Switching phones between existing lines

[Comcasey]

I have three lines. Line A, Line B, and Line C. I ordered a new phone for Line A. When the new phone arrives, can I put the SIM card from the phone used with Line B into the old phone that was used with Line A? I would like to use the old phone from Line A with Line B instead of the phone I'm currently using with it.

[Terry0327]

Like to know this myself. I brought 3 lines over from Att. Got two new phones but brought an Iphone 6s with me. I use the Iphone 6s with Xfinity and it works fine. One of the new phones replaced another Att Iphone 6s plus. Can I put the sim card from the 6s into the 6splus and it work.

[NEWcam30era]

My understanding is that some "premium" features may or may not work.  VoLte, Wifi calling, visual voicemail.  YMMV....

[DaveO3]

---

@Comcasey wrote:

I have three lines. Line A, Line B, and Line C. I ordered a new phone for Line A. When the new phone arrives, can I put the SIM card from the phone used with Line B into the old phone that was used with Line A? I would like to use the old phone from Line A with Line B instead of the phone I'm currently using with it.

---

Theoretically you should be able to do this without any complications, but then again you are dealing with the Xfinity Mobile network as well as the Verizon CDMA network and the CDMA provisioning that seems to be required. 

Before you try moving the SIM cards, verify that all of the phones (and SIMs?) are unlocked. 

Be aware that you might lose past texts, messages, and visual voice mail. 

Then go ahead and power off the phone on Line A, remove the SIM, power down the new phone, insert the Line A SIM into the new phone, power on the new phone and be patient as it could take 10 to 15 minutes or more for the new phone to be provisioned properly. When this is complete you should log into your Xfinity Mobile account and check that your Line A device reflects the IMEI and other information of the new phone. If not, power off and on, and wait another 10 to 15 minutes, and check again. Also check that all of the various features are working. If this doesn’t work you may need to call support or power down the new phone and put the SIM back into the original phone. 

Do not proceed to the other lines until you succeed with Line A. 

Good Luck

[davdri]

On Xfinity Mobile as it is on Verizon, the sim cards are tied to the phones . When you switch sim cards between phones things may or may not work so when you call for support XM knows what you did and they may not help you .They know the sim cards are not in the right phones on the right lines assigned. I did exactly this and it took me many hours on the phone to get it all fixed.

[Comcasey]

Interesting. So you called and it was fixed? Does that mean they switched the device assignments for you? I wonder if they could do this at a Comcast service location?

[davdri]

I went to the store but they ended up talking to someone on the phone it was a task but movingg phone sims, dropping phone adding phones on XM successfully can be done. Steel yourself.

[ComcastChrisL]

Hello everyone,

Thank you guys for your inquiry, time and patience. I am more than happy to assist in this matter.
Previously, performing a device swap. which entails, swapping the IMEI between two existing MDN’s on the same account was not possible. Now, that technical functionality on our end and device flexibility for customer’s is possible.

If you want me to investigate this for you, please send me a private message. In order to contact me privately, please click on my name, that will take you to my profile page and from there you will see a rectangular blue button that says, ‘send message’.

Additionally, you must be signed into the forum. If for any reason you are not able to send me a private message, post the comment on this thread and I will reach out to you privately.

I will need to authenticate your account before accessing the details and that means providing me with the first and last name of the account holder, the account number, and the last 4 digits of the stored payment method on file. Please make sure you do not post that information in the publicly viewed thread.

Below, I’ve outlined additional information related to this process;

1.This process should be used in a situation where a customer does an unsolicited SIM swap between two phones on the same account and wishes for the biller to reflect the correct device(s).

2.This functionality currently only works when both lines are active, not pending or suspended voluntarily or involuntarily.

3.Swapping devices will not affect the network and will only affect the biller.

4.Any DPP (Device Payment Plan)/XMPP (Xfinity Mobile Protection Plan) IMEIs will stay the same, and a device swap will not cause any changes to these scenarios.

5.Make sure that the SIM cards have been placed in the new devices before starting the process.

