Noob Porting Number Question

[abaqua]

I'm porting from Koodo. I setup a PM  account, activated the SIM, got a temp phone number. All is good so far.
My question is this, and perhaps kinda silly....

Do I insert the new PM SIM before i do a port? Test that all is good, then port? I'm assuming yes?

This stuff makes me nervous, and am wanting to be as smooth as possible. My hesitation comes from conflicting posts on how to do this, specifically:
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Porting-number-from-Koodo/td-p/373149...
- half way down with a numbered step by step.

Some saying you need a moderator, some saying no, and depends on the payment method used from the previous provider; postpaid or prepaid, which in itself is confusing. I get a bill sent to me from Koodo, and pay it online before the due date..... so postpaid, yeah?

Thx in advance

[computergeek541]

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@abaqua wrote:

Thanx. This explains a lot. I have been in contact w The Mods.

One further question, if I may. Both of the PM accounts are setup and activated, but haven't put in the new SIMS in either phone. I'm assuming I can wait until the port happens, continue using the Koodo SIMS until this time, then swap the SIMS? The temp numbers currently associated with the SIMS are of no real use; texting etc.

So is this cool? 

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Keeping your Koodo SIM cards in the phones will alow both phone numbers to continue working. However, by leaving the Koodo SIM cards in the devices, you will have no way of knowing that the porting is complete until you see that the Koodo service has stopped working. While it's not always received by some customers, Public Mobile is supposed to send a text message informing customers that the porting is complete. Ideally, you would have both the Koodo and Public Mobile SIM cards in compatible devices at the same time so that you can continue using your Koodo service and you would also know when porting to Public Mobiile is complete by the text message informing you of that or by someone calling you and the phone ringing.

[darlicious]

@abaqua 

You make a good point. There was an anouncement that sat on the landing page for about six months until it was finally unpinned and sits somewhere in the announcements section.  Maybe @Catherine_T may want to consider pinning it to the getting started board so it can continue to inform new customers.

When it comes to pm the simple things usually fix the problems. The clear your browser, use secret/incognito mode in firefox, chrome or safari advice applies every time you intend to perform any change within your account ie make a payment or change plans.....FYI.

[abaqua]

Beauty. Thanx!

[abaqua]

I get that. But as a noob here, what answer does one trust? When i read conflicting info, it's hard to know who to believe. 

And as someone who trouble shoots 'puters a lot, I've never found those methods to be effective. It's usually bigger issues; drivers, file corruption etc. Perhaps i've just never been in the right situation where they were effective. Dunno. 

Cheer

[Anonymous]

 @abaqua 

Not sure who you're replying to but yes...it's why you'll often see more senior members posting corrections to posts that are incorrect. For this very reason.

But there can be variations. We often get people posting back full of thanks that incognito mode got them going for example. So discounting things that DO work is shooting a little too far.

Glad you're in the right direction now. The Mod god(s) 🙂  will sort it for you.

[abaqua]

Exactly! This is what I keep writing in responses. The process of porting is NOT CLEAR and full of contradictions. There should be a 'sticky' explaining the process clearly. It should be front page news here. The community is great, but not when one gets multiple conflicting responses.

My porting is now in the hands of the Mod God(s).

Cheers, and thx!

[abaqua]

Sure. But with all of the conflicting info found here, it's all a crap shoot. The porting procedure needs to be front page news, clearly explained and easily found.

My port is in the hands of the Mod God(s)

[abaqua]

Yeah, you'd think this would be a good idea. I did too. But it was a disaster and a waste of time. I went into a Mobile Shop for a "pre-visit", asking "can you do this for me?" I'd dealt with this particular guy a couple months ago setting up my sons' first phone. After researching a lot, weighing price etc, I figured PM was a good plan for my son. I then decided to go with the same plan for my wife and I. We don't require a lot of data, 3G is fine, plus I'm working from home and my phone is on WIFI most of the time now anyway - time to downsize. The gent said "yeah, no problem".

