Avoid AT&T data plan charge?

awdrifter2 · Mar 2, 2014

I want to get an Android phone for my parents. They won't use data and will only do things over wifi. AT&T will charge you whenever it detects you use a smart phone regardless if data is turned on. However, I've heard that if you use a no name Shanzhai phone they will not be able to identify it as a smartphone. I plan to get a Goophon N3 or 5S for them. I only heard of this from second hand sources, so has anyone tried? Does it really work? Thanks.

BRAINZ2013 · Mar 2, 2014

Hello and welcome to the forums . you say go phone . that is cool but gophones is also the byod . if you chose the 25.00 plan you can use the WiFi to access the web browser and apks . so the WiFi that you connect to will be your data when you turn off the WiFi you can still get text messages with no problem.

kate · Mar 2, 2014

Hi awdrifter2,

I moved your thread to the AT&T forum

awdrifter2 · Mar 2, 2014

BRAINZ2013 said:
Hello and welcome to the forums . you say go phone . that is cool but gophones is also the byod . if you chose the 25.00 plan you can use the WiFi to access the web browser and apks . so the WiFi that you connect to will be your data when you turn off the WiFi you can still get text messages with no problem.

Sorry, that was a typo. I mean Goophone N3 or S5. They are a Chinese brand that are not generally sold in the US. I will disable the mobile network on the phone, so they can only make calls with the phone when not on wifi. Currently they already have text messaging plan, so that's not an issue either. The only concern I have is that AT&T can detect the phone is a smartphone and start charging data plan fees. I've search this (and other sites) some more, some posts said that as long as it's not a brand or model that AT&T sells they should not be able to tell whether or not it's a smartphone. So has anyone tried to use a off-brand phone on AT&T without data? Thanks.

zachavm · Mar 2, 2014

why not just go for a pre-paid? AIO has unlimited talk and text for $25/month on AT&T's network.

UncleMike · Mar 2, 2014

zachavm said:
why not just go for a pre-paid? AIO has unlimited talk and text for $25/month on AT&T's network.

+1 for the pre-paid suggestion, although the AIO $25 plan is "Only available with basic phones" according to their web site, though you could probably activate a basic phone and later switch to a smart phone without issue. But rather than an AIO $25 (no data) plan, I would go with AirVoice $30 (500MB data) plan. Sure, AirVoice's split data policy is ridiculous, but that will likely never affect them, and they'll have data connectivity all the time.

For really low usage (say 400 minutes & 400 texts per month, or less) I would suggest AirVoice's pay-as-you-go plan, or $10 plan, but the balance popups that come after every call or text get annoying quickly. If you're open to using Verizon instead, and don't mind a 3G-only (read "antiquated") phone, Page Plus might be a good option because the only balance reminder is an audible one at the beginning of each outgoing call.

WFJ1952 · Mar 2, 2014

We ditched ATT and went with SmartTalk from Walmart. Been very satisfied! No contract, no two yr agreement, etc.

BRAINZ2013 · Mar 2, 2014

Yes they good the T-Mobile its some new carrier that someone told me at work that they take your phone number and send u a sims card u need to send your card to them the plan is 40.00 unlimited . I Dont know about this.

awdrifter2 · Mar 2, 2014

Pre-paid is not an option. They have the AT&T unlimited in-network calling. They need to keep that. I think I might take the risk, it seems like as long as the brand model isn't sold in the US they shouldn't have the IMEI range identified. Now I need to do more research on the phones to make sure they can make calls on AT&T.

BRAINZ2013 · Mar 2, 2014

If u do that with the imei you wont be able to .

awdrifter2 · Mar 3, 2014

I'm not doing anything with the IMEI. I'm planning to buy a phone from Goophone (or some other shanzhai phone) that's not sold in the US, that's it. I don't think I can even change the IMEI.

zachavm · Mar 3, 2014

awdrifter2 said:
Pre-paid is not an option. They have the AT&T unlimited in-network calling. They need to keep that. I think I might take the risk, it seems like as long as the brand model isn't sold in the US they shouldn't have the IMEI range identified. Now I need to do more research on the phones to make sure they can make calls on AT&T.

Why is pre-paid not an option? Almost all pre-paids are unlimited talk as it is. At that point, unlimited in-network is pointless. What are they paying?

shadowspawn · Mar 4, 2014

zachavm said:
Why is pre-paid not an option? Almost all pre-paids are unlimited talk as it is. At that point, unlimited in-network is pointless. What are they paying?

+1 for this. Prepaid is probably going to be your best option at this point. Not too familiar with GSM plans, but I know Simple Mobile offers an unlimited everything plan for $40/month. They use T-Mobile towers.

EDIT: @OP:
The IMEI actually has little to do with whether AT&T recognizes the phone as a smartphone or not. It's the SIM card that makes the biggest difference. Otherwise, all people would have to do is buy a cheap $15 Go Phone, put the IMEI of the Go Phone on their account, and pop the SIM card in a smartphone.

UncleMike · Mar 4, 2014

shadowspawn said:
The IMEI actually has little to do with whether AT&T recognizes the phone as a smartphone or not. It's the SIM card that makes the biggest difference.

The SIM is completely independent from the device. How would the SIM card be used to identify the type of device it's installed in?

shadowspawn said:
Otherwise, all people would have to do is buy a cheap $15 Go Phone, put the IMEI of the Go Phone on their account, and pop the SIM card in a smartphone.

This is a common workaround to get smart phones on plans intended for feature phones. Besides that, I recently activated 2 AirVoice SIMs without ever identifying the phones they would be used in.

bob60626 · Mar 9, 2014

My parents used to pay $50 for 550 shared minutes and no texts or data on two flip phones. I bought her a Nokia 520 and they were able to get $55 with unlimited calls and texts with 300 mb. My mother used like 20 last month. Talk to a retentions rep.

rui-no-onna · Mar 13, 2014

awdrifter2 said:
So has anyone tried to use a off-brand phone on AT&T without data? Thanks.

Doesn't even have to be off-brand. I've used a Sony Xperia Active and Sony Xperia Ray (unlocked US version) on our account and both came up as unidentified. If you get a Chinese-branded smartphone, I think there's a 99.99% probability that AT&T will treat it as a basic phone.

tritiumman · Mar 24, 2014

kate said:
Hi awdrifter2,

I moved your thread to the AT&T forum

Hi Kate!

Avoid AT&T data plan charge?

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