Database Users

Avoiding an AT&T Data Plan

I was happily using my Nexus One on AT&T without a data plan (and with data blocked) since it was released, but I made the mistake of giving AT&T the IMEI number of my Nexus today. Now they tell me that I am required to get a $30 data plan because it is a "PDA", despite the fact that it cannot use 3G on AT&T's network.
Does anyone know of a way to ditch the data plan? Is it possible that I could give AT&T the IMEI of an old phone, then switch my SIM to the Nexus?

as a user who uses the nexus one on att, heating something like this is
infuriating.how is it their business to make you buy a data plan? I can understand if they subsidized the phone but obviously in this case it was not. thanks for the heads up. i would never disclose this kind of information to att unless I absolutely had to do so.

use this as a way to break your contract and come to tmobile and enjoy the way a real provider is sposed to treat you... pretty much if you have ATT and dont have an iphone, they dont care about you

Postal76 said:
I was happily using my Nexus One on AT&T without a data plan (and with data blocked) since it was released, but I made the mistake of giving AT&T the IMEI number of my Nexus today. Now they tell me that I am required to get a $30 data plan because it is a "PDA", despite the fact that it cannot use 3G on AT&T's network.
Does anyone know of a way to ditch the data plan? Is it possible that I could give AT&T the IMEI of an old phone, then switch my SIM to the Nexus?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am kinda surprised they are doing this... Then again, times are "tough"...
I would ask them where in the contract you signed it says you have to have a data plan? Let them know that if they start charging you for a service you didn't sign up for or agree to, they will be hearing from an attorney.

When AT&T began mandating the smartphone dataplans (September?) people that already had a smartphone on their account without a smartphone data plan were given a feature called "smartphone exclusion". If you had this and they took it off when you gave them the nexus one imei, you may be able to call customer service and get them to put it back on. That's the only way I can think of. They're implementing a system which automatically adds a smartphone data plan onto your account when you put your sim card into a smartphone and it reports a recognized smartphone imei to AT&T unless you have the smartphone exclusion feature.
http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1618214

maxh said:
When AT&T began mandating the smartphone dataplans (September?) people that already had a smartphone on their account without a smartphone data plan were given a feature called "smartphone exclusion". If you had this and they took it off when you gave them the nexus one imei, you may be able to call customer service and get them to put it back on. That's the only way I can think of. They're implementing a system which automatically adds a smartphone data plan onto your account when you put your sim card into a smartphone and it reports a recognized smartphone imei to AT&T unless you have the smartphone exclusion feature.
http://howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1618214
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting. This make sense, since AT&T should be able to find out what kind of phone you're using even if you don't give them your IMEI. I suppose I might have had a "smartphone exclusion" put on my account back when I was using a myTouch 3G on AT&T without a data plan.
However, I doubt AT&T is going to work with me on this, given the extremely unsatisfactory customer service I received today after speaking to 3 representatives.

What happens when your using just a normal phone with att, and your buddy has a nexus one. and so you go over to his house and put your sim on it just to see how it works, cause your interested in it and all. so you borrow it for a day to test it out. and att starts charging you for data? Sounds bull**** to me that they can do that if your not using 3g data service... period

I've had these issues with ATT as well. In September they "discovered" my Touch HD on their network and zapped it from working. I was on the "pay as you go" plan. I switched the SIM to my old HTC Trinity and my service was useable again. Since the Trinity was one of the first full featured phones, they must not have had it in their "kill" database.
I dumped ATT like a hot rock, then went to T-mobile and I've never looked back. ATT has nothing over T-mobile.

