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Can't port number to Google Voice, need help with workaround

Started by w84no1, August 17, 2011, 11:42:22 AM

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w84no1

I wanted to port my cell number(AT&T Go Phone) to GV, but GV can't port the numbers in my area.  I need help setting up a work around so that I can port my number over to a voip/sip provider and use GV for call management.

I have an Obi110 and GV number.  What else do I need?  I was thinking about porting my number over to voipmyway or voip.ms.  If I do that, can I still use GV for the call management?

freakqnc

I I just went through the process and ported my Vonage number from AT&T GoPhone for a cost of:

> $13.95 refurb GoPhone, 
> $15.00 of GoPhone Credit,
> $20.00 for Google Voice porting,
> $48.95 Total

Still less of 1 month with Vonage LPOI Leeches Over IP!

What problems are you encountering with your porting process?


Here is what my case looked like:

1) I had Vonage and I was trying to break free from their unjustifiably expensive evil empire,
2) Got an ATT GoPhone with a prepaid $15 (added after I got the phone),
3) Requested porting from Vonage to ATT GoPhone,
4) Checked porting status and 3 days later Vonage, number showed as "Confirmed" at http://wireless.att.com/lnp which is the page to check porting process status for the ATT GoPhone
5) Opened a new Google Account to port the ATT GoPhone number to it (so I can link it any other cell or SIP/VoIP service),
6) Got on my new GV account and at "Step 1: Check number eligibility" I receive the message that my available option is "Get Google Voice Lite" there are no options to port the number I pasted into the textfield to be checked for eligibility...

Seeing that I was left wondering "WTH is going on?" Is Vonage still holding the number even if the port was successful? Are there additional steps that I need to be performed at this point to complete the porting so that GV will see that the number is 100% eligible?

One weird thing is that despite the number has been ported from Vonage to ATT GoPhone, the phone receiving calls on the ported number is not the ATT GoPhone, but is still the Vonage device... that was suspicious, therefore I got in touch with AT&T porting department rep and it turned out that Google Voice could not see the number ported from Vonage to AT&T as successful, because although the porting showed as "Confirmed" when checked at http://wireless.att.com/lnp at AT&T that "Confirmed" only meant that Vonage confirmed that the number in question can be released to AT&T, at which point the requestor will need to get the porting completed by calling an AT&T representative, but that "negligible particular" is not written anywhere! So I wasted 3 days waiting and thinking the port was confirmed (as in completed) while it was not.

It was a good thing I decided to contact the AT&T rep. so I can get that bit of info and complete the process.
The way I contacted the rep was via chat (and worked great for me since ironically, I am not a phone call kind of guy). A link to the chat will appear as an icon/button right after the LNP verification at tp://wireless.att.com/lnp will have loaded and reported that your number porting status is "confirmed" by the old carrier.

Once in chat with the rep greet and tell them:

1) Why you called.
I have been honest and the rep has been great with me and didn't even hint at having a problem about the fact that I wanted to port my GoPhone to Google Voice

2) State Your Name, GoPhone number, your account PIN (the one used to login in your GoPhone management area)

3) They will warn you that you will loose your GoPhone number any remaining balances, access to the cell phone and any SMS/VM you may have  (and I assume you do not care),

4) Continue saying that you want to complete the porting process for the confirmed number

5) You will be told to power the phone off and wait a few moments

6) Once they tell you something like:
"I have completed the number change. Please power the AT&T phone back on at this time. Once the phone is powered on, would you place an outbound test call to ensure you are able to do so?  Please advise me once the call is complete."

7) Do as told... power phone on and place a call to a friend or some phone number service to test you are able to call out... if you have another phone use that so you can see also your caller ID
from the GoPhone shows the number that has been ported to it.

8) Once you have made a successful outbound call you will be asked something like: "I would now like to place a test call using your mobile number to ensure your AT&T phone rings.  Please do not answer the phone."

9) Wait for the incoming call and confirm you got it.

10) At this point the AT&T rep will tell you something like:
"I can now give you account number for the GoPhone which is 123456789012 [poster note: I changed the numbers of mine here but it's the right length of 12 digits] and I am going to also reset your PIN code. You will receive 2 free SMS from AT&T: The first to tell you your account has changed, the second will have your new pin code. Please tell me the pin code once you get the SMS so I can verify the information is correct."

11) Once you get the pin confirm with the rep that is correct.

12) You are done with AT&T you can go right that second to your Google Voice account and start the process of porting the GoPhone NUmber to Google Voice.

I actually did that as I was still chatting with the AT&T rep and saw Google Voice picking up the ported number and showing the availability as soon as the rep completed the porting process (right after I confirmed I got the new pin.

I went through the process and instructed Google Voice to port the number, I completed the process that required also the account number that the AT&T rep gave me earlier in chat, paid the 20 dollars fee for the porting to Google Voice and waited.

Like others have said exactly 24h later my number was ported to Google Voice and I could associate other lines to which I can forward calls that the newly ported Google Voice number will be receiving.

Not the most straight-forward, quick or painless, but a quite feasible process and well worth finally ridding myself of Vonage unjustifiable leeching.

PS: I hope this will help you to get your number ported over to Google Voice. I know how frustrating it can be not to be able to get it done smoothly.

