Porting Out Information

[charlesfinley]

I'm currently on the 5 for $100 plan and with that plan going away, I'm considering moving out of Cricket.

What specific information do I need to port all of these numbers out of Cricket?

Are they all under the same Account Number? The same PIN?

I see one Account Number in my Cricket Account Settings.

When I go to Manage Security for Account PIN, it says "Turn ON Account PIN" - I thought I had Account PIN turned on or does it just always say that?

I know a few years ago I had to get a new sim card for one of the lines, and when I went to the Cricket Store they asked me for my PIN. I do know what PIN is. But I'm not sure if that's the same PIN for porting out, or if I need to re-enabled the Account PIN in the Cricket Account Settings. I assume the PIN is the same for all 5 lines?

Finally - there is also an Unlock Phone in the Account Settings. I'm pretty sure this is referring to carrier unlocking a physical phone for use on another network. All of the phones are BYOD, and while I do realize I'll need to make sure that they work with the new carrier, I am sure that none of them need to be carrier unlocked.

[Serial Port]

PIN = Personal Identification Number.

Same thing is if you put a debit or credit card into an ATM. I ported from T-Mobile to Verizon postpaid on Sunday and I had to call to get a porting pin # from T-Mobile. The number I had to request was not the same # that I used online or over the phone to authenticate the account.

[hooked]

I haven’t ported in a while, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be asked for your PIN by the company you’re porting to.

[Hogan773]

another question - where are you porting TO that has a better deal?

[hpham]

PIN = Personal Identification Number.

I ported from T-Mobile to Verizon postpaid on Sunday and I had to call to get a porting pin # from T-Mobile. The number I had to request was not the same # that I used online or over the phone to authenticate the account.

I don't know about Cricket, but Tracfone is now using the Port PIN instead of Account PIN when porting out. The Port PIN is obtained by texting NTP (Network Transfer PIN) to 611611. The Port PIN it texts back has a limited lifetime (24 or 48 hrs). Using a dynamic Port PIN is better than the static Account PIN which can be compromised.

[charlesfinley]

I guess T-Mobile and Tracfone handle porting in their own way. Still not sure if "Account PIN" is the same PIN that is asked for when porting a number from Cricket to another provider. Since that's the only PIN I'm aware of, I'd have to assume so.

Was hoping that maybe someone who had recently ported from Cricket to another provider had any insights on this.

[Serial Port]

When I went to port from T-Mobile to Verizon, the rep at Verizon told me that their use/requirement for a port pin was only about a month old. I don't know if it is required by Verizon or T-Mobile. All done and everything is working great for me.

[ecs0013]

Cricket's account PIN is still the porting PIN. As for the account number, it's also the same for all the lines on the account. Typically, you'd just need the phone number, account number, and PIN. Some carriers may ask for the last 4 of an SSN (fallback to postpaid days if there is no PIN) or zip code. Since those aren't verified with Cricket, you can usually enter anything.

When I went to port from T-Mobile to Verizon, the rep at Verizon told me that their use/requirement for a port pin was only about a month old. I don't know if it is required by Verizon or T-Mobile. All done and everything is working great for me.

T-Mobile's porting PIN is a new feature for postpaid accounts (requirement on their end, not Verizon). Prepaid is still the account PIN, too. Hopefully T-Mobile's prepaid area and others add a temporary port-out PIN feature to their accounts for more security, too.

[charlesfinley]

Cricket's account PIN is still the porting PIN. As for the account number, it's also the same for all the lines on the account. Typically, you'd just need the phone number, account number, and PIN. Some carriers may ask for the last 4 of an SSN (fallback to postpaid days if there is no PIN) or zip code. Since those aren't verified with Cricket, you can usually enter anything.

Thanks! That's what I was wanting to know.

I don't suppose you know why Cricket's OLAM shows "Turn ON Account PIN" when I thought I had the Account PIN turned on. Or maybe it just always says this.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to just turn it on again using the same PIN that I have in my records.

T-Mobile's porting PIN is a new feature for postpaid accounts (requirement on their end, not Verizon). Prepaid is still the account PIN, too. Hopefully T-Mobile's prepaid area and others add a temporary port-out PIN feature to their accounts for more security, too.

I really wish the cell phone industry would separate phone number from phone service - like domain name registration and web hosting service. That way there wouldn't be any hassle in switching phone service for your phone number.

If not that - then all cell phone services should have a specific number to text that automatically gives you your account number and porting PIN or something automatic through their OLAM system. The hassle of porting your number is still too great. And there's all the incentive in the world for cell phone companies to keep this information from you - because they know once you ask for this information, you're going to be canceling your service with them.

