Database Info

[Q] captivate and AT&T's basic phone unlimited data plan

Hey guys, my 1st post here.
i am on AT&T and i am going for galaxy s device, obvious choice being captivate, but i want to know if i have basic unlimited data plan (the one for my current SE w760, $15/month) will continue to work? i am going to buy captivate from ebay, not directly from AT&T, so can i still use non-smartphone data plan for captivate? cuz if im not getting unlimited data, i will prefer going to Vibrant.

It will work fine, but AT&T will eventually notice and switch you to an "appropriate" plan.

thank you for the reply, but then what if i go for Vibrant instead of captivate? that way AT&T cant change my plan to smartphone plan right?

It depends on whether they have the Vibrant's IMEIs in their database. It's possible they don't, but it's possible they do.
But then you would have to get an unlocked Vibrant, and would you even be able to use the 200MB on the smartphone $15 plan since you'd be using EDGE (I'm assuming the Vibrant doesn't have AT&T 3G).

I'm good friends with a manager from an AT&T store, and yes, it will change, unfortunately, even if you got the Vibrant... Had to ask him pretty much the same question for a friend of mine, and they manage to see that you have a data/smart phone pretty quick.

yeah that is true, clocking 200MB on EDGE is not that probable, but that is my deciding factor. if i can get unlimited 3G on captivate (i guess AT&T no longer has an unlimited plan) then i would go for captivate else i would go for Vibrant, as vibrant is better in many aspects than captivate, especially less bloatware and more useful apps pre-loaded.

And you can get an unlocked Vibrant?

thats a shame, but then in that case Vibrant is better choice, as having a limited 3G is a pain, and that was the only reason i was going for captivate over vibrant.
and yes there are lots of unlocked vibrants on ebay from pretty reputed sellers.

xargs1 said:
It will work fine, but AT&T will eventually notice and switch you to an "appropriate" plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case they didn't. I used my at&t Tilt (Kaiser) on MEdia Net Unlimited for the last two years. I never got switched back to the smartphone data plan or got any sort of nasty note about using too much data.

I had a unlocked G1 on At&t and after configuring the APNs I had unlimited data for $15 a month. Needless to say there was no 3g but it still worked with no issues.

If you have an old unlimited data plan, its called grandfathered I think. Anyways, if you have an old smartphone plan it should just stay the same as long its the smartphone, I still had my unlimited plan when I switch from iPhone 3GS to SGS. But I don't know if you have the smartphone unlimited data plan since you mention the 15 dollars one. I would go directly to AT&T cooperate store and speak in person cuz representative on the phone are just dumb! LOL so yeah meeting in person would be good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

mlb1988 said:
If you have an old unlimited data plan, its called grandfathered I think. Anyways, if you have an old smartphone plan it should just stay the same as long its the smartphone, I still had my unlimited plan when I switch from iPhone 3GS to SGS. But I don't know if you have the smartphone unlimited data plan since you mention the 15 dollars one. I would go directly to AT&T cooperate store and speak in person cuz representative on the phone are just dumb! LOL so yeah meeting in person would be good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP doesn't have any smartphone plan to be grandfathered in.

chirantan.f said:
yeah that is true, clocking 200MB on EDGE is not that probable, but that is my deciding factor. if i can get unlimited 3G on captivate (i guess AT&T no longer has an unlimited plan) then i would go for captivate else i would go for Vibrant, as vibrant is better in many aspects than captivate, especially less bloatware and more useful apps pre-loaded.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
200 MB on EDGE is easy to do on the Captivate. I'm already past that point and I do use Wifi at home.

so from all the posts, i think getting a captivate means i have to pay for smartphone plan, even though i should have an option to cancel the data plans totally (while some forums say that i cant cancel a data plan, but i dont believe thats the case if i have bought the phone at full price and not subsidized).
Now i am interested in seeing what will AT&T do if i go for Vibrant (instead of Captivate) and use the non-smartphone data plan on it. I doubt they will know what is connected as they wont have IMEI for Vibrant (some forums said that AT&T does differentiate their smartphones based on the list of IMEIs) so with Vibrant i should be able to use non-smartphone data-plan, what do you guys think about that?

