yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android General] gtmaster303:
AT&T may detect what phone you have. Whether or not they force the data plan on you is entirely up to them. I've used AT&T branded smartphones (Captivate, Captivate Glide, Atrix 2) before with a data block enabled by AT&T. They knew very well what I was using. You could see the phone in my online account. Even if I tried turning on data, my phone would say it can't load pages because it has no data connection. AT&T never noticed my phone was requesting data, and never forced me to a data plan.
[Android General] kaijura:
That seems to be the case with the docomo gnex I am using right now, the model is detected in the system but I haven't been bumped onto smartphone plan as of yet with a pre-cut microsim, that has been 4G/LTE capable.

Wonder why it does not work for you if you happened to turn on data? In the past, using data is inevitable if the data option is turned on, we just get billed in amounts comparable to highway robbery per MB transfer.

Edit: talked too soon, definitively flagged.
[Android General] gtmaster303:
I had them put a data block on my line from their end to avoid "accidental" charges.
[Android General] runtohell121:
So only phones from "China" or outside of US might be safe to use with medianet plan? Like Xiaomi, Meizu, and other brands, as long as it isn't a major brand?
[Android General] kaijura:
Depends on your goals.... there's three ways to it:

1. Buy the latest and greatest device as soon as it comes out, stick with it until/when/if it gets flagged

2. Buy stuff that are under the radar and don't get a lot of sales. In the past this was usually stuff that AT&T doesn't carry (e.g. Motorola Droids, Sony Xperias), but now as AT&T's adding more, going with obscure manufacturers are safer

3. Buy something that has been out for awhile and still works, because AT&T overlooked it.
[Android General] inurb:
I've been playing this game for 9 years. I've saved quite a bit on data ($10 vs $30 a month) I save $240 bucks a year, over two years thats $480 which I then apply towards a new unlocked unbranded device.

If they offered a 1GB $10 a month data plan then I would go legit and even buy/upgrade devices through at&t. They like to screw you on data as the cheapest data plan they offer is 200MB for $15. That's just disrespectful lol.

Bottom line, even if AT&T gives me a brand new high end smart phone for FREE that means I have to pay $20 more dollars a month for data. I would still lose even if they give me a free flagship phone. They make their money on the inflated data plan.

If I get detected I just swap the sim into an ATT dumb phone and add medianet back onto my account. Then I swap back into my smartphone and I'm good for another month. 5 minutes of work in order to save 20 bucks a month...not bad.
[Android General] lovem:
Absolutely, irrefutably right!

I was just laughing inside at a retail store rep trying to tell how great the NEXT plan is. Total joke & still a waste of money buying from them.
[Android General] ryanmeray:
This is the core of why I won't give AT&T another damn cent. They haven't subsidized a phone purchase of mine since 2005 or so, when they were giving away unlimited data plans for $20 a month. I figured at the time that unlimited data would only get cheaper as time went on. Then they realized that everyone was a sucker and they'd pay through the nose for data on their iPhones and ****, and next thing you know you're lucky to get 300mb for the same price as your previously unlimited data.

If AT&T would just say "All data is postpaid and flat out $10 per GB," I could live with that. Or go to a rollover data plan. Or offer a fairly priced smartphone unlimited plan like the one they killed a few years ago. Bah.
[Android General] chernomorez:
Moto MB525 / T-Mobile Defy got flagged
[Android General] joecool1029:
N9 is probably flagged, I've gotten a text and other people have on talk.maemo.org starting the beginning of this month. They haven't switched the plan though and OLAM still shows it as unknown. I like this phone way too much, will probably port my number to my t-mo line and drop AT&T if it keeps up, I'd rather deal with slightly crappier service to use a reliable phone.

EDIT: Agree with Ryan above, except I've never ever subsidized an AT&T or T-Mobile phone. I did not approve of the disabling of phone features in the pre-smartphone era, and don't agree with the current "low mileage lease" options offered today with current devices. Finally, classifying different devices with different charge tiers for what is technically the same service, violates net neutrality. This is akin to a home ISP charging an additional fee for the ability to use netflix, or maybe even better, classifying a new gaming system as a "high utilization device" and jacking the rates. For us users who have been on the service since pre-smartphone era, the new plans amount to a bait and switch and a cash grab by AT&T.

