Activating new-to-me iPhone when I already have an AT&T account but no data plan

July 11, 2010 6:01 PM

What is the easiest -- and least expensive -- way for me to activate my new-to-me iPhone 3G considering I already have an AT&T account but do NOT have a data plan?

I already have an active phone (no data) plan with AT&T and would like to activate this iPhone and get the least expensive data plan allowable.

Is it as easy as removing the SIM card from my Samsung phone, putting it into the iPhone and connecting it to iTunes? From what I understand simply activating the phone will alert AT&T of my change and they will add a data plan to my account automatically. What I don't know is if they will add the most expensive data plan unless I call or visit a store.

I am willing to get an unlimited plan if it makes the most sense financially, but since I live in a rural area that currently is only Edge accessible, I don't want to pay for services I don't use.

posted by terrapin to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

There is no more unlimited data plan -- $25 per month for 2 GB, $15 per month for 200 MB. Obviously, you should probably go with the $15/mo. plan if you won't be using much data.

What you could do is activate it and then log on to AT&T online and check which data plan they sign you up for. You can change your data plan online (under My Services > Features).
posted by puritycontrol at 6:37 PM on July 11, 2010

Best answer: I just did a similar thing with my new, unlocked Nexus One--switched the SIM card from my old non-smartphone with no data plan into the new phone. I went onto my account and added the only available data plan (at this point they didn't know I had a smartphone)--it was a $15/month unlimited data option. After a day of that, AT&T sent me a text message that said I needed to have a smartphone data plan, and that they had automatically set me up with one. The plan they selected was the $25/month 2 GB option (and I read somewhere that this is what they always choose). For some reason I was unable to change to the cheaper, 200 MB data plan online--I had to call instead.
posted by Jemstar at 7:05 PM on July 11, 2010

Response by poster: I decided to not take a chance and called AT&T first. I was able to easily add the cheaper plan and was instructed to just plug it into my Mac to activate the phone in iTunes.

Had it not been that the iPhone had been previously jailbroken that would have been enough. I was eventually able to get the phone re-jailbroken and activated.
posted by terrapin at 6:43 AM on July 14, 2010