chirantan.f said:
so from all the posts, i think getting a captivate means i have to pay for smartphone plan, even though i should have an option to cancel the data plans totally (while some forums say that i cant cancel a data plan, but i dont believe thats the case if i have bought the phone at full price and not subsidized).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T requires ALL smartphones to have data plan regardless how you purchased it. Just ask any Nexus One owners.
Now i am interested in seeing what will AT&T do if i go for Vibrant (instead of Captivate) and use the non-smartphone data plan on it. I doubt they will know what is connected as they wont have IMEI for Vibrant (some forums said that AT&T does differentiate their smartphones based on the list of IMEIs) so with Vibrant i should be able to use non-smartphone data-plan, what do you guys think about that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, if I'm only getting EDGE speed, I'll not pay any data plan for it. It's like you buy a top of line PC today and put a dialup networking for internet connection.

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.

Plan dilemma

Posting this here since it's specific to the Inspire, but it applies to AT&T's smart phone policy in general. I'm looking for input from those of you who have managed to somehow get your data plans grandfathered successfully.
Here's the deal.
After some 6 years with Cingular/AT&T, four years of which were off contract while using a Kaiser (not a Tilt) and HD2 (Telstra) I upgraded last month to the Inspire. While I have no beef with the phone, I do have a problem with the data plan.
My problem is this. I'm 'Goldilocks'. I need a plan that's "juuuust right" for me, but AT&T is hammering me into one of three cubbyholes, none of which fit my needs.
I have spent over two hours on the phone over the past couple weeks with line reps and one supervisor to explain to them that for those 4 years I was on a MEdia Net unlimited plan at $20/month, never did I exceed 200MB of data. In fact, there were months when I used no data or text at all, but still paid for the plan. But my concern is that I can see exceeding 200MB/month on occasion with the new phone, therefore my point to them is that they should let me use the MEdia Net plan, or risk losing my account entirely.
So after all that time on the phone and almost two weeks of waiting for them to see what they were going to do, they 'Grandfathered' me into a $30/month unlimited data plan with no text.
Now, I don't mind paying another $5/month more than I used to, to cover myself for up to 2Gig of data, though I doubt I'd ever use that much. For my usage pattern, 2Gig is virtually unlimited to me. But I have no messaging units and I resent spending $10 for 1000 messages when I only use about 20 or so per month.
What I'd be perfectly content with is $25/month for 2Gig and 200 (or even just 50!) messages. But none of the rocket scientists there can figure out how to make it happen. Interestingly enough, Tmobile is offering $80/month with unlimited data, unlimited voice and unlimited texting.
So, here I am with these choices:
1) Take the $25/month plan and just tell my friends to not text me as much anymore.
2) Take the $30/month unlimited plan and use the crap out of it just for spite.
3) Tell AT&T to go pound salt, return the phone, revert to my MEdia Net plan and use my Kaiser until I go with Tmobile at $80 unlimited for voice/data/text and get the upcoming HTC Sensation
Hoping y'all have some advice for me.
Thanks!

Sign up for the 200mb plan. If you exceed your data, you can retroactively upgrade to the 2gig plan for $25 and not pay any overage.
And then you can lower it down to the 200mb plan for the next billing cycle.
Edit, also, with unlimited data from tmobile, you get 2gigs of full speed data, after which you are throttled until the end of the billing cycle.

I was with Cingular when it started and then AT&T when they bought 'em. I was lucky enough when my wife and I got our first iPhone 3g's we got the unlimited plan. At that time, texting was included. A few years later, while upgrading our phones...they told us that the unlimited data would stay the same, but we would have to pay for the texting...so we got the Unlimited Texting Family Plan. Its a few dollars more, but well worth it.
I say go for it!