Hard to feel bad for a company that *****es about the strain on its network, then gifts $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in spectrum to its only significant GSM competitor.
[Android General] redsrule2500:
These two latest posts are a cause for concern; older devices being flagged now....
[Android General] kaijura:
Seems to be a pattern like that for the past few months.

i9100

Docomo gnex

Older Xperias

Now defy is going back further. I doubt it's this list though, cause some of the phones I gave from back in the day (listed) are still working today.
[Android General] redsrule2500:
Gotta start somewhere? I still doubt it, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Why do you believe those two to be the only recent phones that would work?
[Android General] kaijura:
I'm specifically referring to motorola in that post from 2 months ago. I believe they work because they were verified by others who use medianet.
[Android General] joecool1029:
Again, they haven't actually changed the plan on mine, so this could just be the company spreading FUD to non-smartphone users.

EDIT: I should note I have 2011 XPERIA's on as well, no texts or issues there.
[Android General] redsrule2500:
What exactly did the text messsage say? I assumed you were flagged for using and switched automatically like many have said in this threat. Doesn't seem to make sense that they would say "Hey you're using a smartphone , we're switching you!" and then not switch you....

What does your phone show up as in your account on att.com?
[Android General] joecool1029:
Phone shows up as unknown. I get the same "we're adding 3GB" plan msg's that others are getting. The change just doesn't happen. Been getting them since the start of the month.
[Android General] gtmaster303:
Got the message for a mandatory smartphone data plan on brand new Nexus 4 in less than 1 day. The line originally had an iPhone 5. Reported stolen to ATT. Switched to basic phone with medianet then nexus 4. But my account online still shows an iphone, no matter what I use.

What gives?

Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
[Android General] kaijura:
Need to wait, at least a day or two minimum with the sim in the phone and it will eventually show up in OLAM.

I believe the sweeps function independently of OLAM - sweeps first, system is updated/synced later at unknown intervals.
[Android General] chernomorez:
I actually got two messages. One was a warning - $30 plan will be added if you continue using a smartphone. The next day the message was - we've added 3gb plan. On both days OLAM was showing my phone as mb525, but older data options were still available.
[Android General] gtmaster303:
Dumbphone was in use for at least 2 weeks. Iphone on OLAM never changed.

Do they really know what I'm running or are they just assuming it's an iphone?

Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
[Android General] kaijura:
Do you have at&t data block enabled on that line?

From what I noticed, when I had AT&T data block - they didn't scan my phone in OLAM until I began using data without any data plan on the line.

When I blocked data on just the phone only (not in OLAM) it would still scan and have my phone in OLAM (if recognized) once and awhile. I think that's the same case with a couple users here using S3's but mobile data disabled on the phone side, and no plan selected in OLAM (not blocked).
[Android General] gtmaster303:
There was a data block from AT&Ts side for that phone. I switched it to medianet in olam and then swapped to the nexus 4. But this entire time, all it shows is iphone. I just went in and manually changed the phone picture right now to an unidentified phone.

EDIT: Just logged into my account again, and the iphone picture is back. They must really believe I'm using the iphone. How? I have no idea

But if they really thought it was an iphone, they would have never given me the medianet option.

Olam usually updates very quickly for me. Within an hour.

How long does it take for them to force the correct data plan after they send out the message? (If they force it at all)

Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
[Android General] chrism.brunner:
Anyone know if any of the nokia lumia phones are working?
[Android General] bedwa:
Both Droid 3 and Droid Bionics are working with appropriate modifications. Just fixed up a D3 and swapped back to a Bionic due to financial constraints. (One S was worth more sold, than being used and bought bionic for half that.)
[Android General] redsrule2500:
What do you mean you switched from a Droid 3 to Bionic due to Financial Constraints? (You then said one 's' was wroth more sold..? what?)
[Android General] bedwa:
Switched from a One S to a Bionic. Also bought and modified a D3 for someone. I was rambling, my apologies.

