[billybye]

You can keep your old number - we did

[KayakerNC]

Originally Posted by zcaveman

Question. I have an AT&T cell phone. If I was to switch to one of these no contract services can I keep my same cell phone number or do I have to get a new number?

To Port In your existing telephone number to your TRACFONE and obtain wireless service provided by TRACFONE Wireless, Inc., you (the Subscriber) must agree to the following Terms and Conditions:

In order to transfer or port in your phone number to TracFone Wireless, Inc. you must have a TracFone wireless phone.
The number you are Porting must be active with your old service provider.
Once you have provided us with your information, the transfer process may take a few hours, or up to 2 business days for wireless phone numbers. It may take longer for landline phone numbers.
If you switch your home telephone number to TRACFONE, your home telephone service will be disconnected.
You must keep your TRACFONE service active by adding airtime within TRACFONE's guidelines for maintaining active service. For further information, please review TracFone Wireless’ Terms and Conditions of Service.
If the ZIP Code associated to the phone number is not the ZIP Code for your local calling area your TracFone will be roaming in your local calling area.
If your TRACFONE service does not remain active, you will lose your wireless TRACFONE Number. [tec_128771_link1] to read about Service Extension Plans, which will help ensure this does not happen.
Until the porting process is completed, should you need to call 911 for emergency assistance, you must give the 911 operator your location as the 911 operator will not be able to reach you until the port process is completed.

[logdog]

We pay $16 per month for our travel/emergency Net10 cell phone and $3.50 per month for our Ooma home phone. Net10 gives us 200 minutes per month with carry over (we have over 2,000 minutes) and Ooma is unlimited calls within the US.

[bestmickey]

Originally Posted by zcaveman

Question. I have an AT&T cell phone. If I was to switch to one of these no contract services can I keep my same cell phone number or do I have to get a new number?

When I initially switched to tracfone from my Sprint service, I transferred my number. As I've upgraded the phones I've used with tracfone, I've retained that phone number.

[ActsOfKindness]

i have a t mobile to go no contract phone for six years now in the villags and love it. i dont have alot of long distance calling or use the phone that much. you can purchase cards for ten dollars and up to cover the minutes..you can even use your credit card to do this by calling the t mobile customer service number. never an issue never a problem. and here is the real kicker. and again to reiterate, i dont use alot of minutes...but my cell phone bill for t mobile to go..every month is less than 5.00$ yes you read that correctly. i usually put about ten to l5$ on the phone . you have to keep it activated every 3 months..even if you have residual minutes leftover..which t mobile will give you . for instance if i have not used ten dollars worth of calls..(ten hours) it is cumulative for the next time around. but again to reiterate its a must you add minutes ..money to the tmobile account each 3 months..to not lose activation. also with t mobile..if you have a friend or relative that also has t mobile service and it does not have to be a contractural t mobile .any kind will do...its one dollar all day long..all night long..a 24 hour period..you can speak as long as you like and call as many times that same phone number within the time frame. i use it mostly for my son in las vegas....i hope this helps and p.s i m not representing the company. i just studied this and tortured myself with all the options with all the ways to go a few years ago..and this works for me fantastically. t mobile to go. walmart sells the cards...after you activate your phone with the sims card.

[zcaveman]

Thanks for all of the information. After a lot of checking and seesawing I finally ordered a TracFone. I will let you know if I have any problems porting my current cell phone number to the new phone when I get it.

[mrdills]

I got Tracfone and got triple minutes. I use there Value Plan for 19.99 a month and get 375 minutes. Can't beat this price for web, internet, and phone service. I got the Motorola EX 124G. Has anyone else bought this phone?

[ladydoc]

Originally Posted by bestmickey

I have a tracfone that I purchased on HSN (Home Shopping Network). It gives me triple minutes for life. Each time I purchase minutes, which is minimally required once per year, the minutes are tripled. It has texting, internet access, etc. LOVE the phone. While I'm living in upstate New York, I've used it while visiting The Villages and have never had access problems. While there have been lots of complaints from people re: registering the phones, I have never experienced any problems, and over the years I've upgraded my tracfone three times. Each time I registered the new phone(s), I had great customer service and was able to retain my old cell phone service phone number. I highly recommend getting a tracfone from HSN, because I'm not aware that any other vendor currently offers triple minutes for life. (Many offer double minutes, however.) A one year "card" (minutes purchased) is for 450 minutes, costing ~$99. But, I got 1,350 minutes for $99. The phone itself cost about $100 or $120 on HSN and came with the car charger. And, if you don't use all your minutes in one year, they will roll over into the next year. I can call anywhere in the country and it even allows me to call internationally to approximately 20 countries.

I think I got the same phone...an LG that is smarter then I am. $99 for phone, 1350 free minutes and good for a year, with carryover. Great phone, great plan.

[villages07]

Z ... I have had Tracfone for years; a great service for the minimal cell phone user. Basically about $100 per year for 400 or more minutes and unused minutes roll over to the next year.

That being said.... last December, I bought a new Samsung 301 Tracfone to replace an old Motorola and expected to transfer my old number and minutes.

They said, to keep the number they would have to send me a new SIM card for the Samsung. OK, no big deal. Installed it and after some tech service calls, all was working.

The only BUT is that the overall quality of phone coverage/service for me is noticeably worse now. I think, depending on the model of phone and perhaps the SIM card they sent me.... you either end up on the CDMA network or the GSM network.

I believe my old phone used CDMA and the new one is GSM.

So, I would be very leery of a phone that used GSM. Mr 07 has an older phone using CDMA and his works much better.

Most of this is opinion and observation.... I have no hard facts to support it.