Ask HN: Digital Nomad Guide for International Phone Numbers

[doorknobguy]

I’m looking for advice on how to select a phone number that works for someone who moves a lot.

*Current state*

- I move to a different country every 3-4 years & travel a lot - I have a UK phone number - I’ll move away from UK to somewhere else

*Wants*

- Single phone number - have it for rest of my life - Receive International SMS - need for banks + application login + 2-factor) - Works with Whatsapp & Telegram - Cost is cheap end (less than $15 per month)

*Other Info*

- Don’t need any data plans. I use AirAlo and buy eSim or Local Sim whenever I move/travel

*Current Solution*

*Pros*

- I’m using a VOIP provider called Hushed - It says it doesn’t guarantee 2 factor, but it has worked with literally every single application & non North American bank. (My main bank is not in NA so doesn’t effect me) - I can get international SMS and calls - Cheap $7/mo - I can extend it forever as long as I pay

*Cons*

- Whatsapp doesn’t work with VOIP

tl;dr

- Current solution handles all requirements except Whatsapp - Do you have any suggestions?

[withinboredom]

If you know some code… there’s some neat things you can do.

I have a phone number (literally spells my name) and I can call it from any phone, after the first ring, I can type a code (which includes the number of days to be active). It registers the number I’m calling from as a forwarding number. If someone calls or texts my number, it gets forwarded to all registered phones. I can use a different code to make calls as well.

This is perfect for when I don’t have internet yet, or even a sim. I can borrow a friends phone, hotel, payphone, whatever.

The vanity number isn’t listed as a voip number (afaik) because it was originally my cell number and then I ported it to the programmable voip carrier (who I hate), but it works with banks, WA.

Costs: expensive, sometimes.

[42droids → withinboredom]

May I ask which service do you use? Could you share more info about your setup?

[withinboredom → 42droids]

I use Plivo (which only allows US/CA numbers to be ported to, which is why I didn’t mention it because the OP said they were from the UK). Pretty much anything out there can support this though with very little scripting.

[eltonlin]

Look for a normal UK provider that supports "wifi-calling".

For US numbers, use Tello's basic e-sim: it supports "wifi-calling" i.e. as long as you're connected to the internet, you receive & send calls & texts as if you're in the US, no matter which country you're actually in. Because it's just a normal number, it'll work with WhatsApp.

$7/month for unlimited text, 100 phone minutes, no data.

[alemanek → eltonlin]

Nice tip. Another option for US numbers is Google project fi.

I have been using Google Project Fi for calls and texts the last 6 years internally. A bit pricey but you don’t need to be on wifi for calls and texts. I also had international data for like 5 years until they cut me off last year.

[doorknobguy → eltonlin]

Tello looks interesting. I'll test it out!

[blackhaj7]

Following as I am interested to hear what people propose.

This isn't a solution to your question but I used to change countries a lot and did the following:

UK number: for my whatsapp + OTPs for all my UK stuff

Local sim: for data, calls and texts (I kept my whatsapp number to my UK one initially but it got tiresome telling local people my international number so I ended up just moving my whatsapp to the local number each time and keeping my UK number on a Nokia burner phone for OTPs - it's pretty easy to switch number on whatsapp these days and ensuring everyone gets updated)

International numbers outside of UK & local: I used to have numbers for other countries via Skype e.g. US where a landline/local number was useful when applying for jobs

I never had any need for OTP on non-local/UK numbers, nor desired to use them for other stuff so it worked quite well for me but as mentioned doesn't offer much in relation to your question

Hope you find a solution

[avn2109]

I am in a semi-similar situation and I use an MVNO called Ting. I don't claim it will work in every country, but it works in lots of countries (all that I've tried) to receive 2FA SMS, and costs usually less than 10 bucks a month depending on how much you use it overseas.

My phone number works great for Whatsapp and Telegram. However, the caveat is that they don't currently support e-SIM, so if you have a USA market iPhone 15 (no SIM slot) then you're out of luck with Ting, and presumably future iphones will also not support hard SIM cards. Overseas (at least EU) market iphone 15's mostly seem to have SIM slots still, so maybe that's a workaround.

Furthermore they seem to be mostly honest, let you chat online with an actual English speaking human on relatively short notice, and have a fairly straightforward website without a bunch of dumb interface chrome. Also it's a "real" phone number so it doesn't trigger the VOIP detection filters that sometimes plague you during various signups.

Lastly, I suspect that probably many other MVNO's will offer a similar setup, they're cheap so you can probably A/B/C/D test a handful of them in parallel in whatever subset of countries is relevant to you.

[vertis]

I use Devyce[0] which has a UK phone number. Works for all the 2FA codes I've ever needed. Can port your existing UK number as well.

They've been my provider for 3 or so years now without any problems. Runs fine on top of Airalo when I need to take a call (which is extremely rarely).

[0]: https://devyce.com/

[stevengraham]

I use a google voice number. Spouse uses a skype number. Over 10 years as an expat in multiple countries. Keep a small amount of balance in your account to keep the number active. Works fine with 2-factor for pretty much anything. Does -not- work for KYC US identity validation.

[sitzkrieg → stevengraham]

beware google voice is voip and will not be accepted by very many services

[bert2002]

I have a second Nokia phone that keeps sim cards from other countries that I dont need all the time (e.g. 2FA). Receiving txt is free and just need to top it up once per year to keep the number running.

[rochak]

In a similar boat. On that note, if someone wants to maintain a number in US forever only for the sake of receiving texts (MFA) and call (only if urgent, capability can be added as a temporary add-on on the spot), what is the cheapest option?

[Alek-Niko]

I can recommend voip.ms. I've been using it for years now for the exact same wants. I have an asterix freePBX box but you can use any SIP client. SMS can be redirect to your email. Affordable, reliable and works very well.

[leros]

Google Fi works for great for moving around internationally but it's more expensive than you want.

[t1E9mE7JTRjf]

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