No Data Required with Prepaid GoPhone Smart Phone

**Patricia Kate** · 03-16-2012, 12:13 AM

My husband & I found out that if you have a Smart phone that is not under contract with AT&T, you do not have to buy the data plan. You only have to buy data if you are under contract. He has a smart phone with Wi-Fi & got the 250 minute prepaid card, & did not have to purchase data. He's planning to buy an iPhone outright so he won't be under contract & won't have to pay for data.
Did anyone here know this?
Paytricia

**efparri** · 03-16-2012, 07:05 AM

A data plan purchase has never been required for GoPhone lines. Pay-per-use data works for all phones except recognized smartphones. You must purchase a data pack to use data at all with smartphones. There are no contracts with GoPhones so the contract status of the phone you use is irrelevant. What you could be observing is that the carrier recognizes the smartphone and turns off pay-per-use data access. An AT&T smartphone would be treated that way regardless of how it is acquired.

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**Patricia Kate** · 03-16-2012, 01:40 PM

The reason I mentioned it is because we were told in the beginning that any Smart phone on any plan that AT&T will automatically charge you for the $25 data plan. Even a "recognized smartphone" if not under contract can be used with a prepaid card w/o having to pay for data. You do not have to purchase a data pack if the phone is not under contract. I just wanted to share in case someone didn't know.
Patricia

**efparri** · 03-16-2012, 01:53 PM

You were given incorrect information. There are unlikely to be any GoPhone customers in such a position to require the carrier to institute a policy to address it.

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**Heatseeker123** · 03-16-2012, 08:00 PM

Thanks for your good intentions but efparri is right. I'm not even sure why you keep talking about contracts when it's impossible to have a contract with GoPhone (that's one of the main points of prepaid, of course). Unless you're talking about phones obtained with signing postpaid contracts, but that still doesn't matter with GoPhone so I'm really confused with all this contract talk in the PREPAID section of the forum.

It says on the official GoPhone web site, "†Smartphone users must purchase a data package to use data services with any plan. Pay-per-use is not available with smartphones." That doesn't mean that you must pay the $25 data package for using a smartphone. Notice that it says, "to use data services." If you don't want to use their data, then you can use a smartphone's wi-fi as as you wish without needing a data package. Wifi doesn't use their data. efparri already said this but just trying to explain it further since you don't seem to understand.

**desertdude** · 03-16-2012, 10:44 PM

I thought I explained this subject very well in another thread toward the beginning of the month with this same person. Like you said Heatseeker, this is all in the official GoPhone web site and it's explained to the nth degree.

**Patricia Kate** · 03-17-2012, 09:11 PM

I'm completely confused as to why I'm being treated so rudely. My husband purchased a Smart phone WITHOUT a contract. Before this, we did not know that you could use Prepay with a Smart phone, & that it was optional if he wanted data or not. I was only passing along something that we didn't know before hand, thinking the info might be helpful to someone else.
Patricia

**Patricia Kate** · 03-17-2012, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by desertdude

I thought I explained this subject very well in another thread toward the beginning of the month with this same person. Like you said Heatseeker, this is all in the official GoPhone web site and it's explained to the nth degree.

I'm not as stupid as you're trying to make me out to be. How could you have explained this to me at the beginning of the month if my husband & I only found out about it a few days ago? I didn't find the info that we received in the store on the Official GoPhone website. If it was there, it's possible I could have overlooked it. I'm not perfect & I make mistakes from time to time. I think you are a very rude human being. Something must be lacking in your life for you to treat someone so rudely just for sharing something with others.
If you want to report me & have me banned, have at it!!!!
Patricia

**Patricia Kate** · 03-17-2012, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Patricia Kate

If you want to report me & have me banned, have at it!!!!
Patricia

BTW, desertdude, you won't have to report me. I don't want to nor will I stay in a place where I'm treated so rude anyway.

**millept** · 03-18-2012, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by Patricia Kate

I'm completely confused as to why I'm being treated so rudely. My husband purchased a Smart phone WITHOUT a contract. Before this, we did not know that you could use Prepay with a Smart phone, & that it was optional if he wanted data or not. I was only passing along something that we didn't know before hand, thinking the info might be helpful to someone else.
Patricia

This IS useful info (even if some others already knew about it), so thanks for posting.

**cfdenice** · 03-19-2012, 04:26 PM

I found this very helpful. Thanks Patricia.

**Pabster** · 03-19-2012, 07:22 PM

Wow.

Some of you regulars need to chill out. I think us "Phone Geeks" live in a bubble where we see things differently and forget that 99% of folks are just regular folks - they don't give two cents about specs etc.

Patricia I am sure your information will be useful to some one, and that is what these forums are for. Don't let a few bad apples spoil it for you.

A whole lot of folks have no idea about GoPhone...just like a whole lot of folks have no idea you can get an AT&T SIM card for FREE or next to nothing. These seem like very basic things to many of us, but they are important to a lot of people who don't spend their days counting how many SIM cards they have active and what ROM they have installed on their latest phone.

**efparri** · 03-19-2012, 09:24 PM

Nevertheless, there are no mandatory data plans required for GoPhone accounts. AT&T does not care how you obtain your phone. If you have a phone under a contract, it would be postpaid rather than prepaid. If you decide to take a smartphone you bought under contract and use it as a GoPhone, you do not need to purchase a data package unless you want to use cellular data. The carrier is not involved when you use any phone with Wi-Fi data only. If you have a nonsmartphone, you can use either data packages or pay-per-use data in any combination to connect to cellular data. If you have a recognized smartphone, cellular data will only work if you purchase a data package.

**studjatt** · 03-19-2012, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by Pabster

Wow.

Some of you regulars need to chill out. I think us "Phone Geeks" live in a bubble where we see things differently and forget that 99% of folks are just regular folks - they don't give two cents about specs etc.

Patricia I am sure your information will be useful to some one, and that is what these forums are for. Don't let a few bad apples spoil it for you.

A whole lot of folks have no idea about GoPhone...just like a whole lot of folks have no idea you can get an AT&T SIM card for FREE or next to nothing. These seem like very basic things to many of us, but they are important to a lot of people who don't spend their days counting how many SIM cards they have active and what ROM they have installed on their latest phone.

I agree wholeheartedly with you. Just as we have problems of "group-think" in business scenarios, I think we also have a "geek-think" issue here at Howard forums, and this is coming from a proud geek. Thanks for your input Patricia.

**Patricia Kate** · 03-20-2012, 07:30 AM

Thank you Millept, cfdenice, Pabster, & studjatt. Your kindness is very much appreciated. It's nice to know there is some kind people here after all.
Pabster, you hit upon some things that is very true. As far as information being useful to some, your comment about getting a sim card free or for next to nothing was news to me. I'm sure there's some here that know that but I didn't & we should never make someone feel less of a person just because they may not have info that others do. I came to this forum to learn, ask questions, & pass on what little I know. I never dreamed that there would be people here that would make fun or be critical of those that don't know.

I would love to hear more about the free or paying next to nothing for a sim card.
Patricia