High Data Usage - Got a Phone call from AT&T

[CyberKira]

ATT is roy. the are tracking you man. i miss cingular. but i love my tmobile now.

[smirkis]

its not illegal to use a unlocked phone tho. and data is data, the iphone is a phone. call the fraud thing and say the truth. u bought an iphone at the apple store. paid for it to be unlocked but u lost ur warrenty thru apple, but your using it on the network which it works fine with. or say it aint unlocked but atleast activated. but thats for u n apple to worry about. they don't have the right to turn off your service like that. regardless to whtaever phone ur using.

[ripped53]

they prolly had u on the list .since ur on so called grandfathered plans ...! If you happen to b on one. Wat happens is they check how is this old plan working out .since its an older plan ..they r most likely loosing money so they would useually offer you to update ur plan to a more current one.but I m guessing since ur data useage was through the roof they pines it as fraud.as far as them knowing what kinda phone u have they know ...by imei number or their device warranty tool that useully tells what kinda phone one has how long since when u be been useing it.. Blah blah

They suck**
go to T mobile they r d best

Wow...that is almost exactly what they said, you must work for a cell company. AT&T is performing a clean sweep and monitoring data usage. And with me being in a very rural area my data usage stuck out like a sore thumb not to mention I had an older plan.

My grandfathered plan was for basic cell phone usage, which at the time was all that was available for the common user. Now the comparable $19 plan is limited to 5mb, which i exceed a long time ago. The charges accumulated on my accound since the 21st of Feb is now $1475.89. I think I've used roughly 850mb or something like that. The phone call from the fraud department was to allow me to purchase a new more up to date plan. So now my options are to get a PDA and Messaging plan for $85/mnth + tax($35 data + $15 messaging + $39 Monthly service) or purchase a AT&T activated iphone and pay $69/mnth + tax for an actual iphone plan. They would not allow me to just purchase a regular iphone plan and use with my existing phone, bc of the Itunes activation process. I still l have 1 year under contract from where I upgraded to a blackjack at the end 2006.

Any suggestions?

its not illegal to use a unlocked phone tho. and data is data, the iphone is a phone. they don't have the right to turn off your service like that. regardless to whtaever phone ur using.

Thats what I thought too, but obviously they considered it as stealing data services. Honestly now that I've looked into it I don't see the difference between my old $20 Media Works Package and the $20 Iphone package except 200 sms vs 1500sms, so I don't see why they chose to come after me.

[NetMage]

You should be able to use the iTunes activation process and switch your plan to an iPhone plan.

Just because your phone was unlocked it doesn't have to be unlocked on AT&T. You just need to get them to provide you an iPhone compatible SIM (they do for free) and then activate with iTunes and switch to iPhone plan.

[gavko]

that f$&@@$$&@@&$$&@@it!!! What the h€££ they care what kind of phone im using.im paying 20 bucks for unlimited data plan so wtf u care what phone im using. Thats ridiculous.i just got phone call from att yesterday too but i wasnt home so im very curious whats gonna happen. Im on pick your plan prepaid card from att with unlimited edge for 20.damn i'll be pissed if they do same thing to me...

[iceman_007]

Well I added the unlimited MediaNet plan for $15 + 200 sms $5 a couple days ago to use on my unlocked/jailbroken iPhone. What i dont understand is why it matters to at&t. If I had an iPhone plan i would be paying the same extra $20 which i am paying now for the same services. Only difference would be the 2 year extension. Also, since I didnt activate the phone through itunes it actually should save at&t some money as they would not have to pay Apple the percentage that apple charges.

Lets see how it goes, I have only used data for a couple days. I'll keep you updated if I get any "calls" from the deathstar.

[ksong12]

Awesome,thanks for keeping us updated. I plan on switching to a AT&T plan (non-iphone of course), since T-Mobile coverage is horrible at school.

[gavko]

yeah those 2 years means a lot though.thats their insurance that you'll stay with them for another 2 years for sure and they can milk you from your money.

[iceman_007]

Yeah, i figured they wanted the 2 year assurance so to speak from a new 2 year contract. I personally have already finished my contract, so i can leave anytime. But if they just let me use the plan like i have it then i wont leave. I have no reason to leave.

I think if they just let the current customers who have the non iphone plan + media net bundle then they will actually be more likely to stay with at&t rather than leave. But if the continue to hassle the people like it seems they are starting to do then it will definately make them leave and go to t-mobile or whatever. Thats just me though, others might not think that way.

