How-to: For Users Without a Data Plan

[thvoicwethin]

First of all, I'll clarify this here. I am not responsible for unwanted charges on your cell-phone bill if your PPC does not accept everything described here. You have been warned.

This is for the Windows Mobile Users only. This will not work for the iPhone, certain palm devices, Symbian OS, nor PPCs without phone capabilities.

I am writing this for the users who do not have a data plan with their phone, and use the Wi-Fi instead. I know that this only applies to 1% of us, but hey. Even the 1% needs some love too!

So here it is. A way to use your Windows Mobile Pocket PC without being charged for a data plan.

It's pretty simple. But lets start from the beginning. If you received the from from E-bay, another user here, or a friend, here's how to activate it. It's pretty universal with the carriers. Simply call them, ask them to switch the phone you have currently on your account to another phone. They will ask you for the ESN number. If they ask what kind of phone it is (sometimes they do) tell them. They will say that the phone MUST be on a data plan. Tell them NO. Say "I do understand that this phone uses data to retrieve information and that I am responsible for paying for the data charges when they occur." They'll usually accept that. Follow their lead, and viola.

Now, to the good part. Once the phone is activated, choose your ROM. You can always switch ROMs, but make sure you have the cab file(s) OR registry edits I'm about to give you handy, they keep you from being charged.

Once the ROM is chosen, time to download the CAB file required to keep you from those HUGE charges. The CAB is by MoDaCo, called NoData. This allows or disables the DATA, Phone as modem, and other setting that you may have on your phone from dialing out.

The link to get it is here. I do not post up the CAB file without permission from said owner. I will contact them ASAP for permission to post it here/mirror it.
MoDaCo's NoData
It's free, so no worries about paying. Just sign up and download. Take a look around at their website, too. They might have some handy information you can't find anywhere else.

Now that you have that file, download it to your PPC. Drag and Drop mostly anywhere (preferably in the My Documents folder). Run the file on your PPC and let it install. Once the program is on your device, run it. It will then give you a list of what data connections you have available and if their enabled or not. It's pretty self-explanatory there. Click on one connection, and then click disable or enable (bottom left button). Then click X.

If you don't have this program already, it's very handy to have to save you battery. It's called RegEdit. The CAB file for that is here:
PHM RegEdit
Their are some newer Registry Editors out there, and some even come with the ROMs themselves. I've used PHM for as long as i had my PPC-6800/Mogul.

Let's make another thing clear. I am not responsible for any editing of your registry. Please do so at your own risk.

Follow the same steps as installing NoData. Once RegEdit is installed, open it up. Follow these instructions to enable this hidden element on your phone.

HKLM > Software > OEM > PhoneSetting >HiddenModeOperation

Double-click HiddenModeOperation and change the 1 to 0. Once done, wait 60 seconds, and soft-reset your device.

Now, follow these steps:

Start > Settings > Personal > Phone > Services Tab
Find Mode of Operation > Get Settings
Go from Hybrid > 1X Only

This is not only a HUGE battery saver, but since you don't need EVDO for calling/texting, it's not a big deal. You can always disregard this and keep those settings. EVDO is just useless to me at the moment until i get a data plan.

That's it. Your done. You can now run a Windows Mobile phone without a data plan. Simple as that. I will provide screen pictures later after i get done testing my battery life.

Enjoy & Cheers

TVW

[thvoicwethin]

Reserved because i can.