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Landline to GoPhone to GV?

Started by dromel, April 17, 2013, 08:01:22 AM

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dromel

I have read any number of tips on porting your land line to a cheap disposable GoPhone and than discarding to GoPhone when all is completed.
My question is:
After the GoPhone account is deactivated (no additional $$ added) for some time, isn't it possible that AT&T can assign that number to another customer?
What am I missing here?
Thanks

dircom

#1
you port your home phn # to a cell phone
then you port the new cell phn # (which is your old home phone # at this point)    to GV

now your GV# = your old home phone #

your cell plan gets deactivated, and you still have the cell phone to keep or sell
(as your cell phone has no acct or phone number associated with it anymore)

dromel

Thank you for your prompt reply.  I understand the concept of porting my land line over to GV by way of a disposable GoPhone, but what I don't understand is what is to prevent AT&T from re issuing that same cell phone number to a new customer at a later date. The account is canceled and the number is no longer assigned, therefore it is now available.
I must be missing something here.

After the Grace Period
    If the 60-day grace period is over, your GoPhone's wireless number is no longer valid and the number is returned to AT&T's pool of available numbers. Your GoPhone account is also canceled and you won't be able to access account information on the AT&T GoPhone website.
Read more: What Happens When a GoPhone Expires? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8775077_happens-gophone-expires.html#ixzz2Qk2xcq1U

Rick

Absolutely they will reassign it.  So what?  Why do you care?

Your home phone is 123-456-7890.

Your cell number is 234-567-8901.

Your port from home to cell.  That means that 234-567-8901 is a dead number.  The ONLY number that matters at this point is 123-456-7890.  They MAY let you have both active, but unlikely.

Then, you port to GV.  That CLOSES your cell account, and 234-567-8901 can be reassigned within their rules.  You NEVER used it, no one knows it, so why do you care?

If you DO use it then you need to get a different SIM card and different number to port to.

dircom

#4
Quote from: dromel on April 17, 2013, 10:14:17 AM
".................... porting my land line over to GV by way of a disposable GoPhone, but what I don't understand  ........................."


It is not the cell phone that is disposable,
the cell phone number is "disposable"

dudlee

Dromel,

I just did the exact thing you are asking about last week.  The total process took 4 days.  I ported an ATT number that had been in my wife's family for 60 years to a GoPhone that had $14.00 worth of minutes left on it.  It was completed by the next day.  I then ported that number to Google Voice for $20.00 that was done by the next day.  The old number on the GoPhone and the $14.00 or so of minutes were gone once the port was complete.  I bought a new Sim card on Amazon for $5.50 or so and activated it on the Gophone.  It now has a new number and no minutes until I add a plan.  The GoPhone will just be a backup in the bedroom as a 911 device if needed.

DonJ

So what AT&T GoPhone did you guys use? I see the Alcatel 510A for $15 from Radio Shack, probably the cheapest way to go to do this.

What does AT&T charge to port a land line to the cell?

Rick

#7
Often $5 phones can be found.  Others get free SIM cards from TMobile and use unlocked phones.

They don't charge to port.  Google charges $20.


$9.99 A107 at BestBuy.  http://bit.ly/XVF5jI

dudlee

DonJ,

We had a spare Alcatel 510A that was used for the port.  It was basically a phone that was not being used so now it is just a 911 backup cell.

DonJ

I bought a new Alcatel 510A online from AT&T, $14.99 plus tax, free shipping. Ported the number at checkout, so it should be done in a day or so as I did this late Friday afternoon. No charge to activate the phone or port my land line.  I went with 10¢ a minute plan, so no charges for service. They sneakily added a $25 card to my cart, which I booted form the cart. I can keep the phone and buy a SIM or sell on eBay after porting from AT&T to GV.

DonJ

Checked the AT&T update page, landline port to cell will be complete Midnight April 23.


Rick

Quote from: DonJ on April 20, 2013, 08:56:13 PM
Checked the AT&T update page, landline port to cell will be complete Midnight April 23.



So you ordered an AT&T phone, online, on Friday.  Then you ported your landline number to AT&T on Friday, which will be done on Tuesday night.  When the port completes, anyone calling your landline is going to go where? - since the home phone is in a box on its way from AT&T to your house? 

