Cell Phones

Need Cell Number Forwarding Advice

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Sr. Member
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May 9, 2008
674 posts
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Toronto

Need Cell Number Forwarding Advice

I thought I'd reach out to the community for some tips. Basically looking to establish a new cell number to forward to my work cell number. If I were to ever leave my work I lose that number & phone so want to get something established. I made the mistake of retiring my personal cell after carrying two cellphones got annoying (its been a few yrs now).

Ideally the most effective way to set this up.
40 replies
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
31271 posts
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Why a cell?
Why not voip?

This is basically me with voip.ms
I don't even know my own cell number because it's a Thunder Bay number whereas I'm in Vancouver.
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
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May 9, 2008
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death_hawk wrote: Why a cell?
Why not voip?

This is basically me with voip.ms
I don't even know my own cell number because it's a Thunder Bay number whereas I'm in Vancouver.
Did you purchase the DID from voip.ms? Or port in?
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2001
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I used freephoneline.ca (which I think i run by Fongo). Huge thread in the Freebie forum. The downside is that it does not (at least for me) forward text messages, only phone calls.

I'm in the opposite situation - I had a personal cell phone number for decades, and when I got a work phone I got tired of carrying two around. So I forward my personal phone to my work phone so anyone with my old number can still reach me. I give out my work number everywhere now because when I leave my employer it is very likely I will be able to take my number with me (it is not a posted number or anything). It is just for the odd person who still has my old number.
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TrevorK wrote: I used freephoneline.ca (which I think i run by Fongo). Huge thread in the Freebie forum. The downside is that it does not (at least for me) forward text messages, only phone calls.

I'm in the opposite situation - I had a personal cell phone number for decades, and when I got a work phone I got tired of carrying two around. So I forward my personal phone to my work phone so anyone with my old number can still reach me. I give out my work number everywhere now because when I leave my employer it is very likely I will be able to take my number with me (it is not a posted number or anything). It is just for the odd person who still has my old number.
My employer won't let me keep the number so this also prompted me to start contingency planning. For FPL did you port your cell# in?
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
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intotech wrote: Did you purchase the DID from voip.ms? Or port in?
I've done both.

I have like 20 numbers from them.
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.
Deal Fanatic
Apr 20, 2011
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ON
Just be sure the forwarding service forwards the caller ID number, if that's important to you.

I did something like this many years ago to get "free" voicemail with voip.ms by forwarding my cell number, when unavailable, to my voip mailbox (back when they charged like $10/mo for voicemail, which is ridiculous)
Only problem is every message appeared to be from my number.
Deal Expert
Aug 2, 2001
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intotech wrote: My employer won't let me keep the number so this also prompted me to start contingency planning. For FPL did you port your cell# in?
Yes - I ported my cell phone number in to FPL. I believe it was a $20 one-time fee.
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Jul 15, 2003
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Ontario, Canada
Freephoneline doesn't do SMS. if you don't care about SMS then it's free. It's meant for home phone which is why no SMS support.
Fongo will forward phone calls. $0/month to have a phone number. And receive SMS for free (and i think forward them but i'm not 100% sure). Sending SMS requires a monthly fee of $1-$2. And it has to be done through the fongo app.
voip.ms will work perfectly. forwards calls and SMS. costs $1ish/month to have a phone number and $0.02/min for forwarding voice calls.
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Mar 3, 2002
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TrevorK wrote: I used freephoneline.ca (which I think i run by Fongo).
Freephoneline and Fongo are sister companies run by Fibernetics.
I believe it was a $20 one-time fee.
It costs $25+tax to port a phone number to either FPL or Fongo Mobile.
It costs $5+tax to port phone numbers between FPL and Fongo Mobile.

From another thread . . .
sammjm wrote: a dumb question, what is the difference between fongo and FPL?
Fibernetics owns Fongo and Freephoneline.

Freephoneline is not Fongo Home phone.

Fongo Home phone is not Fongo Mobile.