[nmstough]

Why is this so difficult?  With every other phone provider you just show up with your phone - no matter whether it is already used on your account or not and get a sim card that works.  Thats assuming its unlocked of course.  What kind of nonsensical operation is Comcast running that restricts people from doing this?  You should be able to use any phone you want, regardless.  

[niksarago]

I was unable to send a message to you directly.  My wife's phone is an iphone 6 with xfinity mobile.  We are on vacation and I just bought her an iphone 11 pro so she can use the better camera.  Am I able to just swap the sim cards?  Or what is the process to change her phone number over asap?  Thanks

[neepak]

I have a similar issue.  Could you please contact me to help resolve the issue?  Thanks.

[2Static]

It might work, it might not. As someone previously said, each phone is tied to its own sim card. If you swap a sim into a new phone with a different IMEI number, there is a possibility it might not work. It happened to me. I had an iPhone X and swapped a sim into a iPhone 11 pro I bought from Apple, and it did not work. Had to call and get this resolved. You think being an MVNO with Verizon, a sim card swap might be do-able, but its not. Have to take unnecessary steps for a phone you might own or just bought to work. I like the cheap prices of Xfinity Mobile, but I might switch back to Verizon just because of the ease of switching sims to different phones without having to go through how many loop holes to get a phone to work with one sim card

[subru]

Hi @ComcastChrisL,

Thanks for your detailed instructions. I am in the exact scenario which you outlined - I upgraded my iPhone and gave my old one away. My new iPhone works great (with my old SIM) but the person I gave the older phone wants to move to Xfinity Mobile but she's unable to do so as the IMEI is still registered to my account/number. Can you kindly update the IMEI to my new phone and deregister the old one so she can port to Xfinity Mobile?

I am replying to you publicly as I didn't see an option to privately message you.

Thanks,

Subru

[ComcastLauraW]

Hi @subru ,

I would be more than happy to help you with that. 

Please reach out to me via private message. Click on my name ComcastLauraW and from the profile page click on the blue ‘send a message’ button. In your private reply please include the following information so that I may authenticate and access the account;

First and last name, mobile number, complete service address, and the last 4 digits of the pay method on file. Also, if you could provide the IMEI for the device in question that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time and patience,

[mdarnm]

Here's my experience. We brought over two 6's and a 6S. My wife decided she didn't like the 6S because it's screen digitouch was a little different compared to her old 6. So, she and I swapped sims from hers to mine so now I have the 6S and she has her old 6 back. We did not let Xfinity know we made the change in phones/sims. We haven't had any issues with the switch other than when we went to Europe, Xfinity couldn't add international calling to our lines because the IMEI's didn't match the sims. They said that if we switched the sims back, to the original phones we could add it, but they weren't sure if it would hold when the sims were changed. This was in September, and it sounds like they may now have the ability to provision the sim to another IMEI, which they couldn't do at that time. Wasn't an issue since we only used wifi calling while in Europe, which did work just fine for the few times we actually needed the phones.

[ComcastLauraW]

@mdarnm   I can certainly help with that or you can call into customer service.  We are now able to update the SIM to the correct IMEI.  If you would like, I can do that for you I will just need you to provide me with some information.

Please reach out to me via private message. Click on my name ComcastLauraW and from the profile page click on the blue ‘send a message’ button. In your private reply please include the following information so that I may authenticate and access the account; First and last name, mobile number, complete service address, and the last 4 digits of the pay method on file. Also, if you could provide the IMEI for the device in question that would be greatly appreciated.

Here is the number to customer service if you wish to expedite this: 

(888) 936-4968

Thank you for your time and patience

[cmcasey79]

I'm in a similar situation.  I just received a new unlocked iPhone SE yesterday directly from Apple, replacing my iPhone 8.  I swapped the SIM from my iPhone 8 into the iPhone SE, and it does appear to work, but I'd like to make sure xfinity has the right info on the back end.  I tried chatting with customer support, but they said they weren't able to update info and started suggesting some complicated process of signing up for a new line, then doing a number swap, etc...  @ComcastLauraW, I tried to follow your directions to send you a private message, but I don't see the blue button when I view your profile.  Is that because I'm a new user to the forums?  I want to get this resolved, and no physical stored around here are open because of COVID-19.  If you could help somehow, I'd really appreciate it!

