Got an iPhone through Premier a month ago and never switched to the iPhone data plan. Today I get both an email an a text stating that I am on an ineligible data plan and to call customer service to prevent excess charges.

Got the iphone through one of my lines that were eligible for a discount then used the iphone on my primary line which had a media max plan. The text came to the line my iphone is using.

From my experience, they do monitor service. I wasn't trying to get away with saving, but I was about to not use the iphone anymore. Then 2.1 came and fixed most problems so now I will keep it.

This is solid confirmation. Thanks for the post.

Got the same email and text today. Does anyone know where it states that you MUST use an iphone plan for the iphone in writing?

Yeah, in the Terms and Conditions:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/a...phone-terms.jsp
"Data Plans: An eligible data plan for iPhone is required. This data plan covers data usage in the U.S. and does not cover international data usage and charges. If it is determined that you are using iPhone without an eligible data plan, AT&T reserves the right to add an eligible data plan to your account and bill you the appropriate monthly fee."

The iPhone is the only phone that has such a provision.

how does att detect you have an iphone?
I bought it off someone to try out and now att is telling
me i have to change my data plan to the iphone one.

Eff that i will just switch back to using one of my
Wm pro phones or switch to tmob for android now that
They have 3g

It's done by IMEI, and AT&T knows all the IMEI's they sell.

They don't seem to audit prepaid plans. People have been using the $20 medianet plan on data cards wtih no problem, and I've been on prepaid with my iPhone for 2 months. They don't have a $30 data plan on prepaid, so maybe that's why. So if you don't need lots of minutes, that's a way to go. AND I don't believe you are breaking any TOS either, since they don't say anything about a smartphone vs. regular phone data plan in the prepaid TOS.

This was the nice thing about IMEI Faking in the old ZiPhone program. You could simply change your IMEI (for testing purposes, hehe..) and AT&T would not even detect the change in IMEI on your account.

With my old 2G iPhone I had OLAM showing an old Nokia 6820. Since the IMEI is all they use for data plan auditing then any threat of them catching on to the device change is neutralized.

Too bad that option is no longer availble for 2.0.2 or higher, or at all for the 3G...

I got the same thing a text and an e-mail saying that I would need the iphone data plan for my 3G iphone which includes unlimited data and visual voice mail.

I actually DO HAVE AN IPHONE DATA PLAN but this is for the 1st gen of the Iphone which is unlimited with 200 text, this plan works perfectly fine but they just want to charge you more money and get the extra $15. On the text they were saying that I need an Iphone data plan....but hahaha I do have one! Ohh well ...

I m mostly on my N95-4, and I use the iphone 3G only once a week or once every two weeks, but the few times I ve used the 3G iphone they got the IMEI and send out this text and e-mail. I know people can get away only if they can change their IMEI like on the 1st gen Iphone with the older firmware with the Ziphone.

Just saw this posted over on the Giz:

Non iPhone Plans

It looks like people using their iPhones with plans other than the specific iPhone plan may be getting notices from AT&T soon. As the Giz reports from BGR, the following was sent to someone who, apparently, fits the criteria:

Subject: Important information regarding your iPhone 3G

The new AT&T - Your world. Delivered.

Our service records indicate that you are using an iPhone 3G with a data plan designed for other devices.

To avoid unexpected data overage charges and enable Visual Voicemail, please contact your telecom manager, or an AT&T representative at 1-800-331-0500.

Thank you for choosing wireless from AT&T. We appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
AT&T Customer Service


BGR continues with the following warning:

If you were enjoying paying only $15 for AT&T’s MEdia Net Unlimited, enjoy it while you can! Pretty soon, AT&T will be making sure that you’ll all be paying twice that amount for their sub-par 3G service for the iPhone.

Maybe some here on the forum should be cautious.

im glad these plans dont apply to rogers. lol

I have a 3G iPhone I purchased on Ebay that had already been activated. I popped my ATT SIM in & have been using ever since. I have Media Max 200 bundle for Data. Over the weekend I received both a text message & a email that states "Our records indicate that your service does not include a Data Plan for iPhone. A Data plan for iPhone is required. Data Plans for iPhone include unlimited data/email and Visual Voicemail and will prevent unexpected data overage charges". Yikes.....anyone else get this message??? I don't really want to pay $30 bucks for data & extra for texting....It looks like I may not have any choice...feedback??

I saw this on the blogs over the weekend. I don't think they can do a great deal. They obviously can't force you to sign a new contract but they could eliminate all data for you unless you buy the correct plan. I doubt anything will happen personally.

I know with the 2G, you could use Ziphone to spoof the IMEI that is transmitted (just put the IMEI of your old phone, for example). Not sure if this applies to the 3G phone as well, but it may be worth looking into.

AT&T can, in fact, without your agreement...either charge you for data used w/o the iPhone data plan...and/or change your plan to reflect the iPhone data plan from what you're using now. They have successfully done it before with people using full-qwerty smartphones w/o the smartphone connect plan...and they can do it to those who have been "cheating" AT&T by using the MediaMax plan on their iPhones.

Supposedly, there are "fine print" clauses in the contract you agreed to when you hooked up with AT&T that give them the right to do this if/when it's necessary. Of course, they could claim that you are defrauding them if you are using an unspecified plan also...

Sucks...but seems to me that they have the upper hand here.