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I was just looking for something like this. My primary phone # is a Google Voice number. There are a hand full of providers that (1) only offer sms 2fa and (2)

I was just looking for something like this. My primary phone # is a Google Voice number. There are a hand full of providers that (1) only offer sms 2fa and (2) refuse to send sms messages to my Google Voice number (cough _Apple_). Basically every service that refuses to send to GV also refuse to send to Twilio numbers. A programmable SMS gateway plus a cheap sms only sim card seems to be my best option. I was thinking about doing this with a usb 4g card, but this might be better. Now I'd really love to see something like this that also supported programmable voice.

kilroy123 5y ago
I agree. This is extremely frustrating. One work around I found, was to also use Google Fi. Then I would use my Google Fi number, which would route to Google Hangout. Then I could get the code from there. However, Google just killed my Google Fi account because I'm abroad to much. So now I need a new workaround. If you're in the US a lot this could work for you.
- jadbox 5y ago
  Why does being abroad 'too much' matter to Google Fi?
  - kilroy123 5y ago
    My guess is you're just not profitable enough for them, using data on different carriers around the world? Who knows, but it appears they're cracking down now on people like me.
    - etc-hosts 5y ago
      They shut down your account? Details !
- judge2020 5y ago
  Did you receive a message stating why your Fi connection was terminated? Unlimited plus’s entire point is for usage while traveling https://fi.google.com/about/international-rates https://fi.google.com/about/international-rates
  - kilroy123 5y ago
    Yes. First they sent me an email, telling me if I don't go back to the US and continue using it from there, it would be suspended. Then a month later my service was killed. Apparently, if I go back to the US and use it from there it will start working again. Ironically, this happened weeks after I was using in the US for a month straight.
    - judge2020 5y ago
      Yep, looks like you're on the nose about it costing too much to them: > The Services are offered only to residents of the United States. The Services must be primarily used in the United States (territories not included) and are not intended for extended international use. Further, the Services are designed for use predominantly within our network. If your usage outside our network is excessive, abnormally high, or cause us to incur too much cost, we may, at our option and sole discretion, suspend your Google Fi account, terminate your service, or limit your use of roaming. https://fi.google.com/about/tos https://fi.google.com/about/tos
swiley 5y ago
SMS "2fa" almost always makes things worse, you're better off never sharing your phone number with large companies like Apple.
- psanford 5y ago
  I signed up for a new Apple account recently because I needed a developer account. As far as I could tell, it is no longer possible to sign up for an apple account without any 2fa.
- ViViDboarder 5y ago
  Is it possible to do so anymore? I’m pretty sure Google and Apple both require it to create an account now.
rsync 5y ago
"Basically every service that refuses to send to GV also refuse to send to Twilio numbers." Most likely they are sending SMS from a short-code - and a short-code cannot send SMS to a non mobile number. Twilio numbers look and feel like "mobile" numbers (you can send SMS to/from them, for instance) but they are not. So it's not so much a refusal on the part of your vendors (Apple, for instance) but something they simply cannot do. Ironically, twilio themselves requires a 2FA process that cannot be satisfied with their own product.
- psanford 5y ago
  I receive messages from short codes all the time on my GV account.
  - jploh 5y ago
    Same here but could it be that we have very old GV accounts that are not updated in some kind of number portability database?
- techsupporter 5y ago
  > Most likely they are sending SMS from a short-code - and a short-code cannot send SMS to a non mobile number. Sure you can. We do it all the time at my job, for sending reminders of appointments and medication refill notices and such. We have test recipient numbers on all of the mobile networks and the big VoIP networks like Republic Wireless and Google Voice. I even have a test number from voip.ms on there. The requirement is that the owning carrier of the number have a partnership with the short code provider platform. Twilio famously doesn't want to pay for that partnership. Bandwidth.com, that operates the bare metal of a lot of VoIP companies, does pay for it.
- kolencherry 5y ago
  You can now enable Twilio longcodes to receive SMSes from shortcodes. https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181668-Can-Twilio-numbers-receive-SMS-from-a-short-code- https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181668-Can-T... Many companies who do SMS for account verification check whether or not the number is hosted with a VoIP provider and purposefully do not send verification requests to those numbers. It's a fraud prevention tactic.
dheera 5y ago
> refuse to send sms messages to my Google Voice number Try getting a Twilio number in another country where they can't tell. I won't say which one works for me publicly here in case there are employees of those companies lurking here.
- psanford 5y ago
  That's an interesting idea, although I suspect a number of US only services would then reject the number for being international.

