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Android Phone without cell phone plan

Hi guys,
Was wandering if someone could help me out with, rather, strange question.
I want to use an Android phone to make calls, but do not want to sign up with any cell phone company. I live in New brunswick, Fredericton, we have free wireless internet.
I want to make use of it, but so far I have not found a concrete answer.
I have started a thread about this on another android forums, if you want more details, or just ask me:
http://forums.androidandme.com/topic/how-to-use-free-internet-with-android-without-cell-plan
Any help is Great appreciated!

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone...e-accused-over-android-skype-app-block-628218
maybe if they get it to work
with skype you still of cause are charged to pay when you call normal phones

Yeah, that's interesting.
I find the whole situation with cell phone companies stupid, charging outrageous rates for what should really be included in your home internet fee.
In any case, I was wandering if a solution exists for right now It doesn't have to be free, but at least cheaper than buying an unlimited plan from rogers or what-not.

Or are there other phones (except Android) that can do this instead?
Thanks

yes skype is out for
windows mobile
heck even iphone got it
but you have to remember that if you call normal phones
cell or land-line you have to pay skype as they offer the link to
gsm and land-line which have no connection to the Internet you get
when you connect to wifi
just wanted to make sure you didn't have the impression that it was 1 big network
it's not
kinda like one can't send an email to a person with not computer and expect a free service
which print the email and put it in the physically mailbox of the person

I understand that I have to pay skype or someone else for calling landlines. That is Fine with me.
However, with Skype (for example and iphone/windows mobile?), can I use the phone even if I don't have a SIM card/cell phone plan?
Rudegar said:
yes skype is out for
windows mobile
heck even iphone got it
but you have to remember that if you call normal phones
cell or land-line you have to pay skype as they offer the link to
gsm and land-line which have no connection to the Internet you get
when you connect to wifi
just wanted to make sure you didn't have the impression that it was 1 big network
it's not
kinda like one can't send an email to a person with not computer and expect a free service
which print the email and put it in the physically mailbox of the person
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

yes you can even use a non phone pda with wifi or an ipod touch
when you have wifi you have the same possibilities as with a computer

That sounds cool. Thanks,
Another question:
Is there a way I can use my phone/pda as a Gps device?
If I have no plan, I can't connect to satelite either?
Or do some phones provide some kind of tom-tom enabled capabilities?

mobile wifi router (does it cost extra?)

Hi i have mobile wifi router installed on my phone (came with duttys rom) and i was wondering if using it my network could tell and charge me extra?
I have an unlimited data plan but i know I could pay an extra £10 and then my phone could be used as a mobile boradband device, does this mean that if i try to use the mobile wifi router program that my carrier would be able to tell and block it or charge me extra?
Also is there a way to share the phone connection with a pc without using wifi and without having to buy the networks extra mobile boradband package because I will almost never use it but its good to know i have the option if i go on holiday or whatever, maybe i want to prows the web in the garden soemthing like that

no wifi works even if you don't have a sim card in the phone
just like pda's with wifi and no phone
just like your laptop connecting with wifi to the router
just like your desktop connecting with wifi or cable to the router

no its not that, mobile wifi router converts your phone into a router so your laptop/whatever can connect to it and use its data connection to connect to the internet, I was just wondering if doing this the network can tell and then charge me extra as they usually charge for using your phone as an internet access point

the connection from the phone to the laptop or computer is free anything wifi
the cost to go onto internet will however depend on your satat rates, just to be sure id ask your operator

Hi thanks for trying to help, but thats not what I was asking. I know wifi connections are free what I was asking is if my operator will be able to tell the difference between my phone using its data connection and my laptop using my phones data connection.
The reason I ask is that I have unlimited data for my phone.
but
you can pay extra money to upgrade your account to allow your phone to be used as a mobile broadband dongle
but if they can't tell the difference between phone using its data and pc using its data then there is no need to pay the extra money.
is this the case or am i missing something

Depending on your operator, there could be a max of MB's. So it might be 500 MB/month, but also unlimited internet. With that, you are able to use it without any extra costs.

Is it possible to somewhat put up a wifi network on your phone via some program (WiFi Router is one I think) and connect to it and use it ON your phone?

aaah teething
as far as I know they should not be able to detect it
but I could be mistaken

If the usage is large 500MB/month, carrier might suspect unusual activity. teething is paid service with some carriers.

