Author Topic: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas  (Read 6558 times)

Hamster

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Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« on: December 18, 2014, 02:43:37 PM »
If this is answered elsewhere, I apologize.

I will be living in Korea for 6 months and am trying to figure out what to do about phone numbers and phones.

Me: I am currently on Airvoice - happily paying $10/month.I'm using a GSM nexus 4.
Wife: Verizon pre-paid. $40 or 50 per month (she's a real-estate agent and needs a non-finicky connection with good coverage). She's using a verizon Moto G (with a failing speaker) that doesn't accept a SIM card and needs to be replaced anyway.

I would like to find the cheapest/simplest way to keep both of our US phone numbers while overseas and receive calls/texts/voicemail to these numbers while abroad. Ideally we'd like to do this on our phones, but could do it via computer as well.

I would ideally like to use my current Nexus 4 to pick up forwarded calls from my US number (over IP), and also install a Korean SIM to use it with a Korean carrier.

**our numbers cannot be ported to either google voice or Republic Wireless, so that limits our options**

Our numbers will port to T-mobile (and I believe all the major carriers), so we could use T-mobile's WiFi calling option, but it looks like the cheapest option is $30 per month which seems excessive for our needs. We'd need to get new devices for the T-mobile WiFi calling option - unless rumors are true that Android 5.0 will allow T-mobile WiFi calling on any device in 2015.

JohnnyDollar

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2014, 03:29:02 PM »
I've never heard of a number that can be ported to company X but not company Y.  Commissioner Dollar calling I.P. Daley!  Daley, do you read?

Assuming the constraint is a real thing, I would probably port your numbers to a VOIP provider (e.g. Callcentric, which I happen to use) and connect to it from your cell phones.  Nexus will definitely do it, possibly even with the built-in dialer instead of the e.g. Callcentric app.  Callcentric also supports forwarding/ringing multiple phones, so if you opt for a landline (or a local cell provider in Korea) you can forward to / ring them as well.  I haven't looked into others for a couple years but I expect many providers do this. 

If you have internet access at your house and/or a data plan, you should be golden.

Daley

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2014, 05:51:57 PM »
The only real problem is going to be the whole SMS text messaging issue as it limits your options. VOIP.ms does SMS texting only with certain numbers and exchanges, I don't believe you can do so porting numbers in. IIRC, VOIPo can do SMS with all numbers, including numbers ported in, and they do have what's called their Cloud Number service that's $3/month if you pay for a year at a time, and it comes with 500 minutes inbound a month. If you don't give a fig about keeping SMS operational on the number, pretty much any VoIP provider from the guide will hack it. Expect to pay around $2-3+ a month to park the line, though, with a few incoming minutes. There's other VoIP providers that do SMS, but they're considerably more expensive.

As for the number porting issue, it can happen with some exchanges and especially with GV and Republic. One of the hangups is if the number was ever flagged as a landline. Don't worry though, nothing of value has truly been lost being denied either option. :)

Hamster

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2014, 08:04:11 PM »
Thanks for the replies guys.

SMS is very important for my wife to maintain her job connections while we are overseas, so continuing that with a ported number is a requirement for us.

So far, looking at the options mentioned:
VIOPo's could service looks to be the most appealing at $3 per month with SMS for their cloud service. I chatted with customer service and it seems straightforward enough once I get ported, download an app, configure the settings, etc.
Callcentric doesn't support SMS.
VOIP.ms has such a confusing website, I am not sure what is going on...

A bit anti-mustachian, maybe, but I would be willing to pay a bit more if there was a simple pre-packaged solution - "download our app and enter your phone number and credit card info and you're good to go for voice and SMS". But, that doesn't seem to exist (?).

Aside: Daley, I should mention that it was your posts that taught me that expensive mobile contracts weren't the only option. Inspired by your posts, I switched from Verizon to Airvoice and have saved over a thousand dollars over the past couple of years.  My colleagues still are dumbfounded when I tell them I spend $10 per month on my smartphone plan.