Matterhorn said:
I've had these issues with ATT as well. In September they "discovered" my Touch HD on their network and zapped it from working. I was on the "pay as you go" plan. I switched the SIM to my old HTC Trinity and my service was useable again. Since the Trinity was one of the first full featured phones, they must not have had it in their "kill" database.
I dumped ATT like a hot rock, then went to T-mobile and I've never looked back. ATT has nothing over T-mobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, I'd love to do the same. But A&T is much cheaper for me (it would be $120 for a 2 line family plan with data vs. $155 on T-Mobile) even when I don't include my AT&T premier discount. I was pretty sad to learn that T-Mobile's pricing isn't very competitive, at least when it comes to Nexus One plans.

i've had the N1 on ATT for about a month now and i don't have data plan and never signed up for one; i am near wifi 80-90% of the time and don't need the data plan; never got any texts from them forcing me to get data;
btw, i am on a family plan

jblazea50 said:
i've had the N1 on ATT for about a month now and i don't have data plan and never signed up for one; i am near wifi 80-90% of the time and don't need the data plan; never got any texts from them forcing me to get data;
btw, i am on a family plan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Supposedly they are turning on their new system for automatically adding data plans market by market. Some people's areas don't have it yet, but I know for a fact they're doing it in Austin, TX because I got hit by it. I had 2 lines with smartphones and put my SIM card into a dumbphone for a few minutes then back into my smartphone. That triggered it, but I have the "smartphone exclusion" on my main line (which happens to be the phone I did the SIM switch in) so only the other line got a $30 data plan added. I ported that line out within a couple of days.

maxh said:
Supposedly they are turning on their new system for automatically adding data plans market by market. Some people's areas don't have it yet, but I know for a fact they're doing it in Austin, TX because I got hit by it. I had 2 lines with smartphones and put my SIM card into a dumbphone for a few minutes then back into my smartphone. That triggered it, but I have the "smartphone exclusion" on my main line (which happens to be the phone I did the SIM switch in) so only the other line got a $30 data plan added. I ported that line out within a couple of days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how do you add smartphone exclusion to your phone

It's really simple to ditch the data plans on ATT...
I have a total of 6 phones with ATT. 4 ATT PDAs, 1 ATT non-PDA and mine - which is usually UNLOCKED/UNBRANDED WinMo phone.
I wait a few months after buying any ATT branded phone and call them to let them know I've switched phones. They ask for the IMEI. I run my trusted IMEI Generator (Google it) and start spewing phoney IMEIs to them. When they don't show in their systems as an ATT phone, I can then change all their $30 unlim PDA unlim data plans to the $10 unlim data plan version.
Of course, every rep I every spoke to swears there's a difference between the $30 vs the $10 plan...but WE know better. They work exactly the same!
Come on ATT!!!
My way of stickin it to the MAN!!!

technillion said:
They ask for the IMEI. I run my trusted IMEI Generator (Google it) and start spewing phoney IMEIs to them. When they don't show in their systems as an ATT phone, I can then change all their $30 unlim PDA unlim data plans to the $10 unlim data plan version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But won't AT&T recognize your phone as a PDA if you ever actually use it? For instance, you couldn't do the same thing with an iPhone -- if you give them a bogus IMEI then put your SIM in an iPhone, AT&T will find out and they will force you into a data plan.

In some areas of the country they've implemented the system for automatically detecting when you're using a smartphone and adding the data plan. It seems that not all areas are doing it yet, but I have no doubt they eventually will. My area already does it.
jblazea50 said:
how do you add smartphone exclusion to your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was added automatically to people's accounts back when they first started requiring data plans. If you had a smartphone but no smartphone data they simply put that exclusion feature on your account. I've heard of people that had it removed from their account calling in and arguing until they put it back on, but if you never had it on your account, you're probably out of luck. It's worth a try, though. Maybe if you get a nice rep and use the term "smartphone exclusion feature" they'll give it to you.

maxh said:
In some areas of the country they've implemented the system for automatically detecting when you're using a smartphone and adding the data plan. It seems that not all areas are doing it yet, but I have no doubt they eventually will. My area already does it.
It was added automatically to people's accounts back when they first started requiring data plans. If you had a smartphone but no smartphone data they simply put that exclusion feature on your account. I've heard of people that had it removed from their account calling in and arguing until they put it back on, but if you never had it on your account, you're probably out of luck. It's worth a try, though. Maybe if you get a nice rep and use the term "smartphone exclusion feature" they'll give it to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had the blackberry curve 8310 with ATT without data plan as i paid the 2 year upgrade price (no rebates, that required the $30 data plan) so would that mean that i have the exclusion feature?

