Number porting to GV - my experience

[SteveInWA]

You cannot port a number into a prepaid mobile service, followed by porting it into Google Voice, unless you insert the SIM into a cell phone and make it usable by adding some calling credit.  You must be able to receive text messages on the phone to complete the port into Google Voice.

Buy only a SIM from the prepaid divisions of AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile.  Do not use a SIM from H20, Lycamobile, MintSIM, UltraMobile, Consumer Cellular, or any other MVNO seller.  Those companies are incompetent at porting.

[JMV88]

Thank you Steve. Much appreciated.

[X-15]

I picked up an Obihai box after doing a sanity check with the Google Voice porting tool using my landline number (according to Obihai's port tutorial). I had an old Nexus 5x available to me from another family member to use to port the number over to Fi, which was finally successfully completed after a few phone calls to my old landline provider. However, despite the message I initially got from the Google Voice porting tool ("Ooops! We currently don't support porting from your carrier."), it turns out that I cannot port my number to Google Voice.  The option to port out to Google Voice on the Fi cancellation page is grayed out, and in the Google Voice porting tool, I get "Sorry. Your mobile number can not be ported at this time." This is after waiting for well over a week for any carrier database updates to propagate. So apparently, relying on the messages from the Google Voice porting tool when checking landlines is not the most reliable way to determine if a number can be ported to Google Voice.

[JMV88]

All I have to say is T-Mobile's customer service is beyond horrible. I started the porting process on or about Nov. 20th, 2017. It is now Dec. 13th, 2017 and they are still having problems. The carrier I am porting from (Spectrum) has authorized the porting. So the issue is not with them. It has been a slew of errors on T-Mobile's end, including entering my Spectrum account number incorrectly twice, entering a wrong service address, etc...I am currently sitting on hold once again for the past hour as I type this post. Someone comes on about every 20 minutes to say they are looking into it? Now I was just hung up on as I was waiting for a supervisor. Not the 1st time that has happened, btw. All this is compounded by that their support is all handled in India by support staff who are extremely polite and friendly,  but communicate in very broken English and seem quite confused. I don't know what else to try except to keep at it???

[SteveInWA]

That's unusual, given that thousands of people have ported in from T-Mobile with little difficulty.  Personally, I can't blame them for trying to cut costs on these ports, because they are losing money on each one, and users who do these two-step ports are taking advantage of T-Mobile with no follow-on revenue from actual mobile phone bills.

If you continue to get nowhere, you might consider getting T-Mobile to completely cancel the port, then waiting a week for the porting system mess to be purged from the system, and then submitting a port request to AT&T Prepaid instead of T-Mobile.

[JMV88]

The AT&T option looks like a good possibility now. After a 2 hour phone call yesterday and many levels of escalation, I was assured once again this would be completed by this morning and I would receive a confirmation text. Now the middle of the afternoon and still no confirmation....Thanks Steve.

[helpme-obiwan]

Forgive me if this has been asked/answered....   I have Comcast voice now for my home number, I also have Google Fi and a Fi compatible phone for my cell. 

The previously disavowed post gave me an idea.  I guess I could port my Comcast number to a new Google account for Google Fi service, activate with my current, legitimate phone, and then cancel the Fi service to port the number right into GV?  it seems pretty much the same whether it's through T-Mobile or Fi? 
Fi should support the port in from Comcast as a cells service even though GV doesn't, right?

[SteveInWA]

Forgive me if this has been asked/answered....   I have Comcast voice now for my home number, I also have Google Fi and a Fi compatible phone for my cell. 

The previously disavowed post gave me an idea.  I guess I could port my Comcast number to a new Google account for Google Fi service, activate with my current, legitimate phone, and then cancel the Fi service to port the number right into GV?  it seems pretty much the same whether it's through T-Mobile or Fi? 
Fi should support the port in from Comcast as a cells service even though GV doesn't, right?

No.  Don't risk messing with your Fi account.  Just follow the typical process.