Get the 2 gig plan for 25...its 10 bux for each gig after...So what...... i pay 5 dollars a month for 200 text messages. I can still see that offer when I hit upgrade.
Perhaps the bigger question is why do you need a smart phone since you don't want to pay for the best features. Internet, email, texting....

harlenm said:
Sign up for the 200mb plan. If you exceed your data, you can retroactively upgrade to the 2gig plan for $25 and not pay any overage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only partially correct. Here it is, straight from the AT&T website:
On the 200MB plan:
DataPlus 200MB for Smartphone includes 200MB. Once 200MB is exceeded, an additional 200MB is automatically provided at a rate of $15 for each additional 200MB provided. Unused data usage does not carry over. For HSPA+/4G SmartPhones ONLY.
On the 2G Plan:
DataPro 2GB for HSPA+/4G Smartphone includes 2GB. Once 2GB is exceeded, an additional 1GB is automatically provided at a rate of $10 for each additional 1GB provided. Unused data usage does not carry over. For HSPA+/4G SmartPhones ONLY.
So, you're right, but only as it applies to the 2Gig plan at $25/month.
tweaked said:
Perhaps the bigger question is why do you need a smart phone since you don't want to pay for the best features. Internet, email, texting....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you missed my point. I am willing pay for data. In fact, if anything, I have overpaid. My problem is that I'll probably use a bit more than the $15 plan, but not as much as the $25 plan. I wouldn't even mind it so much if they bumped me automatically to the 2G plan and charged me an extra $15 on those months where I go over the 200MB base plan. But it's the little 'scumbaggy' business of giving the modest users the shaft. Does the first byte of data over 200MB cost any more to deliver than the first byte of data over 2 Gig? Of course not. Yet they charge $15/200MB (7.5 cents/meg) for those on the base plan, and $10/GIG (ONE CENT PER MEG!!!) for those on the 2G plan. I'd really like to hear the explanation for how they justify charging nearly EIGHT TIMES the rate per meg for data overages from one plan as opposed to the other.

I work for an AT&T Authorized Reseller. IMHO take the $30 Data package if you are offered it.
As long as you can keep the Unlimited Package use the crap out of it. It really is true from what I see that the overwhelming majority (not on XDA of course) will never approach the 2GB threshold. If, however, you want to use your phone for something other than Facebook and TXTing having the Grandfatherd $30 Unlimited is SOOO worth it!
Even if you returned the phone at this point, you would be in for a hella battle with Customer Service to get your MediaNet Unlimited re-instated. In retrospect I would have purchased the phone outright without anyone touching your account. You may not have had "4G" provisioned on your phone, but thats what WiFi's are for.
Hope this helps a little ...

sraitter said:
I work for an AT&T Authorized Reseller. IMHO take the $30 Data package if you are offered it... As long as you can keep the Unlimited Package use the crap out of it...
In retrospect I would have purchased the phone outright without anyone touching your account...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, an expert authority!
Yes, the unlimited plan at $30 is an option in my 'features' section in the web account manager.
Well, here's the deal. I can still return the phone, revert to my previous plan by using my Kaiser, then next month go with Tmobile and an HTC Sensation for $80 a month for unlimted data/text/talk. And since AT&T will be buying Tmoble shortly, I'll have the benefit of the expanded network when customer accounts are migrated.
Does that make sense in your experience, or am I overthinking this?

I gotta say with your story I would return the phone and wait for the sensation. Don't get me wrong the inspire is the best phone I have ever owned and I love it but if I had the choice to revert to my captivate for a couple months and didn't have a family plan with ATT I would be gone. Tmobile has faster hspa and has way higher customer satisfaction not to mention that the sensation is gonna be the best thing out, and will probably stay that way for a while. And to top it all off this time next year your quad band sensation, that's assuming that's what tmobile is getting, you will have the benefit of two networks combined. Look at this way, no matter what you do u will be with ATT this time next year lol.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

