PAYG dataplan can work.

[Hook]

Loved the gophone plan for while I had it. But I have recently switched to the 'Walmart' T-Mobile plan, $30/month with unlimited data (5GB soft cap). It works with my Sensation 4G and I think its better than GoPhone in many ways. Check it out.

Yes, there are other good plans popping up out there. My situation, which is fairly unique, keeps me with AT&T as the best solution. However, I encourage others to share other options here and encourage folks who read this thread to check out other options. The landscape is changing. When I started this thread in 2009 there weren't a lot of options. However, I think, going into the future, Pay as you go or monthly without a contract will become more and more an option.

[davidxd91]

Welcome to Brighthand, Ruthe.

Yes, there is a lot of information in this thread-- may be time to do up a new summary. Let me try to help by focusing on your situation and what the options are for what you would like to do.

First off, you can switch your plan from the old Cingular 10 cents a minute/$1 access fee to the newer 10 cents/minute plan without losing any money off the account. You will lose the free calls to other AT&T phones --everything is 10 cents a minute-- but I find that it is still cheaper without the access fee.

Now, on to smartphones.

Locked/unlocked simply refers to whether the smartphone is locked to a particular network. Smartphones with AT&T logos on them and on the home screen, like your old Pantech, are locked to the AT&T network. They have an IEMI number (don't worry about what that is) that the network uses to identify the phone as one of theirs.

The only AT&T branded Smartphones that are allowed to be used as Gophones are the couple of mid-range Android smartphones they specifically packaged to be Gophones a while back. All others are sold as contract phones and not allowed to be used as gophones. The will be detected and you will be required to get a contract.

You can use smartphones from other GSM carriers (T-Mobile, International carriers), however they probably won't have AT&T's 3G frequencies for data. This is not necessarily a problem if you just want to do wifi for data.

Data here refers to cellular internet, like your home wifi, but a different network that is accessed over a cellular radio. If you don't want to pay for data and have wifi at home, you can choose to just use wifi. You'll want to learn about ways to block accidental data use when away from wifi.

If you get a smartphone that is not AT&T branded, you can use it as a gophone and you would have to buy a data package to use data. They are only good for 30 days, but they do roll over.

Listening to your usage and needs, I think I would actually recommend a 2 device solution. An unlocked, non-contract smartphone is going to cost you a good chunk of money when you are not even sure what you want to do with a smartphone. I recommend you buy a new inexpensive Gophone for calls and look at a wifi only "smartplayer" device like the iPod Touch or the Samsung Galaxy Player to learn about handheld internet devices. They are both essentially smartphones without the phone. This will allow you to learn over time about what smartphones can do and figure out whether you would want to pay to have that capability everywhere you go. I mostly don't. If you find you do, then you might want to think about going contract and getting a smartphone at a subsidized price.

However, if you are trying to keep your costs down as you have been, the two device approach is one to think about.

Hope this has been of some help.

Unfortunately, if you are not just going to dive in and do a contract plan with a carrier, it does require a good bit of research to get the right combination of phone and plan with smartphones.

Oh, and yes, I know AT&T does bug you when you are nearing the account expiration date. I only do $25 at a time and usually refill well before the expiration date.

Hook, I think you need to verify your info. Your giving people very wrong info.

Rather or not a phone is The only difference between Contract and GoPhone's phone's are. If you get it at a discounted rate for signing a 2 year.

For example. SE x10 is that one of ATT packaged go phones? No its not, I stuck a ATT Gophone sim in it and it works just fine. My ex roommate had an Iphone on paygo without Data period.

You can use any ATT Phone on Contract or GoPhone. If you all want video proof, I can get It, My Mom gave me her Pantech Breeze and LG Blue Slider she got on contract and it works on ATT GoPhone.

I don't like people giving out wrong info, that's why I posted this.

Remember, if you get an "unlocked gsm phone" make sure it has the 850 and 1900 bands if you want 3G to work.

[Hook]

Hook, I think you need to verify your info. Your giving people very wrong info.

Rather or not a phone is The only difference between Contract and GoPhone's phone's are. If you get it at a discounted rate for signing a 2 year.

For example. SE x10 is that one of ATT packaged go phones? No its not, I stuck a ATT Gophone sim in it and it works just fine. My ex roommate had an Iphone on paygo without Data period.

