Originally Posted by
haniboo
Expat here who cannot get SMS from companies for account approvals because I don't have a US phone number. Once had hangout/GV number but was closed down when I couldn't connect to old "real" number.
Now in the US and I would like to get a phone number that would allow me when back abroad to accept messages and calls to prove identity
please recommend a good, inexpensive way to do this. many thanks.
I have an old mobile number that I'm keeping alive on an old iPhone X on Tello.com to catch anything that may not go to new number. Tello is an MVNO on T-Mobile's network and allows 5G now. It is $6 ($6.50ish with taxes) month for 500MB data and 100 talk minutes and unlimited SMS. If you manually renew via app or website at least the day before your monthly renewal date, you can rollover the existing balance. Tello allows you to have them send you a reminder 2 days in advance of that date automatically. I use that an also manually set myself a one-day early renewal calendar reminder.
This will qualify as a "real" number since some websites/services reject virtual VoIP numbers.
I didn't know anyone on Tello so I used some informative Reddit user's referral code. Got me $10 and that person $10. The $10 credit gives you enough to start your account with 1GB data and 500 minutes. Let me know if you want my referral code for $10 credit for both of us if you got this route.
THAT SAID - I just re-read your original post.
What are you using here in the US for your phone number - your international number? You didn't change or get a US number? People calling you have to call your international number?
Your best bet might be to try to see if you have friends/family on a discounted T-Mobile family plan as it can get down to $20/month with enough people-plan type. Tmo now offers 256K free international roaming. Or you can try an MVNO that has international roaming like US Mobile, Google FI, etc. Unfortunately, Tello does not have international roaming yet.