BillTheCat said:
Ah, an expert authority!
Yes, the unlimited plan at $30 is an option in my 'features' section in the web account manager.
Well, here's the deal. I can still return the phone, revert to my previous plan by using my Kaiser, then next month go with Tmobile and an HTC Sensation for $80 a month for unlimted data/text/talk. And since AT&T will be buying Tmoble shortly, I'll have the benefit of the expanded network when customer accounts are migrated.
Does that make sense in your experience, or am I overthinking this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just noticing you live in Milford .... g'luck with TMobile there. Check with a friend who has them how decent the service is for them.
Huge fan of Tmobile and Sprints pricing ... but living the past few years in cities that are sub-metropolitan areas their service is spotty at best.
Also, going with the $30 Unlm Smartphone Data and Rooting your Inspire you will have the ability to WiFi Hotspot your android device w/o AT&T caching on (as long as you are not using it excessively). Don't use to stream Netflix on the old Laptop, but excellent for iPad or Nook use.
Hope this is helpful as this is my 10th post so I may now comment in the Dev Forms.
Happy Rooting!!!

sraitter said:
Just noticing you live in Milford .... g'luck with TMobile there. Check with a friend who has them how decent the service is for them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Point taken, but I have a 10MB cablemodem connection and wifi at home, so I'm pretty much covered in the voice/data department. Already rooted and running RCMix 5.9.x so wifi router is there, though I have to admit I haven't bothered testing it yet.
Anyway, you make sense. Utica, huh? Still got snow up there?

Sadly snowed this morning ... thought about crying.
If/when you get bored with that ROM consider the MIUI ROM. Battery life is recently meh but it so much fun... screams like an eagle and purrs like a kitten ... feels like an iPhone OS without the awful and has widgets and folders!
Enjoy!

ATT to force upgraders to tiered plan

So I went to the local AT&t warranty center to exchange a bricked captivate.
Luckily I had exchanged my captivate 3 months ago hoping the gps would be fixed, it wasnt. They give you a 90 day warranty on the exchange if 90 days is past your 1 year warranty. otherwise I would have been sol 2 months ago. He told me that even my 90 day warranty was up 2 days ago, and he still exchanged it!
but thats not why Im writing this
there was a woman waiting in line with me, bragging that she was grandfathered on the unlimited data plan. I proceded to tell her that its not truly unlimited as At&t has announced the throttling of customers who use lots of data.
One of the women working the counter said something to me that I hope is not true for you who have an unlimited data plan. She said that At&t has plans to soon implement policy which would require you to choose a new tiered data plan if you want to upgrade your phone.
Now this is an At&t employee, however there is always a chance she does not know what shes saying..

Wouldn't be surprised. After this t-mobile merger thing at&t is going haywire with its policies...
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

I think sprint did the same thing to people on sero plans iirc. I'm not really surprised.
Sent from my Captivate

Retail pricing ftw?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G via XDA Premium

I think they have been doing this already, I had to go back to At&t from Cingular. When I had the Cingular 3125 with Unlimited Data, I was told there was no grandfathered plans if I went to HTC Fuze with At&t since Cingular didn't count the 3125 as "smartphone" data plan. Unless I got the iphone 1 or something I forget.