I went in to do it, had all the info ready (like everything, PINS, alt emails etc etc, yada yada). My trepidation was the porting and the conflicting info found here (yes/no, no/yes - make up my mind!). It was a different guy at the store. I explained what i wanted to do, told him "the other guy" said 'no prob'. This guy was adamant that he couldn't even setup accounts etc (the easy part). After pushing the issue (like dude, it's your flipping job!!) he started the process. But, after all new account info was filled in, like everything, his computer just sat and spun with the " processing...." message. After a bit, tried again. Same. I looked up some trouble shooting while said computer was spinning and got the typical nonsense; clear your cache, try a different browser, try incognito - nonsense. These things generally do nothing. There was no real answer to the infinite spin. All I could surmise was perhaps the store WIFI was funky. So I bought the SIMS, did it at home sans the spinning, and here I am.

So yeah, technically no, it wasn't smooth at all, and ended 90 mins later (complete with a grocery shop while awaiting the spin to stop) as a complete waste of time.

In the end this porting thing shouldn't be the hoop jumping that it is. The instructions should be front page news so everyone can see it and know what to do, what to expect. The Community is good, but not when one can find conflicting answers. That doesn't help. And in the end Koodo and PM are Telus; it's all the same, so why so difficult? These subsidiaries are in the guise of providing "choices". There is no choice. In Canada we are under the grips of the big 3 monopoly. The CRTC even backed down from them recently in a court appeal as the CRTC "ordered" them to open up the pipelines to 3rd party providers (home net too). The BIG 3 countered with, "well, then we can't expand the infrastructure required for more remote areas (rural areas, the far north). The CRTC folded like a deck of cards.

Anyway, I digress, and rant done.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

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@abaqua wrote:

Thanx. This explains a lot. I have been in contact w The Mods.

One further question, if I may. Both of the PM accounts are setup and activated, but haven't put in the new SIMS in either phone. I'm assuming I can wait until the port happens, continue using the Koodo SIMS until this time, then swap the SIMS? The temp numbers currently associated with the SIMS are of no real use; texting etc.

So is this cool? 

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As you've discovered, a SIM does not need to be in a phone to be activated. Yes, when your phone stops working then that's your clue that the port is complete and you can then use the PM SIM.

[abaqua]

Thanx. This explains a lot. I have been in contact w The Mods.

One further question, if I may. Both of the PM accounts are setup and activated, but haven't put in the new SIMS in either phone. I'm assuming I can wait until the port happens, continue using the Koodo SIMS until this time, then swap the SIMS? The temp numbers currently associated with the SIMS are of no real use; texting etc.

So is this cool? 

[darlicious · Accepted solution]

@abaqua 

It's understandable how porting from koodo is a little confusing and porting in has changed a little since spring so some threads just don't have any reference to those changes. Just about every other mobile provider you can port in upon activation. You need the name on the account, the account # and the phone # to be ported. There's the odd provider that use the phone number as the account number or require a pin # but 99% just use those three requirements.

In your case you will be porting two numbers from the same account so only the phone numbers will be different but it's best to identify who's phone # is the account holders and port that one last. Also indicate which koodo phone # is going to which pm temporary number. This could have been done upon activation because you have a postpaid account but it can also be a good idea to make sure your service is all up and running first too.....

Previous to the pandemic you were able to do this yourself within your account but this was disabled In the spring under the guise of maintenance to improve the feature.....but it's never been "fixed" and there is speculation that it may have made it easy to exploit for fraudulent means.

Koodo prepaid (and pc mobility) can only be transferred with the help of a moderator so you must take a temporary phone # and ensure their pm service is all up and working before making a service request to the moderators. This is because koodo prepaid and pm share the same back end system so it is not a port but simply a number transfer between accounts. Postpaid or prepaid they both require the same info for the moderators to carry out the portiņg request :

1. Phone number, account number and name on the account.
2. Pm temporary phone number, email, name, address and pin # on account.

 .

Keep an eye on the envelope icon next to your avatar at the top right corner of your screen for a little number to pop up indicating a message from the moderators. Responding promptly to messages will speed up service times. Current wait times are 2 to 4 hours up to 48 hours for non urgent issues. Welcome to public mobile.