How come you have to *tell* them your IMEI for them to figure this out? Surely they can see exactly what the IMEI of your phone is the minute it connects to their network?
In other news, I hear that Comcast are going to charge more for your internet connection if you have an XBOX connected to it. Their rationale is that with Netflix support and XBOX Live capability, you're capable of using more of their bandwidth.
OK, I'm (obviously) kidding on that last point. But that's effectively what AT&T are doing here.

Postal76 said:
Trust me, I'd love to do the same. But A&T is much cheaper for me (it would be $120 for a 2 line family plan with data vs. $155 on T-Mobile) even when I don't include my AT&T premier discount. I was pretty sad to learn that T-Mobile's pricing isn't very competitive, at least when it comes to Nexus One plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is that possible? I'm on Even More Plus with my N1, my Dad's G1, and my Bro's G1 and we're paying $145 a month for 1500 mins + unlimited web (no need for text plan since we all use Google Voice), and we aren't bound to 2-year terms. @[email protected]

jblazea50 said:
i had the blackberry curve 8310 with ATT without data plan as i paid the 2 year upgrade price (no rebates, that required the $30 data plan) so would that mean that i have the exclusion feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's probably a good chance you do have it. Supposedly you can find it listed somewhere on OLAM, but I don't know where people are looking.

Postal76 said:
Trust me, I'd love to do the same. But A&T is much cheaper for me (it would be $120 for a 2 line family plan with data vs. $155 on T-Mobile) even when I don't include my AT&T premier discount. I was pretty sad to learn that T-Mobile's pricing isn't very competitive, at least when it comes to Nexus One plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a discount easily with T-Mobile there are tons of discounts. My 20% discount with T-Mobile right now is because I'm in college. My previous one was for working at Wal-Mart 5 years ago [lol they never took it off].
I work for AT&T and I have T-Mobile and I don't plan on switching. Even though AT&T would give me my 20% discount it would still cost more. You can get on T-Mobile without a contract. T-Mobile is the cheapest cell company and they're advertising that a lot right now. The prices for non contract services are great. I can't wait till mine expires because I'll be saving even more money. The Non-contract services aren't "pay as you go" either, they're just monthly usage plans as normal but you're not under contract. The only reason why prices are so high is because you're paying for the phone in your monthly bill.
I love working for AT&T [best company I've ever worked for] but I don't agree with a lot of our ways of doing things. Like how we're the only ones raising prices right now in this economy. There are multiple things I disagree with but it's all business
Oh and the "if you don't have an iPhone they don't care" statement is kind of ridiculous. Sounds a little biased and senseless.

4G Plan Email from AT&T

Any one get this email?
When I got my Atrix from AT&T in the mail it did come with a new SIM card, but it wouldn't activate, so I just used my old one from my iPhone 3GS days and then used it for a whole year in my Nexus One without issues.
A. I didn't think you needed a different SIM to get [fake] 4G service.
B. What plan are they talking about...I thought I could continue to use my iPhone UNLIMITED plan.
I smell BS. Thoughts? Should I go into the local store and see what this is all about??
Dear *****,
We hope you are enjoying your 4G Smartphone!
We value your business and want to ensure you're set up with the right data plan for your Smartphone. If you have recently swapped a SIM card from your 3G handset into your 4G Smartphone, your data service may not work properly. Please call us at 1-800-331-0500 (or 611 from your wireless phone) and our team can help you establish service with an AT&T 4G Data Plan.
Our team is ready to help you activate data service with the right plan. We look forward to your call.
Thank you for being an AT&T customer.
Sincerely,
AT&T

You don't need a 4g sim, the 3g is the same thing. Now they do have an unlimited 4g plan if you were on another 3g unlimited plan. I had to go to a corporate store to switch it over, I tried online but it errored out. This obviously didn't give me any faster speeds but I might as well have it.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