AT&T is indeed forcing all unlimited contracts onto tiered data when they can. The best policy is to buy a phone without using the upgrade/contract extension. If you take the upgrade, it triggers a conversion to tiered data.
There is a major caveat to all of this....do you remember when they decided to force you onto a data plan just for the privilege of owning a smartphone? Well, it worked once before, so they are doing it again. This time, if you try to activate any device with an EMEI that is listed as 4G capable, you will be forced to change to a 4G plan. Since it is a 'new' contract, you are forced to accept the tiered data, as well. This means that a SGS or the unbranded SGSII is the best choice (since it is considered 3G). The AT&T version of the the SGSII (Attain) has different hardware and is a 4G device, if you can call HSPA+ 4G, which I don't.
I for one sincerely hope the T-mobile merger is nixed by the FCC and/or SEC. I'm just about ten seconds away from switching to the Tmob Walmart plan, which only charges for the data you use, and you can pre-purchase 'blocks' of data. You can bet your sweet patootie that will evaporate if NewMaBell gets ahold of Tmob. Just in case you might be thinking that AT&T is not all that bad, and are just getting a bad rap, here is a link to an article all AT&T customers need to read.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20097133-17/fcc-asks-at-t-for-more-information-on-lte-rollout/
What are we to do? Simple. Write your congressmen and senators and tell them to pass a simple bit of law. Require all cellular devices to operate equally well on all versions of LTE. Level the playing field. I cry foul on all cellular providers, who worked their way around the FCC's requirement to allow wholesale access to wireless networks by running different protocols. We need to unify the cellular spectrums and protocols, and let them differentiate themselves based service, price and coverage. Since they have spectrum and protocol niches, competition is stifled, and we are paying the price with higher costs and reduced coverage and data rates. Wanna change networks? It's gonna cost you! You have this nasty $4000, 2 year contract, supposedly justified by the cost of providing you new phones that you can only use on one network.

OwenW71 said:
AT&T is indeed forcing all unlimited contracts onto tiered data when they can. The best policy is to buy a phone without using the upgrade/contract extension. If you take the upgrade, it triggers a conversion to tiered data.
There is a major caveat to all of this....do you remember when they decided to force you onto a data plan just for the privilege of owning a smartphone? Well, it worked once before, so they are doing it again. This time, if you try to activate any device with an EMEI that is listed as 4G capable, you will be forced to change to a 4G plan. Since it is a 'new' contract, you are forced to accept the tiered data, as well. This means that a SGS or the unbranded SGSII is the best choice (since it is considered 3G). The AT&T version of the the SGSII (Attain) has different hardware and is a 4G device, if you can call HSPA+ 4G, which I don't.
I for one sincerely hope the T-mobile merger is nixed by the FCC and/or SEC. I'm just about ten seconds away from switching to the Tmob Walmart plan, which only charges for the data you use, and you can pre-purchase 'blocks' of data. You can bet your sweet patootie that will evaporate if NewMaBell gets ahold of Tmob. Just in case you might be thinking that AT&T is not all that bad, and are just getting a bad rap, here is a link to an article all AT&T customers need to read.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20097133-17/fcc-asks-at-t-for-more-information-on-lte-rollout/
What are we to do? Simple. Write your congressmen and senators and tell them to pass a simple bit of law. Require all cellular devices to operate equally well on all versions of LTE. Level the playing field. I cry foul on all cellular providers, who worked their way around the FCC's requirement to allow wholesale access to wireless networks by running different protocols. We need to unify the cellular spectrums and protocols, and let them differentiate themselves based service, price and coverage. Since they have spectrum and protocol niches, competition is stifled, and we are paying the price with higher costs and reduced coverage and data rates. Wanna change networks? It's gonna cost you! You have this nasty $4000, 2 year contract, supposedly justified by the cost of providing you new phones that you can only use on one network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on unlimited data when I got my iphone 3g. I bought a captivate at full retail a year later, and used it for almost a year. By the time my 2 year contact was up from my iphone, I decided to use my upgrade to get the infuse 4g. They let me stay grandfathered in to unlimited data, even though I had to switch to the 4g data plan.
So in other words, since I'm drunk right now, haha, if you are grandfathered in to 3g unlimited data, switching to a 4g phone still lets you keep unlimited data, unless they changed something in the last couple of months.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

I just went nine rounds with the CS manager at a local store, and there was no way I was going to be allowed to keep my unlimited data and go to a 4G phone. My situation was perhaps a little different, however. I am a former Alltel customer, and in our area, they grandfathered our $20 unlimited data from Alltel (they did revoke my free tethering) and they are doing anything they can to get that back from those of us that still have it.
I am honestly surprised that they let you go 4G without a change to tiered. Not sure how you pulled it off, since the manager I was working with showed me the plan options and unlimited 4G was not anywhere to be seen. He did say that there were people that had unlimited 4G prior to the tiered plan roll-out, but that was no longer an option for plan changes.

