Expats keeping a phone number in their citizenship country (aka MagicJack not working).

[Yellowtail]

Have you tried it without using the VPN?

[JimmyJ]

On 11/12/2020 at 5:56 PM, Pib said:

 

Testing done using my Ultramobile $3/month SIM (actually I have two of them).  Real world testing was calls/texts sent & received by both Mobile connection and Wifi Calling connections....also tested the mobile Data connection.  Keep in mind this is testing done "in Thailand."  Below summarizes the results and I'm VERY happy with the results. I'm a Happy Camper with the Ultramobile Paygo $3/month SIM based on what I need it for which is primarily to receive Two Factor Authentication  (2FA) codes/calls from the US.   And since the Paygo SIM includes "Wifi Calling" which treats calls/texts as US calls/texts cost-wise that makes it really an excellent and low cost SIM for what I need it for.

 

Testing Results

 

Voice Calls via "Mobile" Connection

-  US to Thailand: deducted from Voice 100 free monthly minutes (no Wallet charge)

-  Thailand to US: $2.39/minute deducted from Wallet (no deduction from free monthly minutes)

 

Voice Calls via "Wifi Calling" Connection

-  US to Thailand: deducted from Voice 100 free monthly minutes (no Wallet charge)

-  Thailand to US: deducted from Voice 100 free monthly minutes (no Wallet charge)

          

SMS (a.k.a., Text) via "Mobile" Connection

-  US to Thailand: 10 cents charge to Wallet (no deduction in free texts)

-  Thailand to US: 50 cents/text charged to Wallet (no deduction in free texts)

 

SMS  (a.k.a., Text) via "Wifi Calling" Connection

-  US to Thailand: deducted from SMS 100 free monthly texts (no Wallet charge)

-  Thailand to US: deducted from SMS 100 free monthly texts (no Wallet charge)

 

DATA via "Mobile" Connection

-  Unless on Ultramobile “US” network where you get 100MB free monthly LTE Data there is no domestic or international Data roaming.  But once you set foot back in the US a Data connection via the Ultramobile network (which I expect uses the TMobile network) becomes available. 

 

When adding funds to your Paygo Wallet there are approximately 6% in fees/taxes.  Ex: Adding $10 to your Wallet costs $10.60....adding $5 cost $5.29.  I say "approximately as your credit card billing address "may" affect the total taxes/fees...or maybe it's 6% regardless of your billing address.  Once funds are added to your Wallet there are no taxes/fees as charges hit your Wallet....like the monthly $3 fee which results in  exactly a $3 deduction from your wallet...a call/text that say costs 10 cents results in exactly a 10 cents Wallet deduction...no  additional taxes/fees as those are paid only once when you add money to your wallet.  You can add money to your wallet via automatic monthly charge to a credit card...or do like me, just add funds when desired via charge to credit card. 

 

Now I don't foresee myself ever exceeding the 100 minutes and 100 texts included in the monthly $3 charge, but if I ever did, then below quote from the Ultramobile Paygo website would becomes a cost factor.   And if you use a "Wifi Calling connection" you shouldn't receive any additional charges during the month assuming your don't exceed 100 minutes and/or 100 texts...your monthly cost - $3.

 

Quote:

"TALK, TEXT AND DATA FOR $3/MO

PayGo gives you 100 minutes of talk, 100 texts and 100MB 4G LTE data for only $3 per month. Data can be used for Mobile Hotspot. Once you reach 100, additional Minutes are just 3 cents each, Texts are 1 cent each and Data is 3 cents per MB."

End Quote.

 

In closing, you can only find a Ultramobile Paygo $3/month SIM at "select TMobile retail stores" according to the Ultramobile Paygo website for around $10-$15 upfront cost and sometimes you can find them online like at Amazon/Ebay at price-gouging prices in the $35-$45 ballpark I'm unsure if the SIM can be fully "activated" outside the US.   Every ad I say selling the SIM said it must be first activated within the US which I had a relative do for me and then the SIMs were mailed to me here in Thailand.  Yeap, if you can get your hands on the Paygo $3/month SIM--even at a price-gouging price--the monthly savings will quickly recoup that upfront cost when you compare it to other low cost SIMs that cost in the $10-$15/month ballpark and also may first require activation in the US before they can be used outside the US.

