• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Buying Factory Unlocked: Does this result in cheaper AT&T data plan?

B

blackdog709

Well-Known Member
If I purchase a factory unlocked GN2 on amazon, take it in to AT&T for a SIM and a plan, do I get a better deal on monthly data plan than if I am getting the phone from them, on 2 year contract?

If we assume that T-Mobile is very poor in my area, is there any incentive to purchasing the device off-contract unlocked if I will never switch carriers?
 
blackdog709 said:
If I purchase a factory unlocked GN2 on amazon, take it in to AT&T for a SIM and a plan, do I get a better deal on monthly data plan than if I am getting the phone from them, on 2 year contract?

If we assume that T-Mobile is very poor in my area, is there any incentive to purchasing the device off-contract unlocked if I will never switch carriers?
Click to expand...

It isn't any cheaper really, you just don't necessarily have to be stuck into a contract, you can "GoPhone" it basically.
 
If the "Media Net" (for non-smart phones) plan is still available, any non-at&t branded phones should be able to have data for $10-$15/mo, plus whatever the voice plan costs. All of my T-Mo branded, and non-carrier branded phones/tablets, which have at&t's UMTS radios, all function on my grandfathered unlimited Media Net plan.

FWIW, it saves me $15/mo...doesn't always come out to be greater savings over 2 years vs. subsidized discount on some phones. Given that my T-Mo Defy was only $350 new, list price, its working out "for me".
 
colnago said:
If the "Media Net" (for non-smart phones) plan is still available, any non-at&t branded phones should be able to have data for $10-$15/mo, plus whatever the voice plan costs. All of my T-Mo branded, and non-carrier branded phones/tablets, which have at&t's UMTS radios, all function on my grandfathered unlimited Media Net plan.

FWIW, it saves me $15/mo...doesn't always come out to be greater savings over 2 years vs. subsidized discount on some phones. Given that my T-Mo Defy was only $350 new, list price, its working out "for me".
Click to expand...

Ive been an ATT customer for years but not with data...i would not be grandfathered into anything. So if this GN2 is retailing for around $700 and is on contract for $250, thats 450 divided by 24 months...or about 18 bucks a month of savings over purchase. If i only save 10-15 on the data plan...assuming i could actually get that savings, i really would be paying slightly more over the two years...for the privelwge of being off contract and not tied into the ATT carrier. Would i still get OTA updates to the OS if i am not tied to Att with contract?
 
Even if you are paying the same every month in either scenario, the benefit of buying unlocked is selling the device within 9 months or so, and using the $$ to upgrade earlier to another unlocked device.

It might seem counterintuitive but if you sell at the right time (and preserve your device and the original packaging) you can become an early adopter without costing a fortune. Lifehacker wrote a post recently about it.

How to Upgrade to the Latest and Greatest Phone Every Few Months (Without Spending a Fortune)
 
blackdog709 said:
Ive been an ATT customer for years but not with data...i would not be grandfathered into anything. So if this GN2 is retailing for around $700 and is on contract for $250, thats 450 divided by 24 months...or about 18 bucks a month of savings over purchase. If i only save 10-15 on the data plan...assuming i could actually get that savings, i really would be paying slightly more over the two years...for the privelwge of being off contract and not tied into the ATT carrier. Would i still get OTA updates to the OS if i am not tied to Att with contract?
Click to expand...

Or you could wait a few months for the price to drop. The Media Net plan shoud still be available, just not at an unlimited data plan.
 
blackdog709 said:
If I purchase a factory unlocked GN2 on amazon, take it in to AT&T for a SIM and a plan, do I get a better deal on monthly data plan than if I am getting the phone from them, on 2 year contract?

If we assume that T-Mobile is very poor in my area, is there any incentive to purchasing the device off-contract unlocked if I will never switch carriers?
Click to expand...
You can use it on Straight Talk. This uses AT&T's network and gives unlim minutes/texts and ~2gb data for $45/month. No LTE though (yet).
 
blackdog709 said:
So the Media Net plan is simply pay as you go for data?
Click to expand...

Its the data plan for "non-smart phones"...however any phone has full unternet access, as long as its not at&t branded. However, Straight Talk may be the way to go, since at&t bangs you over the head with their rates/fees.
 
You can use it on Straight Talk. This uses AT&T's network and gives unlim minutes/texts and ~2gb data for $45/month. No LTE though (yet
Click to expand...
FWIW - i had an old Iphone 3G so I tried a Straight Talk $45 talk / data plan SIM for all of September 2012
Straight Talk: It could let you dump AT&T or T-Mobile — Mobile Technology News

http://www.straighttalk.com/shopsims


Voice plan was great always worked.

The Dataplan at first seemed to work too, some hiccups with some some shoutcast streams not available on Straght talk, and in general close but sluggish speeds compared to my iPhone 4 on my AT&T unlimited 3G .

BUT THE BIG GOTCHA

Once I traveled more than 20 miles away from my Home, ZERO DATA CONNECTION.
The iPhone still showed 5 bars of signal , but the data network access was apparently being blocked anytime I left my zip code.

I even tried the tip to toggle Airplane mode on/off, with the hope that might fix the data access I believe this technique used to work, but this past summer AT&T must have caught wise to the situation.

Also if you try to reach a Straight Talk Support person - it was rather comical as I spoke to a person with a think middle eastern accent telling me I needed to plug the phone into the charger and that would fix my problem with no data connection on the phone.
 
s44 said:
You can use it on Straight Talk. This uses AT&T's network and gives unlim minutes/texts and ~2gb data for $45/month. No LTE though (yet).
Click to expand...

Well, that's good. I was just on the Straight Talk website and under Coverage, all they do is present a list of phones to purchase. There's no discussion of what networks they are using, data capabilities and map coverages. Very weird.

So I could take a gsm GN2 to, where, Walmart, to sign up
? Are there any physical retail locations?
 
Doing some research online at the ATT site and Chat. it appears that whether I purchase my own unlocked device or go with the subsidized price of $300 (wow!)...300mb of data is $40 and 450 minutes of talk is $20. No reduction in costs for bringing my own device to the party. Since I would probably keep something like a GN2 for two years, it makes more sense to get it on contract apparently. Savings is really the $400 reduction in up-front costs.
I should research Straight Talk but if there's any risk of losing national data coverage...plus not having LTE available...it would not seem to be worth the trouble.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom