Help transferring my number to MagicJack Plus - HOW???

[OldStyleBoomBox]

Please help please please please please please! I'm having a horrible time trying to transfer my own phone number to a magicJack plus. Whenever I go through the setup process I do the transfer number thing and it tells me my number can't be transferred.

Now I called magic Jack after their chat tech support blew me off and said there was "nothing" they could do to help me in such an unprofessional manner it made me kind of angry (and I don't normally get angry)

I tried calling Comcast and they said that magicJack needs to initiate the transfer for my old number.

Any thoughts please help.

[crackerjack]

Please help please please please please please! I'm having a horrible time trying to transfer my own phone number to a magicJack plus. Whenever I go through the setup process I do the transfer number thing and it tells me my number can't be transferred.

Now I called magic Jack after their chat tech support blew me off and said there was "nothing" they could do to help me in such an unprofessional manner it made me kind of angry (and I don't normally get angry)

I tried calling Comcast and they said that magicJack needs to initiate the transfer for my old number.

Any thoughts please help.

This is nature's way of telling you what would quickly become apparent by browsing these fora: DON'T DO IT!!!!!

If you already purchased a MJ, quickly return it. Hopefully you bought it from a reseller and not direct from MJ.

If you are looking for a lower cost phone solution compared to Comcast, here are a few suggestions. They are all predicated on being able to port your landline number to Google Voice, which is a little tricky, and involves first porting your number to tmobile

Check tmobile number porting here
http://www.t-mobile.com/switch/default.aspx
If this is possible you must now determine what physical hardware you will use to connect your phone handset. DO NOT START LNP PROCESS WITH TMOBILE yet!!!

There are 2 options: investigate http://www.amazon.com/OBi100-Telephone- ... =obihai100
or ,
if you are not able to return your MJ+, try getting http://download.gvmate.com/ and use it with your existing MJ+. (You will need to use it connected via USB)

see this doc for details, especially where to buy tmobile prepaid sim

http://www.obihai.com/porttutorial.html


It'll cost you about $2 for tmo sim, $20 for google voice port fee, $35 for obi100 and a few bucks for tmobile prepaid phone, (which can be returned). About $15 for gvjack program and you're done

[OldStyleBoomBox]

I got it from magicJack any idea why i can't transfer my number? So I can't return MJ if I bought it from MJ store?
Ps Thanks for the info.

[cell14]

If you bought it directly from Magic Jack you can send it back for refund within 30 days. That's what I would do.

[SteveHC]

OldStyleBoomBox - There are a number of reasons why you might not be able to transfer your old number to your MJ device - they are legitimate reasons and generally NOT MJ's fault. Virtually all phone companies have such an automated online procedure (like MJ's) to determine if a number is transferable - and they're pretty accurate. So if MJ's system says it's not transferable into their network you can pretty much assume that it's genuinely not transferable into their network (no matter *what* Comcast tells you).

What *I* would do is first check via the MJ setup website to see if there is an area code/prefix that is within your local calling area ; consider the possibility of going with a new number from there before returning the device to wherever you bought it (presumably a Walmart or Radio Shack?). If you want to do this I suggest that you do so IMMEDIATELY - because once you do so you'll immediately want to try calling local numbers - and others that you tend to call most often - to make sure that the MJ service works well for you and connects you with those other numbers at no additional charge quickly enough so that if it DOESN'T work out for you you'll be able to return the device to the retailer within the retailer's return policy time frame to get your money back.

Even if you COULD have transferred your old number, MJ would charge you an additional fee "up front" for doing so, then an additional *annual* fee just to *keep* the transferred number - it's not worth it if you ask me.

If you *absolutely MUST* keep your old number to a dirt-cheap voip provider, then check out other providers to see if your number can be ported into one of them - NetTalk *might* be an acceptable alternative for you IF THEY can port in your number (the cost of NetTalk is similar to MJ's); there are other providers too but they do cost more (but generally less than Comcast). Some providers have a means of determining for you whether or not your number can be ported over *before* you buy from them.

P.S. Cell14 - I seriously doubt that the average person would want to shell out $70 and go through that whole rigmarole with T-Mobile etc. just to get a number ported to Googe Voice, except for maybe those who get some sort of fun out of futzing around with multiple telecom companies. But that's just my take on the "average" telecom consumer, of course...

[cell14]

P.S. Cell14 - I seriously doubt that the average person would want to shell out $70 and go through that whole rigmarole with T-Mobile etc. just to get a number ported to Googe Voice, except for maybe those who get some sort of fun out of futzing around with multiple telecom companies. But that's just my take on the "average" telecom consumer, of course...

I think that you wanted to react to Crackerjacks posting, but I can still answer.
Actually, i do not think that an 'average consumer' would have a problem to pay for Obi and porting, especially not if getting a FREE service from GV.
Porting through TMO is not a biggie either, basically you do two ports, you do not have to be a telecom genius for that. The real problem here is that it sometimes fails even with portable numbers and since Google voice has even less customer service than magic jack ( yes, it is possible) you are stuck- that happened to me btw with my second MJ number.
The picky, fussy ' average consumer' is certainly not served with magic Jack or Nettalk. I would rather recommend him to stick to a service like Callcentric, with its easy, clear web site, configuration support, great CS and great full featured quality service. Yes, it's more money, but if you want to go rock bottom than you have to unfuss and especially be flexible.

[SteveHC]

P.S. Cell14 - I seriously doubt that the average person would want to shell out $70 and go through that whole rigmarole with T-Mobile etc. just to get a number ported to Googe Voice, except for maybe those who get some sort of fun out of futzing around with multiple telecom companies. But that's just my take on the "average" telecom consumer, of course...

I think that you wanted to react to Crackerjacks posting...

- Yep LOL! Sorry 'bout that! OK Crackerjack, where are ya...

[greenman]

I ported my home phone to google voice and use that as my main number too. While I agree, you end up being your own phone company, for me it was worth it. It's nice to be able to forward calls to any of my phones from a browser, and I'm not paying AT&T for service that was way more expensive and not much better.