Getting a non-VOIP US phone number from Tello for 2FA

[obiwanderkenobi]

Sorry, I've never used MMS. Frankly, I don't see the appeal. If your phone is connected to the internet, why would you want to send pictures essentially over SMS? I consider SMS to be an obsolete technology in itself, used mainly for verification purposes these days. For regular messaging, it seems everyone uses WhatsApp or Telegram.

As an American (and a mild tech geek) who travels and lives overseas for long periods of time, I agree wholeheartedly - I've certainly become accustomed to using Whatsapp for everything. Outside of the U.S., Whatsapp is just second nature to everyone and it's rare to encounter anyone who doesn't use it. Android usage is also almost universal in many parts of the world, even more so in countries with economic problems (like Argentina).

However, my Mom is the only person I know in the States who uses Whatsapp, and only because I convinced her to make the switch. I don't know anyone else back home who uses Whatsapp or who has any desire to use Whatsapp, especially if they're iPhone owners. My 70-year-old Dad knows how to text, call or email, and short of an in-person demonstration of the alternatives, he's not going to use anything else.

Perusing the top comments of these Reddit threads, it's clear there's a large cultural divide between U.S. and non-U.S. messaging preferences:

https://www.reddit.com/r/polls/comments/x8g88u

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1795svy

The general consensus among U.S. Americans seems to be:

"I dont need another app to solve a problem I dont have."

"Why would I go through a third party app for a service my phone can already provide on its own?"

"I don’t understand why I would use any messaging app, including WhatsApp, when I have texting included/preinstalled into my phone."

"Have never had it, and have never even considered it. Its just not a thing here and if someone asked me to use it I would immediately assume it's a scam"

Meanwhile, the general consensus among everyone else around the world seems to be:

"In my country if you don't use whatsapp, you don't exist"

"Without whatsapp; life will be totally isolated in my country."

"Wait, Americans don’t use WhatsApp?"

And somewhere in between, there's a segment of the population everywhere that just wants nothing to do with Facebook/Meta:

"It’s owned by Facebook is a pretty big factor for me to not touch (Whatsapp) with a 10-foot pole."

"I don't use WhatsApp because it's fundamentally compromised and not a secure platform. But I'm a hard-ass when it comes to secure communications."

"When WhatsApp updated its TOS basically saying that your information can be shared internally with Meta, my friends and I all left...and haven't looked back."

So when you said that "it seems everyone uses WhatsApp or Telegram," I agree that it certainly seems that way here in Argentina and many other parts of the world. But whenever I step foot back in the U.S., I'm quickly reminded (by the deer in the headlights looks I usually get when I mention Whatsapp) that most Americans prefer to just use their default built-in texting apps.

Anyways, back to my use case and whether Tello makes sense or not, I'll continue to use my Dad as an example. He has my Google Voice and my Textfree numbers, and it's a very easy process for him to send me pictures to either number (which he likes to do). He simply opens a normal text, attaches the picture, and hits send. Vice versa, I also send him pictures via normal texts, because it's what he's used to and doesn't require me to teach him about any third party apps. Here's SMS/MMS via Google Voice (left) and Textfree (right), using Wi-Fi only:



Although I currently don't have any issues receiving 2FA codes between the two, the reason your initial write-up about Tello still sounded fantastic to me is because I'd love to have a U.S. number that works overseas via Wi-Fi and which is installed into my phone as a regular SIM (allowing me to receive "built-in" calls and texts). Currently, I either have to be signed into Google Voice (which is also not a wireless carrier), or I have to launch and use the Textfree dedicated app. I'd love to be able to dump Google Voice and Textfree completely and be back to having just a "normal" phone number.

However, while Tello solves several problems for me, it (apparently) introduces a new one in that my Dad (or other family members) and I can no longer exchange pictures via MMS, since Tello is seemingly incapable of processing pictures over Wi-Fi. It seems odd to me that a paid service like Tello can't replicate what apps like Google Voice can do for free, but I understand the underlying technology isn't the same. Unfortunately, the inability to process MMS pictures over Wi-Fi means that even if I switched to Tello, 95% of my text conversations with folks back home would still require Google Voice or Textfree. So instead of being able to use Tello as a standalone and dump everything else, Tello (in my case) would likely end up being relegated to a backup number that I rarely use.