Daley

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2014, 10:22:38 PM »
A bit anti-mustachian, maybe, but I would be willing to pay a bit more if there was a simple pre-packaged solution - "download our app and enter your phone number and credit card info and you're good to go for voice and SMS". But, that doesn't seem to exist (?).

There's Line2 that does the whole kit and kaboodle like VOIPo does for $10/month, and I think it's just signing into an account with an application, no extended configuration... but I've never used it myself so I can't vouch for it. End of the day, you're going to have to jump through a few hoops to do the number porting and at least the basic account setup no matter the carrier.

Aside: Daley, I should mention that it was your posts that taught me that expensive mobile contracts weren't the only option. Inspired by your posts, I switched from Verizon to Airvoice and have saved over a thousand dollars over the past couple of years.  My colleagues still are dumbfounded when I tell them I spend $10 per month on my smartphone plan.

I'm honored and glad to have helped you out. It truly is a little humbling when I start adding up the annual savings from everyone here who's ever followed my advice and reported as such to me, publicly or privately.

Returnoftheyeti

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2014, 07:31:37 AM »
this says a port to google voice will work, and the T-Mobile option is a good idea.



http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1786882-Porting-to-GV-from-Airvoice-Wireless

Hamster

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2014, 08:44:42 AM »
this says a port to google voice will work, and the T-Mobile option is a good idea.

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1786882-Porting-to-GV-from-Airvoice-Wireless

Thanks Yeti. Even though it's possible to port (some) numbers between GV and Airvoice, Google Voice pretty harshly restricts what numbers it will accept (by location) They don't allow ANY 360 numbers at this point, which makes mine a non-starter. So far, GV and Republic are the only 2 providers that will not port numbers in my area.

T-mobile would be the easiest, but at >$30 per month it is by far the most expensive option, and their WiFi calling only works with certain phones.

A bit anti-mustachian, maybe, but I would be willing to pay a bit more if there was a simple pre-packaged solution - "download our app and enter your phone number and credit card info and you're good to go for voice and SMS". But, that doesn't seem to exist (?).

There's Line2 that does the whole kit and kaboodle like VOIPo does for $10/month, and I think it's just signing into an account with an application, no extended configuration... but I've never used it myself so I can't vouch for it. End of the day, you're going to have to jump through a few hoops to do the number porting and at least the basic account setup no matter the carrier.
Line2 looks like the simplest option (is it just me or are websites getting dumber and dumber?). I'm willing to spend their $10 per month if their app seems functional and they can port my number. They don't have an easy way to check my number for portability. The FAQ says to do the free trial first and then contact customer support. I am trying to get an answer from support first, and I will do the trial and report back to everyone. At $10 per month, it's 3x the cost of VOIPo, but only 1/3 the cost of t-mobile.

Daley

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2014, 10:30:10 AM »
Line2 looks like the simplest option (is it just me or are websites getting dumber and dumber?). I'm willing to spend their $10 per month if their app seems functional and they can port my number. They don't have an easy way to check my number for portability. The FAQ says to do the free trial first and then contact customer support. I am trying to get an answer from support first, and I will do the trial and report back to everyone. At $10 per month, it's 3x the cost of VOIPo, but only 1/3 the cost of t-mobile.

Yeah, the new trend going around with the clown-like giant fonts, the pretty pictures instead of information, and the whole abuse of responsive design and HTML5 to show off parallax image scrolling is just absolute bullcrap. It conveys very little, chews up bandwidth, and is a pain in the can to navigate. I have a burning hatred for the trend, and I'm trying to fight it tooth-and-nail with clients who want style over substance. They're the equivalent of idiotic splash pages from the late 90's, except now companies think that this crap can actually stand in place of content.

Sorry about that, you touched a nerve. Anyhoo...

Do keep in mind that setting up a SIP client really isn't too difficult, especially if you stick to the worn and official paths. Also with VOIPo, the SMS goes to and can be responded from any email client. I've even noticed over the years that a lot of non-technical people get hyped up about how complicated these things are to set up on their own, but once they go and actually do it, they realize that it's not that difficult at all.

