Number porting to GV - my experience

[DigitalDad]

Here is the information that we have compiled over on the Google Voice forum, with regard to T-Mobile prepaid.  This is unofficial, and since carriers change things periodically, I can't guarantee that it is accurate, but it's highly likely to work:

T-Mobile Prepaid
*PayGo  "My T-Mobile Account" shows your account number. It is the number on the top right of the screen (9 Digits).  It also shows it under the Account Activity Log.
*Legacy Pay as you Go accounts = your 10-digit phone number with 1 in front is your account number

PIN - 4-digit PIN....To set a PIN, dial 611, say "no" to refill, choose "manage my account", choose "change my account pin", then set your 4-digit PIN
Customer Service: 1-505-998-3793
Prepaid Porting: 1-877-778-2106

The porting form that first appears, along with some T-Mobile-specific instructions, does not include a field to enter the PIN.
After submitting the form, you will get an automated email note within the half-hour, complaining about the missing PIN or SSN. 
Go back to the form, and at that point, it will display the fields. 
Enter the PIN and a dummy SSN, and resubmit.

Would you help me get my number ported over please?

Step 1: Buy this: https://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Prepaid-Complete-SIM-Kit/dp/B00LPPHHFK
Step 2? from here I am lost

[SteveInWA]

You're going to need to tell us more than "I'm lost".  At least read and try the steps, and tell us what happens, at the point where you are "lost".  Describe what it is that you don't understand or can't perform.

[DigitalDad]

You're going to need to tell us more than "I'm lost".  At least read and try the steps, and tell us what happens, at the point where you are "lost".  Describe what it is that you don't understand or can't perform.

I just got and installed the Obi200 and a router switch, I was able to log in to ObiTalk but only with my google account and not using my email, I have not received any emails from ObiTalk, but that is another issue. It all works, I can make a call to my GV and my home phone rings and I can call out. Now everyone at the house is mad at me and wants our home phone number we have had for over 25 years to be what people call. I did a search and found this guide which said I could get a $3 T-mobile SIM and use it to port my home number to T-mobile and then from TM to GV. OK well first off it seems like prices have gone up since this was written, I can live with that. I saw a post in Jan of 2019 linking a TM SIM that came to about $7 so I bought it, it will be here Wednesday. On Wednesday when it arrives I am not sure what to do from there? Do I have to sign up for TM prepaid too, and if so what is the least expensive way to do so just to get my number ported?

[LTN1]

You're going to need to tell us more than "I'm lost".  At least read and try the steps, and tell us what happens, at the point where you are "lost".  Describe what it is that you don't understand or can't perform.

I just got and installed the Obi200 and a router switch, I was able to log in to ObiTalk but only with my google account and not using my email, I have not received any emails from ObiTalk, but that is another issue. It all works, I can make a call to my GV and my home phone rings and I can call out. Now everyone at the house is mad at me and wants our home phone number we have had for over 25 years to be what people call. I did a search and found this guide which said I could get a $3 T-mobile SIM and use it to port my home number to T-mobile and then from TM to GV. OK well first off it seems like prices have gone up since this was written, I can live with that. I saw a post in Jan of 2019 linking a TM SIM that came to about $7 so I bought it, it will be here Wednesday. On Wednesday when it arrives I am not sure what to do from there? Do I have to sign up for TM prepaid too, and if so what is the least expensive way to do so just to get my number ported?

Have you checked to see if your home phone number is from an area that can be ported? That should be the first step before doing the T-Mobile transfer.

Check here: https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/porting

If it says, "Ooops! This number appears to be from an area we don't currently support..." then you won't likely be able to port that number even after transferring it to T-Mobile.

If it says, "Ooops! We currently don't support porting from your carrier. We apologize and are working on adding support for more carriers..." then you have a good chance after porting it to T-Mobile.

[DigitalDad]

Have you checked to see if your home phone number is from an area that can be ported? That should be the first step before doing the T-Mobile transfer.