I hope that my previous book of a post makes a little more sense now. If not, sorry for boring you to death with this new book of a post, lol. Tello certainly sounds like it might be the perfect solution for a lot of folks, especially for those currently having 2FA problems, or for those who have no need for MMS because most of their family and friends largely use Whatsapp/Telegram/etc. I'll probably still give Tello a try as well, the initial cost is pretty cheap and I enjoy a tech challenge, so I'd love to spend an afternoon seeing if I can devise (or bruteforce) a workaround for the MMS over Wi-Fi limitation. I'll make sure to report back if I have any success

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Absolutely brilliant exposition, @obiwanderkenobi and I thank you for taking the trouble. I am British but in all other respects I Am Your Dad. I don't know if what I do is feasible from the USA but this is what I do and it works for me.

I bought a dumb phone (Nokia 110 if you are asking) in the UK and I have a PAYG account with a UK carrier which I only have to top up when the balance is low. When I am in Argentina, it reverts to a local carrier and calls and texts get charged at international rates so I don't use it much for that. But 2FA codes arrive to that phone without difficulty whether I am here in Argentina or back home in the UK. And it doesn't cost me anything to receive any sort of SMS including 2FA. For pictures, links and videos, there's always WiFi.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

@elhombresinnombre I think my Dad would probably devour a plate of beans on toast, so I guess than makes him at least 1% British

Being a heavy smartphone user, I'd have a hard time reverting back to my Nokia days, and unfortunately most U.S. carriers don't make it easy or cheap to continue using a U.S. based SIM while long-term traveling overseas. Among the cheaper prepaid carriers, some like Tracfone don't allow international usage whatsoever, and some that do (such as Mint) charge $10 a day for international use. Postpaid carriers also charge high international roaming fees - AT&T is $10 per day, and Verizon is either $10 per day or $100 for international monthly plan.

Typically I just don't even bother with U.S. based carriers while traveling overseas, as I haven't found a "traditional" solution that makes sense. When I'm traveling I just get a local SIM with a big data package and then use Google Voice or Textfree via Wi-Fi/data for U.S. based calls and texts. For everyone back home that has my U.S. phone numbers, they don't have to do anything special, they can call me or text me the same way they always do. Whenever I return to the U.S. I'll discard my foreign SIM and use one of the popular U.S. prepaid carriers like Mint or Visible for as long as I'm there, and then the second I leave the U.S. I'm back to using a foreign SIM again.

That's why Tello seems interesting to me because it's cheap and could possibly eliminate my need to do constant SIM swapping every time I change countries. If Tello works perfectly in the U.S., and it also works seamlessly over Wi-Fi while traveling, it could be a one-stop permanent solution that would allow me to move away completely from Google Voice, Textfree, or other third party VoIP apps. But the one and only hitch in the giddyup is that it seems that Tello can't process MMS over Wi-Fi, and so long as I have friends and family who prefer pictures via text, that's sort of a dealbreaker for me. Hopefully it's a solvable problem, because if I can make MMS work over Tello's Wi-Fi network, then I don't know of anything else which would prevent me from permanently making the switch.

 

[Lisandra]

Recently, I needed to sign up for a service that wouldn't accept my Google Voice number, claiming it to be a VOIP number (fairly), so I obtained an additional phone line through Tello Mobile. I'm sharing my experience here, hoping it might benefit others in similar situations. Apologies for the lengthy post; I am trying to describe the procedure in detail.

Tello Mobile offers a $5 per month plan that can be activated remotely, meaning you don't have to be in the US to activate the phone line, provided your phone supports eSIM. It uses the T-Mobile network and provides a real mobile phone number for SMS verification.

They don't offer roaming, but they do provide a Wi-Fi calling feature. If your phone is connected to Wi-Fi, it functions as a local US phone. This means you're using your regular minutes, and people can call you and send SMS to your US number.

Tello has a configurator on their website, and I opted for the 100 minutes + 1 GB plan for $6, just in case (it can be changed later). With taxes, it came to $6.13 per month. I chose eSIM, rather than physical SIM delivery, as an option. I also checked the 'Email me 48 hours before charging me' checkbox.

After payment, it said. Order status: Successful. Enjoy your eSim.

I went to the 'My Tello' account, then to the 'My SIM' section. There, I found a QR code, which I scanned with my camera, and a new 'eSIM2' record appeared in the 'Sim manager' under the 'eSIMs' section (I already have 'eSIM1' with a different company). I have a Samsung Galaxy S22 phone that I bought locally.

You need to set up your E911 address, which is found in the 'Wi-Fi Calling' section of your Tello account settings. Also, make sure to turn on Wi-Fi calling on your phone. On my phone, it's located under 'Connections' -> 'Wi-Fi Calling'.

