Currently ATT is giving me a hard time getting a new number. Is there a way I cant get a number cheap else where and just port it in to ATT? Thanks in advance for all the suggestions.
I usually end up signing up for whatever plan/provider is cheapest & meets the requirements of any promo offer you're looking at.
If you have a spare Sprint-eligible phone, it's $3 (possibly plus a little tax) to start a line at Red Pocket Mobile Fp
and easy enough to get the porting credentials-- although I think you need to ask via chat.
No particular hoops to jump through. I ported a line out from RedPocket/FP a couple of weeks ago, and it went smoothly.
If you have FreedomPop LTE SIM lines, it's likely possible to port out the number from one of those, and reactivate the plan with a new number. (I say 'likely' only because I haven't seen anyone talk about doing it since Red Pocket took over.)
In the past, I have ported out from Freedompop with relative ease.
The port out information is available via FP dashboard: My Freedompop
Once the number ported out, I was able to generate a new number via FP dashboard at no cost.
Not sure if this information is still applicable.
Good luck.
Another not so cheap, though quick way, would be to purchase a T-Mobile electonic port into AT&T number.
Last time I did it the old number remained listed in the account indefinitely after the port out so it would cost $4.99 to get a new one. This was a month or so ago. I used to like being able to port out and get a fresh number for free but looks like they closed that down unless I got unlucky.
Ting sims are $1 from bestbuy. See link in hot deals. Ting give you all the port out info in your account online so no need to talk to them once you are ready to move on.
mmfacemm, did you get a new number, and did the line remain on the free plan afterwards? (Assuming that it was on the free plan before porting the number out.)
$4.99 is still a pretty good deal for a port-able number.
Even though I use Google Voice for my main contact #, I still like to port a known 'clean' number rather than be assigned a random number for a new line. I've been burned a time or 2 by getting a toxic new number, and it was a pain to live with it even if I only planned on it being a temporary line.
I ported it to Tello about 3 weeks ago. I remained on the free plan at freedompop and it showed the same number. I didn't try getting a new number as I was waiting to see if a billing cycle would refresh it. That came and went and no change. The number did transfer successfully to tello as it was working on my tello phone/account.
I did decide to close the Tello account a couple of days ago. Interestingly the original number still shows when I call someone using freedompop. But texting doesn't work at all and neither do incoming calls to the number.
sovashadow, I'm curious if AT&T has offered a reason for making it hard to get a new number?
You can actually get the freedompop app and set up a number for free without a sim. You can log in and get port out info. I've never ported out this way but I don't see why you couldn't.
Textnow also gives a free number. Should be able to port out from there also.
I read a little through the TextNow Community Forum, and I think this should be reserved for those who have a lot of patience.....
https://supportwireless.textnow.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360000658366-Account-Number-Porting-my-number-out
I remember reading that free TextNow numbers are considered temporary-- I wonder if this might also make them unavailable for porting out?
Thanks for the information. I never tried that but that doesn't sounds good.
And learned from the posts FP is actually charging $4.99 for a new number.
So there is really no free number other than google voice now.
A Google Voice number is free: but it costs $5 (I believe) to free it for porting out from GV.
This is still way on the lower end of the scale for getting a number to port elsewhere, though! It's a good suggestion.
This is a fantastic suggestion.
The cost to unlock GV# to port out is $3 (no cost if number originally ported in to GV).
I agree with fantastic. I had forgotten how easy it is to open another Gmail account and get a Phone# to use or port.