GoPhone Data for basic / dumbphones working on android smartphones?

[odic]

Hi. I am hoping someone is knowledgeable enough to help me understand something about AT&T's gophone data provisioning to try and get a smartphone working with a basic/dumbphone account.

I am trying to figure out how they are able to filter data-use permissioning for the 2 device types (dumbphone-smartphone). For instance...a basic gophone plan at $35.00/month for 500min unlimited text and data is only intended for the basic/dumb phones. If you try to use a smartphone on this plan, it will allow calling, texting, and mms, but no data transfers.

My questions are....how is the smartphone recognized? I assume it is just the SIM card identity being recognized by their network, and if activated with a dumbphone IMEI, it allows data, and if activated by a smartphone IMEI, it does not allow? If this is the case, then why can't we just activate the SIM with the basic phone IMEI and then transfer the SIM to the smartphone to send and receive data? Is it possible for ATT to query the physical phone IMEI every time you attempt a data connection thereby allowing them to check it against the GSMA IMEI device database to verify the device type/classification to then allow or deny service?

Has anyone been able to use the gophone prepaid dumbphone data on a smartphone? If so, how did your activation process go?

I had tried to activate my dumbphone sim in my smartphone by dialing *123zip code*07#. I get calling, text, and mms to work, but no data will transfer. I get the data connection H+ to show, but it will not pass any kind of data other than mms and text. I think that it is possible that my IMEI was passed during that activation process which flagged my sim to not allow data to pass, so now, I am wondering if I get a new postpaid SIM, activate it with the dumbphone IMEI online, then put it in my smartphone, will I get data then?

 

[natehoy]

AT&T uses the IMEI to determine the type of phone.

In the past, if you used the IMEI of something that AT&T recognized as a smartphone, they'd automatically upgrade you to a data plan compatible with your smartphone (for your convenience, of course!). I suspect if you tried to do as you suggest and activate a dumbphone then "quietly" upgrade it to a smartphone, you'll get a courtesy note from AT&T saying you have been retroactively upgraded to the appropriate plan.

Not saying it's right. Just saying what AT&T tends to do.

Check your contract, though. In the postpaid plans, the ability to upgrade to "adapt" to different phones you put on their network is clearly spelled out as a right they have. I don't know about the GoPhone, but I bet there's a clause there.