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Galaxy Note Off Contract

frdmspoplr

Well-Known Member
Jul 24, 2011
235
25
I'm looking into getting the Note with ATT on a new family plan but the plan may cost a bit more than my parents are willing to pay, so I'm looking into other options. I know I can buy off contract and activate on Tmo but id like better than edge speeds. Can this be activated on ATT's GoPhone plan? Or can you just not get a contract and pay month to month? How much would that cost compared to being on contract?

Sorry for my ignorance. I'm currently on Virgin Mobile and I don't know much about how sim cards or postpaid carriers work.
 
I'm looking into getting the Note with ATT on a new family plan but the plan may cost a bit more than my parents are willing to pay, so I'm looking into other options. I know I can buy off contract and activate on Tmo but id like better than edge speeds. Can this be activated on ATT's GoPhone plan? Or can you just not get a contract and pay month to month? How much would that cost compared to being on contract?

Sorry for my ignorance. I'm currently on Virgin Mobile and I don't know much about how sim cards or postpaid carriers work.

You can pay the AT&T GoPhone plan, but people have had mixed results with the Galaxy Note. If you look at the other Galaxy Note forum, I think they had a thread on how to get around AT&T trying to classify the phone as a tablet. But, the GoPhone plan I believe is $50 a month for unlimited everything. The phone itself will cost you around $700. I'm not sure if with the GoPhone plan if they require you to buy a phone or if you are able to just get a SIM card. Again, the other Galaxy Note forum has a thread on this you just have to search a little bit.
 
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You can pay the AT&T GoPhone plan, but people have had mixed results with the Galaxy Note. If you look at the other Galaxy Note forum, I think they had a thread on how to get around AT&T trying to classify the phone as a tablet. But, the GoPhone plan I believe is $50 a month for unlimited everything. The phone itself will cost you around $700. I'm not sure if with the GoPhone plan if they require you to buy a phone or if you are able to just get a SIM card. Again, the other Galaxy Note forum has a thread on this you just have to search a little bit.
Yeah i was reading that thread a little bit. Some of its a little confusing since I've never used a sim card, and one of it seems a little questionable. I don't wanna violate any TOS or anything and risk losing service or something, especially when I'm paying for a $700 phone. Then some of this stuff I'm not sure if I could/should ask an ATT guy, since this could potentially skirt their policies a little bit, and they may not know much anyway. Thanks, I'll keep researching.
 
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I'm looking into buying one and just buying the data plan with no texts or minutes. I'll let you know if I succeed, though I think you want to get minutes from what I've read.
Though theoretically you could get texts and calls over data, so that could potentially be a feasible solution as well. Let me know how that works out for you.
 
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I'm looking into buying one and just buying the data plan with no texts or minutes. I'll let you know if I succeed, though I think you want to get minutes from what I've read.


If you are buying the AT&T version then that will pretty much be impossible. The device is classified as a smartphone so you will have to buy some kind of minutes. If you buy the unlocked version and don't mess around with the APN and get a GoPhone plan, then I have heard that AT&T classifies it as a tablet.
 
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If you are buying the AT&T version then that will pretty much be impossible. The device is classified as a smartphone so you will have to buy some kind of minutes. If you buy the unlocked version and don't mess around with the APN and get a GoPhone plan, then I have heard that AT&T classifies it as a tablet.

I'm hoping you're wrong. I would think since I'm paying for the device outright I'd have the right to buy what services I want, which I just want like 3 gigs of data and that's it. It'd be stupid for them to say no, as I'd be giving them money every month if they do it, and if they don't I'm not using their services at all.
 
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I'm hoping you're wrong. I would think since I'm paying for the device outright I'd have the right to buy what services I want, which I just want like 3 gigs of data and that's it. It'd be stupid for them to say no, as I'd be giving them money every month if they do it, and if they don't I'm not using their services at all.


