only one cell phone to use for porting, I am without phone until GV verifies?

[mgh24]

I will port my landline to a T-Mobile pre-paid plan, a SIM card I got specifically for this.  Once that is done, from what I understand, when I port it then to GV, I need to wait for a verification phone call to my T-Mobile SIM that I just got for this purpose.

Here is the problem I see, I only have one T-Mobile phone, so I will pull my "good" SIM out and replace it with the pre-paid that I will use to port to.  If GV needs to call to verify the number, then I cannot use my phone with my original SIM card until after I get the verification call correct? (or risk missing the verification call)  So I am without my regular cell phone number until after I get the verification.  Google FAQ page states:

How long will it take for my number to be ported?
Your number should be ported in 5 business days or more, depending on the carrier from which you are porting to Google Voice.

(kind of funny they say "5 business days or more..." so they essentially could take 20 years to do it)

Do I understand this correctly?
Thanks!

[CoalMinerRetired]

You're over thinking this, IMO.

>  If GV needs to call to verify the number, then I cannot use my phone with my original SIM card until after I get the verification call correct?
No. You do not sit around waiting for the verification call. The verification call happens when you go through the GV porting screens, and you control when it happens.

The GV porting signup consists of several 'enter your name etc.' and agreement screens. After some 'check your number for eligibility screens', you are asked to agree to several things in a list, each with a checkbox, then you get to 'Phone Verification' screen, where, since you've already passed an eligibility check, GV calls your number, you answer, and you must enter a code shown on the screen.  This is the verification call, others on here also refer to it as the one minute you need on a T-Mobile sim card, (and any remaining minutes on that sim card are lost/forfeited when the T-Mobile account is closed in 24 +/- hours due to the port).

Put your good sim card back in the phone after you do the verification call, you don't need the pre-paid sim in the phone anymore. In 24 hours you'll get an email message from GV, and in what appears to be standard (based on ongoing reports on here) when coming from T-Mobile GV will say your request to port has encountered an error, password or prepaid pin required. Which is confusing for first timers because GV never asked you for a pre-paid pin during the GV porting/signup. You enter the required info, and in anywhere from a few minutes to 24 more hours you get a message from GV saying porting successful.

Report back here on how it works for you, in the number porting to GV, my experience thread.

Edited to clarify a few points.

[mgh24]

when coming from T-Mobile it will say your request to port has encountered an error, password or prepaid pin required. Which is confusing for first timers because it never asked you for a pre-paid pin during the signup. You enter the req'd info...

Where does this pre-paid pin or PW that I need come from?  Will I get it when I activate the new SIM?

You are absolutely correct, I was over thinking it.  Thanks for explaining how it works!

[CoalMinerRetired]

> Where does this pre-paid pin or PW that I need come from?  Will I get it when I activate the new SIM?

I forget exactly where it comes from. Maybe during the SIM setup process. If you need to know search through this thread for T-Mobile and SIM.  The point is you'll need it, even if you have to set it up after you activate the SIM card or after your landline is ported to the T-Mob SIM.

Edit: You're in luck, I saved some screen shots from porting a relative's landline to T-Mobile a few weeks ago. There's a prompt for a four digit PIN in the Step 2 screeen, "Set up your Account" part of the T-Mob SIM activation process.