[Q] AT&T $50 Prepaid Unlimited - Smartphone Data Working Included??

johnsoto85 · Jun 30, 2011

Ok, so I found a bit of information about this data plan working with the Samsung Galaxy S II reaching HSPA+ speeds, however I would like to know if it is possible to get the data from this plan working on any other SMART PHONES.

A few things I am interested in is...

1. Has anyone got the data working on any other smartphone? What kind?

2. Does changing the APN settings work?

3. Do you have to initially register a basic phone?

4. Is it possible to modify the IMEI of a smart phone to represent a basic phone so that the data may work.

5. Does anyone have any good ideas to get this working?

If so we can all have Unlimited Talk, Text, and Web on a smart phone for $50.00 plus normal sales tax.

If anyone has or is capable of getting this working on any (or all) smart phones, then it would be mutually beneficial to everyone

JKDEM85 · Jul 19, 2011

I have the plan running on my Galaxy S II, it was kind of tough to get going, and until I turned on airplan mode and then turned it off again, was I able to connect to 3g and H+ instead of just edge. The AT&T store employees also had a hell of a time, getting it to work at first. I did pop the SIM into an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S, and it worked after I went too settings, wireless networks, and then selected GSM only. The only APN available is Cingular 410, which is the wap.cingular. I am getting full 4g service on both devices, so I'm happy.

Note the AT&T stores dont always have the $50 pre-paid sim card in the store because I believe you can only do this on "International phones" according to the guy who helped me (whatever that means, I'm sure they are wrong.) I did explain how the Galaxy S II was unlocked and that I had bought it in Europe, but they still didn't have the actual $50 dollar sim card, so instead they gave me a regular 4g sim card ($25 charge) and then used two $25 pre-paid data plan cards (actual cards like iTune gift cards.) As I said above, they had some issues getting the $50 dollar plan to work, but it eventually did using this method. If anyone is in NJ the store I used was in the Paramus Mall.

Hope this was decent first post.

Viper89 · Jul 19, 2011

$50 prepaid simcards lol I would never pay that much for a prepaid sim card ever. I bought both my phones: previous Rokr E6 and the current X1i and simcards from myworldphone.com. For the E6 my $15 T-mobile simcard cost me about $15 with credit and my At@t prepaid one cost me $8.50 non active. Now for the non active simcard I had active it and then put money on it(depending on the plan I wanted) but it beats paying $50 for simcard when you can buy one for $8.50 and then switch to the $50 unlimited plan. Now looking at the rate plan options it says: " 1Monthly Unlimited Talk, Text & Web plan requires an eligible device. Smartphone users must purchase a data package to use Data on this plan. Pay per use data is not available on Smartphones." I'm not sure what exactly eligible device really means but when I first bought my phone I had the option to switch to the unlimited plan, something funny I noticed was it says smartphone cannot use pay per use data, well it's available to me

. I only use wifi for my internet because I use my laptop for browsing the internet and really only use the internet on my phone for updating Touch Weather but if I need to I can use the pay per use data which I rarely only do for MMS. I don't know if it's the type of prepaid simcard(National prepaid simcard) I'm using that allows me to get through this loop hole or not but if it is I'm not complaining

. Just my .2cents

caffeinated chris · Jul 19, 2011

JKDEM85 said:
I have the plan running on my Galaxy S II, it was kind of tough to get going, and until I turned on airplan mode and then turned it off again, was I able to connect to 3g and H+ instead of just edge. The AT&T store employees also had a hell of a time, getting it to work at first. I did pop the SIM into an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S, and it worked after I went too settings, wireless networks, and then selected GSM only. The only APN available is Cingular 410, which is the wap.cingular. I am getting full 4g service on both devices, so I'm happy.

Note the AT&T stores dont always have the $50 pre-paid sim card in the store because I believe you can only do this on "International phones" according to the guy who helped me (whatever that means, I'm sure they are wrong.) I did explain how the Galaxy S II was unlocked and that I had bought it in Europe, but they still didn't have the actual $50 dollar sim card, so instead they gave me a regular 4g sim card ($25 charge) and then used two $25 pre-paid data plan cards (actual cards like iTune gift cards.) As I said above, they had some issues getting the $50 dollar plan to work, but it eventually did using this method. If anyone is in NJ the store I used was in the Paramus Mall.

ok a few things. First to answer OP's question is yes, it is possible with any unlocked phone. problem is that AT&T has certain IMEI numbers that are recognized as smart phone IMEI's. Like my friend had an HD2 that he brought to AT&T and they recognized it and immediately changed his data plan to a smartphone data plan. Although there are other people with smartphones who have the AT&T system tricked because the system doesnt know what their IMEI number is for.

