Porting in with borrowed ESN? and other questions

**clark1mt** · 03-18-2010, 06:25 PM

Okay. I want to be sure I don't screw this up.

I currently have a phone number with Virgin prepaid. It is in the 248 area code. My intent, if possible, is to use a borrowed ESN to port in my number and put it on a Sprint-branded HTC Touch Pro on either PAYGO or the $50 unlimited plan (probably the former based on my usual usage. I'm mainly looking for the $0.35/day data).

Questions:

Is it possible to port a number using a borrowed ESN like this? If so, how long should I expect it to take? Would I be better off/safer buying a cheap Boost CDMA phone off of eBay to do this?

I tried putting a Mirro in the shopping cart on Boost's website. It asked for my zip code, then said coverage wasn't available in my area. It then added the phone to the cart anyway. I did this mainly to see if the zip code would be accepted. Since it wasn't, will this present any problems to the process of porting in the number, or to the prospects of having any coverage? My location is in Oakland County, MI.

If a problem should occur, how likely is it that my number could be lost? I have had this number for nearly 7 years, and it would be a major inconvenience to have to change it.

Is a newer Sprint phone on Boost CDMA (like the TP) likely to have any better reception than a 3-4 year old Virgin Mobile-branded phone, even though they're essentially on the same network?

Hopefully I haven't missed finding any of these answers in searching the forum, but if I have, I apologize and would appreciate a link to relevant info.

Thanks in advance!

clark1mt

**georgepa** · 03-18-2010, 08:56 PM

Originally Posted by clark1mt

Okay. I want to be sure I don't screw this up.

I currently have a phone number with Virgin prepaid. It is in the 248 area code. My intent, if possible, is to use a borrowed ESN to port in my number and put it on a Sprint-branded HTC Touch Pro on either PAYGO or the $50 unlimited plan (probably the former based on my usual usage. I'm mainly looking for the $0.35/day data).

Questions:

Is it possible to port a number using a borrowed ESN like this? If so, how long should I expect it to take? Would I be better off/safer buying a cheap Boost CDMA phone off of eBay to do this?

I tried putting a Mirro in the shopping cart on Boost's website. It asked for my zip code, then said coverage wasn't available in my area. It then added the phone to the cart anyway. I did this mainly to see if the zip code would be accepted. Since it wasn't, will this present any problems to the process of porting in the number, or to the prospects of having any coverage? My location is in Oakland County, MI.

If a problem should occur, how likely is it that my number could be lost? I have had this number for nearly 7 years, and it would be a major inconvenience to have to change it.

Is a newer Sprint phone on Boost CDMA (like the TP) likely to have any better reception than a 3-4 year old Virgin Mobile-branded phone, even though they're essentially on the same network?

Hopefully I haven't missed finding any of these answers in searching the forum, but if I have, I apologize and would appreciate a link to relevant info.

Thanks in advance!

clark1mt

1. First things first. Go to Boostmobile's coverage map and see if your address has coverage.

http://www.boostmobile.com/coverage/#?map=cdma

Enter your address and you'll see. As best as I can tell you have full Boost CDMA coverage in your county. I typed Troy, Pontiac, Farmington Hills and Sterling Heights in to check.

2. If you have coverage in your area move on to starting service. If you just want to get a Mirro just go to a local Best Buy or Radio Shack to get one, no need to mess with a borrowed ESN. If instead you wish to bring a Sprint-branded phone in, then by all means go ahead and borrow an ESN (no need to buy a phone) and call Boost to get this done. In either case, tell them you wish to start Boost CDMA service and you wish to port a number in. In case of a Sprint phone move-in pretend that you have the phone (the phone the borrowed ESN is from) in front of you, go through the steps they tell you for phone programming and say things like "Thanks, that worked." Then call them back a few minutes later, tell them that the Boost phone you have (the one with the borrowed ESN) is not working, but you have another phone to move in (say, if you bought a TP off Craigslist.) They will ask for the ESN of that phone, and you are on your way. If there is a problem with the port of your number they will generally let you know about it right there, so if that is a sticking point you don't have to go through with your order/account startup in that case. Again, it is very important to tell them right away that you want to port a phone number in, even before the account is started.