I have been very busy/lazy so couldn’t update my blog. There were so many things that I wanted to write about….
As Steve wrote on my previous post’s comment, AT&T has realized this little loop hole that Steve and I (and many more) have been using and decided to shut us down. For those who haven’t read my previous post, I have been using my iPhone as Go Phone, paying only $20 per month for unlimited 3G data plan.
Phone carriers always have a way of screwing people over…
At this point if you still want to use your iPhone, only way to get it is with data plan + voice plan. For those people who already paid early termination fee, I would suggest selling your old iPhone on eBay and get a new iPhone with 2 year contract. As a Mac addict and knowing that I want to develop Apps for iPhone, I just can’t give it up. At this moment I bought new 16gig white iPhone, which wasn’t available when I bought it on the first couple days.
If you want to maximize the loss, you could sell your new iPhone (after transferring the SIM to your old) and keep using your old iPhone. Personally, I would stick to new iPhone because of it’s battery usage. Even though technology has improved everything else, battery is one thing that isn’t keeping up with rest of the technology trend.
When I was standing in line to get my 3G iPhone, there were bunch of people who had their Blackberry and Treo on their belt. According to some of them, they were required(probably volunteer since the company was paying the bill) to use their corporate issued PDA/Smartphone. They wanted to get a new iPhone for personal use, for PDA’s capability rather than a phone. They wished they could just use the unlimited data plan and ditch the voice plan, but there was no way AT&T was going to let them get away that easy.
For AT&T, raising the unlimited data plan from $20 to $30 was a smart thing to do. Most Mac users don’t mind paying little extra for new technology and little something to show off. I am one of those, a Mac addict who needs to have them even-though there is no good reason to buy. When they announced the new data/voice plan, there were many people complaining but at the end, they bought it.
Two weeks ago, I got a Treo 800w for corporate use. I wasn’t going to get one, but I wanted to check my email even when I wasn’t in front of the computer. For security reasons, I wasn’t able to use my iPhone to check my corporate email. Since I don’t use my cell phone often(thanks to skype’s unlimited plan), there was no reason to have two cell phone services. I thought about selling my new 3G iPhone, but I couldn’t give it up. On the other hand, paying AT&T about $80 every month was ridiculous. So here is what I did.
Solution:
After long research, I learned that GoPhone was my best solution. I went to the store and ended my 2 year contract after paying $175 for early termination fee. I bought a GoPhone SIM card after choosing one of the pay as you go plan. I switched the SIM card inside the iPhone with GoPhone SIM card. I called in to add the unlimited data plan, and they subtracted the $20 off the balance I had. After couple minutes I was able to use my 3G network on my iPhone. For people who carry around two cell phones, this definitely could be a cheap option to keep your iPhone with a good reason.
Here is the catch. It depends on which pay as you go plan you choose, but making a call on the GoPhone is very costly. For me, I pay $0.25 for every minute of voice usage. I don’t plan on making or receiving any call on my iPhone, so I gave the new # to only my brother for emergency.
This option will only work for those who carry around another phone for voice usage. Now, you will be able to browse the internet with full size browser (#1 reason why I bought my iPhone) for $20.