[p101101]

Hi @ComcastChrisL or @ComcastLauraW,
I also tried to send you a PM but was unable to do so from your profile page. Any advice to get in touch in another way? Thanks!

EDIT: as soon as I made this post it let me send them a PM.

[MegsButter]

Posting to this message thread in the hopes that I'll be able to PM @ComcastLauraW  or @ComcastChrisL about a similar issue!

[ComcastChrisL]

Hi @MegsButter,

When you click on my name ComcastChrisL, and get routed to my profile page, do you see a blue ‘send a message’ button? If you do, go ahead and reach out to me via private message that way.

For account access and authentication please include first and last name, complete service address, mobile number, and the last 4 digits of the card on file.

In case you don’t see the blue ‘send a message’ button, let me know via this message board and I’ll investigate it further.

Chris

[dpmanter]

@ComcastChrisL 

I have same issue would like to swap phones. I don't see a blue button on your profile page to send message.

Thanks

Dave

[Timmastie]

I want to switch SIMS between 2 phones on my account, so I can give me son my old phone, as it was the phone on his line that was replaced, but I want to keep the new phone, and give him my old one.

[EJCrab1ll]

Thanks for posting the "edit" that was helpful additional information!

[Simplicity4me]

It seems like so many people are trying diligently to solve the same problem, and every other carrier makes this easy, but Xfinity Mobile has us jumping through hurdles.  I finally just swapped the SIM cards, and it seems to handle the basic functions, but I called customer service and they advised updating the informtion ASAP.  So, I attempted to do this online, without success.  Then I called customer service again ...but they wanted my full SS# and said a credit check might be required.  So now I'm really confused!  I have 3 lines (numbers) that are active on Xfinity Mobile, I own all the iPhones (never financed), and I have been a Comcast customer for over 15 years, spending thousands every year, and always paying my bills on time.  But because any credit inquiry could potentially "ding" my perfect rating, I said NO!  So, now I'm stuck without a solution for a very simple problem.  I tranferred one number out, and one phone is broken, so I'm just swapping one new phone in, and reassigning a couple numbers.  So frustrating!  Oh, and a few years ago I bought an LG phone from Xfinity Mobile, and then removed it from the account so my son could use it.  Now it's impossible to ever use that phone again, they say it's not compatible, even though it's just like new.  So many alternatives, I don't know why I subject myself to all this.   

[EJCrab1ll]

@Simplicity4me, if it's any motivation to give another chance - I have found the XM staff to be genuinely interested in helping.  I never got that from my previous service provider, even having been with them for 15 years.

I was able to work with the support team via online chat, to successfully swap existing devices on my existing lines, and ChrisL also followed through on his offer to assist with another device transition where I needed next-level help.

[Simplicity4me]

Okay, I appreciate the advice, thanks!

[morpheusneo]

I just swapped the phones/numbers between 2 of the phones on my account. It was a seamless transition. I contacted Xfinity customer service through the online chat, explained what I wanted to do, the rep took a few minutes to do the provisioning in the system and then advised me to switch the Sims and reboot the phones. I did that and the numbers were switched and all services work great. I've always had a great experience with Xfinity customer service and they have helped me tremendously. They even helped me figure out how to get a new phone at the discounted rate as an existing customer

[sunnymesa]

Hi, need help on a strategy on device swtiches on three devices. We did two devices over the phone couple years ago, that was smooth, but took long time. Now I am considering upgrade phone again but need have three phone device switches, if we only do 2-device-a-time switch it would not be ideal.

Just want to seek any better strategy, I have not contacted the CSR yet. here is my situation:

new phone -> mom; (should be easiest)

mom old phone ->  older kid;

older kid -> younger kid;

younger kid ->  dad ;

dad older phone retired as backup phone, just in case.

TIA.

[VaBarb1]

similar problem contacting rep.  Seems that you need to make a post and then you can see the blue button.  This is my post.. we will see if this works

UPDATE

Adding post to forum worked and I can now see blue message button

[VaBarb1]

UPDATE

you will see blue message button once you have made a post to the forum

[chubz9]

This is my post to see a blue button. thanks!

