Data charges

[nmcarp]

I bought a new unlocked Blackberry 8320. I do not have a data plan. I called ATT and was advised that if I am connected to wifi, then I would not incur any data charges. I have used both the blackberry browser and opera mini browser (with wifi checked under setting) and I have seen some data charges. I am positive that I was always connected to wifi when I used either browser.  Why am I being charged data fees?

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

The Blackberry is a data based phone and will try to connect even when you think you are only on a wifi network. It could be email deliveries or checks?  If you truly want to shut off data, head to the blackberry forums here and see if it is even possible to only allow wifi traffic.  In general, when you use any data-centric phone, I would recommend a data plan as you may not be able to stop all traffic.

[nmcarp]

I have not set up an email acct yet, and I turn the data access off when I am not connected to wifi. Thanks for your input.

[wilcre ACE - Expert]

The best thing to do is to ask customer care to block and restrict the use of data to your line, then there is no connection other than WiFi, but this also means that MMS will not work either.

[calforester]

after seeing charges for data use on my lines I blocked all of the phones.  We haven't intentionally used this feature yet every month a tiny charge is incurred on every line without a data plan.  Now I've just signed up for messaging on my iphone but had to remove the MMS block, on all of the lines!  So I'm guessing that I will have a $2 charge per line when the bill shows up.  ATT is some how sending data through my lines and making me pay for it.  We're talking about a tiny amount of information.  Now I'll have to dispute all of this and waste more time getting it reversed.  Why do I need to unblock this feature from all lines.  I don't want to send them MMS from my phone I want to use it to update my twitter while on a trip starting today. 

[wilcre ACE - Expert]

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calforester wrote:

     After seeing charges for data use on my lines I blocked all of the phones.  We haven't intentionally used this feature yet every month a tiny charge is incurred on every line without a data plan.  Now I've just signed up for messaging on my iphone but had to remove the MMS block, on all of the lines!  So I'm guessing that I will have a $2 charge per line when the bill shows up.  ATT is some how sending data through my lines and making me pay for it.  We're talking about a tiny amount of information.  Now I'll have to dispute all of this and waste more time getting it reversed.  Why do I need to unblock this feature from all lines.  I don't want to send them MMS from my phone I want to use it to update my twitter while on a trip starting today. 

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     The iPhone line should not be billed any data charges unless you are traveling internationally, this is due to the requirement for the unlimited data to be on all iPhones that are in use on the ATTM system.