to ask about non smart phones

[LouisaRossini]

Hi, sorry this is not part of my skill set, so thank you in advance for your patience!

My teenage son currently has an iphone 5 which was a hand me down me when I upgraded to an iphone6.

We have a 12 month contract with O2 and he has plenty of data and minutes.

However, I no longer wish for him to have a smart phone with access to snap chat and the internet for various reasons (bad behaviour), but want him to have a phone so he can make and receive calls.

Can anyone recommend how I go about this?

1.Would I actually need to change his phone to a non smart phone (i.e not an iphone)

1. or could I just contact O2 and get them to not allow in access to the internet, snap chat etc - or is it the actual phone I need to change?
2. can anyone recommend a reasonable phone which is not a smart phone?
3. would a pay as you go contract be better?
4. what should I do first - contact O2 or go to a phone shop for advice?

So sorry I am so clueless, his Dad normally sorts all this out but he is away at the moment.

You can buy a 'dumb' phone to suit from the 02 shop - you either need an unlocked phone, or one that is tied to 02.

The problem could be the physical sim card. Iphone sim cards are the smallest ones - ie you pop out the tiniest bit - and other phones tend to use the next size up.

I have just bought a PAYG sim from 'Three' which is 3p per minute talking, 2p per text, and 1p per 100mb of data. Plan is for DD not to use any data.

We tried the O2 shop, but they didn't have a great PAYG tariff.

If you are at the end of your contract you can move the number to another network

I’ve been thinking of changing to an old Nokia. You can get SIM adaptors which can convert it from a micro sim to a bigger one.

Thanks ladies!

Go to Asda. Pick up a £20 dumb phone. Swap it for the iPhone but don’t change the number over leave him with a new number- because I think you’ll find after a blip of bad behaviour due to the injustice of it all- he will calm down and his behaviour will improve. And then he can earn back the iPhone. At the end of the o2 contract just ask them to move his number over to pay as you go.

Then when he’s early his iPhone back you can have a couple of months where he gets £20 credit a month and has to earn a contract back.

We just arranged with the provider for a no data account. Of course, they can still use WiFi to access stuff, so you need to lock it down at home and just assume they will log on somewhere when they are out of the house.

Feefee - sorry can you explain what a 'dumb' phone is?
does it look like an iphone?

LadyPeter - yes that would be better to arrange with the provider (O2) but I thought we had to change the actual phone to a 'non smart' phone. I'll talk to O2 about a no data account - then we could just turn the WiFi off at home and he would no longer be able to access snap chat.

I believe a 'dumb' phone is just not a smart phone, OP

No it looks like something that was made back in the year 2000 😂 it will just text and do calls. And maybe have snake on it. No frills whatsoever but does what it needs to do.

I can't remember who our provider was, but I don't think it was too tricky to get them to do calls and texts only. Then we graduated to a limited amount of data when they proved more trustworthy.

We also have a special box attached to our router at home than enables me to control their access to the internet on all devices, including phones - access to sites and apps, and access in terms of time, as well.

you just pick up a cheap phone from a supermarket, they have them for as little as £5 , just phones and texts.

topcat2014, that's so strange, because I've been looking at moving from Tesco Mobile PAYG and O2 seem to have the exact same tariff as you now have with Three, called Classic PAYG. On the website, at least. If I go into the shop to ask about it, will they not know what I'm on about?

dc has a cheap payg 'burner' phone.
10£ it was. we top up with 5£ every month or so (no data so not very expensive).
whatsapp etc run on the tablet over which we patents have more control (it stays in the living room)

You can buy a old style Nokia handset on amazon for £20-50. Put in his SIM card and that’s it.

@flourella - our O2 shop said, yesterday, they were not selling the 3 2 1 deal anymore -

Maybe the shops do different to online.

topcat2014 thanks. Maybe I should order one online quickly in case they pull it altogether.

The problem with him keeping the iPhone is that it will still be a smart phone, even if you ask 02 to change to a no data plan he will be able to use WiFi in places such as home or even places like McDonald's.
The only way to guarantee no access to the internet it to buy a non smart 'dumb' phone

Cheap supermarket phone and a giff-gaff £5 or £7 pound monthly goody-bag. You can even migrate his existing number if you want to.

Crappy £20 phone like this... www.coopersofstortford.co.uk/home/st10723i/