AT&T Blocks Wifi Without Plan! I Have the Solution!

Synopsis:AT&T has been known for their crook ways. From overcharging on old bills and making customers renew to get the updated prices to blocking services that customers should be getting for free, AT&T royally screws the pooch every waking minute. I just got my AT&T Blackberry Curve 8320. Wonderful device. The only difference between 8320 and the 8310 model is Wifi. The 8320 supports Wifi and EDGE networks. This article also applies to the new Curve 8820 with Wifi as well.

Issue: Who wants to pay 30 bucks a month for slow EDGE internet access when you can get a Wifi connection for free? Especially since Wifi spots are so common now, networks such as EDGE and 3G are in danger of dying out. So how does AT&T remedy the situation? By making you pay for a data plan just to use your own WIFI! They do not care if you don't want to use the EDGE...they will still charge you. Also, using a pay-per-use plan will just charge you even more whenever you use your Wifi.

Should they be charging us money for a Wifi feature we payed more for in the first place? I already pay an AT&T internet bill, so why am I being charged AGAIN? My Nintendo DS and Windows Moble PDA both use my router at no additional charge, so why can't a state of the art smartphone?

Luckily, I have found the right and only solution. This took me over 2 hours transferring back and forth between CS reps.

more...

1.Call AT&T CS at 1-800-331-0500

2. Ask them to BLOCK all data charges. Be sure to VERIFY that no charges are to be added for data usage. I told them that my son sneaks internet browsing and I get a hefty bill, so I want to block that service from him. This way, they will be happy to block data for you.

3. Now that data is blocked, you can conintue to fix your settings. From here, I assume you already know how to find your router and enter in all the applicable information. You must enter in the given PIN into your router conifig via PC web browser.

Now here is where you trick your Blackberry's Wifi...

4. Depending on your Theme (this is using default AT&T theme)

Scroll to Settings folder > Mobile Network > Turn "ON" Save Settings.

5. Navigate to Options > Advanced Options > Browser >

>Set Defualt Browser Config to "HotSpot Browser" or "Wifi Browser" (this depends on your BB software version)

>Set Default WAP Browser Config to "Community" (IDK if this is necessary, but I am always skeptical when a setting is set to "Media Net"

SAVE settings

6. Restart phone.

BROWSE!