Unlimited plans will be going away. Deal with it.
Pay for what you use, or don't use anything at all.

You sound like you work with att.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

silver91342 said:
I think they have been doing this already, I had to go back to At&t from Cingular. When I had the Cingular 3125 with Unlimited Data, I was told there was no grandfathered plans if I went to HTC Fuze with At&t since Cingular didn't count the 3125 as "smartphone" data plan. Unless I got the iphone 1 or something I forget.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3125 is using a cheaper $20/mo unlimited plan just like iPhone1. Such $20 plan is known to be not grandfathered in. Only the $30+ plans are grandfathered in.

I can't help but think of the irony that with every new generation of phone the big selling features are how much faster it can use data and all the data consuming features, while at the same time the phone companies are trying to keep us from using data. They keep it up eventually the new generation phones will be low data consumption Razors.

bulletproof1013 said:
You sound like you work with att.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=17044408&postcount=42

That would be an easy way to get out of your contract early. If they alter your contract then you can refuse and they have to let you out of your contract without penalty.

Sure AT&T I'll upgrade... to Verizon, T-Mobile, or Sprint!!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

toy028 said:
That would be an easy way to get out of your contract early. If they alter your contract then you can refuse and they have to let you out of your contract without penalty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a great point.

unlimited data- they are going to allow you to keep it, but are using the throttling to scare you into a tierd plan. Either way, I'm keeping my unlimited.
refer to this post for directions. A friend who was also originally with Alltel, just did a transfer of responsibility, and they said he had to change plans entirely since he was leaving a family plan. He now has the unlimited data on his phone as well. Hope you guys find this helpful.
I doubt they truely revoke it, as their customer base would be non-existent.

ashies7 said:
unlimited data- they are going to allow you to keep it, but are using the throttling to scare you into a tierd plan. Either way, I'm keeping my unlimited.
refer to this post for directions. A friend who was also originally with Alltel, just did a transfer of responsibility, and they said he had to change plans entirely since he was leaving a family plan. He now has the unlimited data on his phone as well. Hope you guys find this helpful.
I doubt they truely revoke it, as their customer base would be non-existent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except that very few customers are still on that plan. And most of those are people that frequent sites like XDA. Hardly AT&T's bread and butter sadly...

Unfortunately, by the time I got a smart phone, a captivate, they didn't even offer an unlimited plan.

Eventually, I would think that data plans, in general, would become more affordable.... supply and demand, baby!!

Att unlimited data

Just a heads up for everyone who has unlimited data, a good freind of mine that works for att told me today that att is gonna get rid of everyones unlimited data within the next few months and put them on a data plan. She told me that there keeping it quiet so after they change everybodies plan itll be too late to go back to unlimited. Just a heads up for the people who havent heard about it since I havent seen anything about if myself
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Here I come T-Mobile.

Who wants to be on the unlimited throttle plan anyways. I came off that throttle crap years ago.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

they cant remove it without consent.

Tinag379 said:
they cant remove it without consent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You already gave them consent in the contract. You'd know this if you read the contract.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

toxicpaulution said:
You already gave them consent in the contract. You'd know this if you read the contract.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. KIND OF. If "THEY" decide to change your plan from the unlimited data plan they are voiding your contract. So "IF" this is the case buy as many NEW phones as you have unlimited Data plans on asap. Then when "THEY" change your contract then you are free and clear of your commitment. Read the print.
So in my case I too will be saying BYE BYE ATT and Hello TMobile. I am just waiting for the chance to leave them over bs like this over the years. I was FORCED onto a Unlimited Data Plan with my first smartphone (really a dumb phone by today's standards). The ONLY reason I have stayed with them is call quality and data has been pretty good in my area. But now T-Mobile data and call quality in my area is just as good if not better. So eventually this will be my route.
Now IF they do not do this change I will NOT be buying the S5 from them anyways with locked bootloaders. So I was gonna have to buy either international or T-Mobile S5 anyways and then possibly stay with ATT until my contract runs out for all my lines. Which is about a year or less away anyways.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

