Technology Question About Cell Phones

I have bought used phones from eBay before, popped in my SIM card and kept on a going. If you're changing phones you just need to make sure the SIMs are compatible.

I am not sure if this is your concern or not, but do you not want to be forced to change your plan? We were Nextel customers that got absorbed by Sprint. We still have our 8+ yo cell plan and are grandfathered until we give it up. It is considerably cheaper than the plans they have out there now, but it does have many limitations of things that just didn't exist back then.

A couple years ago we did get new cell phones (the old ones weren't capable of texting!). We did have to sign a 2 year contract but it was for the same plan with the same terms as before.

HTH

I'm sure you have Centennial. That's who we had when AT&T bought them out. You will qualify for a new phone if you sign a new 2 year contract with them. I would imagine that's the route you're going to have take soon anyway. I don't think Centennial exists anymore. So, you already have service through AT&T, it's just under a different name.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a phone that doesn't require a data plan to work. If all you want is to be able to call and text, you might want to look into a prepaid phone. They are usually cheaper and don't come with all the contracts and stuff.

Yes, you can do that. We buy old phones when ours break to avoid buying an expensive one and signing up for a big contract. So long as it is a phone that works with at&t (like mine is a samsung and that is what we did).

here are some good tips about buying old phones:
http://cellphones.lovetoknow.com/Buying_Used_Cell_Phones

http://cellphones.lovetoknow.com/Locked_And_Unlocked_Phones

You can buy a used phone to avoid signing an extended contract as long as it's an AT&T phone. One thing to keep in mind is before you buy it ask for the number on the phone (I forget what it's called but it's usually located under the battery, you could probably call AT&T to make sure). When you have the number call AT&T and make sure you can add that particular phone to your service, they can also tell you if it requires a data plan. This is just to ensure to don't buy a stolen phone or a phone that's still under contract. We did this for hubby's phone but we have verizon. Good luck!

You could do that, but you probably qualify for a free phone after having yours for three years.

You didn't say what your old carrier was called... but yes, with AT&T you can take your SIM card out & put it in any AT&T cell phone and it will work with your number & service plan. I keep our old phones just in case, so I have something to at least make & receive calls with.

You could even buy the $20 "Go Phone" or whatever it's called & use that.