Data plan - how caries know u have a smart phone

[bereta]

Hello

I have recently got a nexus one and I'm interested in getting a data plan. I have seen advertised unlimited browsing and internet for $10 but when I go to a store and talk to a rep I'm told that those plans are only for regular (dumb) phones not smart phones like the nexus one. I have gotten this answer from other carriers not just Bell.

Can some one here give me a technical explanation of how does a carrier know what kind of phone you have? Do they check the IMEI of the phone and only allow certain models?

And what would happen if I have one of those $10 unlimited plans for a dumb phone and put the sim card in a smart phone?

Thanks

[Beer Goggles]

You're not going to fool anyone. Just suck it up and get the proper plan.

They can easily tell just by noticing that you use a Gigabyte of data. Dumb phones don't do that.

[Backnblack]

No way around it, they know as soon as you give up the IMEI number.

[bereta]

I have a work phone, a BlackBerry, on average I get about 20 e-mails a day, I read the New York times on it, I use Yahoo messenger constantly and occasionaly use google maps to get directions. I am on a 25MB plan and have never gone over. And don't tell me that BlackBerrys don't use up data. I get full HTML e-mails, and I am never worried that i will go over the 25MB. That is what I intend to do with my personal Nexus One. The problem is that its a business plan and it's over priced as well.

I don't intend to fool anybody, I just want to know if this is a method for the wireless providers to mass scam the population or if there is a real reason for this being over priced. So like I asked above does anyone have a real technical explanation for how the providers know or do they know what phone you are using? And will inserting a SIM card with this so called unlimited browsing option in a Nexus One work?

PS: You said that a dumbphone will not use up as much data as a smartphone, when on the Bell website is clearly says:

"Access the Web from your mobile phone and have a world of information in the palm of your hand, from wherever you are. With Unlimited Mobile Browser™ you won't pay extra data fees to browse the Web, watch TV or to send picture and video messages."

Watching TV on a LG Xenon will use up the same data as a Nexus One

Thanks in advance

[jakkzen]

When you insert the active SIM card into the phone and it registers with whatever network you are using, that carrier has your IMEI. The carrier will run checks, scans, and snoops, to see what type of phone it is. They will that check the IMEI against a database they have on file. If your IMEI comes up as a hit as a "smartphone", then most carriers will notify you and change your data plan accordingly.. I have seen the system at&t uses first hand. You don't even need to give the CS Rep your IMEI, they usually know what you are using based off their database. Last time you powered it on, made a call, or how many times you have swapped your SIM into another phone and back again to try and trick the system.

P.S - Like I said not all IMEI's are in the database. So eventually all Nexus Ones will be caught that are on a non-smartphone plan.

[Beer Goggles]

Bereta, I don't know about your carrier, but the general principle is that some devices use lots more data than others. I'm only a little over a week into this months billing cycle and I've used about 500MB already (and I don't consider myself as being a heavy user).

If you don't like the deal that your carrier offers, then go find another.

[jonno2k]

When I first got my N1 (on Rogers in Canada) I disabled 3G and tried to connect via Edge only... didn't work. I got a message saying "you need to subscribe to a data plan" blah blah... Like you, I already had an unlimited non smartphone plan but I couldn't use it. I still don't use more than several MB of data outside of wifi but I had to pay for it anyway.

[bereta]

Thanks for the input guys, like I said above I'm not trying to rip off the carrier, I just want to know if there rely is a difference between the browsing plan and the data plan or if the sales reps in the stores are trying to sign me on a more expensive plan so they can get a better commission. None of those reps have been able to give me an explanation as to why browsing would work on one phone and not the other.

[jakkzen]

Originally Posted by bereta

Thanks for the input guys, like I said above I'm not trying to rip off the carrier, I just want to know if there rely is a difference between the browsing plan and the data plan or if the sales reps in the stores are trying to sign me on a more expensive plan so they can get a better commission. None of those reps have been able to give me an explanation as to why browsing would work on one phone and not the other.

In reality. Data is data.. One price over another is what defines the packages. When I use my nexus on at&t it's data, and same with the milestone. You pay more for data on a smartphone because "they say" smartphones consume more data thus you pay a higher fee.

[cincon]

The way I think it works

Unlimited Browsing Plan - uses the cell voice network, much like a computer uses a modem over a voice phone line. Its very slow and your phone needs a modem built-in. When data was first brought to cell phones this is how they did it.

Data plans - use a dedicated band (i.e 3G) to send data with no modem needed (for voice modulation). Much like high speed internet over your phone line (ADLS), you need a modem but it's not translating data to voice. Its pure data being sent. Very fast

This is why unlimited browsing plans don't work on smartphones. Smartphones use the 3G data network to get their data