 

 

Bad news for Ultramobile/Paygo customers, if my issue of the last 2 months is not somehow unique.

 

In August I checked my balance in my wallet about the time the account does it's monthly $3 charge by removing thst amount from my wallet, but there was about $15 missing instead of $3.

 

One major drawback of Ultra/Paygo is there is no itemization of charges other than the monthly fee - no Call Register/Record, no accounting for money taken from wallet ("wallet" = money on deposit).

 

I called in and ended up luckily with them restoring the funds to my account.

 

For September, I made sure to login just before the renewal and recorded my wallet balance.

 

A day or 2 later I wanted to login to a bank account and they wanted to either call or text a code to me.

I opted for them to call my Magicjack phone #, but no call.

Tried again, and then logged out/in and tried again, but the call wasn't coming thru.

The other # that the site would let me use is my Ultra/Paygo, so I opted to let it call me.with the code which was successful.

 

I then remembered to check my post wallet renewal Utra/Paygo balance and it is missing the $3 renewal (correctly) plus an additional $11.98 is missing..

For the country I am in currently the U/P price for calling from here to the USA is $5.99.

 

Now I did more work on the missing $$$ from August.

I just went back and figured out the date that Paygo would have charged my account the $3, and the date I checked balance. 

There was $11.98 missing also.

 

Anotherwords, for at least the last 2 months U/P is charging the (ridiculously overpriced) foreign call charge to the USA ALSO on USA to foreign calls.

 

If anyone (Pib or TallGuy or anyone else) would like to test this on a less than 1 minute call (have one of your banks call you with a code or whatever) I would be very interested in the result - hard to see how this glitch could be an issue on my account only but anything is possible (for Thailand if you are charged it is $2.39 for 1 minute).

 

I have been with this company long enough to know that the 1st level cs tries to be helpful but the majority of them will not understand this issue even if I explain 10 times, plus even if they could understand, they will write it up, give it to the next level tech support who customers cannot speak to, and nothing will happen.

 

This seriously degrades the value of the U/P #.

Even though I mainly use it as a backup # to receive codes, I always felt that if Magicjack is not working well, and the bank wanted to speak to me, I would ask them to call me on that line.

 

I was planning to keep paying the $36/year as a backup in case it was ever important to have a phone number based on a SIM and not VOIP, but now I have to think over if that is worth the expense - an alternative would be to simply stop dealing with a bank that required a SIM # (and so far needing a SIM # for a bank  has never been an issue).

 

[Pib]

JimmyJ,

  Don't know what country you are currently in, but according to below TMobile prepaid international calling rates scheduled quite a few have a $5.99/minute charge.....but Thailand is $2.39/minute.  This charge would apply for outgoing or incoming calls on a mobile connection. 

 

And a 1 minute and 1 second call would be rounded up to a 2 minute charge of...so at $5.99/minute a 2 minute call (or 1 min and 1 second) is $11.98.   I wouldn't think a bank calling you with a OTP would not exceed 1 minute based on my past experience of OTPs being sent via a call, but maybe in your case the call did squeak over 1 minute.  OR, the TMobile system is just misbilling you....billing you for a 2 minute call when it's really 1 minute....maybe even counting the number of rings it senses before you answer.  If iTM senses say 10 rings (which would take around 30 seconds) although it might only ring 2 times on your end before you answer then maybe that's causing a under 1 minute call to go over 1 minute....don't know....just guessing here.  I do know when I call a relative in the U.S. using my MagicJack number "sometimes" it might ring around 10 times before the person answers, but when asking the person how many rings they heard they say only 2 or 3. 