Hamster

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2015, 09:46:27 PM »
TL;DR: Line 2 is working, and after some initial hiccups they ported my number. Now I am paying $10 per month to make/receive calls and texts on my cellphone using my existing US number, while in Korea - as long as I have WiFi available.

Update:

So, I signed up for Line2 after querying them about porting my number. They said it was possible and to go ahead and sign up. Two weeks later, I signed up, paid the first month's fee, and requested the port. Tech support said my number was out of their service area and couldn't be ported???!!!?!?!?!

I forwarded them the e-mail where they said I could port my number, and they replied that it was actually possible, but they were having problems with carrier cooperation on certain numbers, so weren't sure how long it would take. I asked if they would do it any way, and about 3 days later, the number was ported successfully. Easy-peasy.

So far, I have been receiving and placing calls mostly without a hitch. I have had a couple delays or drops, but the WiFi router where I am staying also misbehaves with my computer, so I am not sure if Line2 or the router is to blame.

The App works great on my android phone for calls and texts - it basically just replaces my phone's dialer. The Web app makes it much easier to manage voicemail, greetings, etc than it was for any of my cellular plans.

As bad as my reception was at my house in the states, I may just keep this as my primary phone number and set it to auto forward to a cheap voice-only cell number when I am outside of WiFi range. We'll see how the next few months go. The total would be a few dollars more expensive than my old airvoce $10 per month plan, but actually receiving calls at home in my cellular dead zone would be worth it.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2015, 10:04:20 PM by Hamster »

Hamster

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2015, 09:52:11 PM »
a small footnote to the last e-mail.

From what I have seen so far, the cellular monopoly in Korea is even worse and less flexible than in the US. You are pretty much stuck with contracts, and have to sign up using your credentials - residency permit, etc. Unlike every other country I have visited, you can't just buy a SIM card for a few dollars and call it good. A Korean SIM for foreigners is like $20 to purchase and $5 per day to use... I am still looking into other options but they don't make it easy.

If you are Korean, there is more flexibility. My brother-in-law has a portable WiFi hotspot that he says will do 5GB data per month for $5 per month (WOW!?!!). If we get that working, I think we have my primary cell solution, but he says he is having trouble getting it re-activated (he hasn't used it for a few years) and the cell companies are not cooperating.

If there are any forumites in Korea with other suggestions, or corrections to the above, please share.

Thanks!

JLee

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2015, 10:19:14 PM »
I have a post-paid T-Mobile plan because I spend a fair amount of time in Canada: http://www.t-mobile.com/optional-services/roaming.html

They say they have coverage in South Korea (free texting and calls at $0.20/min), so that may be worth looking into.

Daley

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Re: Keeping phone/numbers while overseas
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2015, 08:27:08 AM »
As bad as my reception was at my house in the states, I may just keep this as my primary phone number and set it to auto forward to a cheap voice-only cell number when I am outside of WiFi range. We'll see how the next few months go. The total would be a few dollars more expensive than my old airvoce $10 per month plan, but actually receiving calls at home in my cellular dead zone would be worth it.

Great to hear the update, sorry to hear about the Korean mobile issues. When you do get back to the US and if you're thinking of sticking with Line2 for your primary service, consider possibly going with Truphone for the mobile end. It's 9¢/minute or SMS outbound, but free for inbound calls and texts, 9¢/MB for data, there's no monthly minimum charge (so long as there's some sort of activity on the account every month), and they roam on both AT&T and T-Mobile towers, though data is EDGE speed unless you're on a metro area T-Mobile tower (that's a good thing at 9¢/MB though).

I'd maybe recommend Truphone for the Korean phone service issue, but even through them it's $1.15/minute outbound to the US and Korea, and $1.05/min inbound with no local number. Apparently, waeguk-saram appear to be treated as easy cash targets in the mobile telecom industry there.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2015, 08:29:50 AM by I.P. Daley »