Keeping DSL without phone service

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

At&T is my service provider for my land line as well as my DSL. I am thinking about porting my number to a VOIP provider other than AT&T. Since AT&T has my DSL service, customer service is telling me that if i cancel my phone service with them, i will lose the dsl service since "it comes in over the phone lines associated with the number". The "stand alone" DSL service, on the AT&T web site for the same service i have now, is 19.00 less per month!!!...I need to keep the at&t e mail adresses, since it's one used by my wife's business. HELP..I can port the number, and cancel all of my AT&T services, and then apply for new DSL service, right? As "standalone". What happens to my at&t e mail addresses? any advice/suggestions, etc will be appreciated. (the monthly savings with going to VOIP and reduced charges for DSL comes out to over 50.00/month!)

Computer-Joe · ‎09-19-2008

shs1451 wrote:
At&T is my service provider for my land line as well as my DSL. I am thinking about porting my number to a VOIP provider other than AT&T. Since AT&T has my DSL service, customer service is telling me that if i cancel my phone service with them, i will lose the dsl service since "it comes in over the phone lines associated with the number". The "stand alone" DSL service, on the AT&T web site for the same service i have now, is 19.00 less per month!!!...I need to keep the at&t e mail adresses, since it's one used by my wife's business. HELP..I can port the number, and cancel all of my AT&T services, and then apply for new DSL service, right? As "standalone". What happens to my at&t e mail addresses? any advice/suggestions, etc will be appreciated. (the monthly savings with going to VOIP and reduced charges for DSL comes out to over 50.00/month!)

There should be no problem dropping your land line and keeping DSL. The person you spoke to was either talking out their butt, or just trying to keep you from cancelling the phone.

I would suggest calling the Retention Department. The quickest way in is to call the 2020 number, confirm your phone number when it asks, and then just keep saying "none of those" to the rest of the prompts and it will connect you to a real human (and American citizen) within a minute, that's when you tell them to transfer you to the Retention Department. You will usually have your problem resolved or a reolution in the works in less than 15 minutes as opposed to the hours (or days) it could take just trying to reach someone who understands what your talking about when you go through the normal chain of command.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

Thanks Computer-Joe...that was exactly what I thought! I should have thought about the retention department...I was just there a week ago for a business service issue! I agree, they're pretty good at resolving issues. I'll post the outcome once I decide to move forward.

ATTJulieCS · ‎06-04-2010

Thanks for you post shs1451. Let me know if you need help. You can send me a private message, (blue envelope, top right), with your account number, contact number and full name and I'll do my best to assist.

Thank you,

ATTJulieCS

AT&T Community Specialist

Did a post have a solution that worked for you? Help other people find solutions faster by marking posts that helped you as an "Accepted Solution". Learn about accepted solutions here.

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

ATTJulieCS wrote:
Thanks for you post shs1451. Let me know if you need help. You can send me a private message, (blue envelope, top right), with your account number, contact number and full name and I'll do my best to assist.

Thank you,

ATTJulieCS
AT&T Community Specialist

Thank you Julie. I appreciate that offer!

Computer-Joe · ‎09-19-2008

shs1451 wrote:
Thanks Computer-Joe...that was exactly what I thought! I should have thought about the retention department...I was just there a week ago for a business service issue! I agree, they're pretty good at resolving issues. I'll post the outcome once I decide to move forward.

The one thing to keep in mind is, that if you keep your current DSL and drop the landline, you won't have the landline charges on there any more, but your DSL charge will go up because it's no longer "bundled" with you landline service. The $19 price you were seeing/being told about, probably had some stipulations hidden in the small text somewhere. As well you really do not want them to turn off your DSL for any reason, if you really want to keep it. DSL ports can be rare as hens teeth in some areas and if you lose yours you may not be able to get it back.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

I understand that. the 19.00 was actually the difference in pricing. the at&t website has a "stand alone" price for the same dsl i currently have, for 24.95/month. I'm paying 43.00/month. i appreciate the input

Computer-Joe wrote:
shs1451 wrote:
Thanks Computer-Joe...that was exactly what I thought! I should have thought about the retention department...I was just there a week ago for a business service issue! I agree, they're pretty good at resolving issues. I'll post the outcome once I decide to move forward.

The one thing to keep in mind is, that if you keep your current DSL and drop the landline, you won't have the landline charges on there any more, but your DSL charge will go up because it's no longer "bundled" with you landline service. The $19 price you were seeing/being told about, probably had some stipulations hidden in the small text somewhere. As well you really do not want them to turn off your DSL for any reason, if you really want to keep it. DSL ports can be rare as hens teeth in some areas and if you lose yours you may not be able to get it back.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

shs1451 wrote:
I understand that. the 19.00 was actually the difference in pricing. the at&t website has a "stand alone" price for the same dsl i currently have, for 24.95/month. I'm paying 43.00/month. i appreciate the input
Computer-Joe wrote:
shs1451 wrote:
Thanks Computer-Joe...that was exactly what I thought! I should have thought about the retention department...I was just there a week ago for a business service issue! I agree, they're pretty good at resolving issues. I'll post the outcome once I decide to move forward.

