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> If it is a requirement, consider using a virtual number like Google Voice or even a dedicated SIM that you only use for this purpose and never give the number
by saltminer 3y ago
> If it is a requirement, consider using a virtual number like Google Voice or even a dedicated SIM that you only use for this purpose and never give the number away.
For the second SIM option, that requires a dual-SIM device, which are still fairly niche in the US.
When it comes to VOIP numbers, unfortunately, many sites look up phone numbers and block VOIP providers, which sucks because Android still has no good way of sending/receiving carrier texts on the desktop (and before someone suggests the Google Messages web interface, it "forgets" my device too often for me to take it seriously). Occasionally, this can create a catch 22, where the VOIP blocking is implemented after the fact and prevents you from ever using the account again because the VOIP blocking was also implemented on the SMS 2FA.
And then there's services which don't even bother to check if they can actually reach a number before accepting it. Harris Teeter pharmacies, for example, will happily accept a VOIP number, but their system is unable to call or text VOIP numbers, so you never get your prescription notices. (And I'd bet this applies to all Kroger brands since they share a lot of systems.)
- stephenr 3y ago> For the second SIM option, that requires a dual-SIM device Or a device that supports an eSIM, which is every iPhone since 2018, for starters.
- aidenn0 3y agoThe eSIM is going to be more expensive than a regular SIM since no MVNO I'm aware of in the US supports eSIMs
- sneak 3y agoMint.
- stephenr 3y agoI'm also not aware of any but that's less about whether they're actually available and almost entirely because like 7.6 billion other people, I don't live in the US.
- aidenn0 3y agoConsidering how we were talking about how dual-SIM phones are niche in the US, I think my comment was rather relevant.
- stephenr 3y agoDual-sim phones aren't just a niche in the US either. But regardless: using your existing 5 year old iPhone with an eSIM that isn't "cheap" is still going to be cheaper than buying a new dual-sim phone.
- piperswe 3y agoAlmost all of them do now, since iPhones don't have SIM card slots in the US anymore.
- aidenn0 3y agoThanks. Apparently my info was out-of-date; I last checked in early 2022.
- caturopath 3y agoI use Visible and Mint via eSIM
- guru4consulting 3y agoI guess dual SIM is different from having eSIM+physical SIM. Dual SIM typically allows both SIMs/phone-numbers to be active and when you receive a call, you will know which number is being called. With eSIM+physical SIM card, only one can be active at a time. The other has to be disabled. At least, this is what I found few years back.
- piperswe 3y agoI know that iPhones with SIM+eSIM can have both active at the same time, and iPhones with just eSIM can have two eSIMs active.
- josephg 3y agoYeah I found this out the hard way when travelling recently. There are some great apps that let you buy cheap data-only eSIMs in dozens of countries. You can even buy an eSIM before you travel. It’s crazy convenient and much cheaper than roaming fees. My girlfriend could keep her home phone line enabled while using the eSIM but I couldn’t, even though we have the same model of phone! Turns out her home line uses a physical sim, but mine is set up using an eSIM and the iPhone 12 can only have 1 eSIM enabled at a time. You can do 1 physical + 1 eSIM, but not 2 esims. I couldn’t get texts or calls from home without noodling with my phone settings each time. And FaceTime kept enrolling and unenrolling my number.
- lstamour 3y agoGood news, with the elimination of the SIM card slot, they fixed this bug and you can have two eSIMs active with no chance of ever getting a physical travel sim to work! /s
- josephg 3y agoBleh physical sim swapping when travelling is such a pain. I used travel data only esims all through the US, Europe and Egypt. All set up through a single app. I didn’t need to talk to dodgy airport phone shop people a single time in 3 months on the road - which, iPhone limitations aside, I consider a massive win. (I used the Airalo app. No association. It worked great.)
- pnw 3y agoeBay doesn't block Google voice numbers. The only site which seems to is Discord in my experience. Personally I prefer to use a non-obvious dedicated email per account e.g. ebpnw@mydomain.com, so the attacker has to guess the email as well.
- thedaly 3y ago> Personally I prefer to use a non-obvious dedicated email per account e.g. ebpnw@mydomain.com, so the attacker has to guess the email as well. Should I stop doing my obvious, ie hackernews@mydomain.com, account emails?
- Sardtok 3y agoIf you want to increase your security, generate a random string for the "account" name. If you are using a password manager, then this shouldn't be too difficult. It can be a hassle when registering for something in person, though.
- freetanga 3y agoBitwarden has a setting for doing exactly this. Create a random email and a random password on the fly during a new service signup Also possible to create 2-3 fake Personas in app (Name, DOB, address,…) to scatter your online footprint. Fills forms with the right one at button push.
- pavon 3y agoI broke down and bought a prepaid SIM and a small dumb phone which I use solely for 2FA. Its about the size as old-school 2FA systems like crypto cards. My original motivation in getting it was my wife was always taking my real phone to get security codes for some shared accounts (on sites that don't have an option for linked accounts). But I also like that it provides small OPSEC improvements over using my real telephone number.
- marklar423 3y agoThat's a great idea for a shared 2FA device
- earthscienceman 3y agoIf you're a Linux user, "KDE Connect" is actually by far the best desktop interface for texting and more. It's changed how my phone and my laptop interact and I think might be my favorite open source project. You can use your laptop as a keyboard, reply to messages from any app that sends a notification, and so much more. The file sending functionality is also far better (and faster) than anything else I've used. It's everything open source software should be.
- saltminer 3y agoA bit late but I had completely forgotten about KDE Connect. Back when I last tried it, it did not filter out spam messages (though maybe Google Messages' spam filtering operates on its own layer and thus spam classifications are not reflected back in the OS SMS store, making it impossible for KDE Connect to know about them). Regardless, I get much less SMS spam these days, so maybe that'll be a viable option once more.
- WirelessGigabit 3y agoGoogle voice numbers can be detected, even you have one ported from say AT&T. Twillio's API marks it as Google Voice. And for dual SIM phones: > An iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209044 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209044 That's 6 generations of iPhone that have dual SIM, in which there is at least 1 eSIM.
- jimmaswell 3y agoWindows phone link is pretty nice for sending and receiving texts through your phone on a desktop.