Porting advice

[lchan120]

It's been a while since I last porting out-in.
Looking for recent experience and tips from others.

One I know is not to start a port on a Friday - happened to me last time and was screwed for over the weekend.

Anything else I should be aware or wary of?

[high technology]

Please give us some more info -- most ports are fully automated now and happen in minutes, but some MVNOs require a manual approval. More specifically, where are you porting out from, and where are you porting in to?

[robbyrobby]

the main thing is not who you are porting too but who you are porting from.

most ports direct from major carriers, their prepaid brands and bigger MVNOs will go through near instantaneous.

check in advance what to use for account number and pin, this can change often and some companies(including Verizon) are using unique expiring 'port out pins' in place of the usual account pin. some companies such as at&t have an automated system to confirm the port by sending a text that needs a reply to the old phone before releasing, without the old phone who woudl need to call customer service and confirm you are the account holder before they release it.

landlines, VOIP numbers and some ports from smaller MVNO can take longer(even multiple days) and i suggest initiating during the week if possible especially. in many cases you may speed things if the losing carrier is aware in advance, this can especially be true for ports from tracfone companies where they may need to 'release' the number. some very small MVNO's may only release the number during weekday business hours.

[zapjb]

Give yourself at least 2 business days grace before your current plan expires. Don't be penny wise & pound foolish.

[barryspar]

My last port (PureTalkUSA -> Mint) got borked by a mismatched ZIP code, so make sure that matches whatever they have on file for you, especially if you moved.

[Rockchuck]

Give yourself at least 2 business days grace before your current plan expires. Don't be penny wise & pound foolish.

I concur, though in fact, I'd say five business days. Some of the smaller MVNOs work 10-5, Mon.-Fri., so the old "Don't start on a Friday or a Monday" guidance is sound.

Some MVNOs don't issue a PIN. For these, supply 0000. Don't leave any field blank except perhaps Company Name (if you're an individual).

Leave the phone turned off. From time to time, call the number from another phone. Once you hear a "not in service" intercept or a fast busy signal, the port's underway. When you start hearing normal ringback, insert the SIM card and power up the phone.

Following a port, expect some facets of service to take another 1-4 days to complete (for example, voice works but texts aren't received). It takes awhile for the routing to be updated from carrier to carrier.

[joseg2016]

While reading your post #6, I wonder, does the new company give instructions for exactly what the customer must do to finish the activation process so he can avoid rechecking and mess-up the process? Customer should be instructed exactly what and how to check, and exactly WHEN to put SIM card into phone and turn on phone with the new SIM card. What happens if the port process is not yet finished, and the user or customer does put in SIM and turn on the phone? Ruin the SIM and ruin the activation?

[Rockchuck]

Once the relevant information (name, acct. number, PIN, possibly address) is given to the "winning" (new) carrier, the process is beyond the consumer's control. Some carriers send a "Your port is complete!" email giving the next steps. Generally, those steps are to insert the SIM, power on the phone and fund the account (if not already funded) and set up optional auto-pay.

If a port fails, it's usually because of mismatched account info, in which case nothing happens -- the old line keeps running and possibly a written rejection gets emailed back to you by your new carrier. Why? Let's say the losing (old) carrier provides your account number in the format, 101-23456-AB4. The winning carrier instructs that it wants you to submit only numerals - no letters, no punctuation or spaces, perhaps no suffix: 101234564, perhaps 10123456. Too many digits? Too few digits? No port.

Likewise, the losing carrier's record has your five-digit ZIP-code, but you might have submitted your nine-digit ZIP+4 because you're so conditioned to doing so. People who port from postpaid have it easier -- just look at the monthly statement and make everything match.

In my experience, nothing is ruined -- there's just the frustration of having to figure out what went wrong and head back to the start. This is why I recommended initiating the port at least five business days before your old prepaid account runs out of funds... no balance = no service = no port-out permitted.

