Cell phone data plan question...

[david12795]

Ok, so I want to get a new phone, the motorola backflip. But I'm trying to avoid buying the data plan as much as possible. One because i dont really need it, 2 because i don't have a job [currently looking for one xp] and 3, i will be on college campus which has wifi everywhere.

but there are 2 ways i can get the phone.


1.) craigslist. but would i have to use the data plan since i didnt buy it off of att?

2.) buy from att. but can i just say i "lost" the phone?

 

[62t]

You can just call ATT and cancel the data plan after a month

 

[YodaEXE]

The problem with what you're trying to do is a lot of phones require data plans for a reason. This is because they are constantly using the data for various things. Granted, you can turn it off for the most part, but I've heard of lot of horror stories from people that, while they turned the main data stuff off, ran a program that ignored those settings and used data and racked up large bills.

In regards to your actual questions, in option 1 you could do that. I wouldn't try doing 2, as you'll have to pay for the data plan regardless. AT&T won't let you out of the data plan without paying a large ETF, regardless of what may have happened to the phone.

[quote name='62t']You can just call ATT and cancel the data plan after a month[/QUOTE]
You can NOT do this, regardless of what people seem to think, at least not without paying an early termination fee.

 

[Thongsy]

ATT requires dataplans on all "smartphones", whether you buy it from them or not. Even if it's a hand me down iphone.

 

[david12795]

cant i just use wifi for all that? unless att decides to trick me.

 

[YodaEXE]

[quote name='Thongsy']ATT requires dataplans on all "smartphones", whether you buy it from them or not. Even if it's a hand me down iphone.[/QUOTE]
You can get around that by simply not informing them when you get a new phone. Just get a cheap basic one, pull the SIM, and put it in your smartphone. My girlfriend did that on T-Mobile with a jailbroken iPhone.

Also, OP, something else I'd like to add is that you lose a lot of functionality by not having a data plan. You'd be surprised at the amount of data pulled from the cell towers that you can't get from WiFi networks. I'd really recommend either not getting a smartphone, or just paying the extra for the data plan.

 

[YodaEXE]

[quote name='david12795']cant i just use wifi for all that? unless att decides to trick me.[/QUOTE]
It won't be AT&T tricking you, it'll be the phone trying to do what it's supposed to. The phone is expecting a data plan, and will try to use it, regardless of whether you have one or not. Some things just can't be done via WiFi.

 

[david12795]

[quote name='YodaEXE']You can get around that by simply not informing them when you get a new phone. Just get a cheap basic one, pull the SIM, and put it in your smartphone. My girlfriend did that on T-Mobile with a jailbroken iPhone.

Also, OP, something else I'd like to add is that you lose a lot of functionality by not having a data plan. You'd be surprised at the amount of data pulled from the cell towers that you can't get from WiFi networks. I'd really recommend either not getting a smartphone, or just paying the extra for the data plan.[/QUOTE]


Well if i lose a lot of functionality, then it'll just be like my phone now, which is a basic phone. i just want to use my backflip whenever i am on campus because there is wifi and i can just use that to entertain myself. correct me if i am wrong, but it doesn't it go through wifi if i set it to wifi?

 

[YodaEXE]

[quote name='david12795']Well if i lose a lot of functionality, then it'll just be like my phone now, which is a basic phone. i just want to use my backflip whenever i am on campus because there is wifi and i can just use that to entertain myself. correct me if i am wrong, but it doesn't it go through wifi if i set it to wifi?[/QUOTE]
It's an Android phone, so no, not always. I love Android, and my next phone will be one running it (currently have a Blackberry), but it has some nasty flaws. One of which is that developers can kind of do what they want. This means they can have apps pull data via the cell networks, ignoring what your settings may be. I've seen it happen numerous times on some of the tech forums and blogs that I frequent.

You'd have to be very, very careful in what you do without the data plan, or you could easily wind up with a very large bill due to data usage that you didn't even realize was happening. I would really recommend against getting a smartphone without a data plan.

EDIT: I looked up your phone a bit more. It's a $330 phone new without contract. I'm not sure why you think you can get it for much cheaper than that. If you can afford that, I think you'd likely be better off getting something like an older iPod Touch or a netbook, and using that instead.

 

[eastshore4]

It sounds to me like you'll be better served just by buying an ipod touch or something