(Was in a financial bind and was able to sell my one s for about double what the Bionic cost.)
[Android General] kaijura:
just read that straight talk is now offering LTE.. anyone with ST here and a lte-capable medianet phone can verify this?
[Android General] mrand:
Detected Defy

Do you see where they changed anything regarding your plan though?

My wife's Defy got a text on the same day you posted. One text one day said she needed a plan, and the text the next day said a plan had been selected.

But I've been watching the account and nothing has changed on it - it still shows the MediaNet plan. Are they waiting until after the current billing cycle (9 days left) to make the change, or will it appear at the last minute on the current bill?

Think if I swap the SIM over to a dummy phone overnight before the 9 days are up, it'll cancel the change for a month? Otherwise I guess I wait until the next billing cycle and do it then.

But I can confirm that AT&T now properly detects the phone as "Motorola MB525" (using the method shown in the OP). Our Galaxy S3 mini is still marked "unknown unknown". Might have to move the wife over to that.

...Marc
[Android General] kaijura:
No idea about the Defy - don't own one. Keep on the lookout and let us know if it ends up actually going through.

But once you are flagged (where you can see it in your data features in OLAM), you must contact CSR to revert it - swapping your SIM into a dumbphone won't revert you back. In other words, you will continue to get billed $30/month for data if you do not contact CSR to revert the data plan change.
[Android General] kaijura:
FWIW, I think I've seen people on HoFo talking about medianet windows phones. Can't say for sure which models they were.
[Android General] mrand:
Detected Defy

Ugggg. I've skimmed the thread and might have missed it, but if I do the dumb-phone swap-out temporarily, do they typically automatically flag again with a month or two (in which case I'm going to give up), or is it a few months reprieve?

Thank you!

...Marc
[Android General] kaijura:
They flag whenever they run the sweeps across phones in the network for known smartphones not authorized to use the dumbphone plan. Here in California I've gotten detected within a day (just hours) after putting a SIM in. From what I've seen in this thread, for some others in rural areas like some of the midwest/east didn't get flagged until days or weeks.

Your other option is to disable data (settings > wireless / uncheck mobile data) and have at&t block data on your phone (optional) and you can continue to use a flagged device without incurring data charges. Only problem issue there is then you can only get data through wifi.
[Android General] Fuzzums:
Motorola Defy Flagged

I have a Motorola Defy and got flagged on Tuesday 9/10/13. I had to place my the SIM card in an old dumb phone and call back AT&T to have them change back the plan. At that point I then said screw it, and got an S4 T-Mobile phone from a friend who no longer needed it ( he went with a company phone). I got flagged in the unlocked S4 not even 2 hour of use. So AT&T is getting faster at flagging devices in California at least. I've given up trying to keep this AT&T data plan, but it was a nice run while it lasted. Saved me over 480 dollars in the past 2 years.
[Android General] sumeet909:
That doesn't work with AT&T branded smartphones. Data block only works with non-AT&T phones.
[Android General] gtmaster303:
Something interesting I noticed is that the Nexus 4 I was running was always connected to the network with an H+ symbol next to the service bars. My Relay switches between 3G and H+. 3G when I'm not actively using data. Is there any way I can force H+ to stay all the time? Because it takes a few seconds to switch to H+ sometimes and slows me down. Data speeds are good though

Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
[Android General] kaijura:
It's called fast dormancy, look it up and read about how it works. Samsung stock roms tend to have it enabled by default.
[Android General] Mephisto Zap:
Is the WAP.Cingular the APN that your supposed to use?

I just got a xiaomi mi2, really like it by the way. And was gonna use the new $35 gophone plan. I currently have the $60 plan and it says im using a basic phone and wants me to switch lol. Which I plan to do in a week or so when my current plan expires.

And what speeds is everyone getting? I've seen as high as 13 something on 2gb plan.
[Android General] kaijura:
Medianet apn is capped at around 10-12mbps from what I've read around. I've never personally made it above 7.5 and that was right under an AT&T cell tower with - 50dBm signal.

Theoretically, AT&T's 3g/HSPA network is capped out at 21Mbps. Only Tmo can Theoretically achieve 42Mbps due to DC HSPA tech.
[Android General] gtmaster303:
I'm running CM10 on my Relay, but thanks I'll look into it. I never would've known what to search for

Sent from my Galaxy S Relay
[Android General] me4tux:
Hi all,

I haven't been keeping up with this thread, and I just did a quick read and noticed lots of changes to ATT's methods to catch up with folks on the older plans.