RockRatt said:
Yes. KIND OF. If "THEY" decide to change your plan from the unlimited data plan they are voiding your contract. So "IF" this is the case buy as many NEW phones as you have unlimited Data plans on asap. Then when "THEY" change your contract then you are free and clear of your commitment. Read the print.
So in my case I too will be saying BYE BYE ATT and Hello TMobile. I am just waiting for the chance to leave them over bs like this over the years. I was FORCED onto a Unlimited Data Plan with my first smartphone (really a dumb phone by today's standards). The ONLY reason I have stayed with them is call quality and data has been pretty good in my area. But now T-Mobile data and call quality in my area is just as good if not better. So eventually this will be my route.
Now IF they do not do this change I will NOT be buying the S5 from them anyways with locked bootloaders. So I was gonna have to buy either international or T-Mobile S5 anyways and then possibly stay with ATT until my contract runs out for all my lines. Which is about a year or less away anyways.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not if within the contract it says they can chagne your plan to whatever whenever they feel like it.

i just reviewed my contract. nothing in it states they can change anything at any time.

toxicpaulution said:
not if within the contract it says they can chagne your plan to whatever whenever they feel like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that was the case they would have forced us all of it years ago when the decided to start throttling you as "in the top 5% of data users". They were trying VERY HARD to get us off of unlimited data. I have been through two phones since they implemented this. With the S2 and huspa+ plan you are throttled at 3Gb, on my S3 with LTE I am throttled at 5Gb, and same on the S4. So IF they were gonna attempt something like this they would have already.
Also if they want to keep losing customers to T-Mobile then go at it. I am not sure if you have seen all the commercials, but once Tmobile makes some cool changes to their service ATT/VERIZON didn't change anything. But as T-Mobile keeps chipping away at ATT/VERIZON customer base then these two companies are starting to play catch up and make some changes. Like T-Mobile being able to upgrade when you want, now ATT and Verizon have their own crappy versions of this. T-Mobile has unlimited data so ATT/Verizon are trying to fool people with unlimited text and call and raise the download limits with some of their newer plans. But they keep refusing to just five in and make a unlimited data plan, seems like out of spite at times. Because they cannot get rid of enough grandfathered Unlimited data plan users.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

RockRatt said:
If that was the case they would have forced us all of it years ago when the decided to start throttling you as "in the top 5% of data users". They were trying VERY HARD to get us off of unlimited data. I have been through two phones since they implemented this. With the S2 and huspa+ plan you are throttled at 3Gb, on my S3 with LTE I am throttled at 5Gb, and same on the S4. So IF they were gonna attempt something like this they would have already.
Also if they want to keep losing customers to T-Mobile then go at it. I am not sure if you have seen all the commercials, but once Tmobile makes some cool changes to their service ATT/VERIZON didn't change anything. But as T-Mobile keeps chipping away at ATT/VERIZON customer base then these two companies are starting to play catch up and make some changes. Like T-Mobile being able to upgrade when you want, now ATT and Verizon have their own crappy versions of this. T-Mobile has unlimited data so ATT/Verizon are trying to fool people with unlimited text and call and raise the download limits with some of their newer plans. But they keep refusing to just five in and make a unlimited data plan, seems like out of spite at times. Because they cannot get rid of enough grandfathered Unlimited data plan users.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People abusing "unlimited" by using exceptional amounts of data tethering is the reason the true "unlimited" plans went away and will not come back to the major carriers. Sure, there are people that use a lot of data on their phone alone and there are people that tether some, but not all of the times. They are actually a small part of the overall users. A little tethering from time to time or a month of high data use due to watching the play-offs on the phone is not an issue The problem is the people that tether all of the time using their phones as their main internet connection. Mobile data was not meant for this. Basically, a few people keep finding ways to screw the system so no one else can benefit from it.
Of course, the major carriers should be providing plans at a better price and, for now, that seems to be happening because of T-Mobile's changes. However, the unlimited demise is definitely the fault of the abusers.

