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I'm on the hunt for a phone compatible with AT&T but has no internet capabilities. Any suggestions?

Any ancient GSM phone will work, but you can also do one of 2 things:

1. Ask AT&T to disable Internet service

2. Use an iPhone, turn on Restrictions, and have a friend set the pin code. This is basically impossible to get around.

ohio jones wrote:

Straight Talk uses the local mobile towers. That said there are simple flip phones that are compatible with AT&T. You can call your local AT&T store or go to their website for options. Hopefully that's useful.

Josh wrote:Use an iPhone, turn on Restrictions, and have a friend set the pin code. This is basically impossible to get around.

This could work very well. Restrictions (found by going to Settings>General>Restrictions, at least in iOS 9) provides a very easy, built-in way to limit the ways an iPhone can be used. If I were doing this, I would disable Safari, Siri, the iTunes Store, Apple Music Connect, the iBooks Store, Podcasts, News, installing apps, and in-app purchases, and disallow changes to account and cellular data settings (after cellular data has been turned off). There's no way to prevent WiFi use, but with Safari, Siri, and app installation turned off only apps like Mail, Weather, and Maps could use WiFi. More info here.

I don't think anything like this is built into Android, but I'm sure there are Android apps that provide similar functionality, probably with even more control.

(Note that, as always, a determined, savvy person could get around any of these restrictions relatively easily. Just as a person forbidden to access any kind of computer or mobile phone just needs to get to the nearest Walmart or Dollar General with a few hours' pay to get himself a smartphone.)

Josh wrote:
2. Use an iPhone, turn on Restrictions, and have a friend set the pin code. This is basically impossible to get around.

This works. Long ago we did this with my iPhone. Disabled Safari, my wife set the pin code. Since then, I've ruined a couple iPhones, and each time I got a replacement iPhone the Safari was disabled automatically without having to set the restrictions again. I don't know if it tracked thru the phone number, or the Apple ID. The problem is that my wife no longer remembers the pin.

Well... its rather amusing really... My phone is low tech but too low tech for any web blocking and I spend time wasted in the middle of the night looking at forums My parents still pay for my phone and I'd rather they not disable the net because I do need it on occasion, (they refuse to take me off for fear that I will just go without a phone) My hope is to find a phone I can swap the sim card into and have the other just sitting in a box somewhere. I'd perfer not spending the money on a smart phone if I can avoid it.

I recently downgraded to a "dumb phone". Thanks to AT&T mixing things up (where plans are based not on individual phones, but on the entire families plan) it does have internet capabilities. Not ideal. But the internet is such a pain to use and we have such low data for our family (this phone isn't wifi compatible) that I really won't be using it... at all. It's nice to know it's there for emergencies though, I guess? I'm living wayyyyy more phone free so far!
When I'm on my own plan (not my families), I'll just go the no data plan approach.