[sriniraok]

Hi,

I need switch the phones between accounts.  I tried swapping the SIM cards and one of the number  stopped working.  

[Bri_m]

I would like to contact you as well about this

[Prosecondbase7]

@ComcastChrisL ... here is my post to see the blue button.

[danketcham]

Message to get blue button.

[Michelle37]

Spoiler

I'm experiecing the same issue but Xfinity cant seem to correct it. It's been a week 1/2 and my phones do not have data when away from home. How did they correct the issue?

[inwhoendo]

to get the blue button

[Hambone22]

Hey Chris, 

I bought a new phone and switched the sim card to my new phone. I'm not able to send you a private message for some reason. Could you please send me a private message to help me with changing my account to reflect this change?

Thanks,

Nick

[dpo2002]

I seem to have same problem with switching phone. 

[hwanho81]

to get the blue button

[squeegee27]

gimme that blue blue button! 8-)

[Justrandyman]

I’m in the almost same situation and have been an issue since <br>September 18 (25 days ago) it started with an insurance claim when I dropped my phone and the screen smashed and I went to file the claim and has been all downhill since then. First off I had to wait for Assurance to finally make me an offer after they could not find a replacement device for my galaxy S9+ I think almost 2 weeks go by and finally came to agreement on a settlement offer for some money they still have not sent me. So here I am 25 days in a claim still no money or a working account with an active phone tied to my paid account and this is after having this account 3 years with a $14 a month (advertising a 24 hour replacement) protection plan and never a late payment. Before I even excepted the offer I had Called multiple times to both Xfinity mobile and Assurance to help find a solution to having submitted a claim and not having a device to use with my account and have been directed to many many many different agents managers and supervisors and sent to the closet retail store to then have to wait in line 4 hours to be told they had no idea why I was there or who sent me and still couldn’t get someone there to explain the confusion on why I had no phone to be activated on this account as the system said I had a galaxy s9+<br> (broke) on my account only 1 option to resolve it was to have the broken s9+ and SIM card assigned to this broken device with the sim still in it that has already been shipped to the insurance company they do business with. If this was the case and if I had been told by the now more then a dozen agents including managers supervisors both tear 1 and tear 2 and even had the managers or tear 1 and tear 2 talk with me and a 3rd party call to assurance managers to try and resolve the issue of me now having a paid account with no device and no way to replace my device and even if I did replace my device they say I couldn’t add that device to my account because I dropped internet over 2 years ago and needed internet to open a new line that was never explained to me before it even after the fact that I had now already excepted the offer that Assurance made me to receive a payment for my owned bought and paid for through Xfinity and was unlock ready device or I would have never excepted the offer to be bought out off if I had known I couldn’t get an other device added to my account I had payed and insured to keep , I would have just had the broke S9+ repaired. So now 25 days in I have already had to cancel a flight that they knew I was trying to catch 5 days after the claim was submitted and I already purchased an used iPhone 8 to he added to the account to try and use while I waited for the broke s9+ To be replaced. The iPhone 8 passed the imei check “ Boyd “ bring your on device and phone compatible checker on the website but no option to add it and by trying to do something that any body with a broken phone does and that’s insert the sim in and call Xfinity to see if you can have this IPhone to use while my replacement arrives to be told I’m not allowed to do this and it suspended my account and had to now go through a series of events and over 20+ hours of calls to be transferred Back and forth to wrong departments and mind you I had to give each agent my account info and wait on hold Before each transfer. Now at this point I’m so beyond myself to even try to explain to an other agent why I’m in the phone with them. Finally while now after talking with many tear 2 supervisors whom told me to reach out to Assurance and see if I could get my broke s9+ And the inserted SIM card returned Back to me lol, I assured them that Assurence wouldn’t do so but I gave the supervisors the benefit Of the doubt to no avail the hassle assurance gave me after trying for almost 2 hours explaining the situation and of coarse the answer is no the device is now property of Assurance and will not be sending it or my sim back but hey I already knew this. So ok here we go with the adding a new sim card to my account and trying to get get a device ,SIM card and my account all in good standings as I have now done everything asked of me on my end and many many hours into this advertised (24 hours replacement) a 4 hour trip to Xfinity store with no reason on why I was sent there and no apology or any forgiveness for all the confusion , I finally get an agent on the phone (tear 2) to assist me in offers to help me out . We went in about everything going on and agreed with me on everything and has now gotten permission from tear 3 advanced solutions or something if that sort permission to do whatever it takes and compensate me what ever he sees fit and promised me a fix to this and he offered me credit and. Help getting a new phone and promised me everything even paying my bills and buying me a new car ( not really) but assured me he was there to help and had the authority and permission from his higher up to take care of this situation and he had to go because his time was up but would call me back and he did he called back to touch base and told me I needed internet on my account in order to add a new line and make arrangement to get that all set up and he would call me back and offer me deals on a new device and credits to my account after internet was set back up but I never heard back from him and I did however talk to a few more dozen agents at this point told a few work arounds but that was now over a week ago and still trying figure everything out. .. going to post this un-edited version before my cra ppy (*correction had to edit 1 word) as can’t say
( cr*ppy) Xfinity WiFi hotspot goes out and I have to type this all over again on this outdated non active android device .. to be continued..