 

Prepaid Calling Rates used with TMobile $3/month SIM....and the UltraMobile $3/month SIM.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/prepaid-international-roaming

 

Now one good thing about the Ultramobile $3/month SIM is it has "Wifi Calling" capability which means if you have a Wifi connection and have the mobile connection turned off the the call is treated as a domestic call regardless of where in the universe you are.  Being treated as a domestic call also allow it to fall within your free allotment of calls/text per month.

 

That's how I use my UltraMobile SIMs...on a Wifi Calling connection.   However, the TMobile $3/month SIM doesn't have Wifi Calling capability so you have to use a mobile connection.   Have confirmed this in my personal testing since I have/use a TMobile $3/month SIM and two UltraMobile $3/month SIMs.   Even got a U.S. Mobile SIM which doesn't have international mobile call/texting capability, but does have Wifi Calling capability which allows me to use in on a Wifi connection receive/send calls /texts to anywhere in the universe at U.S. domestic rates...actually just part of my free domestic call/text minutes allotment per month.

 

I'll pass on generating a call to/from my TM SIM as I don't even want to incur a $2.39/minute charge in a test....I only use the TM SIM to receive texts while outside the U.S...like here in Thailand.  I will say years back when first getting the TM SIM I did do a call test to ensure it worked...a 15 second call...and got charged $2.39.   And I did do a "ring" test less than a month ago where I called my TM number from my MagicNumber to see if the TM number would ring....it did start ringing and then I hung up the call on the Magic Jack end.. Have checked my TM acct several times since then and there was no charge since I didn't answer.

 

Pib

 

 

 

[mtls2005]

11 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

One major drawback of Ultra/Paygo is there is no itemization of charges other than the monthly fee - no Call Register/Record, no accounting for money taken from wallet ("wallet" = money on deposit).

 

The web dashboard has a line-item history: Account history, Transaction history which lists every item. All would be revealed there. 

 

 

I confess to not reading your entire post - far too confusing. But my best guess is that you are not using WiFi calling and have been making/receiving calls and texts at roaming charges?

 

 

I have to say that UM is absolutely brilliant to date. Turn on the phone, can receive texts as soon as the phone has a WiFi signal. Whereas with T-Mo it takes a good 5 minutes of poking and prodding (messaging is blocked for this time) to get it up and running.

 

All that said Google Voice (or Google Prompts) still works on 100% of my applications, and I've switched 2FA, where possible, to a FIDO Security Key.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GinBoy2]

19 minutes ago, Pib said:

JimmyJ,

  Don't know what country you are currently in, but according to below TMobile prepaid international calling rates scheduled quite a few have a $5.99/minute charge.....but Thailand is $2.39/minute.  This charge would apply for outgoing or incoming calls on a mobile connection. 

 

And a 1 minute and 1 second call would be rounded up to a 2 minute charge of...so at $5.99/minute a 2 minute call (or 1 min and 1 second) is $11.98.   I wouldn't think a bank calling you with a OTP would not exceed 1 minute based on my past experience of OTPs being sent via a call, but maybe in your case the call did squeak over 1 minute.  OR, the TMobile system is just misbilling you....billing you for a 2 minute call when it's really 1 minute....maybe even counting the number of rings it senses before you answer.  If iTM senses say 10 rings (which would take around 30 seconds) although it might only ring 2 times on your end before you answer then maybe that's causing a under 1 minute call to go over 1 minute....don't know....just guessing here.  I do know when I call a relative in the U.S. using my MagicJack number "sometimes" it might ring around 10 times before the person answers, but when asking the person how many rings they heard they say only 2 or 3. 

 

Prepaid Calling Rates used with TMobile $3/month SIM....and the UltraMobile $3/month SIM.

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/prepaid-international-roaming

 

Now one good thing about the Ultramobile $3/month SIM is it has "Wifi Calling" capability which means if you have a Wifi connection and have the mobile connection turned off the the call is treated as a domestic call regardless of where in the universe you are.  Being treated as a domestic call also allow it to fall within your free allotment of calls/text per month.

