Looking for options here. My wife and I currently have practically the world’s oldest cell phones. Okay, maybe not, but they’re at least 5 years old and are starting to show their age. I do not need a data plan, or web surfing on my phone. However, I have an iPod Touch that I do use a lot, for music and some light internet use over WiFi.
So, is it possible to basically get a smartphone like an iPhone or an Android model, which I could use for music and WiFi, but NOT get a data plan for it, just a regular phone plan? Cost is the main reason - currently our plan is a total of $70 for two phones for all the talking we want (it’s a 1000 minute plan, but most of our calling is mobile-mobile and doesn’t count against us).
I am especially keen on the no-contract plans like from Walmart’s StraightTalk and such.
Any options? I wouldn’t necessarily mind buying a used smartphone to do it.
Data shmata. No need for it at all. Android phones (I almost said “all,” but I can’t be certain) have wi-fi ability–which means that even without a data plan you can log in at home or at a free hot-spot and download aps, synch your calendar, etc.
I’m on my second smartphone with no data plan and barely notice the difference.
When I renewed my contract with AT&T and upgraded from an iPhone 3GS to an iPhone 4S, I gave the 3GS to my mother, who uses it as her pay-as-you-go, no-contract phone without a data plan. So yes, it’s possible. But you might have to pay the unsubsidized price of the phone.
We’re on their Pay as you Go plan (Mrs. Devil and I work at home, so our cell usage is generally minimal). It’s basically .10 a minute. We put a $100 on each phone, it lasts us about eight or nine months.
They used to have a DayPass feature, where you could log on and buy a 24-hour data pass for $1.50. But they ended it about six or seven months ago. We need to switch over to their pay-per-day plan ($1 $2 or $3 per day gets you unlimited minutes and various speeds of unlimited data). But we haven’t been in a situation where we wanted data so haven’t gotten around to it (and we travel a lot; and find lots of hotspots).
There are a few other options on their site–I’m pretty sure their cheaper contract-plans have some with no data.
Oh, reception is flawless, there was no change after abandoning the contract plan (we were worried about that). Customer service is the same too level-wise, just a different number to call.
I know for certain that you can do it with Tmobile, and I suspect the same is true for AT&T. Both are GSM based carriers that use SIM cards. At least with their prepaid plans, they don’t care or even have to know what kind of phone you’re using when you sign up. You just buy the prepaid SIM card activation kit, slip it into any GSM phone, and follow the steps to activate it.
:eek: Am I reading the ATT pagecorrectly? If you’re on one of their “cheaper” plans, they charge $.01 per 5KB? So a single GB is going to run about two grand? Yowza.
When I tried to use an off contract iPhone on my AT&T plan they forced me to buy a data plan :mad:. But AT&T is evil, definitely check with your cell service provider first.
AFAIK any subsidized phone is going to require a data plan for two years. So you are either going to have to buy an unsubsidized phone (obviously quite a bit more expensive) or a used, off contact phone.
Is this a difference in definitions? If you get a free or discounted smartphone from your provider (the plans where you can upgrade every 2+/- years), I think they always require a data plan. If you buy a smartphone from eBay etc., you may not need to get a plan
Is *what *a difference in definitions? The OP states that they’re looking for a no-contract/prepaid plan, and wouldn’t mind buying a used phone. So they’re not looking for a free or discounted phone from their provider.
**ski: **There was a thread a while ago that might help you with some of the details. Some of it is talking about getting a smartphone with a data plan, but you can just disregard that part of it since all you need is a voice/text plan.
It is possible I am missing something, but the OP states no such thing. He doesn’t want a data plan, but that is not the same thing as a contact, although many smartphone contracts also require a data plan. “keen on the no-contract plans” does not suggest that contracts are out of the picture.
OP here. Now that there seem to be no-contract ways to do what I want (and the fact that it appears to be not only possible, but common), yes, I would prefer a non-contract plan, to the extent that I may not consider a contract plan at all.
