Don’t need data? Remove it.
November 15th, 2007
I'm not sure if this is a mistake on AT&T's part or not, but the option to remove your iPhone data plan is now available. Previously, this was something you could not change.
Benefits do doing something like this is that you wouldn't pay $20 (or more) for data if you don't enjoy EDGE or use it sparsely. Also, some refrain from using it because of the slow speeds.
This wouldn't be great for someone who checks the weather on the go, or doesn't use WiFi a lot.
So, if you just hate EDGE and have always wanted to get rid of it, now you can. Just go to your AT&T myAccount page and click "Add/Manage Features".
Also, a note: this will additionally remove text messaging, you should add a text messaging plan if you don't want to pay by the message.
Update: Something else I forgot to mention is that you will no longer have access to Visual Voicemail if data is removed. You'll have to call for voicemail just like any other phone.
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Voicemail troubles without data
Use iPhone webapps when not connected to internet
I would be very careful with this. If you remove the plan, does it cut your access off or will it still allow you to access the Internet and charge you non-plan prices?
Unless your iPhone is jailbroken, there is no easy way to ensure that all EDGE activity is shut off and using data that is not included in a plan has been traditionally very expensive.
Make sure you have all the facts before doing this.
You can still access WiFi and such, but will receive exorbitant data charges. The data plan is necessary for any Internet activity on the iphone, to avoid these large data charges.
The new i phones have the feature to turn off edge data, while in Europe was apples thinking. apply that here and viola all set!
So is this still true? I have been looking into getting an iPhone and I just talked to an AT&T representative. They said that you couldn’t remove the data plan.
I have been considering re-virginizing my unlocked iPhone and sign up for the official iPhone plan, but only if I can remove the data plan from it. I have AT&T already, but does not need data outside of wifi areas. Can someone verify the information in this post?
i want an iphone but i dont want to sign up 2 the AT&T contract
is there anyways to get around this or prefrably not go on AT&T at all
I tried to remove the $20 charge on two of my three iPhones. It took me a long time to reach an AT&T rep. I was disconnected three times after hitting the button of the message to reach a person to cancel a feature. I changed my tactic and pushed the “add a feature” button. Got through right away!
During the conversation with the rep the ability to do “remove a feature”, was changed on the AT&T website right before my eyes. The rep said that if I removed internet access the phones would not work. I gave up for the time being. Any ideas?
Even though I never signed up for an iPhone plan, AT&T has detected that I have one, and they have now made it impossible to remove features online. Fortunately, I had just disabled the $20 dataplan I added for iPhone data use, a few days before, since I do not really need it.
And re-virginizing, and upgrading to 1.1.1 worked just fine.
Instructions and all you need here: http://iphone.unlock.no/
patrick, November 28th, 2007 at 9:34 am
i want an iphone but i dont want to sign up 2 the AT&T contract
is there anyways to get around this or prefrably not go on AT&T at all.
Maybe ,you can I was told from 2 people from at&t that if you got your phone from someone else you do not have to sign up for 2 years ,why would you ?Your not getting a rebate on the phone .If that were true that you had to then why would any used phone be worth anything ,you would not be able to sell it .I also have this recorded as everyone should do .You do not need the recording or tell them about it if you stay with them just use it if you not with them for 2 years ,because it will be them billing you and then you take them to court .I’m thinking of posting it on myspace because its so wrong what there doing .Apple should of never of gone with at&t .The best thing you can do is call all at&t stores and ask and record and email and write the global warming and the environment people about all the used phones being no good and put in the trash for no reason ,really these people have power .Tell them why use a used phone when you can get a new one free with 2 years .I have 3 att lines and 3 sprint lines I’m thinking for turning in my Iphone for a I touch because the att will not pickup at work or home.Any one need that recording just email me at badboychronic@gmail.com or call me on my iphone 540-314-8971 I only give that out online because I’m trying to change it but att says I have to call apple to do that .lol
AT&T is “protecting customers” from high data (per KB) charges by displaying an error on Add/Manage features:
F999: You can view your current features as an iPhone customer, but you are not able to add or remove features online at this time. If you would like to add or remove a feature, please contact customer service at 800-331-0500.
I spoke to an iPhone tech specialist and that says there is NO way to disable EDGE on a non-jail broken iPhone. Even under Wi-fi only, the iPhone chats with EDGE for visual voicemail and other features.
Unfortunately to change ANYTHING ELSE on the iPhone plan requires calling AT&T.
Unless you want HIGH per-KB charges don’t try to “save” $20.