So yes, it is possible. And yes, as for the NON-Smartphone $50 unlimited talk, txt, and data plan, yes it does exist. AT&T just started it recently and no its not for just international. Its directed towards NON-Smartphones. But again, if they cant recognize your smartphone IMEI, then they wont know.

As for the $50 sim card, no there's no such thing as a $50 sim card and no, its not "just for international phones" haha. Sim cards are $5.95 and if a store tells you anything higher, then call AT&T sales. Because they are ALWAYS $5.95 over the phone.

BOOM! glad to help haha

Viper89 · Jul 20, 2011

caffeinated chris said:
ok a few things. First to answer OP's question is yes, it is possible with any unlocked phone. problem is that AT&T has certain IMEI numbers that are recognized as smart phone IMEI's. Like my friend had an HD2 that he brought to AT&T and they recognized it and immediately changed his data plan to a smartphone data plan. Although there are other people with smartphones who have the AT&T system tricked because the system doesnt know what their IMEI number is for.

So yes, it is possible. And yes, as for the NON-Smartphone $50 unlimited talk, txt, and data plan, yes it does exist. AT&T just started it recently and no its not for just international. Its directed towards NON-Smartphones. But again, if they cant recognize your smartphone IMEI, then they wont know.

As for the $50 sim card, no there's no such thing as a $50 sim card and no, its not "just for international phones" haha. Sim cards are $5.95 and if a store tells you anything higher, then call AT&T sales. Because they are ALWAYS $5.95 over the phone.

BOOM! glad to help haha

Thanks for clearing some things up, so it's the IMEI number that determines if they can tell if it's a smartphone or not. I probably got lucky with buying the international version of the X1

.

caffeinated chris · Jul 20, 2011

Viper89 said:
Thanks for clearing some things up, so it's the IMEI number that determines if they can tell if it's a smartphone or not. I probably got lucky with buying the international version of the X1 .

exactly. As far as I know, that is how they determine which phone you have is thru your IMEI.

So to answer OP's question, yes, you probably want to initially set it up with a NON smartphone IMEI and then switch the sim card to your SGSII.

OR get lucky and give them the IMEI and they dont recognize it and just assume it is a non smartphone. (So if you are setting this up over the phone and they ask you what type of phone it is, its some basic flip phone. DO NOT tell them its a smartphone. Or you will have ruined that idea haha)

PS. there is a possibility that later on they will recognize your IMEI and will notify you (usually by a text msg) telling you that they are switching your plan to a smartphone plan. If they have done this, then they probably finally found out that the IMEI you're using is actually a smartphone. And that sucks haha.

Its also possible they wont ever know. chances are they will once they get the list of IMEI's and what phones they actually are for. I dont know how often they update their list of IMEI's so no telling how long you'll get away with it. some people have successfully done so for months or years. so we will see

good luck!!

Viper89 · Jul 20, 2011

PS. there is a possibility that later on they will recognize your IMEI and will notify you (usually by a text msg) telling you that they are switching your plan to a smartphone plan. If they have done this, then they probably finally found out that the IMEI you're using is actually a smartphone. And that sucks haha.

Its also possible they wont ever know. chances are they will once they get the list of IMEI's and what phones they actually are for. I dont know how often they update their list of IMEI's so no telling how long you'll get away with it. some people have successfully done so for months or years. so we will see

good luck!!

[/QUOTE]

I've had my phone for 1 year and 9 months now if they were going to do something they would have already, and Sony also stopped making the X1i awhile ago so as for as my IMEI being recognized I'm not worried at all about it

.

caffeinated chris · Jul 20, 2011

I've had my phone for 1 year and 9 months now if they were going to do something they would have already, and Sony also stopped making the X1i awhile ago so as for as my IMEI being recognized I'm not worried at all about it .

NICE. haha yea like I said, some phones they might eventually find out, and some they wont. You happen to be one of the ones they probably wont find. Enjoy that haha

illatwill · Jul 26, 2011

Almost 100% sure that plan does not include Smartphone data.

As well it shouldn't; I do not understand why carriers cater more to their prepaid customers by offering such low rate plans while proceeding to charge customers who sign contracts by charging them a steeper price for the same plan.

caffeinated chris · Jul 26, 2011

illatwill said:
Almost 100% sure that plan does not include Smartphone data.

As well it shouldn't; I do not understand why carriers cater more to their prepaid customers by offering such low rate plans while proceeding to charge customers who sign contracts by charging them a steeper price for the same plan.

Yes, you are right, this plan is not a smartphone data plan. Thats why we are talking about ways on how to get it on your smartphone haha.

And secondly, no contract phone plans are cheaper because you have to lay down money flat out to buy a phone. Contracts are made to give you that $700 phone for $100-$199. By you being in that contract it guarantee's they are going to get their money for that phone.

