Apple Community Discussion/Support

[#1]

Hi The 'missus' moved her ATT mobile into her brothers family plan when she moved to the UK - she wanted to keep the number and can use phone when she returns to US for visits [and occasionally checks voice mail remotely] and has either used her ancient ATT Nokia or put the ATT SIM in an unlocked UK phone. This has worked ok in the past However she now has an unlocked iPhone 3GS which she uses in UK and wants to use it when in US - putting the ATT sim in iPhone should be ok for voice calls/SMS but she now wants data as well [she is so demanding! ;-)]. As her ATT phone doesn't have data [none of the 4 phones on the family plan have data] I assume using data on iPhone won't work or be charged at an extortionate rate without some sort of ATT plan adjustment - is it possible to temporarily change plan [for her phone, not all phones on family plan] to add ~200-500MB [that might expire in a month] to cover the adhoc times she visits [up to a couple of weeks, 3-4 times a year]? Don't want to take out a continual data plan as only used for 10% of time An alternative I'd rather not do is, As we have a virgin mobile usa payg MiFi [$20 for 1GB for a month on an adhoc basis], then could put the ATT sim in iPhone [for voice/sms] and then do the data via wifi to the mifi. Would change iPhone setting to disable the cellular data to prevent accidental ATT data usage Are there any alternatives? i.e. how can I give ATT some money [but not too much]! TIA M

[#2]

You can add a data plan at any time. I think the new tiered data plans are $20 for 300MB or $30 for 3GB. When she leaves, grab her AT&T SIM and put it in the ancient Nokia or any feature phone & then remove the data plan (either via online account manager, or if necessary the customer service line).

[#3]

Thanks for replying BadBadLeroyBrown [hopefully you are not the BadBadBadLeroyBrown ;-)] I saw those plans [though a bit vague about when phone is part of a family plan] and I assumed you could add 'stuff' but it was the removing it again that is usually the hassle - I was wondering if anyone had done it without endless calls to the ATT call centre supervisor saying "no, I didn't want to enter a 2 year commitment to add the data, I just wanted it for the one month "! Anyway, it seems like my timing is pretty good as ATT seemed to be edging [or should I say LTE'ing ;-)] to add shared data to family plans RSN www.engadget.com/2012/02/12/att-shared-data/ Providing it is without major gotcha's, may persuade the B-I-L to add shared data to the family plan and upgrade his mobile to a smart phone [to use the data inbetween our visits]. Begs the next question which would be about temporarily increasing the data... Thanks M

[#4]

No, just a fan of the song. The data plans are only a requirement so long as the SIM in question is in a smart phone. Put the SIM in a feature phone (or any non-smartphone), provide the IMEI number to Customer Service, and you can nuke the data plan. Your 2-year contract is for voice service. The data plan requirement is triggered by having a smartphone on the line, but it is not an essential part of the contract.

AT&T has been talking about shared data for a loooooooong time, so I hope you don't get your hopes up that it's launching next week, or even next month. I'll be curious how they'll handle the distinction between smartphones and non-smartphones with respect to shared data.

[#5]

Ahh, should have thought about googling it first. The wikipedia page says alot. Probably won't need data now for a few months so will wait and see ..probably how ATT muck it up e.g. by charging alot more than the same amount of data on an individual smartphone Thanks for your helpful answers M