You can use any ATT Phone on Contract or GoPhone. If you all want video proof, I can get It, My Mom gave me her Pantech Breeze and LG Blue Slider she got on contract and it works on ATT GoPhone.

I don't like people giving out wrong info, that's why I posted this.

Remember, if you get an "unlocked gsm phone" make sure it has the 850 and 1900 bands if you want 3G to work.

Welcome to Brighthand, davidxd91.

I think you are misinterpreting what I said. What I said is that you cannot use an AT&T branded contract phone as a Gophone, at least if it is in their current inventory.

You can use any smartphone as a gophone if it is not AT&T branded.

The only AT&T branded smartphones that AT&T will allow to use as a gophone are those (I think there are currently only 2) that are packaged as Gophones.

None of this means that a gophone SIM won't work in an AT&T branded contract phone. There is nothing in the hardware or software that prevents your doing it. However, if the IMEI number is in their system, they will likely detect it.

You can verify this policy for yourself with AT&T. I do not have any read on how effective their enforcement is. I said early on a) I have no interest in taking that particular gamble and b) my advice here is calculated to be conservative, advising for minimal risk.

[davidxd91]

Welcome to Brighthand, davidxd91.

I think you are misinterpreting what I said. What I said is that you cannot use an AT&T branded contract phone as a Gophone, at least if it is in their current inventory.

You can use any smartphone as a gophone if it is not AT&T branded.

The only AT&T branded smartphones that AT&T will allow to use as a gophone are those (I think there are currently only 2) that are packaged as Gophones.

None of this means that a gophone SIM won't work in an AT&T branded contract phone. There is nothing in the hardware or software that prevents your doing it. However, if the IMEI number is in their system, they will likely detect it.

You can verify this policy for yourself with AT&T. I do not have any read on how effective their enforcement is. I said early on a) I have no interest in taking that particular gamble and b) my advice here is calculated to be conservative, advising for minimal risk.

I understand what your saying, completely. ATT says a lot of things cause they don't want you to do it. I have 3 phones from ATT that came with contract, 1 being a Sony Ericsson x10a and it works fine with my GoPhone sim in it.
Like they use to say "you cant use an iPhone" My old roommate pulled it off.

They know what phone I have and that it came with a "contract" All they said is I needed to add a data package, So yes it is possible to use a Branded ATT Smartphone on GoPhone service.


Have you tried using a "contract" ATT Branded Smartphone with a GoPhone sim?

I do also have a question for you, If I get a Unlocked Non Branded Smartphone (WP7.5) Will they be able to detect that it is a Smartphone and I need to add a Data Package if that phone IMEI is not in their system?
I'm afraid to pay $400 for it and not be able to use it on the $50 unlimited everything.

[Hook]

I understand what your saying, completely. ATT says a lot of things cause they don't want you to do it. I have 3 phones from ATT that came with contract, 1 being a Sony Ericsson x10a and it works fine with my GoPhone sim in it.
Like they use to say "you cant use an iPhone" My old roommate pulled it off.

They know what phone I have and that it came with a "contract" All they said is I needed to add a data package, So yes it is possible to use a Branded ATT Smartphone on GoPhone service.


Have you tried using a "contract" ATT Branded Smartphone with a GoPhone sim?

I do also have a question for you, If I get a Unlocked Non Branded Smartphone (WP7.5) Will they be able to detect that it is a Smartphone and I need to add a Data Package if that phone IMEI is not in their system?
I'm afraid to pay $400 for it and not be able to use it on the $50 unlimited everything.

Again, my approach here has been to communnicate official AT&T policy. I will recheck with them to see if there has been any recent change. As I said, there is no hardware/software reason you can't do it.

I obviously have not tried it myself as I have never had a contract with AT&T. You may get away with it for awhile or you may get away with it forever because they are sloppy or you may have a phone that is old enough to no longer be in their system. It's your gamble. My contributions to this thread are not about what you might get away with. That philosophy was stated early on.

The same applies to your last question. Officially you cannot use the $50 dollar plan on a smartphone without buying data. You don't need a traditional data plan, but you do need one of the Gophone data offerings that roll over each month. Could you get away without doing so? I don't know how good their enforcement mechanisms are. I suspect if you were using 3G a lot they might pick it up pretty quickly.

