Can you use Wi-Fi with an unbranded phone and no data plan with at&t?

Can you use Wi-Fi with an unbranded phone and no data plan with at&t?
I've been pondering this question and looking up forums to see what is possible. I just want a straight answer on this. I'm looking for a smartphone that can use wi-fi with my own internet, so i don't have to pay $30 extra to use it and the phone service.

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The carrier has no control over how you use the phone when not connected to its cellular network. By the way, the $30 unlimited data plans for smartphone have been discontinued for new smartphone users who did not already have the unlimited data plans. AT&T now has the $15 DataPlus Data Plans with 200 megabytes of data allowed and the $35 DataPro Data Plans with 2 gigabytes of data allowed. If your phone is not recognized as a smartphone by AT&T, you are not required to get a smartphone data plan, This practice is risky unless you can modify the phone's settings so that no data connection is possible.

Thank you for the reply, however, I still need to know if these phones will work off a home wi-fi internet connection without a prepaid data plan. I ask this because T-Mobile can do this with their Blackberrys and other smartphones where if you don't have a data plan, you can't even use the internet off a home internet connection like I was asking about. Also, you mentioned that the phone's setting would have to be modified to get it to work for a unbranded phone, is this correct?

Originally Posted by thebobbob

Thank you for the reply, however, I still need to know if these phones will work off a home wi-fi internet connection without a prepaid data plan. I ask this because T-Mobile can do this with their Blackberrys and other smartphones where if you don't have a data plan, you can't even use the internet off a home internet connection like I was asking about. Also, you mentioned that the phone's setting would have to be modified to get it to work for a unbranded phone, is this correct?

I left out a zero in my reply above. You get 200 megabytes rather than 20 megabytes for $15.00. The BlackBerry is a special case. Many of the features of the BlackBerry depend upon the presence of service books which turn on certain functions. These service books often may only be obtained from the carrier and Research in Motion when you have a BlackBerry data plan. On the older BalckBerrys even MMS required a service book. You should review the information online from the carrier for the model you are using to see what works without the data plan. The newer BlackBerrys may have some of the service books preinstalled. The built-in browser might not work without a BlackBerry data plan. Neither will any of the traditional BlackBerry functions such as push email and BlackBerry Messenger.

Any phone not branded by the carrier you are using may require manual configuration for data and multimedia messages. In your case you would have to enter an incorrect setting for the Internet to prevent the phone attempting to connect to the Research in Motion servers as BlackBerrys do. The carrier may recognize a BlackBerry as a smartphone even if it is an unbranded model.