So, if I buy an iphone and pay the $20/month for the duration of my 2 year contract and then decide I no longer want the data plan, can I cancel the data plan and still use the iphone as a phone, ipod, ipod video, camera? I just asked at an at&t store and they said that the iphone device would not even turn on at all without the plan! So does that mean that I couldn’t even use the iphone just as an ipod?
I was with Cingular when it changed to AT&T. I have a $20 a month which I obtained way back in 1999. You will never see this plan ever offered by a wireless company. However I still have it. I tried talking to a AT&T sales person of obtaining an IPhone and keeping my $20 a month plan. They say that is not possible because I had a very cheap plan. I really don’t give a damn about any features. I just want an iphone and thats it. How can a purchase an iphone and keep my $20 a month plan?
I just called Cingular to adjust something on my i phone package after previously asking AT&T to remove the data plan and they automatically added it back onto my account. The lady said something to the nature of AT&T has a contract with Apple in that all Iphone customers have to have a data plan or else they will suspend your account. Automatically she changed it saying it would be bad business ethic to allow the data packaged to remain off the account. Amazing as to the fact that someone at AT&T gave us the recommendation to remove it. Good luck guys. Maybe I’ll call someone else and see if they’ll remove it again.
Hello!!
I am not sure of this yet??
i have go phone plan with att i paying 39.99 right now… i recently bought i iphone but i don’t want data for extra 20 dollas..
Is this true for sure now u have the choice to add or remove Data??
thx
WHO ACTUALLY HAS AN iPHONE WITHOUT A DATA PLAN & HOW DID YOU DO IT?
Those of you against this, it will be saving $20/month which is $240/year. That’s a hell of a lot more than the interest people earn on an average savings account.
Beside this guy did it. I just don’t know how.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE7d7ji7aAo
(Btw, his phone bill was high because he didn’t have a data plan BUT continued to use the internet.)
So i was asking me the same question about having a 39.99 plan but no dataplan. I called att and of course they were not consistent on they answers i was told “you cannot remove dataplan” and “yes sir, you do”.
So after talking and talking i made this att rep. contradict herself and she finally came up with what seems to be the truth… she said. Ok sir first of all:
“You need dataplan beacause you need to activate your iphone by going online using your iphone so you will need dataplan.”
- so i said: ok so that means i can have the dataplan just the first month to activate it and then remove the dataplan after. Right?
“Yes, but i wont recomend you to do so because we have NO WAY to block your phone from having internet access. Say someone uses your phone and goes online; you will be charge for every single kilobyte and i’ve seen phonebills of thousands of dollars due that problem.”
so that was it BUT there is a way around to all this. My roomate has an iphone, he bought it at an apple store but he didnt want to have ATT nor a 2yr plan, he wanted Verizon. So somehow he unlocked his phone and now it works with verizon and guess what??? he doesnt have a data plan and everytime he wants to go online his iphone shows an error message.
Um Oscar, there is no way your roomate has a GSM iPhone on Verizon’s CDMA network. Maybe T-mobile but definitely not Verizon.
You don’t have to have the iphone data plan if you buy it from some one not att. Then i called and had them disable all att internet possibilities so then i just use wi fi and all the wifi is free they said you should not have any data charges on your bill.
I readed all the information concern to the Data Plan for IPhone,
bot the official on line said that it wasn’t posible to remove it.They ask me where did I read it, and I told them thay was very easy find out this information thrugh the internet.Finally they say they couldn’t remove it.Do I have to go to the court and make a complain on this issue.What can I do ?
its IS possible to remove the data plan and stil use wifi w/out being charged. wifi is free. i did it 2 my fone n i dont get outrageous charges. the only reason att reps dont want u to cancel the feature is because they pay the excess fee that you dont pay that month ($20). it may seem lik only $20 but if everyone reading this cancels multply by $20 thats aa few $100 a mnth for the att reps to pay. I know this first hand because i work there. so trust me…buy the fone if you like it and dont be scared that u cant cancle because u can =)
I just bought a iphone off ebay and I don’t want the data plan. Does anyone know how to activate the iphone without the data plan? or remove the data plan? thank!
I am just sick of getting different answers regarding this problem. An AT&T rep told me after I buy the iphone that I can call AT&T back up and request to block the internet so I would not need the data package as long as I don’t use the phone for any data transfer. Then another AT&T rep said this is not true. An apple rep said that as long as you purchase apps on itunes on your home computer and transfer files to the iphone via usb cord there would not be any need for the data package unless you want to download data on the actual phone. I then had an AT&T rep say yes you can shut off the data package but their computer systems scan accounts monthly and will automatically put a data plan on an account if it does not have one so you would need to call every month to remove the data plan. So who do you believe? GOOD LUCK ON THIS AND IF YOU FIGURE ANYTHING OUT LET ME KNOW
I don’t know what you all are talking about with the $20 charge because I called att about an iphone and they said i have to pay $30 for the minimum data plan. How about this? If I buy an iphone then put my sim card in my old cell phone and call att and say I no longer have the iphone then once they take the iphone off my account I put my sim card back into the iphone and then no more data charges if I stay off the net with the phone. Is this possible????