I am hoping some of you can help clarify this: Am I am still able to use my existing ATT line on an Apple iphone (any model, jail broken or not) with data DISABLED ?

I have a very old ATT line, and I am certain I have the SMARTPHONE EXCLUSION feature, although I can't see it anymore in the new OLAM webpages recently. I don't have a data plan ever on my account, although a data feature shows up as "Pay Per use data" which I never get charged anyways since my current phone has data disabled on the device itself. On OLAM, my phone is undetected, and I am currently using a Moto Defy+ (MB526) running Android 2.3.3 which I bought unlocked from Australia.

So, in summary, I want to use my ATT line on an iphone without data, will it work?

Thanks for any advice...
[Android General] gunnayn:
I have an ATT smartphone that had data block put on around 2005 or 2006. I remember reading that they grandfathered this feature in. It now only applies to the specific phone that you have and not the sim itself. So if you take the sim out and put it into another phone you will lose the data block feature. I just found it on the ATT site. Here you go http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB418455&cv=820#fbid=PCxCXMM4j9R.
[Android General] me4tux:
Thanks for the link. I guess ATT does have a documented policy.

While I am not too sure, how I have gotten away with using the sim card in different smartphones is probably due to using purely foreign smartphones whose IMEI numbers are not registered with ATT.
[Android General] ccrows:
bump...
[Android General] mrand:
Nobody answered you because there is no definitive list, and as we've seen over the past two weeks, AT&T continues to add more phones to the detected list.

...Marc
[Android General] mrand:
It went through... guess the first post of the thread should probably be updated [Motorola T-mobile branded Defy is detected and displays as "Motorola MB525" when you click to change devices in the How-to center].

Here's the details:

One MB525 T-mobile branded Defy (not Defy+) was on MediaNet for $15/month (no texting plan) and has been for a few years. A second MB525 is active with no texting or data services.

The first one was automatically switched to the $30/month DataPro 3GB for Smartphone plan, with no radio button option to disable it or change it to a different kind of plan - i.e., it doesn't offer the option to decline the dataplan, nor change it to the 5 GB or 300 MB plans ($20/mo). I assume I could call and request those, but I find it highly annoying they won't let you do this online.

The second phone still has the "MediaNet Data Unlimited for Non-Smartphones" available, presumably because a dataplan has never been active on this line.

I was planning on changing the first phone to an international S3 mini, but with AT&T releasing their own S3 mini, combined with their success at detecting so many phones over the past year, I'm somewhat hesitant.

...Marc
[Android General] ryanmeray:
I used my Nexus 4 for several days with data disabled on the phone with no issues whatsoever. Within an hour or two of turning data on, I began to get the text messages from AT&T about smartphone data plan necessity. I suspect their detection scheme kicks in via access to the APNs themselves, as long as your phone doesn't hit the APNs, it won't get flagged as a smartphone even if it has a known IMEI.
[Android General] bedwa:
With non-iphones, yes. But last I knew they checked imei numbers on calls and did a sweep for iPhones. So on iPhones, I would almost guarantee if you use data or not, you have a HUGE possibility of bring tagged.
[Android General] ryanmeray:
If they could sweep for IMEI numbers during calls, why wouldn't they do that against their whole database? It seems silly for them to sweep all call IMEIs and then only bother to match that against a handful of phone models.
[Android General] Alucard400:
Iphones are under a separate AT&T network.. Dedicated just for the iphones. Theyre detected faster and they get a whole nationwide database of iphones from Apple. The network just for the iphones is also the reason at&t can detect tethering from a rooted/jailbroken iphone easily unlike android devices.
[Android General] ryanmeray:
Anyone have any luck using the Xperia T or Xperia SP? I heard older Xperias were getting flagged, but wasn't sure if the HSPA model C5302 or LT30P had come up specifically.
[Android General] projectpaki:
I'm happy I found this thread because I was close to spending over $400 on a t-mobile branded phone.