You will be able to continue your grandfathered unlimited plan. But the iphone has a different plan in regards of voicemail etc.
It's no BS. Just make sure they catch it that u have the unlimited data already, which they have to activate.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

spielnicht said:
Any one get this email?
When I got my Atrix from AT&T in the mail it did come with a new SIM card, but it wouldn't activate, so I just used my old one from my iPhone 3GS days and then used it for a whole year in my Nexus One without issues.
A. I didn't think you needed a different SIM to get [fake] 4G service.
B. What plan are they talking about...I thought I could continue to use my iPhone UNLIMITED plan.
I smell BS. Thoughts? Should I go into the local store and see what this is all about??
Dear *****,
We hope you are enjoying your 4G Smartphone!
We value your business and want to ensure you're set up with the right data plan for your Smartphone. If you have recently swapped a SIM card from your 3G handset into your 4G Smartphone, your data service may not work properly. Please call us at 1-800-331-0500 (or 611 from your wireless phone) and our team can help you establish service with an AT&T 4G Data Plan.
Our team is ready to help you activate data service with the right plan. We look forward to your call.
Thank you for being an AT&T customer.
Sincerely,
AT&T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No bs you can get the unlimited 4g plan nothings gonna change in terms of speed but your phone will be ready for when they turn it on
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App

No more unlimited
They want you to sign up for a capped plan. I want to know how they can tell. I would happily accept 3G data plan performance. I am just occasionally using the phone with SIM for testing, so I really don't want that...
Maybe the default APN is different for 4G phones from ATT. I wish I had an old Android that I could check settings from.
I see AT&T US and AT&T HSDPA as options. I am think of switching it to AT&T US, I think this might put us in "stealth" so to speak.

Like you, I swapped my sim rom an older 3g phone, namely the vibrant unlocked, to the attic and my data didn't work at all. What's worse is that when I go to the at&t store, they told me that they could put data back on it but it wouldn't be unlimited ( I grandfathered in ) . I told them that I don need their *fake* 4G . I just need my regular good o' 3g . What I had to do was file a request to them and waited about a week before someone called and finally gave me the unlimited plan that was promised in my contract. Quite an experienc eh?

I still have my old Cingular SIM card, and it works fine for me.

A 4G sim is not needed for the Atrix. It is for when they have LTE later this year. Do not let the reps lie to you about anything. The HSDPA+ that the Atrix uses is just a better 3G, that's all.

Clienterror said:
You don't need a 4g sim, the 3g is the same thing. Now they do have an unlimited 4g plan if you were on another 3g unlimited plan. I had to go to a corporate store to switch it over, I tried online but it errored out. This obviously didn't give me any faster speeds but I might as well have it.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you *do* have to use a newer 4G SIM. Either way the phone usually comes with one.
If you need one you can literally walk into any AT&T store and get one for free in like 2 minutes without a hassle.

hotleadsingerguy said:
I think you *do* have to use a newer 4G SIM. Either way the phone usually comes with one.
If you need one you can literally walk into any AT&T store and get one for free in like 2 minutes without a hassle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The new sim cards they are giving out are just 3G sim cards with a 4G printed on it. Trust me, that's the only difference.

They just need your new IMEI
Turns out that there is nothing sneaky going on at all. I bought the phone without them knowing about it, so their system doesn't have my new IMEI number recorded. I'm in an area with HSPA+, so I guess they see that there is an unknown IMEI on there logged in with my SIM, so they texted/email me. In any case, I called them up and they just asked for the IMEI and updated my plan to work with it. I had an iPhone 3G w/Unlimited before, and I still do now. The customer service rep was really nice and just figured out how to get me the exact same features (unlimited, messaging, etc) without me even asking.

Calling all att sgs2 users!

Does anyone have an ATT Sim card in this beast yet?
If so, did you need to enter any settings? like APN settings? or did you put the sim in and it picked up the signal right after that..
thanks for the help in advance.

All i did was put my ATT sim in and it worked fine.