[hpham]

The hassle of porting your number is still too great.

On the other hand, you wouldn't want it to be TOO EASY for your number to be ported out. There are reported cases of criminals "hijacking" people's phone numbers and ported them to phone lines that they control to steal your information and money.

[Serial Port]

On the other hand, you wouldn't want it to be TOO EASY for your number to be ported out. There are reported cases of criminals "hijacking" people's phone numbers and ported them to phone lines that they control to steal your information and money.

Absolutely correct!!! I worked for At&t postpaid customer service and assisted customers over the years to avoid such possible fraud. Unfortunately, it only takes one sloppy customer service rep ignoring the policies for it to happen.

[ecs0013]

Thanks! That's what I was wanting to know.

I don't suppose you know why Cricket's OLAM shows "Turn ON Account PIN" when I thought I had the Account PIN turned on. Or maybe it just always says this.

I think that setting makes things more aggressive about prompting for your PIN (i.e. when you first log in to the app or web site, if you're doing things in a store even with ID, etc.)

I really wish the cell phone industry would separate phone number from phone service - like domain name registration and web hosting service. That way there wouldn't be any hassle in switching phone service for your phone number.

Yeah, although I don't thin people would be too keen on paying potentially two or more companies (the one that owns their number and the one actually providing the service) for their service. I could see it being split where the number is managed by whatever company technically owns it (like the domain registrar in your example), so on my account, I'd be having to deal with AT&T, Verizon, Frontier, and CenturyLink (a few landline ports) just for the phone numbers.

If not that - then all cell phone services should have a specific number to text that automatically gives you your account number and porting PIN or something automatic through their OLAM system. The hassle of porting your number is still too great. And there's all the incentive in the world for cell phone companies to keep this information from you - because they know once you ask for this information, you're going to be canceling your service with them.

Some tend to be more forthcoming, but I've always had luck asking for the account number "for my records" before I plan on porting and keeping it handy. As for the PIN, that's almost always something I select other than the few instances of services moving to an expiring porting PIN (which is fairly easy to obtain when you're ready to go). I think there's definitely the push-pull of making it easy enough, but not too easy just because, as others have already said in this thread, you don't want bad actors stealing numbers.

[charlesfinley]

I just think there's a conflict of interest when the entity controlling "your" phone number is the same entity controlling "your" phone service.

I do agree that you don't want the information to be so easily attainable that anybody can get it.

But... as soon as you text NTP to T-Mobile, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that you are probably going to be canceling your service with T-Mobile. That's money that T-Mobile won't be getting from you. What incentive do they have to help you not pay them any more?

Likewise when the phone company you are porting from gets a port request from a new provider... what incentive do they have to release the number to that provider? At that point, the porting from is effectively canceling your service with them.

I just think there is a better way to handle this. But I don't think anything will change until consumers start to speak up about the hodge-podge of different porting procedures from carrier to carrier.

[hpham]

Likewise when the phone company you are porting from gets a port request from a new provider... what incentive do they have to release the number to that provider?

You might want to read about Porting on This FCC Site . The current provider has to release your number to the new provider, not because they want to be nice, but because that's the law. On that FCC site, it says "Once you request service from a new company, your old company cannot refuse to port your number, even if you owe money for an outstanding balance or termination fee". The current provider can make it difficult for you to port out, like requiring you to call them or completing some other requirements, but if they flat refuse to release your number then file an FCC complaint and the FCC will get on them.

There are some situations in which you can't keep your numbers, and the FCC site describes them.

[charlesfinley]

The current provider can make it difficult for you to port out, like requiring you to call them or completing some other requirements

That's the key part.

"Woops! Looks like the PIN you used expired 2 minutes ago, we can't honor this port out request"

"The PIN number looks right, but that's not your account number - did you request the new account number when you got the new PIN?"

"That new PIN also expired 2 minutes ago."

Sure... they have to port out your number, but they can make you jump through endless hoops to do so. Like I said, it's a conflict of interest to have the same company holding on to your phone number and phone service.

The FCC leaves the process open ended

Provide the new company with your 10-digit phone number and any additional information required.

What additional information may be required? Depends on where you're porting from. Companies can make up whatever they want as long as it's "additional information" that is required. This should all be uniform across all providers and it should be listed on the FCC website - so that you can always go to company A and ask specifically for this information and know that your port to another provider will be honored when you give company B all of that information.