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Number porting to GV - my experience

Started by chaiwan2000, June 16, 2011, 11:20:56 PM

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DigitalDad

Quote from: SteveInWA on October 07, 2019, 07:10:07 PM
Why can't you simply browse through the help pages?  They are set up in easily-digestible topics, and anybody with a 7th-grade education or above can understand them.

Personally, I've now walked you through starting the number porting process, which millions of people have done without assistance, and I now expect that you will make an effort to learn more, on your own, before asking more questions.

I just like to talk to people, sorry for trying to connect with you. I'm a little bored and a little lonely I guess, won't bother you any more. Thanks for all you have done for me, I greatly appreciate all the help.

dircom

I have ported several numbers using T-Mobile over the years and even have a few sim cards left over.  As mentioned, T Mobile's least expensive prepaid plan is now $40 or $50 bucks a month.  Has anyone tried using the $10 Ultra Mobile Ebay deal mentioned. or the Red Pocket $10 deal?  If so did it go smoothly?

on another note, my # of Posts count has been stuck for a few months

racer77

Can I port my landline number to Google Voice through my Verizon cell phone and not lose my Verizon number?

drgeoff

Quote from: racer77 on December 30, 2019, 09:29:08 AM
Can I port my landline number to Google Voice through my Verizon cell phone and not lose my Verizon number?
No and yes.

If you port your landline to your current Verizon SIM you will lose the Verizon number.

If you get another SIM and put that in the cellphone until the two ports are complete you can then put the original SIM back and have cellphone service on your original Verizon number.

MxxC

Hey folks.
I'm looking to port my number from FIOS to GV.
I was looking at the obitalk's porting tutorial page and it talks about using T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go plan. However, it seems like tmobile killed off that plan.
I was considering MintSim as an alternative intermediary step. Especially since right now their starter kit on amazon is only $0.99 (and $5 otherwise).
Would this method work? Can I port my number from Mint to GV?

SteveInWA

#485
Quote from: MxxC on February 11, 2020, 10:49:40 PM
Hey folks.
I'm looking to port my number from FIOS to GV.
I was looking at the obitalk's porting tutorial page and it talks about using T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go plan. However, it seems like tmobile killed off that plan.
I was considering MintSim as an alternative intermediary step. Especially since right now their starter kit on amazon is only $0.99 (and $5 otherwise).
Would this method work? Can I port my number from Mint to GV?

I don't recommend Mint.  Users have had a hard time getting account number and PIN for porting.  Aside from that, a 99 cent SIM is just a SIM.  You need to buy a service plan, because you will need to answer a telephone call on that number, on a cellphone.  The lowest-priced plan they sell is $15.00.  Good luck finding anything cheaper, though.

MxxC

Hmm.. The starter kit from Mint comes with 100minutes and 7 days trial, plus they port-in for free. Even if I'd have to pay $15 on top of that it still cheaper than anything else I could find.🤔

If not Mint then what other low cost option are there? The big 4 all charge $10+ for sim card and seems like at least $40/month for the cheapest prepaid plan.

Taoman

Page Plus Cellular SIM card is $0.99. PAYG refill card is $10. I've ported a lot of numbers into Page Plus and never paid a porting fee.

https://www.pagepluscellular.com/accessories/byop-3-in-1-sim-activation-kit/

LTN1

Quote from: MxxC on February 12, 2020, 01:37:14 PM
Even if I'd have to pay $15 on top of that it still cheaper than anything else I could find.🤔

You're on page 25 of this thread. Did you look at the recommendations on page 24 (or the page before this one)?

MxxC

Quote from: LTN1 on February 12, 2020, 08:21:13 PM
Quote from: MxxC on February 12, 2020, 01:37:14 PM
Even if I'd have to pay $15 on top of that it still cheaper than anything else I could find.🤔

You're on page 25 of this thread. Did you look at the recommendations on page 24 (or the page before this one)?
The last post prior to mine were from last year. As it was said on page 24, prepaid industry moves fast, so information on page 24 and prior might have been outdated. Hence I asked. My apologies for troubling you too much. Whenever possible I will refrain from posting on this forum so not to disturb you.

DaveL

Quote from: LTN1 on October 01, 2019, 04:58:23 PM
Seems like you can buy a PayGo Ultra Mobile on eBay and have it activated online here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PreLoaded-Ultra-Mobile-SIM-Card-with-19-Plan-1st-Month-Services-included/182154428180?hash=item2a693fff14:g:5fYAAOSwYUBa3xvG

The cost is $10 and includes the first month free with free porting, etc.

I just finished porting my landline number from CenturyLink to UltraMobile and then to Google Voice.

I purchased the $ 9.99 SIM on Ebay from Ezkonnect mentioned in the link above. Reading the Ebay comments I was a little concerned about a couple that claimed they didn't get the free month free service, so I contacted Ezkonnect before I tried activating the SIM. They told me I needed to activate on their site, NOT on the UltraMobile site. I did that - it took 3 1/2 days for the port to complete from CenturyLink and I did have the free month service added to my account.

