Number porting to GV - my experience
jimshaw:
Many thanks to Chaiwan2000 for his very helpful guide to porting his telephone number to Google Voice. Unfortunately, I hit a roadblock and wasn't able to do the same. I set up my Obi100 and connected to an unused Google Voice account I've had for three years. But now I have a problem: How can I port my existing landline number to Google Voice without an unlocked cellphone? I have a spare LG420 cellphone from Tracfone, but apparently it's locked (from what I've read on the internet) and unlocking it would be tricky if not impossible (for me). So, does anyone know how I can switch my present landline number without buying another cellphone?
CoalMinerRetired:
> How can I port my existing landline number to Google Voice without an unlocked cellphone?
There is no way to do it without an unlocked cell phone.
> So, does anyone know how I can switch my present landline number without buying another cellphone?
This is a long thread, but the summary is Landline to Temporary Cell Phone number to GV. No work around for that.
Look through the thread for all the inexpensive pay-as-you-go cell phones people have used. You shouldn't be paying more than $25 for the phone (or SIM card only), because you only need if to work for 24 to 48 hours.
Rick:
$14.99 for the A157 at Best Buy. http://bit.ly/14HQJ28
dircom:
Quote from: CoalMinerRetired on June 18, 2013, 05:59:39 am
There is no way to do it without an unlocked cell phone.
A more accurate way to explain: You don't need an unlocked phone IF
you have a Tmo phn and use a Tmo sim, you have an ATT phn and use an ATT sim, etc etc
the reason to have an unlocked phn is if you want to use an ATT sim in a Tmo phn and vice versa
If you have a friend with a spare flip phn for example that would loan it to you for a few days, then your only cost would be for the sim card which have ranged in price from free to $9.99 recently.
jimshaw:
I've spent the better part of a week, since my Obi100 arrived, researching the move to free Google Voice phone service. The more I read, the more confused I become, probably because there's basic stuff I don't understand, basic information that I'm missing. Such as…
1) Unlocked cellphone. I have two LG Tracfones, only one of which is activated, but I've read/been told that these are locked and can't be unlocked easily. So, since I must have an unlocked phone to port my existing landline number to GV, I'm looking at the cheapest one I can find. The AT&T A157 ($15) has been suggested.
2) If I buy the AT&T cellphone, can I put a TMob SIM in it? Amazon offers a TMob SIM starter kit for about $7. Do I need to use a TMob SIM or would another make work?
3) I'm struggling with new Panasonic 6.0 DECT wireless phones that I'm finding as daunting as this Obi-GV stuff. We've never owned phones as "technical" as these and the Panasonic owner's manual is as murky at the Mississippi after a hard rain. (They replace/augment analog phones that date from the late 1980s. I'd actually like to continue to use a couple of those, but that's another issue.)
4) I have a GV number and for a few days the new phones would ring when I dialed it from my Tracfone. But an old analog phone plugged into a wall jack would not. Today the situation is reversed(!), probably because I pushed a wrong key on the new base unit ysdy while attempting (unsuccessfully) to link my cellphone to the base unit. But I guess that's not really a factor in the Obi-TMob-GV issue.
For now, what I would really appreciate is answers to Nos. 1 and 2.
Jim in Louisville
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