• Port your landline number into a mobile carrier (T-Mobile Prepaid or AT&T Prepaid work best, or use your existing mobile carrier)
• Wait a week.  Do not attempt to shorten this time interval!
• Confirm that you can now both make and receive telephone calls, and you can send and receive text messages.
• Contact the mobile carrier.  Ask them this specific question:  "I need to port my <insert carrier name> phone number out to another carrier <don't get into Google Voice details>.  What are the account number and PIN I need to submit, so that <your carrier> will accept the port request?"
• Follow the instructions here:  https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667#xferin

[McBeevee]

Hi Folks,

I followed the process outlined by Obi and Steve regarding the port in process. I purchased a T-Mobile SIM card for my iPhone 5s. I installed the new SIM card, logged onto the T-Mobile site and activated the service. I was assigned a phone number, received confirmation texts and successfully made test calls.

I then contacted T-Mobile and the problems began. I was informed that I now need a NEW SIM card in order to port-in my landline (Frontier Communications) telephone number. Two different representative advised AGAINST activating the SIM card before calling them.

Sorry, but a bit frustrated. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Otherwise...I guess I'm buying a new SIM card (again).

Thanks!

[SteveInWA]

Yeah, they sometimes tell you that, because their process may make it easier to activate a SIM with the ported number from the start, vs. activating the SIM with one of their random mobile numbers.

The SIMs are cheap; just bite the bullet and go for it.  And, remember, you must add some funds to the account, if this is a prepaid SIM, so that it can be fully activated, and you can both make and receive phone calls on that number when it's at T-Mobile.

For the most trouble-free porting experience, based on recent porting problems with the overall number porting system, I strongly recommend waiting a full week after porting the land line number to the mobile carrier, before then submitting the subsequent port request to Google Voice.

[McBeevee]

Thanks Steve! I appreciate it.

[tjoyce]

The  steps seem to be:

1.  Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2.  Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV

Question:

When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number.  At this point my old, landline base station will  start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?

Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.

[SteveInWA]

The  steps seem to be:

1.  Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2.  Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV

Question:

When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number.  At this point my old, landline base station will  start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?

Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.

No.  "Porting" by definition, is a telecom industry term.  It involves a "losing" carrier, and a "gaining" carrier.  The losing carrier is the carrier to which inbound calls route, and thus, ring on a telephone.  The gaining carrier is the carrier that you request to take over that function.  You end up with telephone calls being routed to your telephone via that new, gaining carrier.  Whatever connection you had to the old, losing carrier, along with whatever you were paying them for service, ends.

The "base station" you refer to is unclear.  If it's a cordless phone system, and the "base station" is plugged into a telephone jack in the wall, that connection will stop working.  You'd then need to buy an OBi device, set up the Google Voice account on the OBi, unplug the telephone cord from the wall and plug it into the OBi.

Here is more detailed information and clarification:

• Google Voice is not a "free telephone company".  It is a call forwarding and message management system.  You still need some sort of telephone service, so that calls to your Google Voice virtual number can be forwarded to a real telephone, and so you can record and manage your voicemail greetings.  An OBi device is also a forwarding destination, but it can't be used to record greetings.
• Google Voice cannot call 911.  Again, it is not a standalone substitute for home phone service.
• Google Voice can only accept ports-in from mobile phone carriers.  You will have to first port the number into a mobile phone carrier,  wait a full week for that port to fully complete, and then port the number into Google Voice, which can take several more days.  You can't do this instantly, in one day.
• Cost:  at minimum, you would need a prepaid phone, or a prepaid SIM to put in somebody's unlocked phone, a minimum purchase of calling minutes (typically $10) and a $20 fee paid to Google to perform the port-in from the mobile carrier.
• You can use AT&T GoPhone, or T-Mobile Prepaid; take your pick.  Do not use one of the SIM-sellers such as H20, Lycamobile, MintSIM, etc, as they have very poor track records with number porting, and almost no customer support.