The one thing to keep in mind is, that if you keep your current DSL and drop the landline, you won't have the landline charges on there any more, but your DSL charge will go up because it's no longer "bundled" with you landline service. The $19 price you were seeing/being told about, probably had some stipulations hidden in the small text somewhere. As well you really do not want them to turn off your DSL for any reason, if you really want to keep it. DSL ports can be rare as hens teeth in some areas and if you lose yours you may not be able to get it back.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

Today I spoke to someone in the retention department. Not only is everything resolved, but she also set me up w/new dsl service for 19.95 month instead of 43.00 (promotion for new service), she also waived any additional charges for me, set this up as a new service in order to avoid the 125.00 charge for a tech to come out, explained to me how to keep my existing e mail addresses......gave me her e mail address in case I need to contact her..etc.etc...without doubt, the most pleasant experience I've had with customer service in a very long time. THANK YOU RONICE!

Computer-Joe · ‎09-19-2008

shs1451 wrote:

Today I spoke to someone in the retention department. Not only is everything resolved, but she also set me up w/new dsl service for 19.95 month instead of 43.00 (promotion for new service), she also waived any additional charges for me, set this up as a new service in order to avoid the 125.00 charge for a tech to come out, explained to me how to keep my existing e mail addresses......gave me her e mail address in case I need to contact her..etc.etc...without doubt, the most pleasant experience I've had with customer service in a very long time. THANK YOU RONICE!

Glad you were able to get everything worked out satisfactorily. Be sure to stop back if you have any other problems.

__________________________________________________________
How can you be in two places at once, when your not anywhere at all?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I really want to become a procrastinator, but I keep putting it off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three kinds of people, those that can count, and those that can't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man, and our politicians take advantage of this prejudice by pretending to be even more stupid than nature has made them." :Bertrand Russell

ictsoftail · ‎07-27-2012

Message to shs1451 and computer-joe: Thanks for this information, but I have a question for shs1451. Did you begin the landline transfer process by calling the 3rd party VOIP provider first, or by contacting AT&T first? I want to retain my land line number and use it with new VOIP service and still keep only my AT&T DSL. I have heard I must initiate the steps in a specific order to do this. Thanks

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

ictsoftail wrote:
Message to shs1451 and computer-joe: Thanks for this information, but I have a question for shs1451. Did you begin the landline transfer process by calling the 3rd party VOIP provider first, or by contacting AT&T first? I want to retain my land line number and use it with new VOIP service and still keep only my AT&T DSL. I have heard I must initiate the steps in a specific order to do this. Thanks

ICT: I had the VOIP provider initiate the request to release the number. What I learned, is, your phone and dsl service are considered as bundled (at least mine was, with at&t). so, they could not release my number and retain the same dsl service. I had to place an order for new dsl service concurrent with VOIP (oh (word filter avoidance)...Vonage!) requesting the release. it took a little longer than expected, but it's been worth it. i was without phone service for only a day or so, but once that number was released to vonage, it acted as though my service was still there, but all calls went to voice mail. and they have visual voice mail, so everytime someone leaves a message, i get an e mail and it's transcribed! when you call at&t, only speak to someone in the retention department. most of them know what to do, and how to do it. make certain that you get a order # for the new dsl service. kind of rambling! but i hope i've helped. feel free to e mail me if you need more info (CM edit - personal info removed) good luck

ictsoftail · ‎07-27-2012

Thanks much shs1451

Carol2 · ‎11-04-2011

shs1451 wrote:
Today I spoke to someone in the retention department. Not only is everything resolved, but she also set me up w/new dsl service for 19.95 month instead of 43.00 (promotion for new service), she also waived any additional charges for me, set this up as a new service in order to avoid the 125.00 charge for a tech to come out, explained to me how to keep my existing e mail addresses......gave me her e mail address in case I need to contact her..etc.etc...without doubt, the most pleasant experience I've had with customer service in a very long time. THANK YOU RONICE!

Wow! How in the world do I get ahold of Ronice in the Retention Department? I would like to start with her!

Carol

bhupenk · ‎03-23-2013

Hi shs1451, Were you able to resolve this issue? The question that I had was did AT&T request you to signup for a new DSL line and give you new email account or were you able to transfer or keep the existing emails on the new DSL line.

shs1451 · ‎06-19-2012

yes. this issue was resolved. we cancelled my existing dsl and replaced with a new one. they do issue a new e mail address, but you also retain any existing at&t addresses. hope this helps

cipherdom · ‎04-07-2013

Julie, I saw your post here and wonder if you'd help me with this same problem. I'm an AT&T customer in Downers Grove, IL (60515) and need to transfer our land line to T-Mobile cellular, cancel our AT&T land line, but keep our AT&T DSL. I sent you a private message.

Tom

Re: Keeping DSL without phone service

‎06-20-2012 01:00:44 PM

Thanks for you post shs1451. Let me know if you need help. You can send me a private message, (blue envelope, top right), with your account number, contact number and full name and I'll do my best to assist.

Thank you,

ATTJulieCS

AT&T Community Specialist

Did a post have a solution that worked for you? Help other people find solutions faster by marking posts that helped you as an"Accepted Solution". Learn about accepted solutions here.