Do You Need a Data Plan?

[raqball]

Thanks for the personal attack...

Enjoy your profit, no matter how small... I will "scrounge" up the whopping $12.50 a month and keep my Droid....

 

[verakot]

On the contrary, this worked just fine. The 2 year contract extension that one signs onto with the "new in two" does not require you to use the new phone or carry a data plan. It only requires you to continue to be a Verizon customer for the next two years. Which I will -- using my old phone.

Meanwhile, I'm about $300 richer from the sale of the Droid, less its original cost and eBay fees. I'm bummed that I no longer have it, as it really is a brilliant phone. But this was a nice consolation prize.

So you ordered a Droid for $99 ($299 - $99 rebate - $99 "new every 2"), used it for a month with a $30 data plan when sold it on eBay for $420? Then you canceled your data plan and switched back to your old phone? Yes, that's amazing that VZ missed that in a contract.

 

[hyperave]

Im not sure if you can still do this, but in my experience this is what i did with regards to smartphone. I originally ordered some phones for my family using the family share plan. then one day i decided to buy a palm treo on ebay and got the data plan to go with it as i needed it. later when a friend of mine gave me a bb storm as a gift i passed the old treo to my son without having to activate the data plan for him.

And i did all this online without having to talk to any vzw reps to help me out

So basically i forbid him to use any data and told him that any charges incurred for data is coming out of his allowances

like i said im not sure if u can still do this....

loving my DROIDDDDDD <3 <3

 

[LordKastle]

I had the Droid purchased on another line when it first came out and then took it so I could get the typical normal price of $199. When I logged in to change the ID numbers there was an option that said to add the data plan of 29.99. I clicked yes, but I assume you could bypass it.

 

[verakot]

The math just does not work...

On the contrary, this worked just fine. The 2 year contract extension that one signs onto with the "new in two" does not require you to use the new phone or carry a data plan. It only requires you to continue to be a Verizon customer for the next two years. Which I will -- using my old phone.

Meanwhile, I'm about $300 richer from the sale of the Droid, less its original cost and eBay fees. I'm bummed that I no longer have it, as it really is a brilliant phone. But this was a nice consolation prize.

2space: I just called VZ to verify if I can do that. They told me I must use the Droid with the data plan; if I switch back to my old phone that does not have data plan, they will remove the data plan. HOWEVER I will have to return the Droid back to VZ or pay the full price of the Droid ($599).

Since the Droid was released just recently, you probably did not get your VZ bill yet. They might include the cost of the Droid to your next bill, or the bill after that - that's what VZ rep told me. They are perfectly aware of that.

So looks like you will have to pay the cost of the Droid to Verizion. In this case you will actually lose $300 since you already sold it, without a right to update it within the next 2 years...

 

[LordKastle]

No...he's okay. He didn't cancel his phone line. He just sold the phone..

I have given a couple cell phones as gifts before and I am forced to register it on my phone, with or without the 2 year extension, and then transfer it to the other line.

 

[space]

2space: I just called VZ to verify if I can do that. They told me I must use the Droid with the data plan; if I switch back to my old phone that does not have data plan, they will remove the data plan. HOWEVER I will have to return the Droid back to VZ or pay the full price of the Droid ($599).

As LordKastle said, that would only be the case if I canceled the extension of the contract. I spoke with three VZW representatives before selling the Droid, and they all told me that what I was doing was allowed by my contract with no additional fees.

Your mileage may vary, do it at your own risk, etc., etc. But from everything I heard, you should be able to do what I did without additional fees -- so long as you remain a Verizon customer.

 

[Zippster]

How come so many posts around here have now become people trying to tell others how to spend their own money??? :dry:

Anyways, back on topic, I was one of the early posters saying how a couple years ago, I bought my Samsung SCH I730 and cancelled the data plan ASAP and just used its wi fi and worked great for everything I needed, no shortage of hot spots or open access. Let me say now though after having my Droid since release day, this phone absolutely needs the data plan and would be pretty much useless without it, best money I have spent in quite along time, getting the bill every month may be a different story, but the check goes out and I get over it and enjoy my droid. :biggrin:

 

[verakot]

Let me say now though after having my Droid since release day, this phone absolutely needs the data plan and would be pretty much useless without it

Can I get enough usability using the Droid with WiFi? My plan is to use it for e-mail, Internet browsing, and may be using Skype for phone calls via WiFi. So I do not need the Droid as a phone, but I'd like to use it as a WiFi communication device similar to iPod.

Any concerns?

 

[verakot]

My plan is to drop the data plan after one month. I talked with Verizon reps about this, and it is permitted by my contract, BUT they claim the Droid will no longer function without the data plan. Hmm. That sounds suspicious, since the Droid has the option to turn off data access at any time ... if you're traveling outside the country and don't want to get hit with data roaming fees, for instance.

I'll report once I've gotten it and have tried this.

I could not find your report - could you tell us if their thesis if when deactivated "the Droid will no longer function without the data plan"? I am very interested in this since I plan to use the device without the data plan. Thanks!

 

[space]

Verakot -- I'm afraid I can't tell you whether the Droid can function without the data plan, since VZW will not allow you to drop the data plan if you have a smartphone activated.

If you are principally interested in wifi-based access, to the extent that you might even use Skype for calling, why not get an iPod Touch instead? That should do everything you want at a FAR lower total cost.

 

[verakot]

I'd like to do the same thing you did - deactivate the phone and switch back to the phone that does not required data plan; but instead of selling it on eBay I'd like to use its WiFi capabilities without data plan while it is deactivated.

I am not interested in iPod Touch because I want to learn more about Android and use the Droid for development. With the "new every 2" plan it will cost me $99 compared to $399 for G1 that Google offered to developers. Also I can use it with WiFi if this is possible on a deactivated Droid.

So you have not tried WiFi while you deactivated your Droid or you just sold it without activation?

 

[space]

Got it. That makes good sense.

I deactivated the Droid by calling VZW and asking them to deactivate it and reactivate my old phone. After they deactivated it, I reset my Droid so that it would be in the "like new" factory configuration for the person who bought it. If you power the Droid on following this reset, the first thing it will want to do is configure itself, and to do this it needs to see the cell network and be activated. I didn't see any way around this. So I never had an opportunity to test wifi with the deactivated unit.

However, if you skip the factory reset step, you *may* still be able to use it with wifi only. But if you ever need to reset the unit, you'll probably need to re-activate it.

My $0.02: if you're willing to be a Verizon customer for the next two years anyhow and don't anticipate needing or wanting a different phone soon, then you may as well get it. If it absolutely can't work without activation, then you can probably sell it. (Disclaimer: please do triple check before doing what I did to make sure that your contract won't incur any penalties for deactivation! It seems to have worked for me, but ... who knows ... maybe the fine print in our contracts differs.)

 

[verakot]

However, if you skip the factory reset step, you *may* still be able to use it with wifi only. But if you ever need to reset the unit, you'll probably need to re-activate it.

My $0.02: if you're willing to be a Verizon customer for the next two years anyhow and don't anticipate needing or wanting a different phone soon, then you may as well get it. If it absolutely can't work without activation, then you can probably sell it. (Disclaimer: please do triple check before doing what I did to make sure that your contract won't incur any penalties for deactivation! It seems to have worked for me, but ... who knows ... maybe the fine print in our contracts differs.)

Just got the Droid. From what I see there is no way to skip activation and thus use it without data plan... I will try to google if somebody has done this already.

 

[verakot]

I found out how to skip activation: On the activation screen, you need to press once on each corner starting from upper left clockwise (4 times total). This will skip activation and allow you to use all feature of the Droid.