Keys to success:

• Do not rush.  Be patient and wait.  Churning a port from a landline carrier to a mobile carrier, and then to Google Voice, in a couple of days will usually encounter errors, and tends to make a mess in the porting system.
• Make sure that both outbound and inbound calling and text messaging work on the mobile phone before taking further steps.
• You should contact the mobile carrier and specifically ask them:  "I need to port my number out of (this mobile carrier).  What is the account number and PIN I need to submit to my new carrier, so that (this mobile carrier) will accept the request."  This information is often not displayed on the carrier's web page, nor clear as to which numbers to use.
• You will need to submit the porting form on the Google Voice web site, which may not initially have a spot to enter the PIN.  If your carrier requires a PIN, submit the form without it, wait for it to fail and come back with a note complaining about a missing PIN, and then you can reopen the porting form, which will now have a space for you to type in the PIN.
• You must purchase enough prepaid calling minute credit to be able to make and answer a few test calls and texts on the mobile phone, and to answer the automated verification call from Google.

Read all the porting instructions, here:  https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667#xferin

[tjoyce]

Thanks Steve....

My base station is a cordless phone and I currently have an OBi200 ready to go, so based on your reply, once I port to GV and plug the cordless phone base station into the OBi, it should start ringing.

Thanks again
Tom

[TheVs]

The  steps seem to be:

1.  Port landline# to a wireless carrier
2.  Port the just-ported wireless "landline" number to GV

Question:

When the GV porting is completed, my wireless "landline" # is now my GV
number.  At this point my old, landline base station will  start ringing when someone dials my
landline #, correct?

Just want to make sure before I pull the plug on my current telco carrier.

No.  "Porting" by definition, is a telecom industry term.  It involves a "losing" carrier, and a "gaining" carrier.  The losing carrier is the carrier to which inbound calls route, and thus, ring on a telephone.  The gaining carrier is the carrier that you request to take over that function.  You end up with telephone calls being routed to your telephone via that new, gaining carrier.  Whatever connection you had to the old, losing carrier, along with whatever you were paying them for service, ends.

The "base station" you refer to is unclear.  If it's a cordless phone system, and the "base station" is plugged into a telephone jack in the wall, that connection will stop working.  You'd then need to buy an OBi device, set up the Google Voice account on the OBi, unplug the telephone cord from the wall and plug it into the OBi.

Here is more detailed information and clarification:

• Google Voice is not a "free telephone company".  It is a call forwarding and message management system.  You still need some sort of telephone service, so that calls to your Google Voice virtual number can be forwarded to a real telephone, and so you can record and manage your voicemail greetings.  An OBi device is also a forwarding destination, but it can't be used to record greetings.
• Google Voice cannot call 911.  Again, it is not a standalone substitute for home phone service.
• Google Voice can only accept ports-in from mobile phone carriers.  You will have to first port the number into a mobile phone carrier,  wait a full week for that port to fully complete, and then port the number into Google Voice, which can take several more days.  You can't do this instantly, in one day.
• Cost:  at minimum, you would need a prepaid phone, or a prepaid SIM to put in somebody's unlocked phone, a minimum purchase of calling minutes (typically $10) and a $20 fee paid to Google to perform the port-in from the mobile carrier.
• You can use AT&T GoPhone, or T-Mobile Prepaid; take your pick.  Do not use one of the SIM-sellers such as H20, Lycamobile, MintSIM, etc, as they have very poor track records with number porting, and almost no customer support.

