Number porting to GV - my experience
jimates:
Once the port is 100% complete the cell should stop working.
Everton:
How much testing have you done with your ADT Alarm System, since the switch over? If you haven't done some extensive testing over many days, I would highly recommend it. Did you have to do anything "special" to the OBi100 to have the Alarm System communicate successfully through GV with the ADT Central Station?
I thought the Brinks System was proprietary and could only be monitored by Brink? In other words, ADT would have to replace the panel with their own to get the system working? BTW, do you know the model number of the ADT System that is installed? Is it a Ademco VISTA 20P/21IP?, SafeWatch 2000/3000, etc.?
Quote from: Mikey_in_LA on May 04, 2012, 12:59:17 pm
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...and it rings EVERY phone in my house, AND works perfectly with my Brinks (now ADT) alarm system.
kirnkorner2001:
I just had to create an account to post a big THANK YOU for this! We've had our home phone number for 17 years, and we didn't want to give it up.
I went to a T-Mobile store on Wednesday and got the cheapest prepaid phone with the cheapest plan. I even told the sales rep immediately that I wanted to port my home number to this mobile phone, and he got on with customer service to make it happen. I had a copy of my bill so I could give them my info right away to start the port process. I was really concerned because we used Charter Communications for our home phone provider, but it went really smooth. For what it's worth, the cheapest phone is REALLY bad. I hate everything about it, but it's only temporary. I'm thinking it will make a good shotgun target ;D
I received a text the next morning that the port was complete. Calling out from the mobile phone showed the correct number, but calling the number still rang our home phone. I called T-Mobile, and they said the port would not be complete for up to 24 hours when I received the text. So I waited...
The port complete this morning. I started the process with Google Voice just an hour ago, so no word from them yet, but the port is started!
I'm super excited to be able to keep our number! This thread has been very valuable. I will forward to anyone who is thinking of doing the same thing.
jerme:
Ok my turn! My number to be ported was previously a POTS number from Pacific Bell / SBC, which got ported to various cable bundles before making its way to Vonage. Vonage sucks and OBihai is awesome so I wanted to port the number to GV and use it with the OBi110.
Porting method: Vonage -> T-Mobile Prepaid -> Google Voice
Hardware requirements: T-Mobile Prepaid SIM Activation Kit, unlocked GSM wireless phone
Day 1 (Saturday): Ordered the T-Mobile SIM Card Activation Kit from the T-Mobile website. $6.99 - $5.00 "web only discount" = $1.99, plus tax, free shipping via USPS (with a tracking number, yay). It has an initial $3.34 value.
Alternatives - I tried going to several T-Mobile stores earlier in the day, and just like everyone said here, the reps would not activate a SIM without putting minutes on it. Prices ranged from $10-$20 for the activation kit, plus minutes. There are also vendors on Amazon marketplace selling the same kit for ~$6 with free standard shipping (not Prime).
Day 5 (Thursday): Received the SIM card and activation code in the mail. Went to T-Mobile.com/PrepaidActivation. Activation code didn't work for some reason, so I called (877) 778-2107 with another phone and support gave me a new activation code. Back on the website and filling out all the details (activation code, SIM number, IMEI from the unlocked phone, etc.), I was assigned a T-Mobile number.
Note: I already had an unlocked GSM phone lying around. You'll need wireless phone, i.e., you can't complete the process by just purchasing the SIM kit. Amazon has unlocked phones starting around $25.
Day 6 (Friday): By early morning I received the text confirming the T-Mobile prepaid wireless line was activated. Went to the TMo website to fill in account information for the new line. Called (877) 789-3106 with another phone to initiate the Vonage-to-TMobile port, providing the rep my Vonage account number and PIN. Called again 4 hours later to find out that Vonage holds the number for 10 days, which is in line with information found on this Vonage forum thread. >:( Unfortunately landlines don't have the same time restriction for porting that wireless lines do, but at least the 10 day wait is during the middle of my billing cycle.
Note: Do NOT run out the phone minutes. You run the risk of losing the ported number should your account balance run out.
Day 15: In the wee hours of the morning, I received text msg from T-mobile welcoming me to their network. I logged into Google voice (I had created a dedicated account prior, which apparently solves a lot of issues with OBi devices) and initiated the port from TMo to GV, checking series of boxes confirming any possible risks during the porting process, typing my TMo acct number (1+the number to originally be ported), name, address. I paid the $20 through Google Wallet, then returned to main screen. At the top of the screen:
"You have a porting request in progress. Click here to view the status."
I clicked the link, where I saw this message:
"Your request to port (XXX) XXX-XXXX has encountered an error. Error Code: Password/PIN required or incorrect(Prepaid PIN required)."
I filled in Billing Account Pin and Last 4 digits of account holder's Social Security Number.
Day 16: Logged into my Google Voice account and noticed that the system had left me a message:
"Welcome to Google Voice. Google Voice gives you a single phone number that rings all of your phones, saves your voicemail online, and transcribes your voicemail to text. Other cool features include the ability to listen in on messages while they're being left, block unwanted callers, and make cheap international calls. We hope you enjoy using Google Voice. " The port was complete, 2 minutes shy of 24 hours.
In the afternoon I received an e-mail from Vonage confirming cancellation of account. Also, by that time the T-Mobile line was no longer active. Both prior accounts are inaccessible, but I'm going to keep an eye out for any charges Vonage may try to sneak in.
Just another drop in the bucket for this thread but methinks it'd be helpful for anybody else out there who is porting out of Vonage. I didn't have to deal with Vonage customer service at all. Aside from the SIM activation on TMo, everything went smoothly, just took a while with the Vonage 10 day waiting period. Thanks Obihai and thanks OP!
carolynm:
I bought an OBI and successfully transferred my Verizon landline number to ATT gophone but now Google Voice says it doesn't currently support the area...
I have received calls on the go phone dialed to my original landline. Is there any chance there is some lag here ie GV doesn't see this as a mobile # yet? Should I wait a day or two before I explore other options? FWIW I typed the # into Callcentric and it says it will port.
Is Verizon totally out of the loop or do I need to cancel?
Thanks for any assistance. I really wanted to get this # to GV.
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