How to switch to EE, step by step?

[Roke]

I had posted https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/SIM-cards-Porting/How-to-order-a-Trial-SIM/m-p/1359070/highlight/true#..., https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Pay-As-You-Go/How-to-order-a-Trial-SIM/m-p/1694383/highlight/true#M332..., and https://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-as-you-go/How-to-order-a-Trial-SIM/m-p/2746533/highlight/true#M1..., and received functional trial SIMs via all of them, so I was able to evaluate their abilities — most could connect solely to 3G, with, even then, differing ability to connect to that.

In the case of EE, per https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/SIM-cards-Porting/How-to-order-a-Trial-SIM/m-p/1360880/highlight/true#..., I've ordered 2 x 10 GBP trial SIMs for my Fairphone 4 (although I've solely tested them in my brother's FP5). However, unlike the others, the EE SIM was able to load arbitrary URIs via LTE and LTE+ (see https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/SIM-cards-Porting/How-to-order-a-Trial-SIM/m-p/1360880/highlight/true#...)!

Consequently, I would like to switch from my current provider, SMARTY (which piggybacks off Three) to EE. However, https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/getting-started/keep-my-number/transfer-my-number-to-ee appears rather non-specific to me. Specifically, I would like to have 5 accounts under a family plan managed by one person. You appear to provide the family plan, per https://ee.co.uk/mobile/family-account but I don't see any specifics about how it operates:

1. In a family plan, is each person's SIMs tied to a full account?
   1. Is each account able to separate from the family account at any time?
   2. Can each account be assigned multiple SIM cards? I ask because I've a smartphone, shall have a laptop soon, and have a rack-mount Teltonika RUTXR1 with a primary and backup SIM card slot, all of which I want to fill in a manner which assigns them to my account (because they're my SIM cards) rather than what SMARTY mandates, which is that each SIM be assigned to its own account, even though that's nonsensical for any vaguely advanced use case.
      1. If so, would multiple be able to be assigned to the same telephone number?
      2. Does using https://ee.co.uk/exp/migrate/link-your-products inadvertently create a kind of family account, or does it indicate that the previous worry shall not be of consequence?
         1. I'm rather uncertain how phone number  / SIM card to account assignment operates — considering that the details I enter when ordering a SIM card do not need to correspond to an existent account, is the purpose of that URI to link the SIM to the account when it is used? I ask because this is not how SMARTY appears to conduct their assignment — this is somewhat convoluted.

[XRaySpeX]

@Roke : A family a/c is just an EE a/c owned by, managed by, billed to & paid for by just 1 person. It can contain as many contract (not PAYG) nos. as EE will allow the owner. The owner may assign or give nos. to other peeps, not necessarily their family, as many as each requires. The beauty of a family a/c is that data may be gifted between nos.

Any SIM no. can leave the family a/c with consent of owner & with the ability to pass a credit check to pay the separate bill.

Each SIM has its own no. No 2 SIMs may have the same mobile no. Nos. are manually linked to the owner's EE a/c.

[Roke]

@XRaySpeX, that appears to be what I was hoping for — a federated system whereby SIMs are always assigned to individual accounts, even when those accounts are within a family group.

Am I correct that it's like:

?

[bristolian]

No, you have individual mobile numbers, each with their own SIM. All are billed against one central billing account.

Remove the "owner account 2" & "member account 1" from your diagram and have each "telephone number" linked directly to the "family group" which is the "billing account".

[Roke]

In which case, @bristolian, the account I use currently would not be transferrable into a family account? That appears to contradict how it was aforestated by the other respondent that a user can transfer out at any time.

[bristolian]

I receive email notifications of all replies, it's not necessary to add a tag.

I suspect you're overthinking this, but perhaps there is some confusion with terminology,.

A SIM effectively holds your mobile number, which in-turn references your plan for billing purposes. Every mobile number needs to be allocated to a billing account, and EE's family accounts allow multiple mobiles to thus appear on the same monthly bill - the benefit being data sharing between them.

An individual can hold multiple billing accounts if they so desire, which can be merged or split as you decide. Billing accounts held by different individuals can be transferred between people by means of a legal "transfer of ownership"

[Roke]

@bristolian, I see. So each telephone number is an “account” (hence why an “account” cannot own more than one telephone number)? Anyway, what you're referring to about tagging is merely my set signature — I can see from the fact that your replies are not threaded that you're using e-mail.

[bristolian]

I'm responding via the forum's web interface not the email gateway, but anyhow.

A telephone number is a telephone number. Charges incurred by that line are charged against a billing account.

The very basis of a multi-line account is that there are multiple mobile telephone lines charged to that single billing account.

[Roke]

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The very basis of a multi-line account is that there are multiple mobile telephone lines charged to that single billing account.

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@bristolian, does that refer to the family account? Otherwise, it would surely contradict what you stated in https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/SIM-cards-Porting/How-to-switch-to-EE-step-by-step/m-p/1360972/highlig....

[XRaySpeX]

No, you've overcomplicated it. It is not federated in that way.. It is just 1 a/c containing a no. of mobile nos. all the responsibility of 1 person. There is no 2nd level of "Master/Owner a/c n".

A SIM = a mobile no.