@scott14719 I do know what you are saying and do believe this to be the case as well.
But as technology on these phones grow so will the demand for more data. With streaming being more and more capable (and i am not just talking about netflix, youtube, and such) then the providers need to upgrade their data networks to accommodate for the future. T-Mobile seems to be doing just that as of right now. So I am happy that T-Mobile is changing things and forcing the other networks to change a bit. I hope they keep pushing the issue.
I am totally cool with paying full price for unsubsidized phones and less for better/faster data.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

I dropped my unlimited for the new 10 GB shared plan. On three phones I will get more data than I have ever used in a month, no throttling, and I save $60 per month. If 10 is not enough I will go to 15 and still save $30 every month.

I thought about "BRIEFLY" doing the same but I usually do at least 10Gb a month on my S4 already. Let alone the three other smart phones on my plan.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337

Capt said:
Here I come T-Mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Already there and I love it

Been thinking about switching. Never really use data though. Mainly I think because I have to live it and watch myself. I assume you find more use for it if it's more readily at your disposal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Id like to see them try haha
They might make it mandatory for phone upgrades, etc.. but from last time they tried to do it they can't just change you. If they wanna break my contract I'm fine with that, I've been looking at cheaper carriers anyways. Even if they put it somewhere in the contract that they can break it my papers say "unlimited data" as the name so you can get the contract broken easily if it's no longer unlimited data.
Unlimited Data/Voice for a fee is the future anyways, they should stop trying to nickle and dime us as the change gets closer.
Only time I need my unlimited is when I travel and watch lots of movies but still it's the ONLY reason I am still with them as everyone has better prices, and signal with any carrier is not a issue in socal.

I am wondering what AT&T has up their sleeve.
Could it be that they will finally get rid of voice over cellular? That would mean that the unlimited text and talk comes out of your data.

scott14719 said:
People abusing "unlimited" by using exceptional amounts of data tethering is the reason the true "unlimited" plans went away and will not come back to the major carriers. Sure, there are people that use a lot of data on their phone alone and there are people that tether some, but not all of the times. They are actually a small part of the overall users. A little tethering from time to time or a month of high data use due to watching the play-offs on the phone is not an issue The problem is the people that tether all of the time using their phones as their main internet connection. Mobile data was not meant for this. Basically, a few people keep finding ways to screw the system so no one else can benefit from it.
Of course, the major carriers should be providing plans at a better price and, for now, that seems to be happening because of T-Mobile's changes. However, the unlimited demise is definitely the fault of the abusers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not trying to start a flame war, so don't take this the wrong way. I do get where you are coming from. But if you think about it, if you pay for unlimited data, shouldn't you receive "Unlimited data"? Yes, it puts that much more stress on carriers trying to provide users with reliable data, but it also pushes them to become more efficient, and improve towers, resulting in a better user experience. It makes sense to want to cut the extra expenses from a carriers perspective. That said, It's still sad to see unlimited data go, whatever the reason.

willblake13 said:
I am not trying to start a flame war, so don't take this the wrong way. I do get where you are coming from. But if you think about it, if you pay for unlimited data, shouldn't you receive "Unlimited data"? Yes, it puts that much more stress on carriers trying to provide users with reliable data, but it also pushes them to become more efficient, and improve towers, resulting in a better user experience. It makes sense to want to cut the extra expenses from a carriers perspective. That said, It's still sad to see unlimited data go, whatever the reason.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlimited data for your phone, not for your household internet provider. There is a difference. If you use 50 gigs a month on pure phone usage...it should be ok, but if you tether and use 50 gigs for your entire house, it is not. And that is where the problem is.

I love hearing those say "I'll just switch to T-Mobile."
What's the point in having unlimited data if it only works in certain spots?
I'd recommend some hands-on coverage experimentation, and you'll realize why AT&T and Verizon get away with some of the crap that they pull.
Sent from my Hyperdriven S4