Appleinfo: RE: Re: [apple-iphone] Is a Data Plan necessary?

mercredi 30 octobre 2013

RE: Re: [apple-iphone] Is a Data Plan necessary?

Before T-Mobile was able to sell the iPhone new, they made the official statement that there were more than a million iPhones on their network. If you had gone to their website at that time, there was a page that told you exactly how to do it. This is what started their "bring your own device" plans.

If you have an older Sim and need a smaller one, there is no need to cut the one you have. Just take it to a T-Mobile store and they will copy the old one onto a new one and charge you almost nothing. On the other hand, if you do not live close to a store, the Sim cutter works just fine.

We have have been purchasing used iPhones since the 3G came out and all are working fine on T-Mobile. You do need to get them unlocked but once a phone is off contract, that is no problem. The newest one is a iPhone 4S so I have not personally tried a 5 or 5S but T-Mobile sold those, so there should be no problem.

The other obvious advantage of carrying an unlocked phone is the ability to use it in another country by purchasing a local Sim card and putting it in your phone. I am headed to Mexico on Friday and have purchased a Telcel Sim card for my phone. Once we cross the border, I will change the Sim and have a local phone.

Telcel has a very interesting way of doing data plans. You text a code to 5050 and that signs you up for a data plan. The code tells them how much data you want. It can be for a day, week, 1/2 month, or a month with differing amounts of data for each one.

In the past, putting money into your account with Telcel was a problem once you leave Mexico. It is normally done over the counter with cash at your local grocery store in Mexico. There is very little use of credit cards so doing it over the internet was hard. Telcel changed their web site last year to allow credit cards or you can use something like www.pinzoo.com.

Wilton

---In apple-iphone@yahoogroups.com, <apple-iphone@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Most US carriers require a data plan on smart phones. It is in their T&C, as BrentL has apparently researched and confirmed.

I have heard rumors that T-Mobile is the only one that _might_ allow you to use an iPhone without a data plan, and Wilton's post seems to confirm this. Under what conditions, I do not know.

On Oct 28, 2013, at 8:19 PM, <wilton.hart@...> <wilton.hart@...> wrote:

We have a T-Mobile plan that started with flip phones and it did not require a data contract. We have purchased unlocked iPhone's and put the Sim card from the old flip phone into the new iPhone. It works just fine for voice and no data plan is necessary. T-Mobile will even exchange a large size Sim for a smaller one if needed.

My wife did not need data for the first several years but she started to use her iPhone and iPad on our WiFi network and wanted to know why it did not work once she left the house. My solution was to purchase a FreedomPop Pro for her. This is a cell phone hotspot that runs on the 3G/4G Sprint/Clear network. The charge is $4 per month for 500 Megs of data. They give you the option to collect friends and each one gives you another 50 Megs of data with a maximum of 1 Gig per month. So far she has not gotten close to using it all up. If she starts watching movies it might change but I have warned her about that.

Call me cheap but I hate making big payments to a Tel-co.

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---In apple-iphone@yahoogroups.com, <apple-iphone@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

I have a flip-phone and an iPod Touch. I want to replace them with an iPhone... but I want to do only voice on the cell network. I do not want to buy a data plan. I want to use only Wi-Fi for everything else except talking. Can that be?