I currently use AT&T for my landline phone, my Cable, & my home net access.
For a smart phone, I have used a Tracfone. It is rather old, & my email account will no longer display photos I send from the phone to my computer. I suspect the phone is to blame.
Might be time to ditch the landline.
Spare me the sarcasm. :dubious:
So, how much of a pain in the *ss will AT&T make of itself?
Can I keep my old phone number?
Will I have to get any pother new equipment, say for my computer or TV?
I don’t understand; where will your old phone number go when you drop the landline?
By “landline”, do you mean the traditional, pre-internet landline where the phone is plugged into the wall? Or do you mean you have a VOIP box that provides landline-like service over the internet connection?
You can keep your old phone number. It’s called “porting”. You port your number to a new phone service. You can’t port your landline to your existing Tracfone. You have to have new line of service. So you could get another prepaid phone for the landline number, or get regular cellphone service. One other option is to port your landline number to the Google Voice service. If it’s ported to Google Voice, you can have GV forward calls to your Tracfone (or any other phone number you like).
Another option is to port your landline to one of the VOIP providers. They provide cheap phone service over the internet. Vonage is a big one, but there are many others who provide different levels of service at different prices (from free to $XX/month). I have PhonePower for about $10/month and have had virtually no problems.
I don’t suspect ATT will mind too much if you lose your landline, other than the normal “Please don’t leave us!” spiel when you call to cancel. It shouldn’t cause any changes to your TV or internet service. The only thing would be that if you had some special “3-way” package which requires all three services (phone, internet, and TV) for special pricing. If you ditch a service, the monthly price may actually go up.
My old landline number–can I get it for the smartphone?
New cellphone was implied. And ditching the Tracfone, for a smartphone.
I do have a package for all three.
The issue is getting a modern smartphone,
My bad for not making that clearer.
Yeah, you can do that, no problem. I had an old, wired landline. I ported it, first to Vonage, then to Virgin Mobile, then to TracFone. No problem keeping the same number on all devices.
Also, what provider are you going to use for the smartphone? You can activate the smartphone on your TracFone account, but port your landline number if you choose. TracFone does allow you to bring your own phone. You’re not restricted to the phones they provide.
I was thing of switch to AT&T.
Will I get soaked (financially)?
The phone company you go to will generally make porting really easy. So let’s say you go to Verizon. You call up Verizon to get new service and tell them you want to port your existing ATT number 555-555-1234. Verizon then does all the paperwork to move it to your Verizon account. It takes just a few days. Once ATT releases your number, they will typically also cancel the landline phone service. Make sure you talk with ATT first to see if there are any penalties. Often with the bundles, there is a 12-month (or so) commitment. If you cancel one of the services before then, you may owe a penalty.
Go to the ATT site now and see what their phone+TV bundles are. When you cancel phone service, you’ll likely want to pick one of those bundles rather than paying retail for TV and retail for internet. You can also talk to ATT about porting your ATT landline number to a ATT cell phone if you want that service.
Actually, they’ll probably give you a discount and lowered rates for the first year.
After that, watch the costs creep up, up, up, up, up.
(Not just AT&T: they all do this. Bastids.)
FWIW. I don’t have cable, but I have internet with AT&T. I used to have Sprint for my cell service, but when I moved into town, I couldn’t get a good signal from Sprint, so I switched to AT&T. I bought an unlocked phone on amazon and went to the AT&T store to have it activated. I told the rep that I already had internet service with AT&T, and I figured I should combine them into one account, right? She said, “No, I wouldn’t. I’d keep them separate. It can be simpler to keep them separate.” <shrug> So I have two separate accounts with AT&T, and I get two bills, both of which are automatically charged to my credit card. The internet bill is about $75/month, and the cell phone is about $55/month. I don’t know what they’d be if they were bundled. Don’t care really. YMMV.
So, is there any good way to handle this?
If you’re going with AT&T, and I know this is semi-techie stuff, make sure your phone is compatible. You need a GSM phone. They run on AT&T and T-Mobile networks. If you go with Verizon or Sprint, you need to get a CDMA phone.
Another suggestion; if you’re planning to put the smartphone on AT&T, walk into an AT&T store and explain what you want to do. The people there should be able to help you cancel the landline service, set up the cell phone contract and arrange to port the number to the cell phone. It might take some time for all of this to happen, so don’t do this when you have other places to be. And if the store is busy, you might have to wait for a free agent.
Yes, this is what to do.
Various Smartphones for sale, unlocked, on Amazon.
Any opinions on the models?
The third one is only available used. I’d prefer new, or if I’m getting a used phone, I’d get a more established brand and model. The fourth one is a Windows phone but today virtually all phones are Android or IOS.
That helps.
Anybody else? Additional input?
I am and will remain a BlackBerry user.