Emission · Nov 8, 2011

caffeinated chris said:
ok a few things. First to answer OP's question is yes, it is possible with any unlocked phone. problem is that AT&T has certain IMEI numbers that are recognized as smart phone IMEI's. Like my friend had an HD2 that he brought to AT&T and they recognized it and immediately changed his data plan to a smartphone data plan. Although there are other people with smartphones who have the AT&T system tricked because the system doesnt know what their IMEI number is for.

So yes, it is possible. And yes, as for the NON-Smartphone $50 unlimited talk, txt, and data plan, yes it does exist. AT&T just started it recently and no its not for just international. Its directed towards NON-Smartphones. But again, if they cant recognize your smartphone IMEI, then they wont know.

As for the $50 sim card, no there's no such thing as a $50 sim card and no, its not "just for international phones" haha. Sim cards are $5.95 and if a store tells you anything higher, then call AT&T sales. Because they are ALWAYS $5.95 over the phone.

BOOM! glad to help haha

Don't mean to grave-dig the post but when I went to an AT&T store for new SIM cards (activated one through a go-phone and didn't know that it locked the SIM to the phone), I wasn't charged anything for them, the store rep gave them to me for free.

That aside, I've been toying with this concept myself. I've been looking everywhere for good candidates for a smartphone that ATT doesn't sell and that is compatible with their HSPA network.

I have a couple unlocked T-Mobile phones that the data works on, but only at EDGE speeds because they don't have the proper frequencies to support ATT 3/3.5/4G.

Does anyone have any new suggestions?

EDIT: So far I've found that the HTC Wildfire S A510a, and the HTC Sensation Z710a are both compatible with ATT's HSDPA 850 and GSM 850 bands and may be good candidates. I already have a T-Mobile HTC Sensation Z710e and really don't want to buy another phone that's practically the same

.

DorkyDev · Nov 25, 2011

I'm digging this up because I need answers before jumping ship.

Does AT&T still make smartphone users pay extra for data? I'm thinking of moving from Boost mobile to AT&T with an LG Fathom...

Either AT&T or metroPCS, if AT&T does still charge smartphone users for data then most likely it'll be over to metroPCS I go then.

TomTheGeek3 · Nov 25, 2011

n1nj4Lo said:
I'm digging this up because I need answers before jumping ship.

Does AT&T still make smartphone users pay extra for data? I'm thinking of moving from Boost mobile to AT&T with an LG Fathom...

Either AT&T or metroPCS, if AT&T does still charge smartphone users for data then most likely it'll be over to metroPCS I go then.

Like with a plan? Yes.

DorkyDev · Nov 25, 2011

TomTheGeek3 said:
Like with a plan? Yes.

Well what I meant was are Smartphones still supposedly uneligilble for the prepaid 50 a month unlimited plan, do they still have to pay extra for data?

If yes, how much extra?

synaesthetic · Nov 25, 2011

n1nj4Lo said:
Well what I meant was are Smartphones still supposedly uneligilble for the prepaid 50 a month unlimited plan, do they still have to pay extra for data?

If yes, how much extra?

Yes, they have to pay extra. Not all smartphones will be in their database, so if you have a European phone with the appropriate HSPA bands it could potentially trick the system into believing you have a featurephone.

As for how much extra, it's something ridiculous like 30 bucks or so.

DorkyDev · Nov 25, 2011

synaesthetic said:
Yes, they have to pay extra. Not all smartphones will be in their database, so if you have a European phone with the appropriate HSPA bands it could potentially trick the system into believing you have a featurephone.

As for how much extra, it's something ridiculous like 30 bucks or so.

Mines a Verizon LG Fathom...

Is T-Mobile just as ridiculous too? I saw they have a prepaid 50 a month unlimited plan... What jerked me back away from that was 100Mb unthrottled then every bit over that is "managed" unless ya pay for the highspeed unlimited 4g data.

Stonent · Nov 25, 2011

How do you expect a non-gsm phone to work on a gsm network?

DorkyDev · Nov 25, 2011

Stonent said:
How do you expect a non-gsm phone to work on a gsm network?

Just because it came from a cdma carrier doesn't mean it's a non-gsm phone... It's a world phone, meaning both cdma and gsm.

DorkyDev · Nov 25, 2011

Called up t-mobile and it sounds like they'd be my (our) best bet, they don't charge ya anything additional if it's a smartphone for data... So it really is flat-out 50 bucks unlimited everything, no limitations, no specification handsets required or anything.

eskay89 · Apr 21, 2012

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but has anyone tried this recently?

Will probably give this a go in a couple of months using the HTC Sensation z710a.

Pretty harsh not getting any "smartphone data" included on a $50 plan. Would be heading straight to T-mobile if my z710a was AWS compatible.

[Q] AT&T $50 Prepaid Unlimited - Smartphone Data Working Included??

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