EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Need extra help installing your Ooma Hub or Telo system? Let us know.
User avatar
lbmofo
Posts:9337
Joined:Sun Mar 14, 2010 7:37 pm
Location:Greater Seattle
Contact:
Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by lbmofo » Fri Aug 06, 2010 5:56 pm

joally wrote:To purchase the equipment for my home network is expensive, and I think a contract is required.
You mean a wireless router? You can pick one up for less than $50 and it will be a better router than the integrated DSL kind. Cable company will provide the cable modem for $5 a month; you can pick one of them up for less than $50 too. As for contract, I am not too sure but installation fee is there for sure.

joally
Posts:10
Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:36 am

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by joally » Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:22 pm

My AT&T (formerly Pacific Bell) won't even let me ORDER direct DSL until my address no longer has the old DSL/phone/account number.

joally
Posts:10
Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:36 am

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by joally » Sat Aug 07, 2010 1:24 pm

lbmofo wrote:
joally wrote:To purchase the equipment for my home network is expensive, and I think a contract is required.
You mean a wireless router? You can pick one up for less than $50 and it will be a better router than the integrated DSL kind. Cable company will provide the cable modem for $5 a month; you can pick one of them up for less than $50 too. As for contract, I am not too sure but installation fee is there for sure.
Yeah, I'm not really keen on spending $100+ just to avoid the 3 days w/o service while AT&T orders my dry-loop DSL. Seriously, we'll be fine with just the cell phones and internet on the phone.

****
Posts:9
Joined:Sat Aug 07, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by **** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 9:07 am

ATT has a small core of legacy employees that understand & know how to work the system.
The rest of the support operators are located at various call centers around the globe (often Texas). These call center temp employees often don't know or understand what they are doing. The one 'minder' at these call centers is answering questions for up to 150 operators.
I have been given so called 'direct lines' into the supposed real ATT support centers, (866) 757-9804 (DSL support) & (800) 955-4296 (customer service) but these are hit & miss because you sometimes end up at a remote call center anyways.
The best advice for getting a good, competent operator is just to listen to them & the connection quality. If for any reason your gut tells you that the operator you were connected with is not up to par, politely say that your sorry but something just came up and you'll need to call them back. YES even if it took you 10 min of hold time to get that operator. Just call back until you get an experienced person, you can also ask if this is a call center and where it's located. I recently called ATT's (877) 722-3755 standard DSL support line, was sent to a call center in Texas, asked about a dry loop/stand alone DSL and all this guy wanted to say was that I needed 'Jack service' at $110 per hr. , I stopped him quickly and said that I wished to be connected to a different operator (instead of hanging up) and he put me on hold to the recorded sounds of a woman's sultry voice pushing sex talk 900 #ers (graphic). It didn't even register with me at first because I instantly went into my 'hold coma' mode, I had to double check the (877) #er I dialed on the phones lcd screen with the one on my ATT statement before hanging up in total disbelief - ( nobody at ATT would believe me but It DID happen and just goes to show you how far away from corporate control their operator outsourcing program is getting ).
Anyways after calling back and being bounced around I got lucky and got a legacy ATT operator who refuted most of everything I had been previously told about getting a stand alone/dry loop DSL line and completed the order in about 2 minutes ! She told me that she set it up so that my current DSL with phone line would end (be separated) in 2 days (a Friday) and that the technician would be out the same morning (same Friday) to connect the dry loop. I was without DSL for about 3 hours in the early morning, then the Tech came, I called ATT support for set up assistance and was back up and running.

1) I recommend ( and I believe Ooma does too ) that you get ATT to give you a stand alone / dry loop DSL line before you port. I.E. - Separate your phone number from your DSL line. ( I simply told ATT that I wanted my DSL line separated from my phone numbers but wished to keep phone service with them).

2) Once my stand alone DSL was up and running I set up Ooma (same day) and filled out two port requests being careful to copy how my name and address appeared on my ATT statement.