Check here: https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/porting

If it says, "Ooops! This number appears to be from an area we don't currently support..." then you won't likely be able to port that number even after transferring it to T-Mobile.

If it says, "Ooops! We currently don't support porting from your carrier. We apologize and are working on adding support for more carriers..." then you have a good chance after porting it to T-Mobile.

I just tried that link and entered my phone number and got this message, "Ooops! We currently don't support porting from your carrier. We apologize and are working on adding support for more carriers"

So it looks like I'm ok on that part. I do have a SIM card on the way and should be here tomorrow(Wed 10-1-19). It is this one, I hope it is the right one and will work - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LPPHHFK/
Honestly what is worrying me the most right now is what to do when I get the SIM, I have read some places they did't get a plan but somehow got 10 minutes free? And in other places I have read they got a plan for $3(which I can't find anywhere).

[SteveInWA]

T-Mobile is selling (or has already sold) their prepaid business to Ultra Mobile, as far as I've heard.  This is causing some confusion over the exact cost for a minimum number of minutes.  It's up to you to shop and compare.

It is not sufficient to buy a SIM.  You need to have working phone service, so you must buy whatever the minimum amount of calling they offer.  For example:  if the minimum is now $x per month, then buy that.

What you need:  Google Voice does not port in land line numbers.  To work around this the "hack" is to port your land line phone number to a mobile service.  How you do that doesn't matter from Google's standpoint.  But, from a procedural standpoint, you need to end up with the number ported to a mobile carrier, such that you can both make and receive mobile phone calls, and you can send and receive text messages.  Porting a land line number into a mobile carrier, or doing the reverse, is more complex than a simple mobile-to-mobile port, and it will take at least 24 hours, and sometimes several days.  Wait a full week after you can receive calls on the mobile phone, before subsequently porting into Google Voice.

Do NOT cancel service, under any circumstances, during these two ports, or you will lose the right use the number.  The porting process will cancel service for you, on the losing carrier, automatically at the right stage of the process.

[DigitalDad]

So should I use UltraMobile instead? It says you buy a "PayGo" at T-mobile retailers, it does say you can transfer your phone number on the FAQ's.

Never Mind.

Just got off the phone with the T-Mobile stores around me and none of them carry it and they gave me the 1-888 # to Ultramobile and they don't sell them online or over the phone. So unless you are near one of the lucky 1500 stores that got PayGo you are out of luck. And T-mobile is telling me their cheapest prepaid service is $40.

So it looks like $7+$40+$20=$67 (SIM+1 Month of Pre-paid Plan + Google Voice Porting Fee) is what it is going to cost me to keep my old home phone number. A lot more than the original $3 I went in to this thinking it would cost.

[SteveInWA]

I said "it's up to you to shop and compare", and I meant it.  I didn't mean "follow this eight-year-old thread's original directions".

The prepaid industry is moving away from the low-profit pay-per-minute plans, especially the subsidiary brands of the big four mobile carriers.

You could use another prepaid service provider; there is nothing magic about T-Mobile.  For example:

https://www.redpocket.com/plans/add/M010

Aside from that, you don't need to limit yourself to Google Voice.  There are low-cost alternatives that work fine with OBiTALK devices.  Many of us use Callcentric, voip.ms or Anveo.

[DigitalDad]

I tried to ask before I bought that pre-paid sim but I'm not dwelling on that but hopefully someone new will see this and make a wiser choice than I. I had read not to buy from smaller outfits as they didn't do porting of numbers well like the larger companies, but maybe that was a very old post, You kind of get lost and confused after reading 23+ pages of the tutorial, I think it's time for a re-write/updated version on a fresh page and stickyed.

But on to better questions, why use something other than Google Voice? What is the benefits of a different service or what are the drawbacks of Google voice?

[SteveInWA]

We can't make this discussion thread vanish, so people like you find it and then get sucked into the vortex.