I still don't know if I will go for the Obi devices since I am not crazy about having to buy my own ATA and then having to add a VOIP to it. A Net Talk does not seem the best option either since there are too many complaints about problems with the device performance and reliability and far too many users justify that saying "well it's so cheap, what do you expect" which form me is an empty argument... cheap is no justification for selling junk or underperforming, unreliable products and services... if it was then it should be stated on the site and instead of the hype they should just write "sometimes works others may not... but what do you expect... it's so cheap!" LOL! anyway I may have found an alternative that may work and looks like there are plenty of reviews reporting (recently) positive experiences although back 2 years ago the service had some hiccups that today seem to be resolved for the most part. The service is Voipo and is being powered by the same data center that is behind the web hosting company "Hostgator". That said I cam across a few posts where it also would seem that the company is serious and committed to the product. So I decided to give their service a try. Being a VOIP service I believe it could also be used with OBI as a VOIP line so maybe I may still give the Obi a try later on.

If you will have experience with a similar setup I'd appreciate if you cold let me know in future.

Best of luck with your phone connection and configuration endeavors! :)

w84no1

When I try to port the number in GV, I get "this number appears to be from an area we don't currently support for porting."

freakqnc

You should probably call AT&T then since they say that their numbers can be ported out of the AT&T network. Unless you are in a "more problematic" area such as rural or similar where there are apparently some odd situations with local wireless providers and agreements between them and the major networks, then your number should be ok for porting. Remember that if you ported a number to AT&T you should make sure your port was successful and complete. Call AT&T to make sure the port wasn't just confirmed and needs to be completed like it happened to me when I ported my Vonage number to the AT&T GoPhone.

Once the port is final and you can send and receive calls via the GoPhone then you should be able to port it to GV.

If your porting status is complete and you already have the number fully available on your GoPhone I would advise you to get in touch with AT&T porting department reps and find out why you are having such problems with your GoPhone. Remember that porting is your right and that the carriers have to facilitate that and I would insist to try and get it done... like I said the cases of unsupported porting are rare. Should that be your unfortunate case, then I would suggest to find a service where you could be able to port the GoPhone number.

As I mentioned before Voipo is one of those that allow porting of your number. Their service is currently priced at $99/Year or $149/2years I just got service with them and I am waiting for the device to come in 7-10 days. My full expense was $185 for 25 months (got 1 month free via a coupon), which includes taxes/fees. The shipping is free, the guarantee is 30-day money back and in case of returns they are extremely fair as they would pro-rate at $15/mo so if returning after 3 months one would pay $45 in service and the difference would be refunded (assuming they honor that and for now I'd give them the benefit of the doubt). Obviously prorating at $15 means that after 8-9 months of use would make no sense to return the item for a refund since at $15/mo prorating there would be nothing to return on an 2-year account  paid $149.

I hope this can be of some help to you and I wish you good luck with the porting whether it'll be on Google Voice or a VOIP service.

Cheers!

w84no1

My problem is not with AT&T, I tried to port a Verizon number and got the same message.  Google just doesn't support my calling area at the moment.

freakqnc

Well then if you are sure about that the only workaround would be port to a VOIP service that supports your area, then get a GV number, and finally hook your the VOIP number to your GV account. That'll work ;)

Cheers!

w84no1

Quote from: freakqnc on August 18, 2011, 11:14:57 AM
Well then if you are sure about that the only workaround would be port to a VOIP service that supports your area, then get a GV number, and finally hook your the VOIP number to your GV account. That'll work ;)

Cheers!

Does anyone who if voipmyway forwards caller id?

I want to port my number to voipmyway and forward incoming calls to GV for call management and just use voipmyway for outgoing calls.

Can someone help with the setup of my OBI110?  I would like calls coming in on my voipmyway number forwarded to GV and have GV ring the phone attached to the OBI.  When I make a call from the phone connected to the OBI I want it to go out using my voipmyway account.

Thanks in advance for the help

jkmhb

You also currently cannot port land lines with any carrier. What I did was get a T-Mobile prepaid SIM card with 10 minutes of airtime for about $7. I used an old phone I had lying around. Ported my Verizon land line to T-Mobile, then from T-Mobile to Gvoice. Total cost about $27.
I would imagine this would work for any carrier that cannot port directly to Gvoice.

w84no1

Quote from: jkmhb on August 31, 2011, 05:56:37 PM
You also currently cannot port land lines with any carrier. What I did was get a T-Mobile prepaid SIM card with 10 minutes of airtime for about $7. I used an old phone I had lying around. Ported my Verizon land line to T-Mobile, then from T-Mobile to Gvoice. Total cost about $27.
I would imagine this would work for any carrier that cannot port directly to Gvoice.

I did the same thing with mine.  I ported my Verizon land line to AT&T Go phone only to find out that GV doesn't support my area.

Everton

Quote from: w84no1 on August 17, 2011, 11:42:22 AM

I have an Obi110 and GV number.

What am I missing here?  Are you saying that your current GV number is NOT "from your area (Rate Center)"?  If it is not, does GV shows numbers available from your area when you attempt to signup?  If it does, then you should be able to port the number to GV.  Are you in a very rural area?  If so, where exactly?

jimates

The numbers used by google belong to a provider (landline). It is possible that the provider in a given area does not support porting from cellular providers.

VaHam

Quote from: w84no1 on August 18, 2011, 05:53:17 PM
Quote from: freakqnc on August 18, 2011, 11:14:57 AM
Well then if you are sure about that the only workaround would be port to a VOIP service that supports your area, then get a GV number, and finally hook your the VOIP number to your GV account. That'll work ;)

Cheers!

Does anyone who if voipmyway forwards caller id?

I want to port my number to voipmyway and forward incoming calls to GV for call management and just use voipmyway for outgoing calls.

Can someone help with the setup of my OBI110?  I would like calls coming in on my voipmyway number forwarded to GV and have GV ring the phone attached to the OBI.  When I make a call from the phone connected to the OBI I want it to go out using my voipmyway account.

Thanks in advance for the help

I think you should start a new thread for this since it is off topic here but yes what you want is do able.