Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by qingcharles on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @07:57PM (#47145877)

Are there solid VoIP providers that aren't detected by 2FA SMS services? I can't use my Google Voice for a decent chunk of sign-ups because it is detected (and rejected) too easily. I hate getting spam, so I try to keep my primary phone number only for friends and family.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by busko on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @08:06PM (#47145948)

Objectively, it gets even worse in regions where Google voice isn't available. The only options seem to be online SMS portals where a relatively small set of numbers are shared across many users.

If anyone knows of a good, secure VoIP provider outside of the US I'd be keen to hear about it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by dlenski on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @12:50AM (#47147815)

VoIP.ms works great in both the US and Canada. (I believe it started here in Canada.)

Also, many Canadian financial institutions (including the CRA, Wealthsimple, and BMO) work fine with US phone numbers for 2FA… including Google Voice, in my personal experience. https://www.reddit.com/r/Googlevoice/comments/1c571kw

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by simfree on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @02:56PM (#47156961)

VoIP.ms is hard to port into and out of, I've repeatedly seen them drop part of the account number when transferring a number, then drag their feet for days thereafter on resubmitting the port.

Always ask for the Port Order Number (PON) so you can follow up with the other carrier to see what they received from VoIP.ms

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by dlenski on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @11:42PM (#47161941)

That's frustrating, but why are you so concerned with porting out of VoIP-based carriers?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by rationalist on Thursday February 26, 2026 @05:08PM (#47172643)

I've only done it a few times in each direction, but I've never had an issue porting in or out of VOIP.ms, and it seemed easy enough to me.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by upofadown on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @06:49AM (#47150305)

Jmp.chat is the same sort of the same thing as Google voice and is allegedly based in Canada. It has the bonus feature of using standard XMPP clients.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by gruez on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @08:01PM (#47145914)

Use sms verification services that spammers use. They're implemented by using banks of sim cards placed in some apartment somewhere, so it's as "real" as it can get.

https://cotsi.org/methodology

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by fc417fc802 on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @10:01PM (#47146753)

Serious question, what services are you using that this isn't a deal breaker for you? And why isn't it?

Most services either don't have a legitimate interest in my phone number (so they can get bent) or they do have a legitimate interest in which case not accepting my phone number means they aren't doing their #$&^ job (so they can get bent).

It helps that the only services I'm willing to provide my phone number to are those that already inherently involve my PII. Banks, online shopping, etc. So if they won't accept whatever I give them I'll take my business to a competitor.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by rsync on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @11:04PM (#47147198)

2FA mule.

https://kozubik.com/items/2famule/

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by dlenski on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @12:45AM (#47147788)

I've used my Google Voice number as my primary number for ~15 years at this point. (I use my "real" phone number so little that I have trouble remembering it.)

I've had almost no problems using my GV number for 2FA. Venmo is literally the only service I've ever used that won't accept it for 2FA… and now Venmo offers non-SMS based alternatives, which is good because SMS-based 2FA is the reason that the SIM-swap attack is worth doing.

List of services that allow Google Voice for 2FA: https://www.reddit.com/r/Googlevoice/comments/1c571kw/crowds...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by simfree on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @02:53PM (#47156911)

Google Voice is requiring ID verification now, and porting your phone number out is difficult as they charge an unlock fee and you get to deal with Bandwidth.com's port out shenanigans as they are the real underlying carrier for Google Voice.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid by dlenski on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @11:41PM (#47161940)

> Google Voice is requiring ID verification now

Yep, this is a crappy change going forward :-(

However, Google Voice does not require ID verification for preexisting accounts, so this has no effect on existing users.

[ Parent | on HN ]