They are not the same services. FPL and Fongo don't use the same servers (at least, they aren't the same IPs). And it costs money to port phone numbers between these services. They are not treated as being the same service. So, it's best not to get them confused.

Fibernetics, which owns/operates Freephoneline and Fongo, is the largest privately held competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) in Canada, and FPL/Fongo generates revenue from incoming phone calls or termination fees to its network in addition to the fees paid by its customers. The more phone calls made to their network, the more money they make. Fongo and Freephonline are treated as being separate entities by Fibernetics (it costs money to port phone numbers between FPL and Fongo). So, FPL and Fongo are considered to be sister companies, despite offering similar services.
However, they are run by, basically, by the same group of people.

They do want everyone to buy Fongo Home Phone instead of FPL though. $59.4+tax/yr ongoing vs. $79.95+tax lifetime
Obviously, there's more revenue from Fongo Home Phone over time.

Fibernetics also operates/owns Nucleus Information Service, Worldline.ca, 1011295.com, 295.ca, Vonix, NEWT, etc.

By the way, voip.ms uses Fibernetics as one its carriers:


question-about-telephone-service-option ... #p25468891
PianoGuy wrote: FreePhoneLine and VoIP.ms provide very similar services. The pricing structure is different, and VoIP.ms has more complex inbound call routing options, but the actual VoIP is the same. VoIP.ms even uses Fibernetics (FreePhoneLine's parent company) as one of their carriers, so some of the service is literally identical.

VoIP.ms has servers all over the place. FPL/Fongo has SIP servers in southern Ontario only.


FPL and Fongo Home phone are intended for use with regular telephones. FPL also has a free desktop app to use on computers: https://www.fongo.com/app/desktop/ (I know it says "Fongo", but it's really Freephoneline).

FPL does not support SMS. Fongo Mobile does.

Fongo Mobile is intended for use with smartphones. The Fongo Mobile app is free (advertisement based). It costs money to remove the ads. It costs money to send SMS but not to receive text messages.

FPL is a one time fee of $79.95 + tax for as long as you use FPL and does not offer free, official tech support outside of its user to user forums. Each 911 call is $35+tax. With FPL you buy your own ATA and configure the service on it yourself.

Fongo Home phone costs $4.95+ tax per month and includes tech support via online tickets. 911 calls are covered in the monthly fee. With Fongo Home Phone you're forced to buy Fongo's equipment.

sammjm wrote:one more question about the fees if i port my number with fongo or FPL all calls are free within their free calling cities
Correct
sammjm wrote:and no monthly charges?
Fongo Home Phone has monthly fees. FPL does not.
Fongo Mobile does not have monthly fees, unless you want to send SMS.
Fongo Home Phone is not a Bring Your Own Device service (BYOD). FPL is.
Please do not PM me for tech support. I help out on the forums when I can. Thank you.
OBi200/202 Freephonline PDF guide (version 1.60) can be found here. OBi200 info can be found here. For OBi202 info, click here.
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May 9, 2008
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Can I port out a new number assigned by Fongo Mobile? Basically starting fresh here.
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intotech wrote: Can I port out a new number assigned by Fongo Mobile? Basically starting fresh here.

https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/articles/212437466
Please do not PM me for tech support. I help out on the forums when I can. Thank you.
OBi200/202 Freephonline PDF guide (version 1.60) can be found here. OBi200 info can be found here. For OBi202 info, click here.
Sr. Member
Mar 17, 2008
810 posts
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Ontario
I am using a KnowRoaming Global SIM in USA and Canada. Just as a low usage prepaid phone service with data. Knowoaming provides us with two numbers - USA and UK. To contact us, anyone in Canada or USA has to dial our USA number in international form (+1(xxx)yyy-zzzz for USA number). Not ideal when Canadian friends/relatives wish to call us when in USA.

Knowroaming will provide a Canadian number, but it costs $3/month. A bit much considering limited use.
Our home Ooma voip will forward calls made to our home number, but that costs $10/month extra.

