Computers & Electronics

Cutting the home phone cord. Can you port/forward your home line to an existing cell?

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  • Jan 27th, 2020 10:45 am
Sr. Member
Aug 16, 2005
765 posts
194 upvotes
Thanks everyone. sorry this topic got into a somewhat of an argument.
I am still debating if I should cut it outright or keep it for the occasional calls/emergency.
Sorry for the confusion, I wasn't planning to port it to a new cell plan.

I was simply hoping i could somehow forward it to my existing cell temporarily or more on a permanent basis but I don't believe there's a possibility here.

Thanks.
Mark
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
EdT586 wrote: OMFG ...why does he need another cellphone plan if he just needs to port his home number to his existing cellphone number ?
Most people tend to be attached to their existing numbers.
I highly doubt OP doesn't have a cell phone right now so porting in would replace his existing number.

So pay for a VoIP service when he does not need it ? ...oh very smart, economical and efficient ! ...LoL
As opposed to paying for a secondary line?
But we're both working on different assumptions as to which numbers OP wants to keep so neither of our comments apply until OP confirms one way or another.

Why does the OP need to pay for VoIP setup if he has and already paying for an existing cellphone plan ?
See above in relation to retaining their existing cell phone number.
Unless there's a new thing where you're allowed to assign 2 different numbers to one SIM which I don't know about.
Your thinking is he still needs to pay for a separate VoIP plan and a separate cellphone plan ..why not just pay for one and skip the hassle in between !
No, I'm saying OP should pay for one VoIP and their existing cell. Not VoIP and an additional cell.
If the OP wants to port his home line to his cellphone, I don't think he wants a seperate cellphone account as well even that is doable with my suggestion of a double SIM smartphone !
A dual SIM smart phone with a potential huge additional cost assuming OP doesn't have one already.
Even if OP did have a dual SIM phone, we're back to paying for 2 cell phone plans.
Unless OP somehow uses more than 1750 minutes per month forwarding, your $20 plan is going to be FAR more than VoIP forwarded to their existing number.
If you decide to go for a low cost PAYG plan, you're going to be paying FAR more than $0.005/minute.

Also why does OP need 2 cell phone plans? I thought your entire argument was porting to their existing cell plan.
There's no way for you to win this argument if you're arguing for 2 SIMs in terms of cost.
The only way you're winning is if OP doesn't mind losing their existing cell number.

I'm not sure how to interpret OP's comment of "I would still like to keep my number if possible." because that's somewhat ambiguous if it's their existing home number or their existing cell number.
How I read it (and how I based my entire argument) is that OP wants to retain both numbers.
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
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Nov 28, 2016
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markdweasel wrote: Thanks everyone. sorry this topic got into a somewhat of an argument.
I am still debating if I should cut it outright or keep it for the occasional calls/emergency.
Sorry for the confusion, I wasn't planning to port it to a new cell plan.

I was simply hoping i could somehow forward it to my existing cell temporarily or more on a permanent basis but I don't believe there's a possibility here.

Thanks.
Mark
If you have kids at home with no cell phones, its a no brainer to keep it. Thats why we had ours mostly. But after the last one got their own at 16, the need went down alot
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
markdweasel wrote: Thanks everyone. sorry this topic got into a somewhat of an argument.
Not your fault. Your original post didn't clearly highlight which numbers you wanted to keep.
I am still debating if I should cut it outright or keep it for the occasional calls/emergency.

Fair thought. It's the reason I have a frankly ridiculous number of phone numbers. They're legacy and I have some sort of attachment to them.
I was simply hoping i could somehow forward it to my existing cell temporarily or more on a permanent basis but I don't believe there's a possibility here.
So what you're saying is you want to retain both your existing cell number AND the PSTN (home) number you're thinking of cutting.
If so, this as I explained above is easily and cheaply doable, however it won't be on your existing cell plan.
It'll be a 3rd party service. Don't worry, it's cheap and pretty easy to do, even without a lot of technical experience.

Please answer these questions:

You want to keep your existing cell phone number and your home number?
What's your expected usage on your PSTN (home) line? Like how many minutes per month?
How temporary or permanent are you thinking? A few months? A few years? Forever?
Do you have a dual SIM cell phone?
What province are you located?
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
Sr. Member
Aug 16, 2005
765 posts
194 upvotes
death_hawk wrote: Not your fault. Your original post didn't clearly highlight which numbers you wanted to keep.


Fair thought. It's the reason I have a frankly ridiculous number of phone numbers. They're legacy and I have some sort of attachment to them.

So what you're saying is you want to retain both your existing cell number AND the PSTN (home) number you're thinking of cutting.
If so, this as I explained above is easily and cheaply doable, however it won't be on your existing cell plan.
It'll be a 3rd party service. Don't worry, it's cheap and pretty easy to do, even without a lot of technical experience.

Please answer these questions:

You want to keep your existing cell phone number and your home number?
What's your expected usage on your PSTN (home) line? Like how many minutes per month?
How temporary or permanent are you thinking? A few months? A few years? Forever?
Do you have a dual SIM cell phone?
What province are you located?
I am still debating this as I got the wife factor - who wants to keep things as they are. Toughest sell.

Expected usage is less than 100 min a month I would imagine.
Permanent vs temp, good question. Can't decide.

Located in ON.

I also have alarm monitoring with the home line and that would be affected as well. Still need to see if I can convert to wireless or ditch monitoring all together ( got cameras etc).
anyway, I wanted to gauge whats out there so I can see what's available.