All right, listen up party people.
1. Get ANOTHER craptacular SIM card enabled phone capable of whatever service you are on (ATT for me) (I found a working old phone on line for <$20)
2. JAILBREAK Your Iphone
3. Download BossPrefs
4. Turn EDGE off (Edge is Cellular Internet)
5. Swap SIM cards (working SIM card into old crap phone)
6. Call ATT, tell them to put crap phone on your plan and cancel data plan
7. Make sure crap phone can still make calls
8. Put SIM card back into JAILBROKEN Iphone
*** So long as EDGE is OFF, you should never be charged for data and therefore never need it!!!!!!
Got iPhone through ATT, got Data Plan, don’t want it. Well here you go, it’s your lucky day!
1. Get the following together, activated iPhone, a websitefor “Jailbreak” an iPhone, an old craptacular SIMCard Phone capable of getting on the ATT network (I found one online for <$20)
2. Jailbreak iPhone
3. Download BossPrefs
4. In BossPrefs, turn EDGE off. EDGE is the cellular internet service.Keep Wi-Fi on
5. Write down IMEI (or IMAI, i forget) and serial number from the craptacular cell phone
6. Remove SIM card from iPhone
7. Put SIM card in craptacular cell phone
8. Call ATT, tell them you changed your phone because you were disappointed in the data plan service. Make sure they cancel the data plan service, but keep everything else the same. They will ask you for the IMEI or Serial # at this point.
9. Ensure craptacular phone works on ATT service.
10. Put SIM card back into iPhone. Enjoy $20, $30, or $40 less on your bill because you don’t have the data plan!!!
*** Note: I cannot stress the importance of turning EDGE off. ATT will know you have an iPhone if you access data via cellular and not Wi-Fi ***
Enjoy
Look, as someone with a ton of experience, let me help you guys out with this stuff….
if you’ve removed the data plan, don’t try to use wifi or you’ll get nailed with data charges of $2,000 like i did. instead, just take your sim card out whenever you want to use wifi. trust me, they can’t tell that you’re on that phone and thus can’t charge you for a ton of data usage.
as someone who make a business unlocking and selling these iphones for a ridiculous profit, i’ve learned my way to deal with the devils at&t and apple. email me at zibahashemi@gmail.com if you got any questions. anything to keep at&t from taking all our damn money
It’s completely possible to turn off EDGE on iPhone. just call customer service or the online at&t rep and tell them to disable your internet (which will disable MMS as well, but not sms). But don’t tell them you have an iPhone — its legal issues.
I had a flip phone and told them to turn off my internet/medianet and i switched my sim card to my jailbroken iphone and I now i either have no internet or wifi.
ok current att customer here, the whole internet usage is blocked. I want to buy an iphone but not the whole new plan with it, is there a way after I pop my sim card in to use wifi or do i have to have the net part enabled and all that jazz
I have an unlocked iphone and am using a tmobile g1 sim card. each time i try to get on safari it’s saying could not activate cellular data network: you’re not subscribed to a cellular data service. can anyone help me please
Sean, January 17th, 2009 at 1:08 am
Thanks for the advice - how hard is it to bounce from access point to access point to sync the iphone or have access to the web? Is this option for people close to a public access point or at work?
Thanks again! Great advice!
Karl
Do I still need the Data plan just to check e-mail or open up PDF files on my 3G. Im still weighing everything out about leaving Sprints $99.00 Simply Everything Plan. An extra $35.00 a month adds up fast with att.
Hi, guys, this is ridiculous. I have had an iPhone for a year, and I have been using my iPhone with wifi for data without the data plan.
Here’s deal:
Everyone has a data plan by default.
If you cancel the $20/$30 a month plan, you still are on the “pay as you go” (aka per kilobyte) plan for data. You need to call and cancel that plan. (the same is true for SMS)
So, I’m looking to get the 3GS after my OG was washed. . . sigh.
Will AT&T do this?
I thought that per the agreement you are REQUIRED to have the data plan.
Did anyone else do this?
I want to get an iPhone, but I don’t use the internet on a cell phone, and I don’t want to pay the dawg gone ATT&T $30 extra charge for data.
Can I purchase an iPhone from eBay and stick a SIMM card and use it? Or, am I bondaged to getting the AT&T Data Package just to use the phone?
As far as the SIMM card, can I stick my Treo SIMM card and will it work? Thanks.