Question about using Smartphone with no Data Plan on TMO?

[diesteldorf]

Prior to getting a smartphone back in 2010, I was prepaid only, At the time, TMO offered a prepaid plan for $100 per year for 1000 minutes. It was the perfect plan for me at the time.

I still have the line with credit on the account. By putting at least $10 on the account per year, I keep extending the line and tje minutes roll over. It seems better than letting the line lapse and throwing the existing credit down the crapper. Plus, I still use the phone occasionally when I travel.

I am currently using an unlocked Cingular phone-circa 2006.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_6030

I spoke to a TMO rep and asked her if I could use a smartphone on my existing plan and she said absolutely. You'll just get a new sim card but we won't activate data on your account.

Needless to say I am skeptical, but I figured I would post here and see if others were using smartphones on TMO--prepaid or postpaid---without a data plan.

I know At&T and Verizon won't allow it.

Regardless, I would hope the TMO would at least notify me before automatically changing my plan.

I finally succumbed to temptation and got this:

Amazon Fire Phone 32GB 4G LTE at T Unlocked Smartphone w Prime Warranty | eBay

Even if I can't use it on my TMO line, I won't be totally crushed, since it'll be a fun project to root the phone, install Cyanogen Mod, and use on Wifi. I am not totally sold on Prime Membership either, but it could prove useful.

However, if I could use this throwaway phone on my current TMO prepaid plan, sans data plan, it would be a huge upgrade from my 2006 relic.

 

[Rukbat]

Ask them to activate a nano SIM card (and buy a set of adapters first, so you can put the card into any phone). Put it into your Nokia. Walk out.

The SIM will still work if you put it into a smartphone, but you won't get data.

(If one TMobile store [or even an AT&T store] won't do it, try a different one.)

You can't do it with Verizon, because it's the phone's ESN that's used to activate the account, not a SIM card. (SIM cards in CDMA phones - Sprint and Verizon - are just for data.)

 

[diesteldorf]

Thanks for the tip. I thought about that option and have heard of people doing the same thing on AT&T. However, it always seems like AT&T will get wise after a few months and advise them that their plan needs to be switched to one that includes data.

Now, granted, I am talking specifically about TMO. It sounds like they are much more liberal or just don't care if people do this, which is great for me.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[boogas8]

Yes, you can use a smartphone. T-Mobile doesn't care what phone you use for a plan. I wouldn't worry about buying the adapter as suggested earlier because T-Mobile is now selling the tri sim cards. So the adapters are built in and you can make it any size you want.

Sent from my LG G4 via The Uncarrier

 

[diesteldorf]

Just wanted to provide an update.

I was lucky enough to find another TMO sim sale online and got a $15 3 in 1 activation kit shipped to me for $0.99 + Tax.

Didn't even open it before I called them and asked them to update the sim on my account.

I put it in the basic phone to insure it worked. Then I popped it in my unlocked Fire phone.

It worked great. However, I was concerned when I forgot to disable cellular data on the phone and actually ended up using around 15 MB of data. I figured I could be in deep trouble if my Legacy talk and text plan had an outrageous data rate.

When I woke up today, I checked my account to assess the damage and saw none, but when I tried to access cellular data again, a friendly message popped up, asking me to update my plan.

So, now I have my old talk and text plan on a 2014 smartphone and can use data on wifi.

It's funny, because around two weeks ago, I bought a $7 Samsung Basic phone that I was planning to use on the line, simply because it could charge via standard USB and was not limited to the proprietary Nokia branded one.

I am still not sold on the Fire OS, but it's a really nice phone for the money and should be even better if I update it to Cyanogen.