Mobile phone number porting

badger09

I currently have:

Giffgaff SIM in main iPhone, on PAYG

Smarty SIM in old iPhone, on rolling contract to test reliability when travelling

Both phones are linked to my Apple account. 

I now want to port my number from Giffgaff to Smarty. Should I put the Smarty SIM in my main phone before requesting PAC from Giffgaff or doesn’t it matter? 

Thanks

sausage_time

I usually leave the old SIM in and active until it is nuked, then do the swap.  Your new SIM will likely have a temporary number which might mess up some of your accounts.

PRAISETHESUN

The few times I've ported between providers I've left the old SIM in my phone up until the point it has been disconnected, in order to maintain my ability to send/receive calls/texts/etc. Only after the porting has completed have I then swapped over the SIM. You also need the original SIM in your phone in order to send the text requesting the PAC anyway.

badger09

sausage_time said:

I usually leave the old SIM in and active until it is nuked, then do the swap.  Your new SIM will likely have a temporary number which might mess up some of your accounts.

Thanks
I’ve been operating both phones, with different numbers, for several months. No issues with any accounts though some financial stuff can only be on one device. 

badger09

PRAISETHESUN said:

The few times I've ported between providers I've left the old SIM in my phone up until the point it has been disconnected, in order to maintain my ability to send/receive calls/texts/etc. Only after the porting has completed have I then swapped over the SIM. You also need the original SIM in your phone in order to send the text requesting the PAC anyway.

Thanks. 

That makes sense. In those circs I guess you’d only know if porting had been successful, after you put the new SIM in. 

savergrant

It might be stating the obvious but you do want to deactivate the giffgaff sim and lose the smarty number?
If giffgaff is your main number then it's best to keep it in your main phone until it's deactivated then swap in your smarty sim. There may be a slight delay before the number is transferred to the smarty sim.

badger09

savergrant said:

It might be stating the obvious but you do want to deactivate the giffgaff sim and lose the smarty number?
If giffgaff is your main number then it's best to keep it in your main phone until it's deactivated then swap in your smarty sim. There may be a slight delay before the number is transferred to the smarty sim.

Thanks. 

Didn’t see this until this morning. 

Your assumptions were correct though my GG number was actually transferred before GG SIM was deactivated. 

Port went through without issue around 15.00 after some confusing messages. Smarty SIM now in main phone & 🤞🏻 I’ve set it up so I can use it abroad in a few weeks time.