 

That's how I use my UltraMobile SIMs...on a Wifi Calling connection.   However, the TMobile $3/month SIM doesn't have Wifi Calling capability so you have to use a mobile connection.   Have confirmed this in my personal testing since I have/use a TMobile $3/month SIM and two UltraMobile $3/month SIMs.   Even got a U.S. Mobile SIM which doesn't have international mobile call/texting capability, but does have Wifi Calling capability which allows me to use in on a Wifi connection receive/send calls /texts to anywhere in the universe at U.S. domestic rates...actually just part of my free domestic call/text minutes allotment per month.

 

I'll pass on generating a call to/from my TM SIM as I don't even want to incur a $2.39/minute charge in a test....I only use the TM SIM to receive texts while outside the U.S...like here in Thailand.  I will say years back when first getting the TM SIM I did do a call test to ensure it worked...a 15 second call...and got charged $2.39.   And I did do a "ring" test less than a month ago where I called my TM number from my MagicNumber to see if the TM number would ring....it did start ringing and then I hung up the call on the Magic Jack end.. Have checked my TM acct several times since then and there was no charge since I didn't answer.

 

Pib

 

 

 

Well we've been around and around on this one, how old is this thread again???

 

The only bulletproof way to maintain a US number and importantly to receive text messages from financial institutions is to get the cheapest US carrier plan that supports WiFi calling, with a phone that also supports it.

 

They are all getting really savvy about detecting VPN server farms and the rest, so the VOIP solution if they do work, it's only a matter of time until they catch up and block them

[EVENKEEL]

Ting runs me about $20./mo able to keep my old tmobile number, SMS messages come in pretty fast. All calls run about 30cents/min.

 

I use my Thai AIS for all international calls.

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

 Even got a U.S. Mobile SIM which doesn't have international mobile call/texting capability, but does have Wifi Calling capability which allows me to use in on a Wifi connection receive/send calls /texts to anywhere in the universe at U.S. domestic rates...actually just part of my free domestic call/text minutes allotment per month.

Yeah, wifi calling is great. I would not have a US sim that does not have it. 

[JimmyJ]

3 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

 

The web dashboard has a line-item history: Account history, Transaction history which lists every item. All would be revealed there. 

 

 

I confess to not reading your entire post - far too confusing. But my best guess is that you are not using WiFi calling and have been making/receiving calls and texts at roaming charges?

 

 

I have to say that UM is absolutely brilliant to date. Turn on the phone, can receive texts as soon as the phone has a WiFi signal. Whereas with T-Mo it takes a good 5 minutes of poking and prodding (messaging is blocked for this time) to get it up and running.

 

All that said Google Voice (or Google Prompts) still works on 100% of my applications, and I've switched 2FA, where possible, to a FIDO Security Key.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The web dashboard has a line-item history: Account history, Transaction history which lists every item. All would be revealed there."

 

No.

 

As I stated, no Call History.

 

The only transactions listed are monthly rental of $3.

Also adding money to Wallet.

 

No roaming debits are listed.

 

No info on debits to the 100/100/100 is shown.

 

No info on any Int'l. Call/SMS debits from the 100/100 is shown.

No info on Wallet debits for Int'l calls/SMS to/from.

 

Wi-Fi Calling is disabled on my phones so I use the Roaming,

[Yellowtail]

6 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

 

"The web dashboard has a line-item history: Account history, Transaction history which lists every item. All would be revealed there."

 

No.

 

As I stated, no Call History.

 

The only transactions listed are monthly rental of $3.

Also adding money to Wallet.

 

No roaming debits are listed.

 

Wi-Fi Calling is disabled on my phones so I use the Roaming,

Why disable the wifi calling? Is it not secure? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

22 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

If anyone (Pib or TallGuy or anyone else) would like to test this on a less than 1 minute call (have one of your banks call you with a code or whatever) I would be very interested in the result

 

FWIW, I don't have an UltraMobile/Paygo SIM or service. So can't help with your request.

