The Pain of Porting In

TL;DR: Porting your number into a new carrier sounds easy but usually isn’t. You need your old account number, PIN, and billing info exactly right or the request fails. Carriers often drag their feet, causing delays, service hiccups, and headaches if your number is tied to bundled services. In short — keeping your number is ideal, and essentially your right as the owner of that phone number, but it's frought with hurdles.

Porting a phone number — moving it from one carrier to another — is supposed to be seamless. After all, your number is tied to your identity: your business cards, online accounts, and years of contacts. The idea of "porting in" (bringing your number over to a new carrier) sounds simple on paper. In practice? It’s often a bureaucratic headache.

The Basics of Porting In

When you decide to switch carriers, the new provider initiates the porting request. To do that, they need precise details from your old account:

1. Account number
2. Billing address (exactly as it appears on file)
3. PIN or passcode
4. The number(s) to be ported

They send this information to your old carrier, who has to validate it before releasing the number. Only after that approval does your number actually transfer to the new network.

Why It’s a Pain

Account details must match exactly

Even one typo — a misplaced middle initial, the wrong ZIP code, a missing apartment number — can cause the whole request to be rejected. And you usually won’t know until the request comes back as “failed,” forcing you to start over.

Hidden or forgotten account PINs

Most carriers require a transfer PIN or security code. Many people don’t even know theirs exists until they try to port. Retrieving it can mean sitting on hold with customer service or digging through an online portal you barely use.

Delays from the losing carrier

Your old provider has every incentive to slow-walk the process. Some carriers take hours, others take days, and in rare cases, weeks. During this limbo, your number might be stuck in “pending” status — not fully active on either network.

Bundled services confusion

If your number is tied to other services (internet, family plans, business accounts), porting it out can disrupt more than you expected. Sometimes the account must stay active — and paid — until the port finishes. Cancel too soon, and you risk losing the number permanently.

The Inevitable Irony

Porting is required by law to keep competition fair — customers shouldn’t be locked into a carrier just to keep their number. But the process is riddled with friction, partly technical and partly intentional. For carriers, every failed port request is a chance you’ll give up and stick around.

If you’re planning to port in a number, the best advice is to prepare: get your account number, PIN, and billing info in advance. Double-check everything with your old provider before starting the switch. Even then, expect at least a little hassle.

Because while “keeping your number” should be as simple as flipping a switch, anyone who’s done it knows — it’s often sort of a pain.