If we were to get a Canadian Fongo Mobile number, would it be possible to forward calls to that number to our US KnowRoaming number?

Or is there another solution?
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Mar 26, 2011
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intotech wrote: I thought I'd reach out to the community for some tips. Basically looking to establish a new cell number to forward to my work cell number. If I were to ever leave my work I lose that number & phone so want to get something established. I made the mistake of retiring my personal cell after carrying two cellphones got annoying (its been a few yrs now).

Ideally the most effective way to set this up.
If you're in the GTA this is what I would do if I were in your situation.

1. Pick up a FIDO or Virgin Mobile SIM card. ($10 at Bestbuy Mobile.. Cheaper and possibly even free if you can find it).
2. Wake up early in the morning and activate a prepaid account with a nice 416 #.
3. Setup a free FONGO account, and port the 416 # from step 2 (instead of getting 647 or 437 -- FONGO and ALL VOIP providers can only assign 647 or 437 #s.. not 416#s) -- port in cost is $25.
4. Setup call forwarding (FREE with FONGO) to your work #.

And if you were to leave your work, and get a phone elsewhere, you can port in this # from FONGO to a new provider of your choosing (if you want.. Or you can keep it with FONGO and forward it to new phone)
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freeagent wrote: If we were to get a Canadian Fongo Mobile number, would it be possible to forward calls to that number to our US KnowRoaming number?
Yes, but you'd be paying 2 cents per minute: https://www.fongo.com/calling/long-distance/#U

This is Fongo's free calling area: https://www.fongo.com/calling/free/
To contact us, anyone in Canada or USA has to dial our USA number
Just have them dial your Canadian Fongo Mobile number. It's a free call for them.
For you, it costs cellular data to receive the call, unless you're on wi-fi.
Please do not PM me for tech support. I help out on the forums when I can. Thank you.
OBi200/202 Freephonline PDF guide (version 1.60) can be found here. OBi200 info can be found here. For OBi202 info, click here.
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Does Fongo Mobile provide free Call forwarding? for example want to forward the Fongo # to my work Cell#.

Does the app need to be running all the time?
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intotech wrote: Does Fongo Mobile provide free Call forwarding? for example want to forward the Fongo # to my work Cell#.
If your work cell # is in one of these areas, yes: https://www.fongo.com/calling/free/
Does the app need to be running all the time?
No.

However, you should keep this in mind: https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/arti ... t-deleted-

Also, with respect to Fongo Mobile and SMS, read https://support.fongo.com/hc/en-us/arti ... ifications
Please do not PM me for tech support. I help out on the forums when I can. Thank you.
OBi200/202 Freephonline PDF guide (version 1.60) can be found here. OBi200 info can be found here. For OBi202 info, click here.
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Apr 4, 2008
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Windsor
freeagent wrote: If we were to get a Canadian Fongo Mobile number, would it be possible to forward calls to that number to our US KnowRoaming number? Or is there another solution?

You can use a free app such as NextPlus. Free calls/sms/mms to Canada/USA using data/wifi. They will give you a free Canadian phone number that people can call and that will ring your cell phone anywhere that you have data/wifi.

There are other apps that will do the same. Google "NextPlus alternative" but make sure those alternatives give you a free Canadian phone number.
Sr. Member
Mar 17, 2008
810 posts
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Ontario
Webslinger wrote: Yes, but you'd be paying 2 cents per minute: https://www.fongo.com/calling/long-distance/#U
Fongo rates page said 4c connection fee and then 2c/min. Is that correct?

Regarding forwarding to a KnowRoaming number. Fongo says:
You can forward your calls to a location outside of the Free Calling Cities within Canada; or Contiguous US if you have World Credits on your account as long as the rate for the forwarded number is less than 3cents/minute

At this time we do not support forwarding to international or Toll free numbers.
Calling to KnowRoaming requires use of International format. +1(xxx)yyy-zzzz. xxx is a US area code (Ours is 631). Would Fongo consider this an International number? If so, perhaps forwarding may not work with KnowRoaming?

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