3) Prior to all this I requested ATT send me a new FREE modem since I was such a loyal, long time customer etc. and that I couldn't be sure that certain speed issues weren't being caused by an old modem (they always drop your speed after a while as policy without telling you unless your bandwidth use is constantly heavy or you call to gripe about your speed all the time ). They're guilty and they know it so they will often give you a new modem free (if you have an older model) just to shut you up. Of course if your getting new service from them (even if you already have DSL with them the stand alone is considered new service) you should request a new modem and/or they might just give you one anyways.

As of recent ATT stand alone DSL is being offered at $14.95 a month if you sign up for one year. You will be billed $40 (a month) for your first two billing cycles, then $14.95 for 12 months. After he 12 months are up you pay $40 a month again. ..... Considering you most likely pay $38 or so a month now it's worth it.

:arrow: fwiw - I know the idea here is to save money but you may want to consider getting Ooma 'Premier'. Why? It's how Ooma makes their real money. Think of it as a small investment, a vote if you will, in keeping them healthy & competitive. Sure they may end up being bought out by a large Telco but young profitable companies may wish to stay that way longer thus creating more competition which, in the long run, saves you more & provides better consumer options.

joally
Posts:10
Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:36 am

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by joally » Sat Aug 14, 2010 8:56 pm

Well, I finally made it over to Ooma. After 4 days of no phone and no internet. After over 120 minutes (on my cellphone) here are the mistakes that were made:

AT&T set up my dry-loop DSL with an account number that started with a 0. That means it is not a real phone number. This is illegal in CA because AT&T must provide me with a real phone number so that I can have a live phone line to call 911. This is nice, I just have one corded phone in a wall jack for this purpose, power outages, etc. My 4-handset panasonic is plugged into Ooma, not the wall. Works great. But such a hassle!

Anyway, the other mistake was from Ooma. AT&T gave them my number on the estimated porting date (I had never got a confirmed porting date) and my DSL and phone went dead. When people called me, they got a recording saying that this number is incorrect, etc. When they realized the mistake they shut my internet off (on day 4) and set up a new order using a real phone number/account number. This was Thursday, and they said the soonest installation would be Tuesday (Day 9). I freaked out and asked for a manager. That requires a 48 hr. callback, so I accepted a "specialist." I demanded that they install the same day, she refused, but gave me priority the following day, Friday. It was on by 6am Friday. Funny thing is, on Saturday, I get a call saying I'm all scheduled for installation this Tuesday. They are so crazy!!

I called Ooma as soon as my internet was finally back up 4 days later and AT&T had confirmed that they had released the number to Ooma. The Ooma rep initially told me it could take 3 weeks, and I was shocked, asking if most people had no phone service for 3 weeks. Then he admitted that was strange. Put me on hold, came back and said AT&T was lying to me, they did not give the number to Ooma. He suggested I do a 3-way call with AT&T. I had to go pick up my kids at school, and 20 minutes later, I had an email on my phone from Ooma saying that my porting was complete. So obviously the Ooma rep was the one who was lying.

Anyway, it's all fine now. But it was a huge headache. Not to mention I paid $39 for the privilege. Here's what I recommend:

1st choice: Get cable internet before porting your number
2nd choice: Don't port your number, just give everyone your new Ooma number.
3rd choice: Get an iPhone so you will still have internet and cell service during this mess.
4th choice: Do it while you are on vacation.

BGF
Posts:6
Joined:Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:29 pm

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by BGF » Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:58 pm

Another AT&T to Ooma convert here! Currently have AT&T landline + DSL. Got the Telo system just this past week and have it set-up with the landline back-up. Already have my port request into Ooma to get rid of the landline with AT&T. I am going to gamble instead of pay the $200 technician fee to get "redundant" dry loop (direct) DSL before the port happens. I am going to try the timed method where, based on the port date I get from Ooma (and hopefully confirmed), I will order dry loop DSL to go live the same date and stay with AT&T for that part. Aside from costs, they actually have been pretty good in my area.

Only thing I was able to confirm by talking to AT&T beforehand was that I WILL lose both voice and DSL when the port completes and the $200 fee to have a tech come out. He did say if I knew how to separate the lines or knew somebody, that would be a way to avoid the $200. Anyway, I'm forgetting all that--will try to let you guys know how it goes in a few weeks. I am semi-literate when it comes to technology, which means I know enough to be dangerous! But I was able to explain it to my wife who is a bit less literate, and I sold her on the idea in spite of the possible loss of DSL for as much as a week (can always go to a place where they have wi-fi and get caught up with email and such there). And of course cell phones for the voice part.

