[ancienteyes]

I'm a Palm newbie, coming from over four years as a Hiptop/Sidekick fan. Only the shutdown of the needed Danger back-end service is causing me to switch to something else. webOS has always been elegant and attractive but I've never been convinced, so I decided to try living with it.

I refuse to go the contract route because I don't use much voice time. AT&T GoPhone prepaid seems to be ideal for me. I tend to use 100-200 minutes/month (a few phone calls every day), so 10¢/min is fine. Data usage is mainly plain-text email and moderate and often mobile-optimized Web. I doubt I would use more than 500 MB/month outside of Wi-Fi.

There seems to be no option on AT&T Web site for a standalone GoPhone SIM card and the $6 SIM card seems to be for postpaid service only. So I figured I would order the cheapest GoPhone package with a 10¢/min plan. Once I receive it, I will add a data feature package. Therefore I will have an active AT&T SIM card with both voice and data.

I was thinking about the unlocked Pre 2 but balked at the price and the fact that Pre 3 is looming. Then I saw the Pixi Plus on Amazon without service -- perfect. This is carrier-locked for AT&T and GoPhone is AT&T, so won't the GoPhone SIM work in this case? And since the SIM already has data added, won't the initial phone activation with Palm work?

I've been reading these forums for hours and have gotten alotta useful info but it's still not clear if I'm doing it right. Would the SIM be tied to the original phone? To prevent people like me from doing what I'd like to do?

Of course, I will soon find out myself if this works but it'll be a few more days before I get product in hand and I'm dying to know. Thanks.

[rkguy]

I didn't know you could add a data plan to an at&t SIM. Could you show me where? B/C I am interested in doing this as well. As far as SIMs, I am unsure whether at&t would lock their own SIMs from their own phones, even non-GoPhones but there's only 1 way to find out. ... Heck, I didn't even know that at&t did gophones.

[rkguy]

Op. Yup I see that you can. I will give this a try too. I will include this in the comments from my previous traveling while abroad writeup if it works.

[Pearl_Diva]

You can add a data plan to your GoPhone account for sure. SIM is not tied to any phone but AT&T can record and change the IMEI on their end. They know what you're using. They now made it easier to use prepaid smartphones since they finally got around to releasing the LG Optimus(Thrive) on GoPhone and now have better prepaid data plans.

[ancienteyes]

Some informative threads at Howard Forums. Sounds like it will work. Throttling may be an issue. Partial links since I'm still new here.

showthread.php/1717211-Gophone

showthread.php/1711893-New-data-options-3G-prepaid-smartphone

[RickNeff]

I never had a issues with a GoPhone SIM on my unlocked Pre2. I heard a rumor about once you activate the SIM inside a GoPhone device, it's locked for a few months, but I didn't go that route. I just bought an AT&T SIM and a GoPhone card and linked the 2 online.

But, it burns up the card pretty quickly if you use any data at all. I'd be sure to turn off ANY data services from doing anything automatic.

[ancienteyes]

The cheapo GoPhone arrived today. It came with two SIM cards. What the hell? One is a generic AT&T half white half orange with SKU 73057 that was already installed and is working with a funded account. The other is marked GoPhone with SKU 77287 with the SIM still intact within the overall card.

[cmahy]

FYI, to confirm what was said above. AT&T GoPhone absolutely supports data. I have a GoPhone SIM (for when I'm State-side) and use it exactly like that.

The packages that I have available to me via the online portal are:
-10 MB Data, good for 30 days, $5.00
-100 MB Data, good for 30 days, $15.00
-500 MB Data, good for 30 days, $25.00

If you purchase these, it draws on your existing on-line balance.

For what it's worth, I'm on a $1 Mobile to Mobile Rate plan (costs me $0.10 / min per USA call & approx. $0.28 / min from USA to Canada). I only get charged the $1.00 IF I use voice service. Data doesn't trigger that charge.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the AT&T goPhone account, etc..

Good luck & welcome to the world of WebOS!

[cmahy]

The cheapo GoPhone arrived today. It came with two SIM cards. What the hell? One is a generic AT&T half white half orange with SKU 73057 that was already installed and is working with a funded account. The other is marked GoPhone with SKU 77287 with the SIM still intact within the overall card.

Very odd. I have only one -- it's White/Blue on the front & Orange on the back. Branded as AT&T. Not sure if that helps you at all.

[Pearl_Diva]

I had to go with the new $2 unlimited a day, due to unexpected add ups on texts and calls. If you have to take a long phone call for whatever reason, .10cents/minute can eat up a good portion of the balance. Plus I once had my texting package run out while texting. And I also don't have to keep watching my balance except for the $2 deductuons. It's still expensive though.

[rkguy]

Hi guys. It didn't work. I got a gophone from the at&t store. I have an orange and white sim card. nothing

[rkguy]

Was I supposed to get a smartphone instead? Boo

[ancienteyes]

Thanks for all the responses and welcomes.

I'm waiting for the Pixi to come in, so I don't have any news yet. Here are the two SIM cards I received in my GoPhone package ordered online.

[rkguy]

I think it might word with the pixi plus but the Veer 4G.

[Pearl_Diva]

You can call 611 and add a data plan if there's enough in your account.

[Grabber5.0]

So do I walk into just any AT&T authorized retailer and buy a sim and minutes or do I need to go to a corporate store to do this? Also, can I just pop this into my unlocked GSM dev Pre 2 that I bypassed activation and used Impostah to sign into my palm profile, or will I need to doctor it first and do it the "normal" way?

[ancienteyes]

Grabber5.0: Others would know better than me. From what I understand, you can get an AT&T SIM anywhere and then set it up online for GoPhone service. I don't know if it has to be marked as a GoPhone SIM. I haven't received my Pixi yet, so I'm not ready to confirm the plan I've outlined.

Regarding whether one can take a SIM with existing service and put in another phone -- one of my major questions -- the AT&T GoPhone activation page says:

Are you replacing your phone?
If you already have wireless service with AT&T and you have the SIM card from your previous phone, all you need to do is insert the SIM card into your new phone and you are all set. You do not need to activate your new handset.

This doesn't say anything about the new phone can't be better or smarter than the old phone, so I take this to be unequivocal fact that SIMs are not tied to phones.

[ancienteyes]

I'm posting this on a newly activated Pixi via 3G. :-)

[Grabber5.0]

So which SIM from your GoPhone did you use, and where did you order it from?

[ancienteyes]

I'm using the generic AT&T SIM (top in my picture above) that came pre-installed and pre-activated in el cheapo GoPhone I ordered on AT&T's Web site. I had a data package ready on my account so the initial activation of the Pixi with Palm went without a hitch. Who knows if this will continue working like this but so far so good.