
Project Fi will take your Google Voice number - wybiral
https://davywybiral.blogspot.com/2017/12/google-voice-project-fi.html
======
stanleydrew
Having helped a few people sign up for the Project Fi service (and deciding
not to myself) I can tell you that Google is very clear about the implications
of setting up Fi when you currently have a Google Voice number.

Google has decided you can only have one number.

So you can either port (yes it is an actual port) your number from GV to Fi
when you sign up, or you can get a new Fi number and give up your GV number.

The author has nobody to blame but himself if he's confused about what
happened here.

~~~
rch
It sounds like his signup went as expected but he wasn't given a chance to
move his number back to GV when he cancelled Fi. The warnings are clear about
porting from GV, but I don't remember anything about what would happen at
cancellation (e.g. being subject to GV number availability).

~~~
stanleydrew
Yeah, the post is a bit ambiguous but seems like you may be right. If OP had
GV, then ported to Fi, and then cancelled Fi service without porting his
number that would fit with the complaint in the post.

I'm actually somewhat less sympathetic in that case. When you cancel phone
service without porting, you lose your number. That's how the phone system has
operated for decades.

Why someone would assume that cancelling phone service would somehow
automatically sign you up for a different service is beyond me.

But I suppose the confusion is related to people thinking GV and Fi are "the
same" or "built on each other" (e.g. see comment from a Googler elsewhere in
this thread) since both services give you a phone number and both services are
run by Google.

In fact they are essentially entirely separate services from the perspective
of the phone network. GV is based on Bandwidth.com's landline VoIP numbers,
while Fi numbers are actually registered by T-Mobile.

------
TuringNYC
I have been living overseas for some years for major client work. Google Voice
is a blessing, and yet constantly feels like I'm walking on thin ice. I'd
happy pay 20$ or even 30$ monthly to have a commercially supported product
because it provides so much value.

But there are so many bugs. There seems to be no way to even submit bug
reports (not even major ones like now-deleted forwarding numbers still
ringing.) It would be awesome if they could just spin the division off into a
startup, or start charging via a business tier. What is the thinking around
these gray-area products?

~~~
aareet
You could always port your number to Twilio and use their simple Twilio bins
to set up text and call forwarding - you’d likely end up paying that $20-30
per month that you’re expecting.

[https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-
us/articles/223134287-Forwa...](https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-
us/articles/223134287-Forwarding-SMS-messages-to-another-phone-number)

------
bubblethink
Other than another failed attempt on google's part to unify disparate things
(like google and youtube accounts), I don't know why fi hijacks your gv
number. Fi's page is also so uninviting. I have been casually interested in
giving fi a try, for example to buy a phone like moto x4. If you go anywhere
on fi's page
([https://fi.google.com/about/phones/](https://fi.google.com/about/phones/)
for example), it won't let you do anything without a google account, which I
know will hijack gv. Just why ? Let me buy a phone, and make calls, and I'll
give you money. But no. And because of this unnecessary mess with gv, I would
never try fi.

~~~
danielsju6
Fi is built on top of GV, from what I understand (Googler FYI but not on Fi
team + only speaking from being a Fi user myself for a couple years).

If you're worried about the ability to port your number back to Google Voice,
just use a different Google account?

Also just signing into the page to look at the devices is not going to hijack
your GV.

------
kevmo314
I ported my Fi number back to Google Voice when I cancelled service. There
were a number of prompts on the way too, so I'm not sure what the author did
wrong here...

~~~
lscotte
Me too,it was pretty trivial...

------
client4
While it may be too late for the author, it's possible to port you Fi number
out to a different carrier, like ATT / Verizon / Twilio as long as your
account is still active. I also believe there is a 6 month hold period on the
number until it can be put back in the pool for use.

When I moved away from Fi the first time (I'm back on and love it) I used it
to port my number to Twilio.

------
dorfsmay
For 2FA, when available, I choose a QR code + google authenticator, then
screengrab the QR code and save it in a password vault.

This way I can always retrieve it regardless of losing a piece of hardware or
a cloud service.

~~~
samat
Screenshot of a QR code with a TOTP seed is pretty neat trick, thanks for
that!

------
wybiral
The lesson I learned is that Google Voice numbers can be taken away from you
and somehow Google seems unable to restore them.

So don't use them for 2-factor authentication anywhere. I've got bitcoin that
I haven't had access to because Project Fi won't give me my number back.

~~~
lern_too_spel
[https://www.fcc.gov/general/wireless-local-number-
portabilit...](https://www.fcc.gov/general/wireless-local-number-portability-
wlnp)

~~~
pfranz
Regardless of what that page says, it's been common knowledge that people have
lost their number when trying to port it out of Google Voice. It's interesting
to see it's still an issue and applies to Project Fi as well.

My Google Voice account is older than 7 years. I specifically remember
choosing to get a new number instead of porting my number to Google Voice
because of the stories about people unable to port it out.

I haven't heard of any court action, but if your number is already reassigned
to someone what's your recourse?

~~~
sliken
The people I've heard that lost their google voice number, cancelled.

FCC guarantees you can keep your number if you migrate, it says nothing about
cancelling service.

~~~
lern_too_spel
Exactly. This is no different from any other telephone service provider. HN
should not be a support forum for people who don't know how to use their ISP
or phone carrier.

------
owens99
Really sucks. Sorry to hear this happened to the OP and he can't get into his
accounts and bitcoin wallet. Google should step up and do something.

------
nasmorn
That is why I would never use a google service for my mission critical stuff.
Except AdWords if the channel works, I mean what can you do