 

I do have a regular $3 a month original T-Mobile prepaid SIM and service, which I've had for more than 15 years now. And for some reason, in recent months, T-M started blocking incoming calls to my phone, even though incoming SMS messages still arrive fine.

 

When I call my own T-M number from any other phone, I get a T-M recording saying there isn't enough balance to complete the call -- even though I had plenty of funds when I was testing that.

 

When I finally called T-M customer service to ask what the heck was going on, the rep checked and came back finally, and asked me if I was in Thailand. I answered no, then asked why he was asking. And he said, because their system had detected my phone making a data connection from Thailand. And I then told him, yes I'd been traveling in Thailand recently.

 

In the end, the guy said calling to my number probably would remain blocked until the next time my phone reconnects to T-M's U.S. data network.  ????

 

[JimmyJ]

Pib wrote - 

"Testing Results

 

Voice Calls via "Mobile" Connection

-  US to Thailand: deducted from Voice 100 free monthly minutes (no Wallet charge)

-  Thailand to US: $2.39/minute deducted from Wallet (no deduction from free monthly minutes)."

 

Pib - The point of my post is that for at least the last 2 months a call From the USA To my Ultra/Paygo #, instead of simply deducting the minutes of the call length from my 100 monthly minutes, is instead charging the same rate ($2.39/minute for you, $5.99/minute for me) as for a call using Ultra/Paygo to call From abroad To the USA. 

 

This is not good.

 

Perhaps for those of you on Wi-Fi Calling if you keep all Foreign Call Roaming turned off you will not encounter this issue.

 

Although if one of your banks tries to call you for whatever reason on the U/P # they will not get through if your phone is not hooked up to a Wi-Fi connection at that time.

 

One unresolved question is: What happens if someone tries to call from the USA,  doesn't get thru, and leaves a voice mail.

Is that now going to be charged the rate for a Foreign  call to the USA?

 

Hopefully not, as in the past I've had automated messages left daily for "Your car warranty is expiring soon..", etc.

 

 

 

[JimmyJ]

Pib - Ultramobile/Paygo now has finally made a link to their own list of "International Roaming Rates"  - although it appears the Voice Call rates are an exact copy of the T-Mobile prices you have linked to previously ( with a few additional locations listed):

 

https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/international-roaming/

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/prepaid-international-roaming

 

 

[Yellowtail]

Spent 15 minutes on the phone with Chase the other day getting clearing up a bogus charge on my card. WiFi calling worked perfectly....

 

 

[JimmyJ]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:33 PM, Yellowtail said:

Why disable the wifi calling? Is it not secure? 

It is not by choice.

 

I cannot get it to work. Have gone thru it with Ting and Ultra/Paygo with no success.

 

Spent over an hour last night with the manufacturer's CS with no success.

 

The only possibility is a  Factory Reset, and I don't want to go through that - at least not currently.

 

It's way out of Warranty, and I bought it through a US carrier but stopped their service a few years ago.

 

 

 

[JimmyJ]

5 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Spent 15 minutes on the phone with Chase the other day getting clearing up a bogus charge on my card. WiFi calling worked perfectly....

 

 

Yes, I have never doubted that both U/M and Ting have effective Wi-Fi Calling.

 

It is apparently an issue with my phone.

[JimmyJ]

8 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

It is not by choice.

 

I cannot get it to work. Have gone thru it with Ting and Ultra/Paygo with no success.

 

Spent over an hour last night with the manufacturer's CS with no success.

 

The only possibility is a  Factory Reset, and I don't want to go through that - at least not currently.

 

It's way out of Warranty, and I bought it through a US carrier but stopped their service a few years ago.

 

 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Spent 15 minutes on the phone with Chase the other day getting clearing up a bogus charge on my card. WiFi calling worked perfectly....

 

 

Was the bogus charge for Spotify?

 

I've gotten several of those on 2 cards this year.

Researched it - it's been going on for 7 years.

Tons of forum posts on that including several on Spotify's own User Forum dating back to 2014.

 

Haven't figured out how the scammers make money doing that.

