Switching from Sprint to T-Mobile how-to

ccrs8

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Hi All,

I'm a long-time Sprint customer who is about to switch to T-Mobile. I currently have a two-line family plan with Sprint (Nexus S 4G for my wife, Sprint Galaxy Nexus for me). I have a 16GB Nexus 4 being delivered to my house early next week for my wife and plan on getting the "Nexus 5" for me the minute it comes out (presumably next month). Once I have both of these, I plan on making the switch.

We both use Google Voice for voicemail but did not do the whole Sprint/Google Voice full integration. We can undo the Google Voice for voicemail easily enough. Once we do that, what is the next step? We want to be 100% sure we are able to keep our phone numbers. That is the most important thing? We plan on getting the 2-line Simple Choice plan with T-Mobile with unlimited data ($120 for two lines). We are completely out-of-contract with Sprint, so no early termination fees apply.

So should I get our T-Mobile service all set up with a new pair of phone numbers and then port the numbers over? Or port them during the T-Mobile setup process?

One other potential question. My Sprint Galaxy Nexus is acting a bit wonky. Could I switch my number from Sprint to T-Mobile and use the Nexus 4 while leaving my wife on Sprint until the "Nexus 5" comes out and then complete the switch to bring her over to T-Mobile a month later? I heard that when you make a request to switch a number, the service at the old carrier ends. I definitely don't want to do that if it means my wife loses her service and loses her number.

Thanks for any help you all can provide!
 

tippmann15

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You can port your number over first if you want to, just make sure you get her put on a solo plan. You should be able to keep the same numbers (bring sprint account number AND pin number with you to T-Mobile).

As far as the Google voicemail integration etc,I have no idea :-(.

GS4/iPhone5
 

ccrs8

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It is looking more and more like I'm going to try to switch us separately once the Nexus 4 comes. So I should contact Sprint and get our numbers separated out in to two individual plans? Or should my wife get her number out in to an entirely separate account as a separate customer?

I only mentioned Google Voice because Sprint offered full Sprint/Google Voice integration, and I wanted to let possible responders know that we didn't do that. We just use our Sprint number as a regular Sprint number.
 

Good OL MC

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It is looking more and more like I'm going to try to switch us separately once the Nexus 4 comes. So I should contact Sprint and get our numbers separated out in to two individual plans? Or should my wife get her number out in to an entirely separate account as a separate customer?.

You can just do it as you're ready. Once you have the phones you want just call up T-Mobile or go to a store with the Sprint account number and PIN (maybe social) and have them take the number. That number will cancel on Sprint's end when T-Mo takes it. Leave the other number on Sprint for now and just go online and change the plan from a family plan to an individual to save money while you wait. No need to even mention to Sprint why you're doing it - you can just do it. The account can stay under your name in the whole process.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
 

Jaggrey

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I have a question. When porting in a line, does it make any difference whether I go to a T-Mobile store vs. calling them up?
 

Almeuit

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t mobile and sprint are about to merge so you'll be sprint again lol..

About to? Very incorrect. The guy mentioned in the future it was a possibility... It's not happening soon lol..

Sent from my T-Mobile HTC One using AC Forums.
 

BlakeGates

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I have a question. When porting in a line, does it make any difference whether I go to a T-Mobile store vs. calling them up?

Not at all. It is the same process. Although, I would urge you to actually go to a brick and mortar store. It just makes for much easier communication, you have paperwork you can actually hold in your hand, and you can make sure it is done correctly before you even walk out of the store. Just my personal opinion for a smoother transition :)

Posted via the AC App from my N7v2 or HTC One
 

STARGATE

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Not at all. It is the same process. Although, I would urge you to actually go to a brick and mortar store. It just makes for much easier communication, you have paperwork you can actually hold in your hand, and you can make sure it is done correctly before you even walk out of the store. Just my personal opinion for a smoother transition :)

Posted via the AC App from my N7v2 or HTC One

This ^^^
:thumbup::)

Sent From a Galaxy S4 Away!
 

Jaggrey

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Not at all. It is the same process. Although, I would urge you to actually go to a brick and mortar store. It just makes for much easier communication, you have paperwork you can actually hold in your hand, and you can make sure it is done correctly before you even walk out of the store. Just my personal opinion for a smoother transition :)

Posted via the AC App from my N7v2 or HTC One
Thanks. One of my lines isn't in the same state as I am, so I was going to call in and start the process for him. But my other 3 lines were done in the store and everything went smoothly, so I'll probably have him do the same. Thanks!
 

Jaggrey

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how are you enjoying your new T-Mobile service Jagg?
You know it's not bad... I'm enjoying it. It's weird cuz I knew where all the Sprint dead spots and where they were turning on 4G... now it's the same process again but with T-Mobile. I've gotten pretty good service and my phone does seem to work when I want and need it to a lot more often. The one time I traveled I had coverage and good speeds the whole way, even tho it wasn't LTE most of that trip. Other thing I noticed is texting seems to be really fast in comparison.

Anyway... I'm liking it. Glad we made the change.
 