[Justrandyman]

Finally got an agent to add a SIM card to my account and restored my services to a workingcindition and can now at least receive voicmails but with no access or way to change my greetings to notify my callers of my disappearance to society because I have been stuck home making calls and running to Xfinity trying get my phone insurance claim handled. So yeah 2 stuck orders in the account needed to be taken off and the iPhone error was reason for the suspension but now just need a device . So yes we did get the account in order the SIM card added to the account but not paired with a device and I didn’t have to get internet turned back on and my iPhone8 I bought ($150.00) still shows up as being able to work with Xfinity because there imei checker said it would and I tried all night to get it activated I think I might be one step closer to actually being able to get everything up and running and back to somewhat normal phone plan and working device in order. Tomorrow we’ll today as it’s 5Am est I’m going to dined the store trying to get all the promised this will work manager recommendation to come through and have a working phone and service I payed for and still not able to change my plan as I have now not used the thus account in almost a month but hey I’m sure they can figure out how to send me a bill. But yes a new sim and promised a dufferent phone in in an exsustung account is almost a possible chance as I think the new SIM card is already showing up on my account and the version error message people received if they called us gone and they can now leave voicemails that I cannot listen to because I have no device linked to the account other then the broken galaxy s9+ that is still showing in my account but today might be the day and I will keep this post updated after every agent I Speak with to make it a little easier then explaining my story angry and p1ssed off and tired as it 5:33 am and back at it again tomorrow .hopefully get it done Then I will have to contact find Joe in tear 2 that helped and promised me the world and see what is going to offer me for the confusion and now day 26 of pure hel1 and misery with promises of 24 hour replacement. Can’t see strait good night and ...To be continued again...

[Nessiepick1]

I am also trying to switch phones.

[Tailofspence]

Hi @ComcastChrisL , I have a similar situation and will private message you to see if you can help.  Thanks!

[JeremyAMoore]

I have switch the SIM to a different phone and everything seems to work, but of course online is not updated.  I tried the SMS support, but they say the SIM card is tied to a specific IMEI and cannot be changed.  Hopefully that is not a change in policy.  I am going to try the private message route here to see if that works.  Note that I tried to call tech support this morning but kept getting disconnected after getting past the question about making a payment.

[JeremyAMoore]

FYI - I was able to call Xfinity Mobile and switch the IMEI for my phone.

[z3gator]

I would like to replace the Pixel 2 on our account with a Pixel 4a, but it looks like assistance is (still) required.

[tyeemac]

Hello - since your answer is dated from last year - I am wondering if doing this sort of swap will impacts current device offers.  I just added a line with a new iphone SE and once I get it, would like to swap the number assignment with another existing phone/line.  Thanks for clarification.

[Kim34]

We are wondering the exact same thing.  Will swapping phones/numbers affect the current iphone SE promotion?  I really wish that current customers who had paid for the phone in full and are eligible for an upgrade could qualify for the free SE phone.