Thanks again for all the info.
Mark
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
17295 upvotes
markdweasel wrote: I am still debating this as I got the wife factor - who wants to keep things as they are. Toughest sell.
True.
You could go VoIP and just swap the backend hardware. She'd never know Face With Tears Of Joy :twisted:
Expected usage is less than 100 min a month I would imagine.
VoIP would easily win then.
Permanent vs temp, good question. Can't decide.
Think about it. Someone like FPL (which you being in ON) would be great. It's a one time port fee with no recurring costs.
I also have alarm monitoring with the home line and that would be affected as well. Still need to see if I can convert to wireless or ditch monitoring all together ( got cameras etc).
This may throw a hitch into your setup unless you get wireless monitoring.
Some wired alarm systems play nicely with voip but some don't. You'll have to do some research into this.
Do you not have anything else to do rather than argue with strangers on the internet
Nope. That's why I'm on the internet arguing with strangers. If I had anything better to do I'd probably be doing it.
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Apr 25, 2013
7398 posts
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markdweasel wrote: Thanks everyone. sorry this topic got into a somewhat of an argument.
I am still debating if I should cut it outright or keep it for the occasional calls/emergency.
Sorry for the confusion, I wasn't planning to port it to a new cell plan.

I was simply hoping i could somehow forward it to my existing cell temporarily or more on a permanent basis but I don't believe there's a possibility here.

Thanks.
Mark
You can port your landline number to an existing cell number free of charge and it will take 2-3 business days, but you will loose the cell phone number.
If you want to keep your existing landline number without being ported to an existing cellphone number, then porting it to a VoIP DID number is the cheapest option, you pay a one time fee of @$11.00cad for the porting service and then a monthly fee of @$1.25cad and any incoming and outgoing calls for $0.01/minute. You will also need to purchase some equipment such as an ATA box if you want to continue using the analog phones you currently have or new IP phones or use your smartphone as the actual wireless handset at home.
Unless the alarm company actually sends someone over to check or they simply phone you, there are auto dialers that can phone one or several phones to warn you that an alarm was tripped and you can either check the camera to see if it was an actual burglary before you call the police.
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Jul 26, 2007
7579 posts
5272 upvotes
Toronto
markdweasel wrote: I am still debating this as I got the wife factor - who wants to keep things as they are. Toughest sell.

Expected usage is less than 100 min a month I would imagine.
Permanent vs temp, good question. Can't decide.

Located in ON.

I also have alarm monitoring with the home line and that would be affected as well. Still need to see if I can convert to wireless or ditch monitoring all together ( got cameras etc).
anyway, I wanted to gauge whats out there so I can see what's available.

Thanks again for all the info.
Mark
I too wanted to keep my old landline number and been paying $0/m for FPL voip for few years now.

Only draw back was with internet outages and worried same as you the younger one can't reach us. But over the years, Rogers been good and only outages we experienced was power outage that effected all landline with cordless phones anyway so in the end, got the young ones their own cell phones and now I can relax.
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Apr 25, 2013
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peteryorkuca wrote: I too wanted to keep my old landline number and been paying $0/m for FPL voip for few years now.

Only draw back was with internet outages and worried same as you the younger one can't reach us. But over the years, Rogers been good and only outages we experienced was power outage that effected all landline with cordless phones anyway so in the end, got the young ones their own cell phones and now I can relax.
Just use an UPS with your ATA, modem, router and wireless phones
Jr. Member
Mar 5, 2003
147 posts
36 upvotes
Toronto
Hi All,
I am in a similar situation where I do not want to lose my phone number. I am with Rogers.
Is there a service provider where I can setup and port my number for free and setup to forward to my cell. Don't mind paying a very small fee.

Thanks in advance
Deal Fanatic
Jan 21, 2018
9652 posts
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Vancouver
tsml1 wrote: Hi All,
I am in a similar situation where I do not want to lose my phone number. I am with Rogers.
Is there a service provider where I can setup and port my number for free and setup to forward to my cell. Don't mind paying a very small fee.
As per the thread, no free options, Fongo/Freephoneline $25 porting + free forever forwarding is probably the cheapest option.
Deal Addict
May 7, 2012
1096 posts
514 upvotes
tsml1 wrote: Hi All,
I am in a similar situation where I do not want to lose my phone number. I am with Rogers.
Is there a service provider where I can setup and port my number for free and setup to forward to my cell. Don't mind paying a very small fee.

Thanks in advance
The simple direct response would be www.voip.ms. Free port-in and $0.85/ month USD. Plus $0.05/minute USD billed in 6 second increments. Free sms as of now. MMS possible in future. Many options for forwarding.

Other options include Freephoneline.ca, Fongo, Callcentric, Anveo.

Another option is to negotiate your Rogers line with TV and Internet. For exampleZmy Bell service gives me local phone for free with Internet and starter TV package.
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Mar 25, 2003
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Scote64 wrote: As per the thread, no free options, Fongo/Freephoneline $25 porting + free forever forwarding is probably the cheapest option.
Porting to Fongo during sign up is $9.95
https://www.fongo.com/how-to-transfer-y ... #homephone
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Jan 21, 2018
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Keigotw wrote: Porting to Fongo during sign up is $9.95
https://www.fongo.com/how-to-transfer-y ... #homephone
Only if you sign up for a paid account.

voip.ms is offering free porting for some numbers at the moment (an offer that has been on and off in the past too), and they have a cheap monthly base fee for some numbers (variable by location), plus a small per-minute fee for forwarded calls. Eventually it would surpass $25, maybe in a year or two depending on usage. So it's basically a choice of a one-time fee if you are planning to keep your old number on forwarding long-term, or a small monthly fee if this arrangement is short term.

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