[ripped53]

UPDATE

I now have a 16GB AT&T/iTunes activated iPhone....ain't that a biaaaa.... I attempted to purchase an iphone plan alone and use my existing iphone, but they have to enter a valid IMEI number for the plan to be activated. When he tried to modify my plan in the store and entered the IMEI number from my phone a big red warning came up noting that I had to activate through itunes. I was told AT&T is doing a clean sweep of data usage and comparing existing data plans. So if you have an existing PDA package you should be ok, and if you are just generally using the iphone and not on the web or downloading from installer all the time using EDGE you should be ok. But if you have and older Media package that they claim is for regular cellular phones and your always sucking up data, then you may just get a phone call.

One thing that I hate is that I can no longer use SwirlyMMS to send and receive MMS messages bc it is not supported by the iphone plan..... Oh and I had to buy another damn expensive azz iPhone......

You should be able to use the iTunes activation process and switch your plan to an iPhone plan.

Just because your phone was unlocked it doesn't have to be unlocked on AT&T. You just need to get them to provide you an iPhone compatible SIM (they do for free) and then activate with iTunes and switch to iPhone plan.

I wish I would have known that before I bought the new phone. They told me the SIM cards come already installed in the iphone, and my only choices were the PDA package or a valid iphone package, didn't know I could use my same phone...DAYUM..but I didn't press them to just give me a new SIM.

Well I added the unlimited MediaNet plan for $15 + 200 sms $5 a couple days ago to use on my unlocked/jailbroken iPhone. What i dont understand is why it matters to at&t. If I had an iPhone plan i would be paying the same extra $20 which i am paying now for the same services. Only difference would be the 2 year extension. Also, since I didnt activate the phone through itunes it actually should save at&t some money as they would not have to pay Apple the percentage that apple charges.

Lets see how it goes, I have only used data for a couple days. I'll keep you updated if I get any "calls" from the deathstar.

Thats ultimately what I had with my MediaWorks package. I'd question if unlimited is truly unlimited. If you still have a regular cell phone listed against your account..razr, krzr, sony...etc you should be fine. I had a blackjack PDA on mine so that was another warning flag to them. At least you can still send MMS messages with that package.

[escobar92113]

ok, so let me get this straight. my wife is getting an iphone. she has an older cingular plan. if i ulock it and use the same sim card will i too have this problem?

oh and another ? if i unlock the phone to use with her existing plan will she have internet and email access? thanks

[iceman_007]

If you just use the cingular card for normal calling and sms then you will be fine. If you intend to use wifi internet only then again its fine. But if you want to use edge internet, then you are going to have to sign up for one of their media plans (if you dont have that already).

This is where the problem might arise. If you start the unlimited medianet plan now then you will be able to use the edge internet. If her edge usage is very very high or you are in an area where her edge usage might stick out like some of the other people on this thread then there might be problems. Then you might get the dreaded "call" from at&t.

Personally, I have added unlimited medianet edge on my old cingular plan and i use it carefully so to speak. I use it whenever i need it, i just dont try to watch videos and stuff. So far so good.

[escobar92113]

ok thanks, i dont think it would be a problem with the internet as much as email. she plans to link her work email to her phone. in this case i prefer she gets the legit plan and charge the extra 20.00 to her employer

[ripped53]

Seem lik AT&T is peforming a clean sweep regarding usage of the iphone. I saw a threat detailing how AT&T is no longer allowing MMS messages to go through using Swirly MMS.

This really does suck that they are restricting usage of such a wonderful phone. I'm just curious as to how many others have or are going to get the dreaded PHONE CALL.

I think they are monitoring data usage and comparing it to the data plan you have in place. As long as the two match up you should be ok.

[seanobx]

you americans are sooooo lucky canada has horrible cell phone plans because we got no competition here the only GSM network is Fido and Rogers and Rogers owns Fido data plants to get like 25mb a month is over $60 and thats just the data plan you still need to get text messages,voicemail, calling , long distance ect ect on the dam phone too so your looking at easily over $100 and still a shitty data plan I hate this **** how is this even legal to do this when across the border you guys got data plants like that this is just wrong!

yea but one thing u canucks have we dont is LOW COST medications. the pharma companied down here gouge the hell outta us