Well first of all, you are implying that they would settle for you getting the bare minimum service instead of requiring you to get minutes on top of data. This is AT&T here. I am pretty sure that you would be required to buy minutes on top of the data considering that they classify it as a smartphone and not a tablet. Again, like I have said, people have bought the unlocked version and AT&T treated it like it was a tablet so you could go that route, but I just doubt that you would be able to buy a phone and just have data on it. Right now you could try doing it on another phone online, but I don't think its possible. I am not saying I couldn't be wrong, but I am towards the doubtful side. I guess you could always call up AT&T and ask if its possible to just have a data plan on a smartphone. I think the main reason they would deny you is because they would know that you could do free calling through applications.
 
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I'm hoping you're wrong. I would think since I'm paying for the device outright I'd have the right to buy what services I want, which I just want like 3 gigs of data and that's it. It'd be stupid for them to say no, as I'd be giving them money every month if they do it, and if they don't I'm not using their services at all.



Just so you know. I just terminated my contract with ATT. I bought an unlocked smartphone from Craigslist and used my ATT sim card with it. After using it for a few weeks, ATT automatically added a 25 dollar limited data plan in addition to whatever I was paying when I signed my contract with them. I called and complaint and was told that was their policy. I was given a choice of either not to use a smartphone or had to accept the data plan which I never signed or asked for. I told them to f**k off and terminated my contract with them. Also their new policy for new customers is if you want to use their unlimited data plan for your smartphone, u have to purchase a 20 dollar unlimited text first, and then pay 25 dollar more for their unlimited plan in addition to whatever you have already paid. I would think twice if I were you before considering using their service.
 
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Just so you know. I just terminated my contract with ATT. I bought an unlocked smartphone from Craigslist and used my ATT sim card with it. After using it for a few weeks, ATT automatically added a 25 dollar limited data plan in addition to whatever I was paying when I signed my contract with them. I called and complaint and was told that was their policy. I was given a choice of either not to use a smartphone or had to accept the data plan which I never signed or asked for. I told them to f**k off and terminated my contract with them. Also their new policy for new customers is if you want to use their unlimited data plan for your smartphone, u have to purchase a 20 dollar unlimited text first, and then pay 25 dollar more for their unlimited plan in addition to whatever you have already paid. I would think twice if I were you before considering using their service.

Ah, you are speaking about the required data plan if you buy a smartphone policy. Everyone has known about this for some time. Actually I had a BlackJack II and was upgrading to another phone when that policy came into effect. JunBringer is asking if there is a way to ONLY get the data plan for the Note. Also, there is no unlimited data plan for AT&T unless you have the GoPhone pay-as-you-go plan or are grandfathered in from having one previously.
 
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Yeah I won't buy the Note unless they confirm that I can do it. It'd be ridiculous for them to say no, as I'm buying a 700 dollar phone from them and giving them probably 50 bucks a month for their data services. When they decide to carry such a grey area device they should be more open minded. I won't try it online because I doubt it'd let me do it there. I'd go into a store and actually talk to a manager and say I want a tablet 4G sim and plan for this device, are you allowed to do it? If he can show me policy that says so I just won't go ahead with it and I'll wait til it comes to Sprint or something.
 
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Yeah I won't buy the Note unless they confirm that I can do it. It'd be ridiculous for them to say no, as I'm buying a 700 dollar phone from them and giving them probably 50 bucks a month for their data services. When they decide to carry such a grey area device they should be more open minded. I won't try it online because I doubt it'd let me do it there. I'd go into a store and actually talk to a manager and say I want a tablet 4G sim and plan for this device, are you allowed to do it? If he can show me policy that says so I just won't go ahead with it and I'll wait til it comes to Sprint or something.

The way I see it is that if they say no, I would buy the Note unlocked then try to get a SIM card for their GoPhone plan. And if it turns out like people are saying where AT&T suddenly sends a text saying they are using a tablet and therefore you would get a tablet plan, then that's what you wanted. Or, if it turns out that it accepts it as a smartphone, you will still only be paying $50 a month for unlimited everything. So, it's basically a win-win situation.

Oh, and don't give your hopes up for a Galaxy Note on Sprint or Verizon. That was only one rumor by some guy that made one prediction before about the Galaxy Nexus and guess what? He was wrong.
 
