Ask a AT&T Rep!

[Jeremy]

One of our forum members, postalUT, who currently works for AT&T has been kind enough to lend a helping hand to try to answer any AT&T related questions you may have. Simply post it here in this thread and he will try to help you out the best he can.

Please keep in mind if you do ask a question you may not get a answer right away, so please be patient.

Thanks again to postalUT!

 

[Rene Ritchie]

This is awesome! Thanks so much!

 

[blakejackson]

I don't claim to know everything, and unfortunately some things just aren't possible when it comes to getting our devices to do everything that we want them to do, but like ash said I will ATTEMPT to answer any questions you may have that are at&t specific. Also, I may not always respond immediately, but I will try to keep up with this thread as much as possible. Fire away!

 

[Dervish]

Awesome, thanks for the offer, Blake. May I be the first to ask when AT&T will offer tethering to my laptop? I bought my iPhone 3G in early January when there was word that AT&T was going to announce this functionality at Mac World. So far, nothing. I love my iPhone but am very tempted to jailbreak it just so I can tether. Calling AT&T doesn't help - all the CSRs play dumb like they have no idea what I'm talking about. Frustrating! TIA....

 

[blakejackson]

They more than likely don't know what you are talking about. The carrier updates that have started coming down through iTunes seems to hint at the fact that they are preparing the iPhone OS to communicate with the AT&T Communication Manager desktop application that laptop cards use to connect to the internet. I don't know this for a fact, but its just a guess. Unfortunately, I am on FMLA leave from work right now, so I won't get any official company updates until March. Given how easy it is to jailbreak an iPhone, I would (and did) just do that. Waiting a year for the Blackberry Bold taught me not to wait on AT&T if there are any other viable options. If you are unfamiliar with the process of jailbreaking, there are multiple threads on this forum, or you can pm me.

 

[Dervish]

Thanks, Blake, my worries (and other's whom I've read a lot from on this topic) are worried about warranty issues with jailbreaking, or some other adverse reaction from AT&T if they discover that suddenly you are passing lots of data packets without a data plan. I just bought this damn thing so I don't want to ruin it for myself down the road.

Cheers,

- Dervish

 

[blakejackson]

Well, technically you are paying for a data plan, but I understand what you are saying. I can tell you that at&t will probably charge an additional $30 per month for tethering when it is available. That is what it costs on the Blackberries and other PDAs at least. Of course, you can't put a price on being an honest consumer. Whether you decide to jailbreak is up to you, I can see the pros and cons of either decision.

 

[AZMerf]

Any more info on the upcoming MicroCell? My phone is useless at home and I am hoping something like this helps, assuming it costs little or nothing per month. I don't mind paying for the gadget but it would really be rubbing salt in the wound if they also charged me extra to use my phone at home.

P.S. Assuming you're a father, congratulations!

 

[JustinHorn]

Any more info on the upcoming MicroCell? My phone is useless at home and I am hoping something like this helps, assuming it costs little or nothing per month. I don't mind paying for the gadget but it would really be rubbing salt in the wound if they also charged me extra to use my phone at home.

P.S. Assuming you're a father, congratulations!

I don't think you will technically get charged "extra", but you kind of are because you are using your own bandwidth you are paying for vs att's network yet they still charge you for minutes.

Not 100% sure on how it will work, but I'm pretty sure that's how it will be.

 

[Nellybelly333]

Thanks blakejackson, awesome of you to offer up your help.

 

[blakejackson]

Glad to do it! Love your avatar by the way. The Office is the funniest show on television IMO

 

[Nellybelly333]

Glad to do it! Love your avatar by the way. The Office is the funniest show on television IMO

Yes! Could not agree more!

 

[ndrone1]

Hi!

Can I get some apple people help please? So I'm considering joining the bandwagon REALLY late and getting this iphone 3g refurb for 100 bucks. I'm on a family plan with att and want to buy this on one of the numbers that is eligible for the $100 price (duh). The problem is that my specific line is not eligible for that price. Can I buy the phone for a different line and then activate it with my sim card in my current phone? Thanks for your help! I'm considering buying it tonight, so the sooner the better!

Thanks,
Nate

 

[blakejackson]

Yes, you SHOULD be able to buy it online under the number that is eligible to upgrade, then when it arrives, put your current sim card attached to your number in the iphone. When you do, the phone will want you to connect to itunes. Connect the phone, then follow the activation process. The only problem is, this method will attach a two year contract to both the number you use to upgrade to the iphone, and to your number as well.

 

[dtsommer]

Wi-Fi with AT&T

Hi!

I am new to the iPhone, but am super excited. I am wondering if I can use the AT&T HotSpots to log into AT&T Wifi with my MacBook. Do I get this access when I have an iPhone? Or do I just get the chance to do it from my iPhone?

Thanks!

 

[blakejackson]

It will be for your iphone only. The only way to access those hotspots for free is to sign up for at&t high speed dsl for your home. Of course, you could jailbreak and use pdanet and tether, but that is another issue entirely.

 

[nursgirl#IM]

just double checking my info... I have Sprint but am willing to cancel contract to go to ATT for iPhone... if I walk into ATT today and buy iPhone and start contract they can port my phone# BEFORE I cancel Sprint right? I wanted to do that then I'll just come home and cancel Sprint.... I was afraid if I cancelled Sprint first then I won't be able to port my #....
btw, I think it's awesome that you are so willing to help us out!!! thanks!

 

[blakejackson]

just double checking my info... I have Sprint but am willing to cancel contract to go to ATT for iPhone... if I walk into ATT today and buy iPhone and start contract they can port my phone# BEFORE I cancel Sprint right? I wanted to do that then I'll just come home and cancel Sprint.... I was afraid if I cancelled Sprint first then I won't be able to port my #....
btw, I think it's awesome that you are so willing to help us out!!! thanks!

You are correct. Before we can touch your contract with Sprint, we will verify that your number can indeed be ported over. You are also wise not to simply cancel your contract with Sprint beforehand. If you did so, it is rather unlikely that you could get your number back. I am glad to help!

 

[hdyoung3]

Jailbreak and Data plan

I have AT&T and use win mobile phones for work. If I jailbreak a new iphone I got from them, could I get a PDA plan to be able to use either iphone or win mobile?

Can these phones share one data plan.

Of course, when I got the iphone, I had to change from a PDA plan to iphone plan.

 

[blakejackson]

jailbreaking wouldn't do the trick, you would have to unlock an iphone so you could just drop your sim in it. the pda plan, or any unlimited data plan would work, but your visual voicemail won't work when using the iphone.