Switching from AT&T post-paid plan to pre-paid: Is it possible, any gotchas?

[Bo]

Long time AT&T post-paid customer and the deal on the Best Buy iPhone SE for $149 (from this thread: http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1...sg-2163311) has me considering going from post-paid to pre-paid. I don't keep up on this stuff but know that some here do. Also I haven't contacted AT&T yet but will to ask the same questions (Best buy rep didn't have many answers)

A few questions, all regarding AT&T specifically:

1. Would I be able to keep my number?
   
2. Can an off contract phone (my current iPhone 5) be used on a pre-paid plan?
   
3. Can a pre-paid phone be used on a post-paid plan if I decide to go back to post paid down the road?
   
4. In other words, what's to stop me from just buying the cheap SE and activating it on my post paid plan?
   
5. Presumably this iPhone SE will always be locked to AT&T...correct?
   FWIW I am out of contract on my post-paid plan and not part of a AT&T Next. I own my old iPhone 5 outright. I have no intent to leave AT&T for the foreseeable future. They've been very solid in my area.

[$tevie]

I switched from AT&T post-paid to prepaid with an old 4s that I'd bought from swappa or some place like that (been a while and my memory sucks). As long as it's an AT&T version of an iPhone, you are fine. I can't recall if I had to change my number or not, sorry. I don't think so.

However, I noticed that the SIM on the SE says it's specifically for AT&T prepaid so I'm thinking that you would need to get and activate a new SIM card to go back to postpaid.

[Mike Sellers]

4. From what I've read, you can use a Pre-Paid phone for a Post-Paid account, as long as you don't insert the Pre-Paid SIM. At least, I hope that's right since I bought one of those iPhones yesterday. Haven't tried it yet.

[$tevie]

My husband just got one of those $149 SEs, and Best Buy never bothered to activate it before shipping. Evidently there's a lot of that happening, according to the AT&T rep who helped me get it activated. So if it doesn't make calls contact AT&T and they will clear it up in just a few minutes.

[miK.]

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. Yes.
4. Nothing.
5. Phone can be unlocked after 6 months of AT&T service.

Lots more info here on this deal:
https://slickdeals.net/f/10459804-iphone...BarV2Algo1

[NewtonMP2100]

....aT&T phone for prepaid and post paid can be used interchangeably......you should be able to keep the same # as long as you didn't activate the prepaid (if it has money on the account, otherwise just move the SIM over......


....you used to more easily unlock it but too many people abused it so now AT&T put 6 month limit before you can unlock....

[testcase]

I'll be dumping ATT when my "contract" expires later this year. Apparently, said "contract" does NOT apply or bind ATT and, they can change agreed upon terms at their leisure. The final straw is that, even though my iPhone6s+ shows I have 2~4 dots of LTE service ( AND sometimes also have a WiFi connection) I'm told I'm NOT connected to the internet. :villagers:

Diagnostics run by ATT & Apple claim my iPhone is "OK".

[Bo]

Thanks for all the good info everyone!

I'm going to dig into the SD thread to see what more I can learn but it seems like this should be do-able for me.

Newt, can you explain this a bit more:

....aT&T phone for prepaid and post paid can be used interchangeably......you should be able to keep the same # as long as you didn't activate the prepaid (if it has money on the account, otherwise just move the SIM over......

Are you basically saying don't activate the new prepaid phone with an entirely new number on a prepaid account but rather I should activate on my current number and post paid account?

[bobinmurphy]

I believe the FCC rules for unlocking a phone are:

For pre-paid your account must be current and at least six months of service

For post-paid your account must be current and at least 40 days of service

I've used this to purchase GSM phones on T-Mobile, use them long enough to qualify for an unlock, then unlocked them and moved them to AT&T.

[Mike Sellers]

Just dropped my post-paid SIM card in and it works fine.