I do have one question that I haven't seen come up so hope it's a non-issue: when I lose my current DSL and get my new dry loop account, will I be able to keep my current email address? Right now I have "sbcglobal.net" domains for my family and me.

Thanks.

joally
Posts:10
Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:36 am

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by joally » Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:31 am

Yes, you can keep your email address by claiming it within 60 days.

tommies
Posts:862
Joined:Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:10 pm
Location:Atlanta

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by tommies » Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:01 am

BGF wrote:Another AT&T to Ooma convert here! Currently have AT&T landline + DSL. Got the Telo system just this past week and have it set-up with the landline back-up. Already have my port request into Ooma to get rid of the landline with AT&T. I am going to gamble instead of pay the $200 technician fee to get "redundant" dry loop (direct) DSL before the port happens. I am going to try the timed method where, based on the port date I get from Ooma (and hopefully confirmed), I will order dry loop DSL to go live the same date and stay with AT&T for that part. Aside from costs, they actually have been pretty good in my area.

Only thing I was able to confirm by talking to AT&T beforehand was that I WILL lose both voice and DSL when the port completes and the $200 fee to have a tech come out. He did say if I knew how to separate the lines or knew somebody, that would be a way to avoid the $200. Anyway, I'm forgetting all that--will try to let you guys know how it goes in a few weeks. I am semi-literate when it comes to technology, which means I know enough to be dangerous! But I was able to explain it to my wife who is a bit less literate, and I sold her on the idea in spite of the possible loss of DSL for as much as a week (can always go to a place where they have wi-fi and get caught up with email and such there). And of course cell phones for the voice part.

I do have one question that I haven't seen come up so hope it's a non-issue: when I lose my current DSL and get my new dry loop account, will I be able to keep my current email address? Right now I have "sbcglobal.net" domains for my family and me.

Thanks.
Oh no.
I had ATT/Bellsouth DSL+land line, and I did dry loop and port my number to ooma without the outrageous $200 technician charge. It was more than a year ago. Here is what I did

I called ATT CS and told them I wanted to port my number out to another (VOIP) carrier and I wanted to keep ATT DSL service, Thus I needed to try loop DSL, and my number being put on a differrent account. The dry loop took around 10-11 days to completed.

In the time between the dry loop and the port, my phone number was not in service but it is safe to be ported out. I did not know at the time I could add a forwarding feature to forwarding every call my ooma temp. number. Whatever ATT charge for a basic (inactive) line + call forwarding is sure much less than the $200 fee.

If you want your number to be active after the dry loop, a technician need to come to your house and install it on Line 2, and so the $200 charge.
tommies

BGF
Posts:6
Joined:Sun Aug 15, 2010 4:29 pm

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by BGF » Mon Aug 16, 2010 12:43 pm

Thanks for your post, but it seems like ordering a new DSL only--dry loop--to be active on the day of the port accomplishes the same thing as what you describe. As it is, current Ooma forwarding features allow me to forward incoming calls to my cell phone if the Internet or whatever is out of service. So even if none of those things happens, we still have cell service as back-up, and we go to Starbucks or wherever to update our email. This is home stuff, not mission-critical.

I'll try it the way I saw at least two other people suggested and post the results. When I called AT&T, they either didn't know what I was talking about or did not offer any other options in spite of my repeated "are you sure about that?" types of questions. I probably talked to 4-6 different people before I got a halfway reasonable answer which was the pay $200 or have a friend split the DSL out so it could be its own line into the house.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, we'll see what happens.

joally
Posts:10
Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 10:36 am

Re: EXACT Steps to Follow When Porting # (AT&T DSL/Phone)

Post by joally » Mon Aug 16, 2010 2:09 pm

AT&T (Pacific Bell) will not let you order new service as long as your address has existing service. You can't call to order the new DSL until after the old one is disconnected. And from that point it takes 3-4 days. However, if you can find someone (perhaps a "specialist") to ask for "expedited" you could have it by the next day.

Post Reply