I have to ask though, is anyone having success with using a flagged phone with medianet plan. I actually have an at&t branded phone (older, 2010) that I am currently using on it, and they haven't bothered me (yet). I always thought it was because I am not on contract anymore. If there is anyone out there who is successful in keeping their medianet plan with one of the newer smartphones (t-mobile or at&t) you don't have to tell me what phone but just to know there is someone, I will def pull the trigger and purchase one and see if I can slip thru the cracks as well.
[Android General] Alucard400:
Haha, you won't. trust me(or us here in the forum). you obviously haven't done enough reading on this thread to ask that question.
[Android General] ruxpin810:
galaxy s2 i900 international black

i've been lurking this thread for a while now, that's why i decided to buy my wife the s2 i900 international phone so she can keep using the $10 plan. she just got a text message today saying that she will be upgraded to a smartphone data plan if she keeps using a smartphone. i checked OLAM and the phone listed on her account is a non-smartphone so i'm not sure how they were able to detect she was using a smartphone, other than looking at her usage. not sure if anyone else has experienced this but has at&t finally caught on? what have others have done in the same situation? thanks in advance.
[Android General] tylerb1800:
International S2 is being flagged. I gave up on the phone after getting flagged three months in a row.
[Android General] ruxpin810:
how would you add medianet back onto your account? i didn't they offered this to new customers anymore. do we have the option if it was granfathered to our account? thanks.
[Android General] tylerb1800:
I always added it back via the olam chat. AT&T never gave me much hassle.
[Android General] inurb:
False. I have a data block on my sisters att iPhone 4 line. Its called a WIX data block. And it works.

---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:40 PM ----------

You have to call att and have a rep put you back on media net. Sometime they ask for the att dumb phone imei. Sometimes they don't. And media net is available to any att user who has their att SIM inside aan att dumb phone. It isn't a grandfathered plan it isn't a secret. You don't need to know a secret handshake.... If you are using a dumb phone then you can get either the 10 or 15 dollar media net plan. All depends if you have the family messaging unlimited plan. If you do then media net costs 10 bucks.
[Android General] kaijura:
Yes, just call in or use the chat on OLAM. If you go the chat method, you want to get the billing chat representative who is able to make changes to your account. The tech support/whatever (it says something like These agents can't make changes to your account) can't do anything about it.

Always keep a dumbphone IMEI handy, if you don't have one just search on eBay (you'd be amazed how many sellers show their IMEIs on there) or some other site until you find a random IMEI.

After you end the CSR session, you are set. Your IMEI in AT&T's database will be automatically changed to whatever it detects you later on during a sweep. Then OLAM should update your phone's model in the website not too long after that.

This same method applies to switching from the medianet or HSPA/3G plan to the $30/min LTE plan. Give them any random IMEI of a known 4G LTE Device (ex: AT&T HTC One X) and they will provision you for the LTE plan. If you want to switch back to medianet, you have to contact them again and give the dumphone IMEI.
[Android General] kaijura:
Phones are getting scarce these days. I re-evaluated all the previously known and tested phones, there are only about ~20 phones or so that I know of which were last considered working. This isn't including the latest tech (eg, Note 3, Moto X) that comes out and is not added to their database until a short period of time later.

Maybe in another 5-10 years, AT&T may have just perfected their database (!)
[Android General] yw2012:
Anyone using xiaomi phone on medianet? They have very good specs and might fly since they are Chinese phone.
[Android General] bozzo12:
update with International Octa-core Galaxy S4

So a month or so ago I bought a Galaxy S4 octa core international on Newegg to replace my (undetected) GS2 International that had taken a bath.

I am still using my $15/month Medianet as much as I want and already went through a billing cycle. :D

No idea why...
[Android General] kaijura:
Some people in here are using xiaomi.

Do you have a special version of the Octa S4? If I remember there's the i9502 for china, and i9505 for LTE. No idea if those are flagged.

i9500 is definitely flagged based on other people's reports that I've read. The only last explanation is your S4's IMEI TAC is slightly different from the ones AT&T has stored. For some phones like SGS2/SGS3, there are always a few (call them the "1%") who don't seem to get flagged and I believe it's for this reason.