Almeuit

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You know it's not bad... I'm enjoying it. It's weird cuz I knew where all the Sprint dead spots and where they were turning on 4G... now it's the same process again but with T-Mobile. I've gotten pretty good service and my phone does seem to work when I want and need it to a lot more often. The one time I traveled I had coverage and good speeds the whole way, even tho it wasn't LTE most of that trip. Other thing I noticed is texting seems to be really fast in comparison.

Anyway... I'm liking it. Glad we made the change.

That's good. T-Mobile is great if your area is covered... And when you don't have LTE you at least fall to HSPA so.. It isn't bad :).

Sent from my T-Mobile Note 3 using AC Forums.
 

ccrs8

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Original thread creator here. I bought my Nexus 5 and made the switch over the weekend (decided to get off of Sprint even though the Nexus 5 will work on it). The switch itself was easy (I ended up porting the numbers online during my initial sign-up). However, the timing was all off and now I'm stuck without a working phone until the SIM cards arrive. I signed up for T-Mobile on Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday morning the porting was already done! This despite the website saying that a multiple-line porting request will take 6 days to do. Oh well. By mid-week I'll be all set. My own fault for wanting to get everything done right away.

One thing that alarms me is that when I signed up online, the activation fees were waived for both of my lines (the line-item appeared as $35 but then was crossed out). However, the activation email I was sent after everything was set up says that my first bill will include my activation fees. Doing a bit of Googling showed that T-Mobile does this a lot - says it is waived but then charges it and doesn't do anything unless the customer calls and complains. And even then, they'll make the customer pay and then give them a reimbursement credit 3 bills later. Has anyone experienced this? A load of BS - makes me a bit more concerned about my decision.
 

Jaggrey

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Original thread creator here. I bought my Nexus 5 and made the switch over the weekend (decided to get off of Sprint even though the Nexus 5 will work on it). The switch itself was easy (I ended up porting the numbers online during my initial sign-up). However, the timing was all off and now I'm stuck without a working phone until the SIM cards arrive. I signed up for T-Mobile on Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday morning the porting was already done! This despite the website saying that a multiple-line porting request will take 6 days to do. Oh well. By mid-week I'll be all set. My own fault for wanting to get everything done right away.

One thing that alarms me is that when I signed up online, the activation fees were waived for both of my lines (the line-item appeared as $35 but then was crossed out). However, the activation email I was sent after everything was set up says that my first bill will include my activation fees. Doing a bit of Googling showed that T-Mobile does this a lot - says it is waived but then charges it and doesn't do anything unless the customer calls and complains. And even then, they'll make the customer pay and then give them a reimbursement credit 3 bills later. Has anyone experienced this? A load of BS - makes me a bit more concerned about my decision.
I remember they warned me about doing the porting during the ordering process for that very reason! In my experience it doesn't take longer than a few hours to do the porting anyway.

I also wasn't charged any activation fees at all. I brought in 4 lines; 3 in store, one either online or on Telesales... can't remember. The message you got was probably a generic message since they do sometimes charge activation fees.
 

ccrs8

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I remember they warned me about doing the porting during the ordering process for that very reason! In my experience it doesn't take longer than a few hours to do the porting anyway.

I also wasn't charged any activation fees at all. I brought in 4 lines; 3 in store, one either online or on Telesales... can't remember. The message you got was probably a generic message since they do sometimes charge activation fees.

Thanks - much appreciate. The warning I saw about porting numbers at the time of initial order was that they recommended paying for overnight delivery to assure receiving the sims in time for the porting. But even had I done that, I doubt I would have gotten them in time (order placed Saturday afternoon, porting done by Sunday morning). No big deal - sort of nice to be off the grid.
 

ccrs8

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Final update - once I got my SIM cards, everything was perfect as expected. The account documentation that came with the SIMS let me know which SIM was for which ported number, and as soon as I popped them in each phone, things worked like a charm. So other than my self-inflicted timing issue, couldn't have been smoother. I now have a working Nexus 5 and my wife has a working Nexus 4. We even got $150 from selling our old phones (Nexus S 4G and Galaxy Nexus) on Craigslist.
 

chel604

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I'm so glad I found your post. I have a Sprint Note 2 and was at Walmart and the sales person told me I could change my Sprint phone over to Tmobile, but because my phone doesn't take a SIM card I was skeptical. I called Tmobile and they said yes I can change over to their service, by purchasing their SIM card and having Sprint unlock my phone, and inserting their SIM card into the slot where the regular SD card would go. I've been searching all morning for a post that said this is true and had no luck until seeing your post. Thanks So much for posting.
 

clevin

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I called Tmobile and they said yes I can change over to their service, by purchasing their SIM card and having Sprint unlock my phone, and inserting their SIM card into the slot where the regular SD card would go. .

No no no no, the two slots are not the same, you can't plug sim into sd slot.

Unless your current phone has working sim slot, and that the phone is compatible with tmobile operation frequency, you will need to buy a new phone.

@T-Mobile GN3
 

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