Pulled my SIM from my Inspire 4G, put it in the SGS II and away I went!
Sent from my SGS II GT-I9100 on ATT using XDA Premium App

Sweet thanks guys.
I'm going into the ATT store in a short bit, hopefully they will just add a line to my account and give me a Sim for that line i want added.
Do you think they will ask me 20 questions? like ask me WHAT type of phone i want that line added for?

misticjeff said:
Pulled my SIM from my Inspire 4G, put it in the SGS II and away I went!
Sent from my SGS II GT-I9100 on ATT using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you guys i called ATT and spoke with them about this they said i would need to bring my SGS2 into the store to show them the phone so they can get the IMEI number off it before activating it.. is this true?
I thought some people were able to put Medianet on this thing...
I have no idea what to do now... I mean.. HOW can I get a sim from these people without them knowing what type of phone I have.. I don't want them talking me into the 25G limited data plan... I just want them to give me a phone line and let me add the features from the website later...
=/

Never ever give ATnT your imei from international phone , you give them some dumphone to make them shut up , and be done with it. Why would you even tell them you getting Galaxy 2 whats wrong with you.

i agree, don't bring in your SGS2 phone in. Give them some BS. Don't ruin it for the rest of us & good luck.

Yep, you must know someone or have an old dumbphone that you can borrow for this purpose if you must go into the store.

This is how I switched to the $10 unlimited MediaNet plan. I called in & gave my IMEI # & told him I have an old Razr phone. Told them I wanted to get the unlimited MediaNet plan. Sadly, they warned me since I had a grandfathered Smartphone plan, I would lose it & will never be able to get it back. I told them yes go ahead & cancel my old smartphone plan.
Thank you to all that suggest this idea by getting an International phone. I will save a boatload of $ that I can use towards accessories!

Mine well be here Monday I can't wait and I got all kinds of tricks for att. Tell me this are the speeds up there with or better than the other att android phones

RMXO said:
This is how I switched to the $10 unlimited MediaNet plan. I called in & gave my IMEI # & told him I have an old Razr phone. Told them I wanted to get the unlimited MediaNet plan. Sadly, they warned me since I had a grandfathered Smartphone plan, I would lose it & will never be able to get it back. I told them yes go ahead & cancel my old smartphone plan.
Thank you to all that suggest this idea by getting an International phone. I will save a boatload of $ that I can use towards accessories!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So should we give the actual IMEI# from our GS2 or should we give the IMEI# from a dumbphone but then put the SIM card into our GS2?
I thought the former and not the latter... but there seems to some disagreement here.
Doesn't the IMEI# you give to AT&T have to match the phone you end up using?

bendispo said:
So should we give the actual IMEI# from our GS2 or should we give the IMEI# from a dumbphone but then put the SIM card into our GS2?
I thought the former and not the latter... but there seems to some disagreement here.
Doesn't the IMEI# you give to AT&T have to match the phone you end up using?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You tell ATT that you want to register a new phone & get rid of your old phone. Tell them you have a Razr & then give them the IMEI (your SGS2), so yes to your question about giving the IMEI of your SGS2. Ask for the unlimited MediaNet plan for $10.
I made the call using my SGS2 the whole time. You could put the SIM in the SGS2 & make the call as I did.

My corporate AT&T rep knows I'm establishing service for my SGS2 and he put me on the Medianet plan and overnighted me a SIM. He said to call him with the IMEI so he can add it to make sure I have no future probems. The i9100 isn't and won't ever be in their database. He wanted to add the IMEI so if I'm talking to support about network issues they don't hassle me. He's a phone geek and totally gets it. YMMV.

RMXO said:
You tell ATT that you want to register a new phone & get rid of your old phone. Tell them you have a Razr & then give them the IMEI (your SGS2), so yes to your question about giving the IMEI of your SGS2. Ask for the unlimited MediaNet plan for $10.
I made the call using my SGS2 the whole time. You could put the SIM in the SGS2 & make the call as I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
btw, the $10 medianet plan is only if you are also paying for unlimited texting, no? Otherwise, it's $15 for data? (I plan on using google voice for texts)

I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about switching to MediaNet because of the possible future cost for unlimited data when LTE comes out. I lost my grandfathered unlimited data plan by switching to MN.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Wait... if AT&T doesn't have the IMEI for this phone, does that mean I could get the $10 unlimited plan for "basic and quick messaging phones" and use it with this?