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The way I see it is that if they say no, I would buy the Note unlocked then try to get a SIM card for their GoPhone plan. And if it turns out like people are saying where AT&T suddenly sends a text saying they are using a tablet and therefore you would get a tablet plan, then that's what you wanted. Or, if it turns out that it accepts it as a smartphone, you will still only be paying $50 a month for unlimited everything. So, it's basically a win-win situation.

Oh, and don't give your hopes up for a Galaxy Note on Sprint or Verizon. That was only one rumor by some guy that made one prediction before about the Galaxy Nexus and guess what? He was wrong.
How would that work? Do you have to buy a GoPhone and change out the sim card , or can you just get the sim card?
 
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How would that work? Do you have to buy a GoPhone and change out the sim card , or can you just get the sim card?


That's the part I don't know about. I don't know if you can just buy the SIM card, but if you can't then I am pretty sure (not positive) that you can just buy a GoPhone and interchange the SIM card on it. Which GoPhones go anywhere from $20 to $450. Although the downfall would be that I am pretty sure, at least for right now, you would be getting 3G speeds instead of 4G. Which wouldn't matter if you use wi-fi more.

Here is some information on it:
GoPhone (Att prepaid) called me out today on my Note - xda-developers

unlocked Galaxy Note as a GoPhone - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com
 
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I plan on using LTE and HSPA+ quite a bit, so I don't think I'll be going for the whole GoPhone deal. What keeps me from just waiting for the Sprint version is that I won't have LTE in my area for awhile and it won't come with Wimax, which I have plenty of. AT&T and Verizon both have good 4G in my area, so those would be my options for now.
 
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Most of the loopholes are closed or in the process of closing that allow the service shortcuts like these. It sucks but AT&T got wise and improved their system monitoring quite a bit over the last year. Even if you do get one past them, you'll never know when they will send you an unexpected new bill or a forced plan upgrade for services that they can prove you used. All in all it's just easier to pay the piper and have peace of mind.
 
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I'd really rather not pay 120 for a cell phone plan when I use 5-10 minutes of voice a month.

So i have to ask...why don't you guys just buy a tablet then?

There is no getting around the plan set up

You will have voice and data...there just is not a way.

It is possible however to get a tablet and make calls using Google voice. it takes a bit of work...but i have seen it done


And to clarify...the note requires a phone plan and smartphone data plan
It does not require a "tablet" plan
 
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So i have to ask...why don't you guys just buy a tablet then?

There is no getting around the plan set up

You will have voice and data...there just is not a way.

It is possible however to get a tablet and make calls using Google voice. it takes a bit of work...but i have seen it done


And to clarify...the note requires a phone plan and smartphone data plan
It does not require a "tablet" plan

One handed pocketed-able tablet for pants not made for girly sizes.
 
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So i have to ask...why don't you guys just buy a tablet then?

There is no getting around the plan set up

You will have voice and data...there just is not a way.

It is possible however to get a tablet and make calls using Google voice. it takes a bit of work...but i have seen it done


And to clarify...the note requires a phone plan and smartphone data plan
It does not require a "tablet" plan

Because I don't talk on the phone and I get texting free with Google Voice. Like dude above said, you end up paying 100 bucks a month when all I need is 4G data.
 
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They pretty much answered for me. I still want the capability to make a phone call if I need it, and I don't want to have to carry around a bluetooth headset. I bought an original Galaxy Tab for T-Mobile but it was just a little too big to be pocketable. Not to mention T-Mobile has terrible data coverage where I live. I've been wanting a ~5 inch phone ever since.
 
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After researching and giving it some thought I think I'm going to move my lady and I over to AT&T from Sprint (we can get out of our contract due to the change of discount policies). I'll want a new phone and they aren't putting Wimax radios into their phones anymore and LTE won't be built out enough for me to use, so I'll do maybe one contract with AT&T, hopefully with a shared data plan, and then look into what the market is like at that point.

Question: Do you pay the same amount monthly if you are off contract as opposed to subsidized?
 
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