This is all kind of new to me (although I’m hardly a luddite), we just have never cared much about the features of a phone - we’ve always just opted for whatever free phone they’re offerring at contract renewal time. We don’t need a data plan, but the other features of any of the various smartphones are very appealing.
If you don’t already have a wifi router or access point in the house (assuming you have the Internet, of course) it will be extraordinarily worth the few bucks to set one up. Many smartphone apps need some sort of access every once in a while (I think I mentioned the calendar earlier). Plus, it makes it possible to easily download updates and applications, stream music, blah blah, all the goodness of the INternet in your pocket.
Call your carrier and ask if they can review your usage. That should help make the contract/no contract decision easier. Contract pricing is much more competitive, but if you’re like us and rarely use the phone, the money not spent on unused minutes dwarfs the higher per-minute costs of pay-as-you-go.
The OP said “I am **especially **keen on the no-contract plans” - I don’t think it’s unreasonable to interpret that as “they’re looking for a no-contract plan.”
Combined with their price sensitivity, the fact that contracts on smartphones require data plans, and their willingness to buy a used phone, and I think that certainly does suggest that contracts are out of the picture - because they are.
Ditto. Some people above have posted that they were NOT forced to get a data plan, but all of those people seem to be talking about pay-as-you-go. I wanted a regular plan with a whole bunch of minutes, but could not do it without a data plan.
Here’s more details.
I had two devices in my pocket: A Samsung dumbphone, and a Palm PDA. The Palm died, and the best thing I could find to replace it with was a Palm Centro SmartPhone. I did not want to use it as a smartphone, only to use it as both a dumbphone and as a PDA, never accessing the internet with it.
After a few weeks, AT&T tells me that they saw me making calls from a Palm Centro SmartPhone, and automatically added a $25/month data plan to my account. I complained for a couple of weeks, trying to tell them that I shouldn’t pay for a service I’m not using, but they refused to back off. I gave up, and moved the SIM card back to the Samsung dumbphone, and I’m using the Centro as a PDA. AT&T let me drop the data charge when they saw my calls coming from a dumbphone again.
It turns out that the inconvenience of having two devices is balanced by having double the battery power! I don’t feel so bad any more!
When I’ve read various mobile carrier websites it seems that you are able to get [ul]
[li]voice-only plans (contract and no-contract), [/li][li]smartphone voice-and-data plans (contract and no-contract), [/li][li]iPhone plans that always include data.[/li][/ul]
I think you can get the voice-only plans for a smartphone and make sure that you turn off the mobile data. I thought that AT&T forced smartphones to get a data plan only if they actually tried accessing data. I had a hard time getting through the fine print, so my understanding was obviously incorrect based on Keeves experience.
For those using T-Mobile, can I pick up a SIM card at retail locations (ie. Walgreens, etc) or can I only get them at the T-Mobile stores/website?
That’s exactly what I thought too. Then AT&T told me that when you use the phone, the data stream includes info on what kind of phone you’re using, and that’s how found out I was using a Palm Centro even with out accessing any data.
Side rant:
When I asked WHY they’re putting me on the data plan even if I don’t use it, they said that it was for my own protection, because if I would ever use the phone for data access, and not have a data plan, they’d have no choice but to charge me high per-kilobyte rates.
I responded that they certainly do have a choice: They could deny me any access to data. He didn’t know what to respond to that, other than, “Well, these are the rules.”
I recently got the T-mobile pre-paid plan that’s $30 a month for 100 min of talk and unlimited text and data, and I’m loving it. I ordered my phone from them (refurbished LG optimus, $129), so it came with the sim card. With taxes, it’s $31 a month. I get much better reception than I did with Verizon; I’m very pleased.
Okay, maybe not, but they’re at least 5 years old and are starting to show their age. I do not need a data plan, or web surfing on my phone. However, I have an iPod Touch that I do use a lot, for music and some light internet use over WiFi.