MXIIA said:
Wait... if AT&T doesn't have the IMEI for this phone, does that mean I could get the $10 unlimited plan for "basic and quick messaging phones" and use it with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the medianet plan i think.

Can anyone confirm this?
And, what are the chances that AT&T detects this and throws you onto one of their data plans?

I can confirm I'm on MediaNet using the method listed in this thread.
I admit saving 240 a yr is nice but I'm afraid losing my grandfarthered unlimited plan might bite me in the wallet down the road once LTE is implemented.
Someone mentioned that if ATT kills MediaNet in the future we are screwed. I'm starting to question if saving now us worth it because I use over 5GB a month.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

Just get a sim card from them but activate it at home. You can call at&t customer service for activation
I just plugged in my sim card from captivate and it worked without a hitch. Based on the post, i called at&t and told them that i wanted to actiavte my new cell phone and told them it was a fliphone and i was offered a medianet plan

Switching to Unlimited Data?

My mother has an iPhone 3gs with unlimited data and I have an atrix 4g with the 2gb data plan. My mother barely uses over 300mb a month, while I have to sustain myself from using any data the last couple of days of my billing cycle.
Would ATT switch are data plans?

No. but u can switch sim cards with her and then change your numbers... that's the only way that will happen.

No harm in going to a store and asking. I would get the store manager and see if they can do anything for you, not a straight up salesperson. You never know unless you ask.

Just ask, they are not that strict. Also, look in the IPhone 2G unlimited data thread here in the Atrix forums, there are att employee that will switch it for you.
sent from my unlocked MB860 via Tapatalk

Gvndeb60 said:
Just ask, they are not that strict. Also, look in the IPhone 2G unlimited data thread here in the Atrix forums, there are att employee that will switch it for you.
sent from my unlocked MB860 via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That they will, but you need an iPhone 2G first. Can pick one up on eBay. Salesperson at my local store told me they have no problems doing this.

Can't do it without switching phone numbers with mommy.

Nexus 4 Data issue on AT&T

Hi,
So on my nexus 4, I activated a SIM card on AT&T's new go phone plan which gives unlimited talk, text and data for $35.
Talk and texts are working fine, but data is not.
I have set up the APN correctly, and the data icon (H or H+) appears indicating that I am connected. However, it does not transfer any data (web page not available error etc).
Does anyone know the workaround to this issue?
thanks much.

ap1618 said:
Hi,
So on my nexus 4, I activated a SIM card on AT&T's new go phone plan which gives unlimited talk, text and data for $35.
Talk and texts are working fine, but data is not.
I have set up the APN correctly, and the data icon (H or H+) appears indicating that I am connected. However, it does not transfer any data (web page not available error etc).
Does anyone know the workaround to this issue?
thanks much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just reading their new go phone plans.. for $60, you get 2gb data. so, at $35, i highly doubt that you are getting unlimited data. call att, let them figure out the issue. if you are getting a connection, but arent getting a data flow, its either your plan or an issue on their side http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=24397&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=36623

Yeah check your plan and make sure your have sufficient data.

Umm... The $35/month plan is not for smart phones, the plan description for that plan specifically says smart phones get WiFi only for data.
$35.00/mo.
500 minutes of calling within the US, plus unlimited nationwide text/picture/ video messages and unlimited text from US to Mexico, Canada and over 100 countries. Calls over 500 minutes are charged at 10c/minute. Unlimited data/mobile web for feature phones only. Plan not available for Smartphones.
http://m.att.com/shopmobile/wireless/plans/voice/sku6610486.html
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

acejavelin said:
Umm... The $35/month plan is not for smart phones, the plan description for that plan specifically says smart phones get WiFi only for data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doh! I guess I could see where someone didn't see the "Smartphone Plan" chart, could look at the wrong "Basic/quick messaging phone plans" chart and saw the word "unlimited" under "Data/Mobile" without hitting "View details", but unlimited everything for $35 a month? Come on, everybody would be on that plan.