Ulnless Spotify is the scammer.

[Pib]

4 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

Pib wrote - 

"Testing Results

 

Voice Calls via "Mobile" Connection

-  US to Thailand: deducted from Voice 100 free monthly minutes (no Wallet charge)

-  Thailand to US: $2.39/minute deducted from Wallet (no deduction from free monthly minutes)."

 

Pib - The point of my post is that for at least the last 2 months a call From the USA To my Ultra/Paygo #, instead of simply deducting the minutes of the call length from my 100 monthly minutes, is instead charging the same rate ($2.39/minute for you, $5.99/minute for me) as for a call using Ultra/Paygo to call From abroad To the USA. 

 

This is not good.

 

Perhaps for those of you on Wi-Fi Calling if you keep all Foreign Call Roaming turned off you will not encounter this issue.

 

Although if one of your banks tries to call you for whatever reason on the U/P # they will not get through if your phone is not hooked up to a Wi-Fi connection at that time.

 

One unresolved question is: What happens if someone tries to call from the USA,  doesn't get thru, and leaves a voice mail.

Is that now going to be charged the rate for a Foreign  call to the USA?

 

Hopefully not, as in the past I've had automated messages left daily for "Your car warranty is expiring soon..", etc.

 

 

 

 

Regarding above, as of today I noticed with my "TMobile" $3/month SIM when I called it from my MagicJack or TextNow U.S. VOIP numbers I get a TM computer recording that I don't have enough balance in my wallet.  I can't complete the call.  But I have over $24 in my TM wallet.  Last week in a test call to my TM number it did ring but I didn't answer.  I was just looking for a ring since TallGuyJohninBKK described his recent TM $3 SIM problem a few posts up....where he just got a TM recording of not enough wallet balance...the call would not go through as before.

 

But fortunately when sending a text SMS from my Google Voice number to my TM number it arrives; however, there is now a 10 cent charge when checking my acct, whereas, before there was no charge...it just came out of my free 30 call minutes/texts per month.   Basically I'm know experiencing the same problem TallGuyJohninBKK described a few posts up.

 

Maybe with the TM $3 SIM they no longer allow international calls; only domestic calls....only works on a U.S. domestic network.  However, SMSs will still flow internationally but will be charged to your balance vs being part of your free monthly allotment as before.

 

I then did a call and SMS text to one of my "UltraMobile" SIMs/numbers.  I first did 2 calls from one of my U.S. VOIP numbers to the UM number with a Wifi Calling connection....phone rang both times...but I didn't answer...just wanted to ensure it rang.  Then I decided to call again (a 3rd call) and answer for a few seconds.  The phone rang...I answered...talked to myself for about 5 seconds and then hung up.  Then checked my UM Wallet balance and there was no charge to my wallet balance but a 1 minute deduction from free 100 minutes per month---this was as before.     I also did a text from my Google Voice number to my UM number and it arrived....checked my UM acct the SMS was deduced from my free 100 SMSs per month; no charge to my wallet balance---this was as before.   Remember, this UM SIM test was with a Wifi Callig connection; not mobile connection.

 

So, based on this recent TMobile $3 SIM change regarding calls I wouldn't be surprised if UltraMobile is indeed now changing X-dollars per international voice call like you are experiencing.   I will probably do a "mobile connection" test call (less than a minute) with the UM SIM sometime over the next week to see if I get hit with a charge to my balance.  If so, then the UM $3 UM SIMs terms have also changed.

 

[JimmyJ]

Pib - Terms have changed or a serious glitch.

 

Note that at https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/  it still has a rate finder for finding the amount to call abroad and for USA to  Thailand it still shows 25 cents/minute to call either a Landline or Mobile number.

 

If you get the same result I did and get charged in your case $2.39 for a call From USA To Thailand then the next question as I mentioned is what happens when someone in the USA calls one's U/Paygo #, doesn't get an answer because International Phone Roaming is turned off in one's phone, and leaves a Voicemail (assuming the system allows that).

