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Comment by Digory | Hacker News Reader

Twitter won't verify phone numbers that are assigned to voip providers, even if they receive SMS.

I'm not sure how you get a number from Ma Bell anymore, and I'm not going to do it for Twitter.

FAANG isn't quite as bad as WeChat, but it's getting there.

What's more fun is that companies have bad databases and won't fix them. I have a Google Voice number that I ported to a physical device, and Discord won't let me use it as a 2FA backup number. The mistake they made is two-fold: 2FA is for me, so if the text message goes through, then it doesn't matter if it's VoIP. But they tied the system into their "you must have a verified phone to use this server", which has to reject VoIP for abuse reasons. (It's a bad abuse management mechanism of course, but having implemented similar blunt instruments myself, I get where they're coming from. There's a problem, how do you fix it in a day? Blanket out-of-date denylists.) Compounding the issue is that their database is simply incorrect. My number is a physical phone.

(Oh, and of course you can port your physical-at-the-time-of-registration phone number to VoIP, which I may or may not have done, and they don't go back in and check against the database. TOCTOU, a classic security vulnerability since approximately 1970.)

It grinds my gears because I have been a Nitro subscriber since it first became available, and they won't bend one millimeter for one of their first paying customers. I am looking forward to their death by greed.

The opposite is also true. I have a Google Voice number that originally came from a cell phone, so many sites that otherwise block VoIP numbers let me use it.

Really the only place that gives me issues is Chase Bank.

My bank tried this crap with my Google Voice number and I told them it was my phone number and had been for over a decade.

The rep was able to white-list my number.

I was using a number with Uber Eats and one day they decided they didn't like my provider any more. Needless to say their service wasn't worth trying to figure out why they have a problem. I swear it feels like some sort of conspiracy to make sure major telcos get paid.

In the USA, the cheapest option I've found is Tello (T-Mobile MVNO) - $5-6/mo for the absolute basic tier, real SIM with a real (non VOIP) number. Accepts number port-in after initial activation.

If you just need to receive the occasional text message, you can get a free one from FreedomPop.

Red Pocket has their cheapest plan at $30/year ($2.50/month) on T-Mobile. 200 min, 1000 txt, 200 MB per month. Real SIM card. Available only on eBay. No affliation, just a satisfied customer.

I managed to successfully register a Twitter account without having to verify myself with a phone number. Not sure how I managed to do that, but I have a number ready to provide them if they randomly decide to ask for it.

You can get away with using the same number for about five accounts (at least this was my experience).

IME, you can register. And then between a day and a week later, you'll get a demand to verify by phone.

What's the problem with buying a sim online for 10 bucks?

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