Why use another service?  Because you weren't happy about the cost of porting to Google Voice, and you said "never mind".  The other services can directly port in land lines with very little fuss, and some of them do it for free.

See:  https://www.callcentric.com/did/

[LTN1]

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.

[SteveInWA]

Good find!  Thanks.

[DigitalDad]

We can't make this discussion thread vanish, so people like you find it and then get sucked into the vortex.

Why use another service?  Because you weren't happy about the cost of porting to Google Voice, and you said "never mind".  The other services can directly port in land lines with very little fuss, and some of them do it for free.

See:  https://www.callcentric.com/did/

I didn't know you could port to other services for free and directly? That is a HUGE selling point!

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.

Wow! this is a great find! Thank you!

[DigitalDad]

So I got the SIM card today and I called in and an agent walked me through getting signed up and activated, they took a payment of $40 even to get going on the cheapest prepaid plan and they started the porting process of my landline to T-mobile. And they did say it will take 10 days, till Oct. 12th, so at least the agents are well trained. I did get a temp number until then and they also said it would take 72 hours before I could sign in to mytmobile, but I got an email that had a link to login and it works so maybe I got lucky with that part. I also made sure to get my PIN and account number to make porting to google easier. I used my wife's T-mobile phone to test the SIM and it works. So now I wait, I will update on the 10th.

[bushman65]

So I got the SIM card today and I called in and an agent walked me through getting signed up and activated, they took a payment of $40 even to get going on the cheapest prepaid plan and they started the porting process of my landline to T-mobile. And they did say it will take 10 days, till Oct. 12th, so at least the agents are well trained. I did get a temp number until then and they also said it would take 72 hours before I could sign in to mytmobile, but I got an email that had a link to login and it works so maybe I got lucky with that part. I also made sure to get my PIN and account number to make porting to google easier. I used my wife's T-mobile phone to test the SIM and it works. So now I wait, I will update on the 10th.

Looking forward to your update. I know it looks like it is a bigger cost than you thought. For me, when I finally get things underway, that initial cost layout will be peanuts to the amount I would be paying to Ma Bell. Cheers.

[SteveInWA]

Why not try using Red Pocket Mobile instead.  You should not have to pay $40.

[DigitalDad]

Looking forward to your update. I know it looks like it is a bigger cost than you thought. For me, when I finally get things underway, that initial cost layout will be peanuts to the amount I would be paying to Ma Bell. Cheers.

Yeah, I am doing this to save money so that is my driving reason. Today everything finally is working on the ported phone number. I can make calls to it, make calls with it, message to and from it and data is working. So I would say the port is finally complete even though I got a message saying it was complete on 10/04/2019 two days after 10/2/2019 when I started service and requested the port. But today the 10/7/2019 it all is actually working, since the fourth I had only been able to make calls, not receive any. And no text messaging either way, but data worked. Now it all works. I still have 5 more days until the 12th, the suggested 10 day wait to try and port to Google Voice, think I should try sooner? And I hear that's $20. Any more pro's & con's for using a different service other than GV?

[SteveInWA]

Yeah, you can start the process tomorrow, here:  https://www.google.com/voice/porting

Porting help:  https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667?hl=en&ref_topic=1708124

Be damn sure you are first signed into the correct Gmail account on your browser.  If you have any doubt about being signed into multiple Google/Gmail accounts (which is allowed and managed by cookies), then open an incognito or private browsing window instead, and sign into just the one correct Gmail account.

Please take advantage of the Google Voice help pages as you get familiar with the service.  It is much more than a "free phone company", and the help pages will walk you through setup and use.

https://support.google.com/voice/#topic=1707989

[DigitalDad]

Please take advantage of the Google Voice help pages as you get familiar with the service.  It is much more than a "free phone company", and the help pages will walk you through setup and use.

Would you mind elaborating just a little so I know what I'm looking for when I see it?

[SteveInWA]

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.