I have a G1 tethered on T-mobile USA. I have talked to customer service. They said they do not support tethering but that it is not illegal. Their solution is to allow a soft cap of 10gb of data service with their unlimited plan and once you reach the cap they throttle the internet speed down from 3g to 2g levels. Not to horrible. I play all my online games with my G1 connection, Counter Strike Source, Perfect World International, Flyff, and download quite a bit of music and usually only reach about 300mb a day which gives me a full month of service before i reach that cap. And at the start of the new month I get reset.

I´m in the same situation.
I´ve got an unlimited data plan, which covers phone/PDA use, but EXCLUDES using the device as a modem for a PC/Laptop (tethering).
I´ve tethered it ocasionally, and it worked.
My carrier didnt charge me extra, nor blocked. BUT i know the risk exists. I´ve tried to research.
What i read is that carrier COULD tell if you are tethering by traffic analysis (one way is looking the user agent of your web pages request, which identifies yor browser), but that this traffic analysys is not practical, and most carriers dont do it....by now.
So of you tether ocasionally, you are safe.....today, ....until carriers perceive there is a number significant enough to make profits,of people tethering under a data plan intented just for phone use, then they can start charging you.

jdshifflett said:
I have a G1 tethered on T-mobile USA. I have talked to customer service. They said they do not support tethering but that it is not illegal. Their solution is to allow a soft cap of 10gb of data service with their unlimited plan and once you reach the cap they throttle the internet speed down from 3g to 2g levels. Not to horrible. I play all my online games with my G1 connection, Counter Strike Source, Perfect World International, Flyff, and download quite a bit of music and usually only reach about 300mb a day which gives me a full month of service before i reach that cap. And at the start of the new month I get reset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ha nice, well im gonna give it a go anyway and see what happens, its just funny that they specifically advertise to upgrade your account to be able to do this as if they can somehow tell. I dunno what mobile boradband is like in the us but in the uk there advertising it all over the place as if its someting people really need instead of something that is ocasionally useful, apart from in your case its mad how much you do through your phone.

sirgawain123 said:
I´m in the same situation.
I´ve got an unlimited data plan, which covers phone/PDA use, but EXCLUDES using the device as a modem for a PC/Laptop (tethering).
I´ve tethered it ocasionally, and it worked.
My carrier didnt charge me extra, nor blocked. BUT i know the risk exists. I´ve tried to research.
What i read is that carrier COULD tell if you are tethering by traffic analysis (one way is looking the user agent of your web pages request, which identifies yor browser), but that this traffic analysys is not practical, and most carriers dont do it....by now.
So of you tether ocasionally, you are safe.....today, ....until carriers perceive there is a number significant enough to make profits,of people tethering under a data plan intented just for phone use, then they can start charging you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for this, if the only thing they can do to check is by the web requests of your browser surely there is a way to pretend to be opera mobile for example which should receive the full web anyway. Anyway as you say I won;t be using it much if at all so if i do fancy it i think ill just take the risk and see what happens worse they can do is charge me a little extra and i may even be able to avoid that by pleeding ignorance

ArtieQ said:
Is it possible to somewhat put up a wifi network on your phone via some program (WiFi Router is one I think) and connect to it and use it ON your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't quite understand this question, you could use the program i mentioned to make your phone into a wifi access point and use its data connection to the internet then anything you like could then connect to it e.g. another phone, psp, ps3 laptop .....
is that what you ment?

Would wifi tether work outside the US??

I have a rooted X and use wireless tether for wifi. I am traveling to South Africa next month and was wondering if it would still work over there. My first thought was that it would not because there would be no verizon signal (data) available there but funny enough my wireless tether still worked when i put my phone on airplane mode so i am confused. Does wireless tether not use verizon "signal" to supply the wifi? Does anyone know for sure if it will work overseas? Thanks

I'm not sure i understand, but wifi (like bluetooth) is local if you have two devices connected over wifi in the USA, it will work anywhere else in the world?
The action of tethering allows for example a laptop to use the internet connection of your mobile. The wifi itself does not supply internet access it merely connects the two devices.
Your mobile's radio has internet access through GRPS/3G...etc. and this access to provided for the laptop through wifi.
btw wrong section, this is "Android Software and Hacking General", use Questions & Answers next time. It will yield better results, faster.