 

Will there be a charge of $2.39 for those in Thailand each time that happens?

 

As mentioned, periodically a phone spammer will get ahold of my # and it's possible to get a dozen messages in a short amount of time.

 

 

[Pib]

On 9/17/2021 at 8:25 AM, Pib said:

 

Now one good thing about the Ultramobile $3/month SIM is it has "Wifi Calling" capability which means if you have a Wifi connection and have the mobile connection turned off the the call is treated as a domestic call regardless of where in the universe you are.  Being treated as a domestic call also allow it to fall within your free allotment of calls/text per month.

 

That's how I use my UltraMobile SIMs...on a Wifi Calling connection.   However, the TMobile $3/month SIM doesn't have Wifi Calling capability so you have to use a mobile connection.   Have confirmed this in my personal testing since I have/use a TMobile $3/month SIM and two UltraMobile $3/month SIMs.   

 

Update/correction to my earlier statement I made above regarding the T-Mobile $3/month SIM not having Wifi Calling capability.    It "does" have Wifi Calling capability but must be in SIM slot #1 vs SIM slot #2 in a dual SIM phones which is how I had always tested it and never could get a Wifi Calling connection.  But move it to a single SIM phone and Wifi Calling works just fine.....I put it in my Samsung A11 single SIM phone and Wifi Calling worked fine. 

 

Another ThaiVisa member, @TallGuyJohninBKK  also got his TM $3/month SIM to work in Wifi Calling mode.  We had some messages back and forth a few days ago where we were brainstorming this problem.

 

Now, I didn't test putting the TM SIM in SIM slot #1 of my dual SIM phone as I didn't want to mess with my primary phone/SIM which is a DTAC SIM in slot #1.   I also found a post in another forum where a TMobile tech said Wifi Calling will not work when the TM SIM is in SIM slot #2.

 

Anyway, both TallGuy and I did some texts to and from our TM number in Wifi Calling mode and the texts were rec'd/sent just fine with no charge to our TM wallets; only a deduction from the 30 free calls minutes/texts per month.  We also did some calls to our TM SIMs to see if the phone would ring and it did...but we didn't answer.....just wanted to see if the phone rang.

 

Additionally the other problem I report of suddenly when calling to my TM number from one of my U.S. numbers I would get a system recording saying I didn't have enough money in my TM acct although I had around $24.  This problem has simply went away regardless of being on a mobile or Wifi Calling connection.

[MrJ2U]

Magic Jack won't work with bank text:

 

"

 

Text messaging to your magicJack for BUSINESS telephone number must be coming from a 10 digit telephone number. Short codes (like banks and some other companies use) will not work with your app."

 

https://faq.magicjackforbusiness.com/s/article/Why-am-I-not-receiving-text-messages-on-my-magicJack-for-BUSINESS-app

 

Google Fi works great and its about $25.00.

 

You can receive short text. The ones from banks.

 

You will need someone to send you a sim from the US.

You then can port the number from your carrier, very simple.

 

Check out the website:

https://fi.google.com/about/plans/

 

I use the magic jack app and also have a landline attached to the Magic Jack Dongle at home.  I got the phone at Makro so I can walk around my property.

 

Great for free calls back and forth to the USA or Canada.

 

Good luck.

 

[riclag]

On 9/17/2021 at 9:32 AM, EVENKEEL said:

Ting runs me about $20./mo able to keep my old tmobile number, SMS messages come in pretty fast. All calls run about 30cents/min.

 

I use my Thai AIS for all international calls.

This thread has been  very helpful since it’s inception and continues to be a great source for the ever changing  phone issues while in Thailand ,especially when it comes to ,voip,wifi calling, 2fa bank calls, and USA phone company phone plans.  Your the first to comment on its longevity!

 

[riclag]

FWIW. I don’t need to have a data plan nor do I wish to be connected to the wifi when I use my Mintmobile/T-Mobile service provider. I only use the phone for incoming txt codes from the states.

That being said my experience with wifi calling is suspicious!