I have the 'Network Cell Info' application that shows the network connection status for SIM cards. About 10 minutes later, the connection for eSIM2 was activated, and it now displays 'IWLAN T-Mobile Wi-Fi'

As a result, I can now make and receive calls and SMS messages. I called my friend in the US, and everything seems to be OK. I also tested sending and receiving SMS messages.

On FreeCarrierLookup site

https://freecarrierlookup.com/

This number appears like this:
Carrier: T-Mobile US-SVR-10X/2
Is Wireless: y

My Google Voice number says
Is Wireless: n

From what I understand, you can renew your plan manually before it expires, and then your minutes and gigabytes are rolled over. I haven't tried it myself yet.

I hope this could resolve the issues of people who need a real US number for SMS verification. I know that Google Voice works for some, but it ultimately depends on the banks, and some of them are especially strict.

If you decide to sign up and use this link, you will receive a $10 credit to your account balance.

You can also use OneSimCard. It works perfectly for all 2FA. And, you can port GoogleVoice to it.

https://www.onesimcard.com/

 

[lunar]

You can also use OneSimCard. It works perfectly for all 2FA. And, you can port GoogleVoice to it.

If you have a number from them, could you check whether it is listed as Wireless at https://freecarrierlookup.com ?

When you order a SIM card, they ask to list banks and apps you plan to receive SMS messages from. This doesn't inspire much confidence.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

If you have a number from them, could you check whether it is listed as Wireless at https://freecarrierlookup.com ?

When you order a SIM card, they ask to list banks and apps you plan to receive SMS messages from. This doesn't inspire much confidence.

I wasn't inspired by their outgoing call and text rates from AR to USA - texts starting at 45 cpm, and calls starting at 69cpm:

International Cell Phone Service Rates - OneSimCard

OneSimCard international cell phone service rates. Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, North and Central America, South America and Australia.

www.onesimcard.com

I'm not paying that. It might be good if you have a spare SIM slot and disable calls and data and use it only for incoming texts and nothing else.

Apparently they have a VoIP app with cheaper rates, but the page discussing the app says the rates are effective May 2015 and that the app is compatible with Android 4.2, which was released in 2012 and is no longer supported by Google:

OneSim VoIP - A new way of calling via Wi-Fi

OneSimCard mobile application for Android devices, iPhone and iPad to make and receive calls via Wi-Fi for as low as 1c/min!

www.onesimcard.com

Doesn't inspire confidence that they haven't bothered to update portions of their website in close to 10 years. I looked up the VoIP app on the Play store and the user base looks almost non-existent, only 5 reviews in all of 2023 and 2 reviews in all of 2022.

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

@lunar I got a Tello number today to play around with it a bit. I used your referral code, so you should have a few Tello bucks in your account Interestingly, I've been able to get MMS picture attachments to work over Wi-Fi several times, both it's only consistently working for outgoing pictures. Incoming pictures from my Dad are 50/50 so far, sometimes they come through and sometimes I just get a loading icon but the picture never finishes loading. I'll keep tinkering with it and see if I can figure out a consistent set of variables.

 

[lunar]

One note for those experiencing battery drain: consider setting the cell tower connection mode to the lowest level possible. I switched mine to '2G only', and it's been okay since.

On my phone this setting is under: Settings->Connections->Mobile Networks->Network Mode eSIM2.

 

[FrankPintor]

One note for those experiencing battery drain: consider setting the cell tower connection mode to the lowest level possible. I switched mine to '2G only', and it's been okay since.

On my phone this setting is under: Settings->Connections->Mobile Networks->Network Mode eSIM2.

You don't want to just switch it off instead? What are you going to do on 2G?

 

[obiwanderkenobi]

You don't want to just switch it off instead? What are you going to do on 2G?

In my case I'm running dual sim, slot 1 is my physical Claro SIM, and slot 2 is my new Tello eSIM. Since both SIMs are simultaneously active, they're both (AFAIK) maintaining a constant search for cell tower connection - I don't think there's a way to make the Tello eSIM operate on Wi-Fi only if the Claro SIM is simultaneously active.

With my Google Pixel I believe the cell tower connection/search in the background is "always on" by default for all enabled SIMs, which I could disable by switching to airplane mode, but then the Claro SIM would no longer work for local data and calls. Maybe there's something in the developer settings that I could toggle, but I try not to mess with the developer settings more than necessary.

I assume what @lunar is suggesting is that by switching the Tello eSIM to 2G only, it's no longer constantly searching for a 3/4/5g tower; and this is probably the best possible solution short of completely disabling the local SIM or switching to airplane mode, both of which have a greater adverse impact.