Dark3n said:
I'm not sure i understand, but wifi (like bluetooth) is local if you have two devices connected over wifi in the USA, it will work anywhere else in the world?
The action of tethering allows for example a laptop to use the internet connection of your mobile. The wifi itself does not supply internet access it merely connects the two devices.
Your mobile's radio has internet access through GRPS/3G...etc. and this access to provided for the laptop through wifi.
btw wrong section, this is "Android Software and Hacking General", use Questions & Answers next time. It will yield better results, faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, i think you answered my question. maybe i just didnt word it correctly. You say that the wireless tether app allowes my computer or ipad to run of my mobile internet so if i go outside the US were there is no 3G mobile signal, there is obviously no mobile internet to "beem" out to my ipad. Do i have that right? i was just confused way my phone, through wireless tether was still able to supply and internet connection to my ipad when it was in airplane mode.
I will also post my questions in the right section next time. Thanks for the heads up

Yes you have that right. But not only the US has 3G signal, south africa depending on the region probably has mobile internet too, but i would buy a sim card from their carrier in southafrica, because data roaming costs a fortune.

Dark3n said:
Yes you have that right. But not only the US has 3G signal, south africa depending on the region probably has mobile internet too, but i would buy a sim card from their carrier in southafrica, because data roaming costs a fortune.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the thing to do but as far as i know the droid x is not a international phone like the droid 2 global and would probably not be able to take a sim card

It probably takes the simcard, but might need a different modem/radio to work down there.

Tethering with out plan! Message from att

My friend and I added a new apn from the steps in forum to allow tethering without a plan, well I rarely use mine but he uses his a little more to pay bills and such online through his laptop. He received a message yesterday from ATT stating that this sim is not authorized for tethering and to stop. From what I read I thought they were only catching those with the cryphone. Are they starting to look for others too, what's the deal we r both grandfathered in on the unlimited plan, it shouldn't matter how I use my mobile internet its the same wether I use it in my phone or tether through our laptops.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

vwood2121 said:
but he uses his a little more to pay bills and such online through his laptop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can pay most bills with the smartphone browsers. i only tether for streaming stock quotes (java applets) when i'm away from home. can your ipad or ipad2 does that? haha
this is why i rather carry my sony 4.5" UMPC when i'm away from home.

vwood2121 said:
My friend and I added a new apn from the steps in forum to allow tethering without a plan, well I rarely use mine but he uses his a little more to pay bills and such online through his laptop. He received a message yesterday from ATT stating that this sim is not authorized for tethering and to stop. From what I read I thought they were only catching those with the cryphone. Are they starting to look for others too, what's the deal we r both grandfathered in on the unlimited plan, it shouldn't matter how I use my mobile internet its the same wether I use it in my phone or tether through our laptops.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nooo! This is very concerning....
I also agree that everyone should be able to use their monthly allotted amount of data however they please.
Via the XDA app for the HTC Inspire

It was going to happen eventually. It's the cell phone equivalent of stealing cable. Most companies don't take kindly to losing money on hacked features.

Divinedark said:
It was going to happen eventually. It's the cell phone equivalent of stealing cable. Most companies don't take kindly to losing money on hacked features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
huh??
i have the 2GB plan, does it really matter how i use that 2GB? (laptop or phone?)
if i have cable, i can hook it up any ways i want! (to 50" HDTV, desktop, or laptop)

It's bad enough they (at&t) screwed themselves with the ipads, but now you they really want to be like apple n charge you twice because of it. Why should you have to have 2 data plans to use 1 data feature anyway?

I think it was really more for people like me that have unlimited data plans. I can use an ass-load more data with my laptop than I could with my phone.
Either way, a feature is a feature is a feature. They aren't the first, and they won't be the last big company to charge for stuff like that. As much as you or I don't agree with it (I really hate stuff like this), it's not enough to justify theft. I refuse to pay for tethering, so I just don't do it...
Also, if you read some of the Android guru's talking about the handset manufacturers all starting to lock their bootloaders. This is the reason. Before, when it was just us goofing about with our own devices and hurting noone, especially not the carrier, they couldn't care less. As we start moving into LTE with a tethering option, you'll see almost every single Android handset maker locking their phones down. Just look at the Thunderbolt... HTC has always been a big proponent of the Android dev scene, but they signed that bootloader. If you think it was for any other reason than to stop people from tethering and flooding Verizon's LTE network, you're crazy. Verizon may have forced their hand, but it's still done. Neither AT&T or Verizon want to have to deal with what AT&T had to with the iPhone saturation killing their network speeds(and the crap reputation it's brought them) when it comes to their new LTE networks. They'll do whatever they have to in order to guarantee the majority of their customers get a pleasant network experience. Even if that means making "Suggestions" to handset makers. Motorola did it, HTC did it, Samsung is next, then LG. And ultimately, we're going to be the ones to blame. That's just the way I've been seeing things. I may be completely off base...
*NOTE* The thunderbold has been hacked. Maybe there's hope after all.