pjc123 said:
Doh! I guess I could see where someone didn't see the "Smartphone Plan" chart, could look at the wrong "Basic/quick messaging phone plans" chart and saw the word "unlimited" under "Data/Mobile" without hitting "View details", but unlimited everything for $35 a month? Come on, everybody would be on that plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My point was for the OP that he will not get data, except for MMS, on a smartphone, there is nothing wrong... (S)he just didn't do their research and got the wrong plan and it is working as intended.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

acejavelin said:
My point was for the OP that he will not get data, except for MMS, on a smartphone, there is nothing wrong... (S)he just didn't do their research and got the wrong plan and it is working as intended.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I was a bit harsh; I just find it mind boggling that someone with 442 posts would not know that. Maybe I just misinterpreted the post or it is their first smartphone.

pjc123 said:
I guess I was a bit harsh; I just find it mind boggling that someone with 442 posts would not know that. Maybe I just misinterpreted the post or it is their first smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you did misinterpret... the questions is, per the OP, is there a workaround?
I am fully aware that they it's not for smartphones...
are they doing the IMEI block net, etc?

ap1618 said:
yes you did misinterpret... the questions is, per the OP, is there a workaround?
I am fully aware that they it's not for smartphones...
are they doing the IMEI block net, etc?
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I'm not sure if this will work - but it's worth a try...
If you have a 'feature phone', insert your sim card into that device and call them to have them provision data to your sim. Once complete, remove the SIM from the feature phone and insert it into your Nexus 4.
I am using my Nexus 4 on medianet with ATT and haven't had any issues. Their account manager does not recognize my device - however, that being said, I do have a 'smartphone exception' on my account from years ago as well.
I have read accounts of some Nexus users being forced to a smartphone plan, but I have had no issues as of yet. HSPA isn't the best on AT&T, but I'm often on wifi and you can't beat $10 a month for data.

I believe they are using some kind of browser detection. The same way they can tell if one is tethering.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

gbarayah said:
I'm not sure if this will work - but it's worth a try...
If you have a 'feature phone', insert your sim card into that device and call them to have them provision data to your sim. Once complete, remove the SIM from the feature phone and insert it into your Nexus 4.
I am using my Nexus 4 on medianet with ATT and haven't had any issues. Their account manager does not recognize my device - however, that being said, I do have a 'smartphone exception' on my account from years ago as well.
I have read accounts of some Nexus users being forced to a smartphone plan, but I have had no issues as of yet. HSPA isn't the best on AT&T, but I'm often on wifi and you can't beat $10 a month for data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the kind of answer I was looking for... thank you!
Could you please elaborate how you got on the medianet plan in the first place? What is a "smart phone exception"?
You could PM me if you like... thanks!

fernandezhjr said:
I believe they are using some kind of browser detection. The same way they can tell if one is tethering.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this is the case, couldn't you use Maxthon or another browser that allows you to set the Browser (User) Agent ID that it reports? The real problem would then be that webpages that recognize that browser would format their pages for it, causing them not to be displayed optimally. This site might be helpful: http://www.zytrax.com/tech/web/mobile_ids.html
Edit: apparently you can't do that in Maxthon anymore, at least not that I can find... Dolphin used to allow this but I don't have it installed anymore.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

ap1618 said:
This is the kind of answer I was looking for... thank you!
Could you please elaborate how you got on the medianet plan in the first place? What is a "smart phone exception"?
You could PM me if you like... thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had media net data on my line for years - I want to say it was originally added back in 2006. When I upgraded my line at that time to a Blackberry, I had them keep me on the media net plan and they added a 'smart phone exception' to my contract at that time. Basically allowed me to have a Blackberry without paying the additional $10/month (at that time) for the 'Blackberry Data'.
I have no idea if its still possible to add such an exception - I highly doubt it.
To try and add media net to your account now, you'll have to insert your sim into a 'feature phone'. Once it is active on their online account manager, you can go in and add media net data under the data plan options (I believe now its $15 month for ATT users). Once you've added it, put the sim back into your Nexus 4 and hope for the best.
If its detected as a smartphone, they will send ATT subscribers a text message saying so and upgrade you to a smartphone data plan automatically. Not sure how they handle go phone users in such a situation.