kilroy123 5y ago

I agree. This is extremely frustrating. One work around I found, was to also use Google Fi. Then I would use my Google Fi number, which would route to Google Hangout. Then I could get the code from there. However, Google just killed my Google Fi account because I'm abroad to much. So now I need a new workaround. If you're in the US a lot this could work for you.

jadbox 5y ago
Why does being abroad 'too much' matter to Google Fi?
- kilroy123 5y ago
  My guess is you're just not profitable enough for them, using data on different carriers around the world? Who knows, but it appears they're cracking down now on people like me.
  - etc-hosts 5y ago
    They shut down your account? Details !
judge2020 5y ago
Did you receive a message stating why your Fi connection was terminated? Unlimited plus’s entire point is for usage while traveling https://fi.google.com/about/international-rates https://fi.google.com/about/international-rates
- kilroy123 5y ago
  Yes. First they sent me an email, telling me if I don't go back to the US and continue using it from there, it would be suspended. Then a month later my service was killed. Apparently, if I go back to the US and use it from there it will start working again. Ironically, this happened weeks after I was using in the US for a month straight.
  - judge2020 5y ago
    Yep, looks like you're on the nose about it costing too much to them: > The Services are offered only to residents of the United States. The Services must be primarily used in the United States (territories not included) and are not intended for extended international use. Further, the Services are designed for use predominantly within our network. If your usage outside our network is excessive, abnormally high, or cause us to incur too much cost, we may, at our option and sole discretion, suspend your Google Fi account, terminate your service, or limit your use of roaming. https://fi.google.com/about/tos https://fi.google.com/about/tos

swiley 5y ago

SMS "2fa" almost always makes things worse, you're better off never sharing your phone number with large companies like Apple.

psanford 5y ago
I signed up for a new Apple account recently because I needed a developer account. As far as I could tell, it is no longer possible to sign up for an apple account without any 2fa.
ViViDboarder 5y ago
Is it possible to do so anymore? I’m pretty sure Google and Apple both require it to create an account now.

rsync 5y ago

"Basically every service that refuses to send to GV also refuse to send to Twilio numbers." Most likely they are sending SMS from a short-code - and a short-code cannot send SMS to a non mobile number. Twilio numbers look and feel like "mobile" numbers (you can send SMS to/from them, for instance) but they are not. So it's not so much a refusal on the part of your vendors (Apple, for instance) but something they simply cannot do. Ironically, twilio themselves requires a 2FA process that cannot be satisfied with their own product.

psanford 5y ago
I receive messages from short codes all the time on my GV account.
- jploh 5y ago
  Same here but could it be that we have very old GV accounts that are not updated in some kind of number portability database?
techsupporter 5y ago
> Most likely they are sending SMS from a short-code - and a short-code cannot send SMS to a non mobile number. Sure you can. We do it all the time at my job, for sending reminders of appointments and medication refill notices and such. We have test recipient numbers on all of the mobile networks and the big VoIP networks like Republic Wireless and Google Voice. I even have a test number from voip.ms on there. The requirement is that the owning carrier of the number have a partnership with the short code provider platform. Twilio famously doesn't want to pay for that partnership. Bandwidth.com, that operates the bare metal of a lot of VoIP companies, does pay for it.
kolencherry 5y ago
You can now enable Twilio longcodes to receive SMSes from shortcodes. https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181668-Can-Twilio-numbers-receive-SMS-from-a-short-code- https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181668-Can-T... Many companies who do SMS for account verification check whether or not the number is hosted with a VoIP provider and purposefully do not send verification requests to those numbers. It's a fraud prevention tactic.

dheera 5y ago

> refuse to send sms messages to my Google Voice number Try getting a Twilio number in another country where they can't tell. I won't say which one works for me publicly here in case there are employees of those companies lurking here.

psanford 5y ago
That's an interesting idea, although I suspect a number of US only services would then reject the number for being international.