Porting (MNP, mobile number portability) moves your phone number from your old carrier to your new one. Your phone stays the same, your contacts stay the same, and people who text or call you do not need to know anything changed. Every US carrier supports port in. The only thing that matters is the order of operations, and most failed ports are order mistakes, not technical failures.
Four things. One: your phone number. Two: the account PIN from your old account, or the full name and billing address on it - the PIN makes the port faster, the name and address work without it. Three: the old account still active. A closed account cannot port out. Four: a carrier unlocked phone. If your phone was financed or locked, check the unlock status with your current carrier before you start. Everything else is optional.
Step 1: activate the new service first and choose to port your number during activation. Step 2: do not cancel your old plan. The old line must stay active and in good standing until the port completes - cancel first and the number dies with it. Step 3: once you have signal on the new carrier, then cancel the old line and ask for a final statement with zero balance. That sequence - activate, port, then cancel - is the entire trick. It takes one day at most.
Activation is instant eSIM, and the number port runs in parallel with it. You get the eSIM profile immediately, the port usually completes in 15 minutes to a few hours, and because World Mobile runs on the T-Mobile and AT&T backbone (whichever is stronger in your area, plus in-house network where deployed), the signal you land on is the same one your phone already uses in most places. No new phone, no new number, no coverage gap for most people.
1. Canceling the old plan before the port finishes - the number is gone. 2. An unpaid balance or past-due status on the old account - the old carrier rejects the port until it is cleared. 3. Wrong PIN and no access to the account details - use the exact name and billing address on the old account, or call the old carrier to confirm them. 4. A recently ported number - some carriers place a temporary hold on numbers that were ported in recently, so if your number just moved, the port may need to wait. 5. A number on a shared or family account - you need the information for the account holder the number is registered under, not just your own name.
Your old line keeps working normally until the cutover, then the number moves to the new carrier in one step. The gap at cutover is usually seconds to a couple of minutes - not long enough to miss anything important in practice. If you expect a call at a specific time, schedule the port outside of it. After the port, old voicemail boxes do not carry over; set up voicemail on the new account once signal arrives.
World Mobile: $15 for 2GB, $40 for unlimited 25GB fast, no contract, no credit check, T-Mobile or AT&T (whichever is stronger) plus in-house network where deployed, instant eSIM. 50% off your first month with a referral.
See World Mobile Plans →No contract. No credit check. Keep your number.Yes. Port the number during activation. Keep the old account active until the port completes, then cancel it.
Usually 15 minutes to a few hours. The old line stays active until the port finishes, so you are not without service.
Yes. The port can complete with the full name and billing address on the old account instead of the PIN. If you do not have those either, call your old carrier to confirm them first.
No. Porting is a service transfer between carriers and has no credit reporting effect. Switching to prepaid also involves no credit check.
Yes, both. World Mobile runs on the T-Mobile and AT&T backbone, so you can move your number from either and keep the same coverage in most areas.
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