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I bought an iPod Touch for exactly this reason. I needed to replace my old Palm Vx organizer but didn't want to pay for the AT&T data plan. I have an AT&T Go Phone that is only costing me $100 a year for what little cell phone needs I have, so have no desire to get an expensive phone plan.
If you buy the 32 GB iPod Touch it comes with a set of headphones that include a microphone which can be used for wifi phone calls. See this article about how an iPod Touch can be a low cost wireless iPhone. Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business | Statesman.com (http://www.statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/technology/03/23/0323review.html - broken link)
Another option is to buy a used or new iPhone with NO service plan on E-Bay, and use its phone only via wifi connections.
Advantages of the iPhone over the iPod Touch is the iPhone comes with a camera built in and GPS, which the iPod Touch does not have.
There are rumors that a future model of the iPod Touch will include a camera.
You can use any wi-fi capable phone from t-mobile for wi-fi without the data package as long as a free wi-fi source is available. However, if you want to buy a blackberry phone and use it only with wi-fi and not a data package then you will have to buy one on ebay branded to t-mobile or unlocked from Rogers, Fido or AT&T networks and put your sim card into it. T-mobile now requires 2 years worth of data on all of their wi-fi/data capable phones because too many people were buying them for hot spot use only. They get kickbacks from blackberry if they sell the data packages.
I am having the same problem. I purchased a wifi capable smartphone from ebay (a T-mobile phone) and then purchased a sim card and voice plan from T-mobile. The phone is detecting the wifi signal but everything I try to access says "unsupported." I can't connect to anything. T-mobile told me it would work. I wonder if I should have had it unlocked? Maybe it's trying to only access tmobile hotspots? I just want to connect to internet! Has anyone resolved this problem?
If you have a Wi-Fi capable phone, and are in a HotSpot, you have to have the HotSpot service activated with T-Mobile (which I think runs around $20/month). If you have a Wi-Fi setup at home, you can do this without the HotSpot. There are alot of other places that offer "free" wi-fi browsing that shouldn't require the "HotSpot".
As far as getting Wi-Fi without a data contract, you have to buy a phone thats not contracted (like from eBay, Craigslist, etc). I am grandfathered in on my old T-Zones $5.99 plan, and use a BlackBerry 9700 phone I bought from Craigslist (also have an HD2 I got a good deal on from someone that I use with the Android Modification). My 3G and Wi-Fi work great.
Blackberry Curve 8320 has built in WiFi, so you can just use it at hotspots without getting a data package. You're obviously not getting the full use out of your phone but it will do exactly what you want it to.
I have an older blackberry w/ wifi that i no longer use. You can't get online without a data package because your traffic, regardless of whether you're on the cell network or wifi, has to be routed through the BIS. If you don't have a data package registered with the network, the BIS will not give you access.
This is an interesting take on the idea. Apparently lots of us are a bit resentful of paying for a "data plan". personally I am already paying $600 a year to access the internet. and personally, when I'm not at home accessing the wifi I just finished paying for, I couldn't care less Whose wifi it is I'm using, it certainly doesn't have to be provided by T-Mobile (and they know it, and they could make the phone work for unlimited wifi access but they choke it off to get you to pay for their plan. They're all a bunch of manipulative thieves, IMHO.)
I'm currently mulling over an ipod-touch but as someone else pointed out, i don't especially want to carry a second device and I'm not that thrilled about paying $200 plus for a device I might need once every six months.
Is that possible?
I just want to be able to connect to WiFi hot spots to get Internet access on the phone. And I do not want to pay for 3G.
Do I have to get a smartphone for this?
There is very limited information on the web on the topic, so I'm hoping for some inspiration here.
I don't know if you can do this now. But about six years ago I signed up for an AT&T prepaid plan. The plan I signed up for is no longer available but they have other pre-paid plans. I was able to use my SIM card on a variety of phones approved for the AT&T network including an HTC 8925 more commonly known as a the AT&T Tilt. This phone has Wi-Fi capability. I was able to utilize this capability and also access AT&T's 3G network.
From what I've read, you can put a GoPhone (AT&T prepaid) sim into an AT&T locked iPhone and it will work. The only trick is that the iPhone and GoPhone need to have been activated prior to the sim swap. So you could buy a cheap used locked iPhone on Craigslist, then buy a GoPhone and activate it, and then move the GoPhone sim into the iPhone and have an iPhone running on a prepaid plan, with no data. I also read this doesn't work with postpaid plans as AT&T will automatically add a data plan when it detects an iPhone on a postpaid plan on its network.
You can use any smartphone (iPhone, what ever...) to use WIFI hot spots, which in turn save you a lot of cash if you don't have unlimited service, but you still need service for the rest of the time
If you just want to make calls, or text (for example) and don't want a service provider, then you can use a late generation iPod Touch or iPad to do these things. Apple provided the right app for this purpose with their latest iPod and iPad. But there are other apps available for it out there.
Unfortunately, I like some of the features of the smartphones. Even if it's 10 bucks per month for data, I do not want to pay it as I would be using FREE WiFi hotspots. But I have the feeling that it is impossible to get a smartphone without paying for the data plan.
Here's a question: can you buy an iPhone without 3G (but wifi capable)?
If no one has said this yet;
If you buy a phone at ebay or something that is not activated, you can have a smart phone without data plan. but you can not use the phone as a phone.
I have an old iphone out of contract with AT&T. I gave it to my dd to use. When I decided that she was reponsible enough to use out of the house, I thought I could activate the phone to use as a straight phone and disable it for data use unless wifi.
It did not matter. At&T realized that I had a smart phone activated and they put a data plan on my account automatically.
So you can if you don't use your smartphone as a phone to receive calls.
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