[JLakerson]

@abaqua 

I also came from a Koodo postpaid plan and I found it to be quite confusing at first to determine if I was a postpaid or prepaid customer and what steps to take as a result. 

You would be on a postpaid plan as you get a bill and you pay before the deadline whereas a prepaid plan is where you pay upfront and before your usage begins. You actualy don't need to create a temporary phone number if you are coming from a Koodo postpaid plan. This was the area that I was super confused about but I figured it out in the end. As you won't need to create a temporary number, you will not need the assistance of a moderator and you should be able to complete the porting process successfully online. Mine only took a few minutes.

I inserted the SIM card after the card was activated and the porting process was complete. Also, your Koodo account still needs to be active for the porting process to be successful. It will automatically close I believe within 30 days after the port takes place.

Hope this clears up some of your confusion. Good luck!

EDIT: Looking at all of the responses on this page, I can see why you are still left confused. What I mentioned above is what worked for me, someone who also came from a postpaid Koodo account to PM for the first time. Not sure if the responses from others are just generic responses or responses from their own personal experiences - this may explain the discrepancy among the responses. 

I would say that if you have any hesitation, it would probably be best to submit a ticket and have a moderator reach out to you as they can help make the whole process a lot smoother, especially since you are porting 2 numbers to 2 different phones. You would just have to wait for their response so the assistance won't be immediate. I never needed the assistance of a moderator, either before or after the activation of my SIM card and have not had any issues since.

Hope this helps!

[gpixel]

@abaqua you should of just ported at activation. whenever mods are involved it usually takes longer... maybe days. make sure to keep in touch with mods if the port is taking longer than 2-3 hours.

once the port has started, reset your network settings and restart the phones to help the process move along

[metropublic]

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@abaqua wrote:

I'm porting from Koodo. I setup a PM  account, activated the SIM, got a temp phone number. All is good so far.
My question is this, and perhaps kinda silly....

Do I insert the new PM SIM before i do a port? Yes

Test that all is good, then port? I'm assuming yes? Yes

This stuff makes me nervous, and am wanting to be as smooth as possible. My hesitation comes from conflicting posts on how to do this, specifically:
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/Porting-number-from-Koodo/td-p/373149...
- half way down with a numbered step by step.

Some saying you need a moderator, some saying no, and depends on the payment method used from the previous provider; postpaid or prepaid, which in itself is confusing. I get a bill sent to me from Koodo, and pay it online before the due date..... so postpaid, yeah?

@abaqua  Provide the moderator with the following Koodo info:

• Account Number
• Name on account
• Koodo Phone number
  
  Thx in advance

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[Helpershelper]

@abaqua 

Technically if you want a port over to go smoothly you would visit an in-store location and have them do the process for you and give you a SIM. Usually you keep your old number and account active, make sure the phones unlocked then buy a SIM. You enter your info and the SIM number and add your payment method. Once it goes through you can insert the new SIM. It’s all prepaid btw.

[Anonymous]

 @abaqua 

New customers activating can port their active number during activation. Except Koodo pre-paid. (and Telus and Koodo could be in suspended status)

All ports after activation need the moderators.

[abaqua]

So for sure yes? It requires mod assist? Why are some saying it can be done via self serve? Is yes a definitive answer? Or perhaps it's fundamentally the path of least catastrophe? I'm not being confrontational just really wanting to know why the conflicting "yes/no"? It should be a straight up answer with no confusion.

Anyway, I need to port two numbers to two different phones on two new PM accounts, both coming from one Koodo account.  Will the Mod be able to do both in one go?

Thx!

[Anonymous]

 @abaqua 

Post-paid is kind of a hybrid with pre-paid. You pay up-front for the following month. Then you get a bill with any extra charges and fees incurred in that month and to pay for the next month.

Pre-paid like here is just pre-paid. There are no after the fact extra charges.

[Triguy]

You need to submit a ticket to get moderator assistance.  Once your port is completed then you should receive a notification.  You can use your Koodo sim for the time being then change to PM sim once your Koodo account is closed and the port is completed.