I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PORTED MY NUMBER FROM A LANDLINE TO GOOGLE VOICE!!!
HERE IS HOW:
I ordered an AT&T go-phone (the prepaid type), they had a Nokia 2720 for $7.99 available in my area, during the setup process I selected to port my number over from my previous carrier (Comcast). This process took about 1 week, and it was an extreme pain to get the phone activated once I received it, and I ended up having to go to an AT&T corporate store to finish the process. Usually you will need to call your landline service also to "unlock" the phone line to allow it to be ported. I then HAD to top-up the pre-paid phone for the smallest amount they had available ($15) to activate it. Google voice will also need to call your phone to make sure so there is no way getting around spending the $15.
After that used Google Voice to port the number from AT&T, it only took a few minutes after I had the fully activated phone and Google was able to port it over. The process took 2 days (after 24 hours I got an error and just had to resubmit my info). You will need to CALL AT&T for your account number because you will not find it anywhere on the paperwork you receive.
One I ported it to google voice, I hooked up my existing FREE VoiP service, which consists of a Linksys PAP2 box on a voipbuster account, and an IPkall phone number to which I forward my new GV account.
The total cost for porting was about $45, which is what I was paying for 1 month of service. With my new Voip service, it costs me 30 euros a year and I can call 40 countries for free.... clearly a much better deal!
HERE IS HOW:
I ordered an AT&T go-phone (the prepaid type), they had a Nokia 2720 for $7.99 available in my area, during the setup process I selected to port my number over from my previous carrier (Comcast). This process took about 1 week, and it was an extreme pain to get the phone activated once I received it, and I ended up having to go to an AT&T corporate store to finish the process. Usually you will need to call your landline service also to "unlock" the phone line to allow it to be ported. I then HAD to top-up the pre-paid phone for the smallest amount they had available ($15) to activate it. Google voice will also need to call your phone to make sure so there is no way getting around spending the $15.
After that used Google Voice to port the number from AT&T, it only took a few minutes after I had the fully activated phone and Google was able to port it over. The process took 2 days (after 24 hours I got an error and just had to resubmit my info). You will need to CALL AT&T for your account number because you will not find it anywhere on the paperwork you receive.
One I ported it to google voice, I hooked up my existing FREE VoiP service, which consists of a Linksys PAP2 box on a voipbuster account, and an IPkall phone number to which I forward my new GV account.
The total cost for porting was about $45, which is what I was paying for 1 month of service. With my new Voip service, it costs me 30 euros a year and I can call 40 countries for free.... clearly a much better deal!
