Possible to use ATT with no data plan?

[Yumcff]

Hello! I'm new to the iPhone scene; a bit late but with the new announcement of the iPod touch without a camera, ive decided to get an iPhone. Ive done a good amount of research but have been unable to find a clear answer to my question.

Is it possible to jailbreak and unlock the iPhone 3GS and use it without the data plan? Ive read numerious mixed results from different forums and people who have done this but none have given a clear answer.

I have a regular family plan with ATT with unlimited texting so if i were to insert my SIM card (the SIM card has the 3g logo on it but i do not have a data plan) into an unlocked/jailbroken iPhone, can i make calls and text without being charged for data transfer? I know that you have to disable all the stuff like edge and 3g and stuff on the iPhone so it won't automatically connect to ATT's network but im just worried that ATT will find out and force me to sign up for a data plan. I live on a college campus so WiFi is everywhere so i find it redundant that i have to pay an extra $30 a month for something i already have.

I've heard that you can change the IMEI (not too sure what that is) on the iPhone to make it seem like you're still using your old cell phone but like i said, i was unable to find clear instructions on how to do this or any other info related to that. Thanks for the help and i apologize for the giant walls of text...didn't think it would take this much to explain my situation :dft002:amazed

[wjp09]

ive been gone for a while so I can't help you answering that question exactly HOWEVER,

att says in theyre contract that they reserve the right to add an appropriate data plan at anytime on your contract if they find out you are using an iPhone

[Saverino]

As of 4 days ago IIRC, AT&T too now requires a data plan for all smartphones they sell.
Jailbreaking and unlocking won't have anything to do with your AT&T account, unless you wanted to unlock it to use it on a different network.
The phone will work if you were to just stick your SIM in it, but with the recent change, I'm not too sure what will happen.
Don't even bother changing your IMEI. It's highly illegal, and not worth doing.

[Europa]

They require data plans on all iPhones sold by AT&T, Walmart, Apple, and Best Buy, but if you get one used on eBay, Craigslist etc, and put your old SIM in it, you can circumvent that. You can disable data if you jailbreak. I'm not 100% certain if changing the IMEI works, but if you don't change it or if it doesn't work, AT&T will see that you are on an iPhone and they will send you repetitive text messages asking you to call them to add a data plan.

I don't think they can automatically add it without your consent, but I'm pretty sure they can automatically add it when you renew your contract (if they know you're using an iPhone) since a data plan is a requirement with an iPhone on AT&T.

[Saverino]

For the record, I've always used an iPhone on a BlackBerry plan and still do. AT&T has never changed my plan on me, but I'm not sure if this will change with the recent update to their policy.

[Europa]

Savio, you do have a data plan though, right?
I would think that AT&T would be more concerned with adding data plans to iPhones that lack them, than changing non-iPhone data plans to iPhone data plans.

[AeroCare]

I think they're happy just having you pay for a plan. For over 2 years I used a Palm Treo while paying for a Nokia Medianet plan because it was cheaper and it worked great. I did get the twice monthly text messages full of garbled data from a computer (number started with 101). If I had just deleted them and moved on they never would have bothered me with the plan.

I called technical services to get them to stop texting me and that's when they told me I needed a PDA plan. I told them don't worry I'll keep using the Nokia. They got my serial number from the Nokia and the next day I switch the SIM back into the TREO and until I bought my iPhone last month never had a problem again.

I did notice that on the AT&T account online it would change to a TREO but I never had them bother me again. I'm sure they'll know you have an iPhone but making you change your plan is a different story, don't think they'll bother you.