I waited another 10 days, just to be safe before attempting to port to Google Voice. It was easy to get my UltraMobile account # and PIN. After your UltraMobile service is activated, you go to their website and access your account by entering your phone # and requesting a password to be texted to your phone. Once you get this, you can login to your account - however that doesn't show your account number. However, your account page says this - "In order to access your UltraMobile account #, please contact Customer Service..." and the current number which I won't mention here 'cause that could change. You simply call this and choose the option to get your account number, which will be texted to you along with your PIN, which in my case was the last 4 digits of my phone number.

It took 24 hours for the port to Google Voice to complete. Pretty smooth. There was one thing I wasn't sure about - the Google Voice porting form has fields to enter Billing Address but when I looked at my UltraMobile account there was no billing address. So to be safe, I added a credit card and billing address just in case the two billing addresses needed to match. Anyway, very satisfied with how this went. Thanks to LTN1 for the info on the UltraMobile SIM on Ebay and everyone who has contributed to this thread!

LTN1

Glad that it worked out for you, DaveL! Thanks for keeping the thread updated regarding the UltraMobile SIM.

Albert12

Thanks for the kind words.

Like Johnny, I asked myself the same question. My primary goal here is to keep my land line number and my secondary goal is to enjoy the free services from Google for as long as they are available.

That said, I choose to port my number to GV because in case there is any hiccup with Google Chat, I can always route my calls to my other phone numbers. If I port my land line straight to CC, then I lost this flexibility. This is, of course, assuming that Google will at least continue to provide call routing. In case Google stops everything, then CC is always there for me.

Black1Star

Planning on doing this, but don't have a unlocked phone to test out the ports with.  Anybody try to do this without the phone?

Anybody have a suggestion on an unlocked or tmobile phone to buy for this?

Thanks.

dtmp

I was going to try this with my current mobile service (ting) since I have an old iPhone 5s I was going to use. Turns out, because of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger I can no longer use the old iPhone 5s. So, before you purchase any sim cards, make sure they work with the phone you are trying to use.

Arizona480

Quote from: daibaan on July 14, 2011, 06:19:35 PM
I followed waichai2000's procedure exactly, got almost the exact the same result:

Day 1: Called T-mobile's number porting dept (1-800-937-8997 then transfered to number porting dept), requested them to port my AT&T land line number to my prepaid SIM.

Day 3 (13:00): Received a phone call on my T-mobile phone, caller confirm she was calling my AT&T landline number

Day 3 (13:30): Create a new Google Voice account and request number porting. Provided the T-mobile account number and PIN.


Day 4 (00:31): Received an email from Google: porting initiated
Day 4 (00:32): Received an email from Google: incorrect PIN (I am sure I provided the correct PIN)
Day 4 (09:30): call T-mobile to confirm my PIN, CSR note that the newly ported in AT&T number has a port-out request attached and thought it was a mistake, I told her not to worry.
Day 4 (09:40): provided GV the T-Mobile PIN again for porting (a link was provided in the google email)

Day 5 (00:29): Received an email from Google: porting initiated
Day 5 (00:29): Received an email from Google: porting completed successfully

I suspect that the T-mobile system has problem handling a number being ported in and ported out on the same day. So if you get a "incorrect PIN" email from Google, just try again. Also it seems Google is performing all the number porting shortly after midnight each day.

Thanks waichai2000

I saw somewhere on here to wait a full week before porting from T-Mobile to GV, is that still valid?  Also, does   https://freecarrierlookup.com/  update frequently?  Wait a week after that website changes from my landline carrier to T-Mobile?

Arizona480

So I am at a week since initiating my landline (COX, shows as COMCAST on lookup) my number seems to be fully ported into T-Mobile, I can both send and receive both calls and texts on the smartphone.  However, I can still call out from my landline but cannot receive calls.  My number now shows as belonging to T-Mobile on the https://freecarrierlookup.com/ website and GV now says my number is eligible to port into them.

My question is:  Should I wait any period of time or at least until the landline no longer has a dial-tone before the final port into GV?  I read on here that someone said wait a full week after full-functionality with T-Mobile. 

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

SteveInWA

IF your landline phone can still make calls, then the port to a mobile carrier didn't fully complete, and any subsequent port requests will fail.

Contact the landline carrier.

Arizona480


FrobziKer

I have an old non-VoIP landline phone that supports voicemail. At the moment my internet cable company manages my phone access via PacketCable modem and it costs me $50 per month!

Questions:
1. Does ObiTalk with Google Voice send voicemails to the actual phone? I don't want to constantly have to access voicemails in ObiTalk Dashboard or in Google Account. I need voicemails to arrive to the actual phone. Does ObiTalk + Google Voice combination do that?
2. Who should I contact first when I begin number porting process - my current phone provider or the mobile carrier to which my landline phone will be ported?