Keys to success:

• Do not rush.  Be patient and wait.  Churning a port from a landline carrier to a mobile carrier, and then to Google Voice, in a couple of days will usually encounter errors, and tends to make a mess in the porting system.
• Make sure that both outbound and inbound calling and text messaging work on the mobile phone before taking further steps.
• You should contact the mobile carrier and specifically ask them:  "I need to port my number out of (this mobile carrier).  What is the account number and PIN I need to submit to my new carrier, so that (this mobile carrier) will accept the request."  This information is often not displayed on the carrier's web page, nor clear as to which numbers to use.
• You will need to submit the porting form on the Google Voice web site, which may not initially have a spot to enter the PIN.  If your carrier requires a PIN, submit the form without it, wait for it to fail and come back with a note complaining about a missing PIN, and then you can reopen the porting form, which will now have a space for you to type in the PIN.
• You must purchase enough prepaid calling minute credit to be able to make and answer a few test calls and texts on the mobile phone, and to answer the automated verification call from Google.

Read all the porting instructions, here:  https://support.google.com/voice/answer/1065667#xferin

Thanks for all the info, I just went to the T Mobile store and they wanted $10 for a sim card and $50 to setup my account, not sure if I asked for the wrong thing, but I wasn't expecting this..Looking into the AT&T options I notice the AT&T GoPhone is now AT&T Prepaid - I have a few questions - 1. Does this behave the same way as GoPhone ? Does it matter that my current home number that I'm trying to port is provided by AT&T already ?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[SteveInWA]

You can use AT&T Prepaid.  It is simply a name change from GoPhone.

With regard to T-Mobile prepaid, people typically buy a T-Mobile SIM online and the minimum number of minutes that they sell as a bucket of minutes.  There isn't a $50 fee.

Bottom line:  this is a hack, to change your landline phone number into a mobile number.  You're taking advantage of the mobile carrier by having them port in the number, and then they will lose the business by porting it out again.  This isn't free for the carrier to do, so whatever cost you pay to them to buy a SIM and some minutes is covering their cost doing this.

[Slamor07]

New here...Just ported Straight Talk Home Phone to GV in 24hrs.

I did check if GV Porting Tool would accept my Straight Talk number ...Congratulations # is portable.

Straight Talk Home which uses Verizon ported directly to GV w/o using Tmobile or any other SIM card.

In GV, I forwarded calls to my personal cell which I linked to GV until OBi200 arrives tomorrow. Then I will connect home phone to OBi200 and unforward calls from personal cell.

The porting process was seamless.
 

[brad.mccollum]

My experience of porting/transferring a number from Ooma > ATT Prepaid Wireless > Google Voice.

Began the process of porting/transferring a long-standing Ooma "home" number on Thurs., March 22, 2018.

--- Went into local ATT store on 03/22/2018 explaining that I'd like to get the cheapest ATT Prepaid Phone possibly with nothing fancy on the plan in order to ultimately port my Ooma-associated # to Google Voice.  No issues.  Got in/out of there for a total of $30.

--- Received msg. on ATT's site later on that day that the port request to get the Ooma-associated # ported to the new ATT prepaid wireless phone failed.  At this point, a back and forth between myself, ATT, and Ooma began and this went on for several days straight.  I was anticipating these issues, as most of what I'd read online from people that were trying to port a # *away* from Ooma had stated that it was a nightmare trying to deal with Ooma.  I found this very much to be the case.  ATT and I spoke numerous times, the # port request was resubmitted by ATT to Ooma numerous additional times, and those additional requests were all turned down again... about 4 times.  I finally got ATT and myself and Ooma porting support on the phone together.  For the longest time, all we could get out of Ooma was that the port request failed due to either missing info. or incorrect info.  We asked them SPECIFICALLY what was missing or incorrect, and they never would/could give us a specific answer, simply reverting back to their bland statement that the port request was denied due to either missing or incomplete info. provided in the port request submission.  A very helpful ATT representative finally got them to divulge that in the "remarks" section of the port request ATT was resubmitting, to put "Ooma, Inc." along with Ooma's business address in Palo Alto, CA in that same "remarks" section.  That finally did the trick, with the port from Ooma to ATT being completed in another 2-or-so days.  At the point of receiving the "completed" msg. on ATT's "port status check" page, I turned on the ATT prepaid cell phone for the first time and set the phone up and could indeed verify that my previous Ooma # was now associated with this ATT prepaid cell.