DonJ

#12
Delivery is Priority Mail. USPS tracking has delivery date today, Monday April 22. I have another cell to tide me over anyway, I don't use the landline very often. The port will be official 12 AM April 23, Tuesday morning IOW.

DonJ

Phone arrived via USPS Priority Mail.

Rick

Glad it worked out for you.

The point is that most people would not want to start the porting process until the phone is in their hands.  If it didn't arrive, calls to your home number would not be answerable, nor would you have the ability to make calls from your home number. 


DonJ

As I said I have a cell to use and do not use the landline that much. Since the deal includes Priority Mail (2-3 days to most places) I wouldn't have sweated it anyway. The landline number has been in the family 65+ years which is why I decided to keep it. Probably silly, but many do it for that reason.

sixrealms

DonJ,

Thanks for your report. I'm in the process of purchasing a Gophone to port my land line number and subsequently port it to GV. AT&T is my land line provider. The Alcatel 510A remains on the AT&T web site and I find it suitable to purchase it as you had ~ port my land line number with placement of the order. Your post ends with your receipt of the Gophone assigned the number ported from your land line. I question if the subsequent port to GV went as smoothly, and if Gophone minutes were used to get this done.

Do I need to purchase a prepaid card? How is it that you didn't need to purchase a prepaid card... were you able to activate the Gophone and complete the port to GV without use of any minutes? I'm not familiar with the 10¢ a minute plan ~ If Gophone minutes were used, when and how is it that you pay for these minutes? 

I use Tracfone. My recent upgrade to a Tracfone LG 840G leaves me with an unused Tracfone LG 225. I am not confident that GV will accept to port from the LG 225. If the Alcatel 510A is known to port reliably for GV, then that is what I'll use.

Thanks for your contribution. 

Rick

The model cellphone you use is totally irrelevant.

The phone gets 1 call from GV plus any that come from the time of landline port completion until GV is done, IF you choose to answer those.

sixrealms

Rick,

Your response sent me back into researching. This all can be very frustrating to us who know little.

Reviewing GV's requirements, I found, as you stated, that they are accepting porting from most all cell carriers and porting from a Tracfone should not be a problem. Then I uncovered a different dead end:  TracFone's service status, as of May 30, 2013, is it does not support CCF, conditional call forwarding:
http://www.tracfoneforum.com/search.php?sid=58351180068e7d1bded2a33abcbf5af2

CCF forwards unanswered or busy calls from the mobile phone line to GV.  This feature is provided by the cell service provider, not by Google. Some prepaid carriers do not support CCF to cut costs, and TracFone does not support CCF.

I upgraded my TracFone cell along with its accessories to obtain more convenience ~ primarily hands free access in the car (bluetooth), and call screening in order to eliminate my land line and need for the answering machine for listening to incoming calls (Google Voice). My LG 840G was activated yesterday morning and last night I read that as TracFone service does not provide CCF, Google Voice call screening feature will not work. 

In order to have cell phone listen call screening (versus announcement of caller ID), it seems to me that I'll have to change to AT&T's cell service. I know nothing of AT&T's cells, plans and pricing structure to compare to what I've had with TracFone. So, it is more research for me along with acceptance of the sunk cost for what I've paid for the TracFone upgrades. Recommendations will be appreciated.

Thank you, Rick.

Rick

#19
Sixrealms:

The subject matter of this thread is PORTING a number to Google Voice.  Porting means moving the service from one company to another.  If you have a home number, and you want to make it a Google Voice number, you PORT from your home service provider to a cellphone provider then to Google Voice, since GV won't allow direct porting from a home service provider.

If you have cell number that you want to port to Google Voice, you just do that.  

Porting is NOT forwarding.  Porting CHANGES THE PROVIDER to a new provider.  The old provider's account with you then CLOSES, and the new provider takes over the phone number.

If you have existing cell phone service, as many of us do, that cell phone service may - or may not - have capabilities when used with Google Voice WHILE MAINTAINING THE CELL SERVICE.  You can have GV be the voicemail service for your cell phone for example.

This has nothing to do with call screening, call forwarding, or anything related to that.