They have stated their policy. Based on that policy the answer to your question is you have to buy data. If you want to risk doing otherwise and see what happens, that's your decision.

[Varjak]

I understand what your saying, completely. ATT says a lot of things cause they don't want you to do it. I have 3 phones from ATT that came with contract, 1 being a Sony Ericsson x10a and it works fine with my GoPhone sim in it.
Like they use to say "you cant use an iPhone" My old roommate pulled it off.

They know what phone I have and that it came with a "contract" All they said is I needed to add a data package, So yes it is possible to use a Branded ATT Smartphone on GoPhone service.


Have you tried using a "contract" ATT Branded Smartphone with a GoPhone sim?

I do also have a question for you, If I get a Unlocked Non Branded Smartphone (WP7.5) Will they be able to detect that it is a Smartphone and I need to add a Data Package if that phone IMEI is not in their system?
I'm afraid to pay $400 for it and not be able to use it on the $50 unlimited everything.

Maybe I'm reading your comment above incorrectly, but you wrote that 'they' said you needed to add a data package. The whole point of PAYG is not getting a data package (for most people). You did say an ex-roommate managed to use an iPhone in this fashion, which would be interesting; but it contradicts most of the stories we've heard. Unless of course the iPhone he used was either unlocked or from another service that used the same bands but wasn't an ATT iphone.

[Hook]

This thread has been going for a long time and the world has changed a great deal since I started this thread. When I began this thread in 2009, there weren't a lot of Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) data options out there. I had just spent a couple of months researching my particularly odd scenario and thought it might be useful to record what I had found because, when I started out, it was hard to turn up anything systematic on point. Being focused on what I found for my needs, this thread stayed for a very long time centered around the ever-evolving AT&T Gophone plans. The purpose of this post is to do a grand summary of using data with a Gophone SIM as things stand now, at the beginning of 2012.

Gophone is not the only option any more. There are many Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO) that now offer cheaper-than-big-carrier smartphone and data bundles and T-mobile has some attractive month-to-month packages if you take the phone without a subsidy or bring your own. Gophone allows me to operate at a much lower cost than these plans, but only because of my odd scenario (which I'll reiterate below). For others, these are quite good options and I would love to see those using them post summary information on them in this thread. I don't have experience with them, so it won't come from me.

My case is an odd one and is why the Gophone option is so perfect. I spend 9 hours a day in a building with no cell reception and I have wifi at home. I am not allowed to do my job stuff on a personal handheld (I have a work issued BlackBerry for that). Therefore, my phone is largely a personal PDA. I don't call people much except to check in with my family. I don't even give out the number as it is an unreliable way to reach me. I don't text much because my son and my bank are the only ones I text with and my son isn't dying to be in constant communication with his dad (my son is an adult-- allegedly ). And, frankly, there aren't a lot of things, including my personal email, that can't wait until I get home to wifi. Thus, I am a low-volume consumer on everything. Nonetheless, I want the option to do all of it when I need to. That was what I was looking to satisfy in 2009 when I had my first smartphone.

The most difficult piece when I started out was to have an unlocked smart phone that could use AT&T's 3G network. Most international phones could be used on the network, but had to use 2G for data because they didn't have the US AT&T frequencies. Also, buying unlocked, unbranded smartphones is expensive unless you can find used ones. I tend not to like buying used electronics, so I was digging my own grave, but I was lucky in first using a US Nokia model and then the Google Nexus One.

Enough rambling. Here is the summary of current AT&T Gophone options and limitations. These are based on information from AT&T and I do not speculate on how one could game their limitations. When I have been told you can't do something, I report that. I do not have sufficient knowledge to say how well they enforce their policies or to know under what circumstances you could get around these restrictions.

AT&T Gophone Data Summary

Here is a table of their plans. This has been captured from this page:
Gophone Plans as of January 7, 2012

In addition there are messaging and data feature packages you can add to the above if needed. Feature packages are good for 30 days and,if renewed before the 30th day, will rollover any remaining value.