At this point I don't really care anymore. If AT&T ever delivers 4G speeds I won't have to tether. Charge me, don't charge me, whatever. Being an AT&T customer is exhausting.
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.

I had AT&T update my IMEI because I was going to be using a non-smartphone for "traveling" and had them put in an unlimited $10 data. Went ahead and popped my SIM into my Inspire, and I've only gotten two messages and an e-mail that they recognized I'm using a 4G SIM and that they've changed my plan accordingly. I called and checked my account online, and both show that I've still got the feature, so it's been working; plus, I've been using WiFi hotspot for my laptop this whole time.
Hope they don't catch on!

lrs421 said:
At this point I don't really care anymore. If AT&T ever delivers 4G speeds I won't have to tether. Charge me, don't charge me, whatever. Being an AT&T customer is exhausting.
Sent from Desire HD or Inspire 4G or whatever this thing is called via premium XDA app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not going to get 4G speeds with HSPA+. It's a 3.5G technology. The same thing that T-Mobile has been touting as 4G for the last year. They had great speed on their network because no one was using it... That's not being mean, it's just the way it is. If AT&T has this infrastructure and it was only 40% utilized, every current 4G phone (Atrix & Inspire) would be getting 10-14mb down.
I'm in Northern Atlanta (The home of AT&T wireless), and I get 5mb down and 2mb up late at night. During prime time, I pull 2.5mb down and 2mb up.
This will all change when AT&T starts rolling out their LTE network. It should be showing the exact same speeds as Verizon's. They're both similar in size, and running the exact same technology.

Simple mobile

Is there a way to use simple mobile on the sidekick?
If soo could someone point me to a thread to (unlock the sidekick 4g to another simcard) would help a lot
Thank you
Shystep
Sent from my SGH-T839 using xda premium

simple mobile can be used on the sidekick. i personally am on tmobile, but have looked extensively at simple mobiles website. they have detailed instructions on how to set up android devices to run on simple mobile. as far as unlocking, do a search. there is a thread on this website about unlocking the sidekick. keep in mind that simple mobile does not allow tethering (connecting phone to pc to use as modem), so if you plan on tethering, simple mobile may not be for you. they may turn your data off if they catch you doing it, as it is a violation of their terms and conditions. but other than that, simple mobile sounds like a good idea. i chose not to switch because i dont want to break my contract with tmobile and also dont want to change phone numbers again. in the last three years, i have had 11 different numbers.

Wow!
Thank you for the information
Ill be looking at there website since i switch my phones out (sidekick4g to the Samsung Galaxy s 2)
both on t-mobile and since i like my sidekick i use it for personal use and my sg2
for business use
and since t-mobiles plans like to charge me up the wall i cant afford both phones atm

I hear ya. for $60 a month, you can get unlimited talk, text, and high speed 4g data from simple mobile. for two phones that would be $120. thats a better price than tmobile.

Yes 200$ a month is crazy

I pay $150/mo. for two lines, and I share 1,000 min with my wife. we also have unlimited text and web with 2gb of high speed data per line included. I think its like the second cheapest family plan, but the cheapest only includes like 500 min or something like that. the 150 is after taxes though.

But what simple mobile did not tell you is on the 4g you only get so much data
Sent from my HTC cm7 g2 using xda premium

Nope. Nevermind, casper. You're the guy who made that other post complaining about simple mobile. the data is unlimited on the phone, they just dont allow tethering. it says right on the webpage they dont allow that, and its a violation of their terms and conditions. thats your fault, not theirs. so dont come in here talking trash just because you are mad that you cant tether.

Sidekick 4G works just fine on Simple Mobile. No unlock is needed as Simple is a Tmobile MVNO.
APNs need to be changed per instructions available online just like all other Androids.

they might be on a tmobile network in your area, but they might use other providers' networks in other areas. a lot of prepaid providers use several different carriers networks, spread out over different areas. tmobile might have offered them the cheapest price in your area, but att or someone might offer them a cheaper price in my area. tracfone for example, uses tmobile, att, and even sprint. their phones are all gsm, but sprint provides airtime to some of their devices. and they use more than one network in the same area. it wont tell you that on their website or in a user manual. i called tracfone to ask if an unlocked phone could be used with a tracfone sim. they said no and gave me all the info i just explained above.

Alienworx
I'm using an unlock ATT samsung galaxy s2 skyrocket and yes I'm rooted only difference is that I flashed a T mobile radio to get the 4G as to before it was only 2G