only matters if you have data usage.
> >
> > not too many iphone users who don't use data.
>
> Right. But most of the people who want to use an iPhone as a prepaid
> phone are in exactly that category.

no, most people who want to use an iphone as prepaid, or any phone as
prepaid for that matter, don't want be tied to a contract for two
years, particularly one that's $50-60 per month, or they lack the
credit to get a contract plan.

nospam wrote:

> no, most people who want to use an iphone as prepaid, or any phone as
> prepaid for that matter, don't want be tied to a contract for two
> years, particularly one that's $50-60 per month, or they lack the
> credit to get a contract plan.

Travelers into the USA also want to use prepaid. They cannot get
postpaid service since they do not live in the USA and don't have bank
account in the USA.

You can enter any IMEI in your profile when you actvivate the SIM (form
an old phone for instance).


What a company like AT&T doesn't want to see is one itf its phones being
used for prepaid unless the subsidy has been repaid in full.

nospam <[email protected]> writes:

> In article <[email protected]>, Doug Anderson
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > you don't have to show them. they can tell which phone you have by its
> > > imei.
> >
> > Presumably this is true.
>
> it is true. there used to be a webpage that showed which phone you
> have, but the link is now dead (it was at cingular.com) and i don't
> know what the new link is.
>
> > But since I know several people using an
> > unlocked iPhone as a prepaid phone on AT&T, I have no reason to think
> > they _bother_ to screen for iPhone IMEIs.
>
> they don't actively look for iphones as far as i can tell, but if you
> call them or visit a store and they pull up your account, they *are*
> going to see what phone you use.

I don't think you're right. They'll see the IMEI. They probably
won't take the step of looking up the IMEI to find out what your phone
is.

> > > > > you also have to use a custom apn since the default one won't work but
> > > > > that's minor.
> > > >
> > > > And only matters if you have data usage.
> > >
> > > not too many iphone users who don't use data.
> >
> > Right. But most of the people who want to use an iPhone as a prepaid
> > phone are in exactly that category.
>
> no, most people who want to use an iphone as prepaid, or any phone as
> prepaid for that matter, don't want be tied to a contract for two
> years, particularly one that's $50-60 per month, or they lack the
> credit to get a contract plan.

I don't know why you wrote "no" up above.

It is true that people who use iphones as prepaid don't want to be
tied to a contract. It is also true that many (probably most) aren't
using data.

> My niece lived in america and had an AT&T iPhone on a contract.
> She now lives here in England, so *I* jailbroke and unlocked it for her
> to use a UK Voda sim in.
> When she went back to the usa this spring, she bought a GoPhone sim and
> used that, then put the Voda sim when she came home to England
I'm planning a trip to China. I don't plan on a lot of phone usage,
but the capability - at reasonable cost - would be nice. Can I just
take my unlocked Android AT&T Captivate, leave its SIM card at home,
get a local SIM card on arrival in China, and use the phone, and data,
just like in the USA, but much cheaper than "roaming"?