The messaging (text/media/IM) packages are:
200 messages $4.99
1000 messages $9.99
Unlimited (no rollover) $19.99

The data packages are:
10 Mb $5
100 Mb $15
500 Mb $25

Hitting the highlights on the table, these plans have changed quite a bit in the past 2 years. The 10/cents a minute plan is a basic bare bones voice plan. The $2 a day plan is really an irregular use plan. You'll end up paying $60 a month is you use *anything* every day and you still have to buy data if you want that. The $25/month plan is actually relatively new-- I only just discovered it doing this summary. This isn't a bad deal if you do limited talking and a lot of texting. And you can add a data bucket to it and still have something reasonably priced. However, really, if you are a high volume consumer of more than one of the 3 (voice/text/data), you get closer and closer to the point where a subsidized phone on contract is easier and not much more expensive, IMHO.

Finally there is the $50 Monthly Unlimited Plan. Their description of this plan started out being less than clear, although it has gotten better. Notice two things. They caveat the Unlimited data with "(on eligible phones)." Second, they provide a further caveat in the footnote: "smart phone users must purchase a data package to use data services with any plan. Pay-per-use is not available with smartphones." Wow, they almost straightened it out and then muddied things with that second sentence.

However, the upshot is that the unlimited data is for feature/texting phones only, not for smartphones-- essentially mobile web and email. If you have a smartphone you are required to add on of the Data Packages I listed above. As with the other restriction I will mention below, I have no idea how capable or thorough their enforcement of it is, but that is their policy. I'm guessing if they noted a lot of 3G consumption, they would flag you pretty quickly.

There are two other primary restrictions that are, as far as I can tell, still in play as AT&T policy.

One is, you cannot buy a current AT&T branded contract phone, even at full price and without subsidy, and use it as a Gophone. The IMEI number is in their system and when discovered, they will put you under a contract plan or block the phone. At some point, a phone is old enough that it cycles out of their system. I have never gotten a straight answer on when that is, but you should be able to use the AT&T branded phone after that. You may also be able to use an AT&T branded contract phone after it's 2 year obligation is up.

The one other exception is the iPhone. AT&T has made a special case out of the iPhone. When I talked to them, they blamed it on Apple, but I'm not sure I buy that. They claim you can never use an iPhone as a Gophone. No exceptions. Even if it is past it's 2 year contract obligation.

Again, I cannot say what the enforcement picture is on any of these restrictions, but these are the policies as far as I have been able to determine.

Conclusion

For my peculiar case, this plan is perfect. I load about $25 every 2-3 months and out of that money comes all my voice, text and data usage. I'd be crazy to pay for a contract in my situation. YMMV, and it will really depend on how much of each you really use.

I hope this information continues to help folks. The original motivation for putting it down was how hard it was for me in the beginning to nail this down, but back then a lot fewer people with smartphones were trying to do what I was trying to do. I encourage people, especially those with experience, to post other plans and solutions for folks looking to reduce costs and avoid contracts.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far.

[thock]

As of this morning, $5 only gets you 5MB of data (I was checking something out and noticed that). Otherwise, all the other costs remain the same.

Tracy

[Hook]

As of this morning, $5 only gets you 5MB of data (I was checking something out and noticed that). Otherwise, all the other costs remain the same.

Tracy

Welcome to Brighthand, Tracy.

Are you sure? When I log in and check available feature packages, I still have 10Mb for $5 listed.

All information I can find still lists that.

I'll keep checking in case it is a change they are just rolling out, but up to now, the trend over the past 2 years has been changes give you more for less.

[LandSurveyor]

OK. I've got my new tech situation nearly set up. I'm set up with the $30/mo. unlimited data and messaging plan with T-Mobile. But it's only got 100 voice minutes, which isn't enough even for me. I sprung for a refurbed Galaxy S for $350 but it came with $50 worth of time and the shipping was free. I only seem to be able to get EDGE at home but I can use wifi if I need it at all. As soon as I go to town, 4g seems to work pretty well.

Since I only have that hundred minutes, I kept my Page Plus account but will probably drop it to the new $12/mo. plan. This give me voice with Verizon coverage in case I'm ever in the boons, which won't happen at work any more, at least. Since I still wanted a rugged phone, I found a used Barrage (since I liked my brother's so much) for a little less than 40 bucks.

So, for $43 buck, I should have it all covered.

It's odd, I admit, but I think it fits me.