[lchan120]

Here to report back. I ported out of Ultra Mobile to Hello Mobile on Thursday (My old expiration date was to be at 12M Sunday into Monday) so lost a few days. Ultra Mobile took a call in to get my account number and they were a little aggressive, uncooperative, you get the idea... Hello Mobile is more transparent on that as it's on the Account Management page so I hope I don't need any live agent attention. Apparently I had all my correct information as after I entered it on my laptop the port took 2-3minutes! Had to have been because staying on same T-Mobile Main Network. Setting up the phone which are always a pain to me took a little longer. Hello Mobile has a unique Mobile Network display name that is "Home" not even "Hello" though it really shouldn't matter anyways. Caused a little confusion to me thinking my own Home network. They are new to the T-Mobile network so a lot of the instructions supplied are still Sprint oriented. All the bad reviews on the 'net seemed to be with Sprint SIMs. My experience is that it is no different than any other T-Mobile prepaid I've had experience with (T-Mobile legacy prepaid, Lycamobile, Mint, Ultra). So far so good no discernable difference.

[jmac32here]

Here to report back. I ported out of Ultra Mobile to Hello Mobile on Thursday (My old expiration date was to be at 12M Sunday into Monday) so lost a few days. Ultra Mobile took a call in to get my account number and they were a little aggressive, uncooperative, you get the idea... Hello Mobile is more transparent on that as it's on the Account Management page so I hope I don't need any live agent attention. Apparently I had all my correct information as after I entered it on my laptop the port took 2-3minutes! Had to have been because staying on same T-Mobile Main Network. Setting up the phone which are always a pain to me took a little longer. Hello Mobile has a unique Mobile Network display name that is "Home" not even "Hello" though it really shouldn't matter anyways. Caused a little confusion to me thinking my own Home network. They are new to the T-Mobile network so a lot of the instructions supplied are still Sprint oriented. All the bad reviews on the 'net seemed to be with Sprint SIMs. My experience is that it is no different than any other T-Mobile prepaid I've had experience with (T-Mobile legacy prepaid, Lycamobile, Mint, Ultra). So far so good no discernable difference.

Thank you for the update. I plan on porting to Hello from Tello on my next upgrade just so im paying one bill for two phones and the price difference is negligible. (Like $1 except ill get unlimited data instead of the 2gb on the tello line)


Sent from my Tello iPhone using HoFo

[WaltA]

I just ported a cell number from Page Plus to Red Pocket (both being for a Verizon network account). Other for it taking a couple of days, it went smoothly. This is in contrast to a lot of what I read online about porting out of Page Plus problems and failures. True, I called Page Plus first, to ensure I had the correct account number to give to Red Pocket.

[Rockchuck]

Quite old but may be of some help:
Porting Your Number? How to Find Your Account Number and Password (Feb. 2014)

I just ported a cell number from Page Plus ... it went smoothly. This is in contrast to a lot of what I read online about porting out of Page Plus problems and failures. True, I called Page Plus first, to ensure I had the correct account number to give to Red Pocket.

My experiences with Page Plus under Tracfone have been variable and strongly tied to the particular C.S. rep's training and competence. Many find transactions via Chat to be more effective than by phone.

[WaltA]

My experiences with Page Plus under Tracfone have been variable and strongly tied to the particular C.S. rep's training and competence. Many find transactions via Chat to be more effective than by phone.

I had no problems with talking to the CS rep at Page Plus. They had no problems giving me my account number.

I know account numbers at Page Plus have changed over the years. At one time, it was your full phone number. Then later became your MEID, though I was unsure if it was my MEID at the time of the change, or my current phone's MEID.

[joseg2016]

Quite old but may be of some help:
Porting Your Number? How to Find Your Account Number and Password (Feb. 2014)



My experiences with Page Plus under Tracfone have been variable and strongly tied to the particular C.S. rep's training and competence. Many find transactions via Chat to be more effective than by phone.

That was shown in the WayBack machine, so is it all still currently correct, the information there?

[WaltA]

That was shown in the WayBack machine, so is it all still currently correct, the information there?

For Page Plus, it isn't correct anymore.