--- On Wednesday, March 28, 2018, I initiated a request in Google Voice to port the # from ATT to Google Voice.

--- On Friday, March 30, 2018, just under 48 hours from the port request from ATT to Google Voice, I received a msg. that the # was now associated with Google Voice.

All in all, the Ooma to ATT port was a nightmare and Ooma proved to be very unhelpful with the entire process until a very helpful ATT representative pressed them very hard for details on *exactly* how the port request needed to be resubmitted in order for the request to be carried out properly.  The ATT to Google Voice port was very straightforward and completed with no issues.

Hope this helps.

[glnz6]

  
Thanks to SteveInWA for his excellent porting "philosophy" above at http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=1051.msg86959#msg86959.

I add to that as follows:  After you order the first port from a copper land line to your cheap prepaid mobile phone (or SIM card), wait at least for that copper land line to go dead before you try to start your second port to Google Voice.  I would actually wait a few more days as well for the new network information to propagate out to the world before you start your second port to Google Voice.

Also, I used a Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone for my interim destination - a Samsung Gusto.  The phone itself is about $50, and it costs about $30 for a month's use.  Since I was porting out Verizon copper land line numbers, I wanted to stay "in the family" in case something went wrong.  Also, I found that Verizon Wireless's "porting department" at 888-844-7095 was pretty good in helping me get over a snag for the first port.  (I did not need them for the second port to Google Voice, and I'm not sure they could have helped for the port OUT anyway.)

Also, thanks to lots of advice on this and other forums by SteveInWA and friends, when I bought the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone Samsung Gusto, I had the fellow in the Verizon Wireless store write down ALL the info I would need on the Google Voice porting web page - the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone's account number, account name (which I had designated anyway), account address (which he picked the first time and I picked the second time), PIN (which I had designated) and the email address for the account (which I had designated).  Having that written down on the receipt printed page for the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone Samsung Gusto was very helpful when I was finally at the Google Voice porting web page.
 

[eaglemaster]

 
Thanks to SteveInWA for his excellent porting "philosophy" above at http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=1051.msg86959#msg86959.

I add to that as follows:  After you order the first port from a copper land line to your cheap prepaid mobile phone (or SIM card), wait at least for that copper land line to go dead before you try to start your second port to Google Voice.  I would actually wait a few more days as well for the new network information to propagate out to the world before you start your second port to Google Voice.

Also, I used a Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone for my interim destination - a Samsung Gusto.  The phone itself is about $50, and it costs about $30 for a month's use.  Since I was porting out Verizon copper land line numbers, I wanted to stay "in the family" in case something went wrong.  Also, I found that Verizon Wireless's "porting department" at 888-844-7095 was pretty good in helping me get over a snag for the first port.  (I did not need them for the second port to Google Voice, and I'm not sure they could have helped for the port OUT anyway.)

Also, thanks to lots of advice on this and other forums by SteveInWA and friends, when I bought the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone Samsung Gusto, I had the fellow in the Verizon Wireless store write down ALL the info I would need on the Google Voice porting web page - the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone's account number, account name (which I had designated anyway), account address (which he picked the first time and I picked the second time), PIN (which I had designated) and the email address for the account (which I had designated).  Having that written down on the receipt printed page for the Verizon Wireless prepaid flip phone Samsung Gusto was very helpful when I was finally at the Google Voice porting web page.
 

thanks for the info i am also in route to make this happen since u suggested "Verizon Prepaid - Samsung Gusto 3 " i found on bestbuy website for $9.99 + taxes but couldnt see any cheap prepaid planes all i could see was unlimited or my other option is getting tmobile simcard from ebay  for $5 shipped to my home and i can use some old unlocked phone to me it seems like verizon was easy on you when it came to porting, also my current home voip is Vonage so not even sure if porting number will be easy but i did do the tmobile number port test and my number was eligible to convert to tmobile