When I tried to enable it out of curiosity, the service updated my operating software !

The phone software is Kaios /Android ,which is a old OS system!

I ‘m leery of these phone companies future plans by changing their 4g to 5G sunset  capabilities and making my phone obsolete.

On 9/15/2021 at 12:21 AM, JimmyJ said:

Pib - "One of my U.S. bank phone apps will not function to deposit/scan a check when using a VPN connection to the U.S.....the app comes back and says something don't seem right about your location.  However, the app functions in all of aspects, like bill payment, funds transfer, just everything except for check cashing--whether using a VPN connection or not.   Just that one check cashing function that will not work "if using a VPN connection;" but it will work if "not" using a VPN connection and I've tried using two different VPN service providers and different VPN protocols."

 

"...the app comes back and says something don't seem right about your location."

 

Could be the Time setting on your device - You are using a USA VPN but for your Time/Date setting are you using Thailand's?

I had a similar experience while trying to set up  a Capitalone bank app to deposit checks . The software detected I was outside the country! I thought of trying to accessing it through a VPN service,then after thinking on it ! I didn’t want the bank to think I was trying to avoid their security protocol! God knows I don’t want my account to be canceled.

[riclag]

39 minutes ago, riclag said:

This thread has been  very helpful since it’s inception and continues to be a great source for the ever changing  phone issues while in Thailand ,especially when it comes to ,voip,wifi calling, 2fa bank calls, and USA phone company phone plans.  Your the first to comment on its longevity!

 

@Evenkeel ,sorry I mistakenly used your comment it was meant for another member.

[dwagner]

I am using Tossable Digits to "park" my USA mobile phone number. I ported my old Verizon mobile number over to Tossable when I left for Thailand in May 2021. Monthly fee is $3 USD. I get unlimited SMS messages - that I use for the banking two-step auth. I also have voice mail for when someone calls my old number and does not know I left the US and a few other features I do not use.

 

To make or receive calls to/from the USA, I use LocalPhone.Com - I get a virtual number for $1.00 per month. For hardware, I have a YeaLink W52P SIP phone that is connected to the LocalPhone.Com SIP Server. Calls are SUPER CHEAP. Looking at a statement from last month, I made six (6) calls - duration total was 45 minutes - total charge = $0.145 - yes, less that fifteen cents USD!!

 

I tried Ultra Mobile before and it did not work form me - the above two items are working very well and only cost $4 USD per month - plus a very little bit for usage.

 

I too, use Capital One and cannot do mobile deposit - even with VPN. So I mail the very few paper checks I get back to their USA processing facility.

 

Hope this helps some of you.

 

 

[riclag]

5 hours ago, dwagner said:

I am using Tossable Digits to "park" my USA mobile phone number. I ported my old Verizon mobile number over to Tossable when I left for Thailand in May 2021. Monthly fee is $3 USD. I get unlimited SMS messages - that I use for the banking two-step auth. I also have voice mail for when someone calls my old number and does not know I left the US and a few other features I do not use.

 

To make or receive calls to/from the USA, I use LocalPhone.Com - I get a virtual number for $1.00 per month. For hardware, I have a YeaLink W52P SIP phone that is connected to the LocalPhone.Com SIP Server. Calls are SUPER CHEAP. Looking at a statement from last month, I made six (6) calls - duration total was 45 minutes - total charge = $0.145 - yes, less that fifteen cents USD!!

 

I tried Ultra Mobile before and it did not work form me - the above two items are working very well and only cost $4 USD per month - plus a very little bit for usage.

 

I too, use Capital One and cannot do mobile deposit - even with VPN. So I mail the very few paper checks I get back to their USA processing facility.

 

Hope this helps some of you.

 

 

I'm impressed with these choices! I'm gonna check them  out! If you don't mind me asking what model phone are you using for the states number?

 

[KannikaP]

On 9/17/2021 at 9:44 AM, Yellowtail said:

Yeah, wifi calling is great. I would not have a US sim that does not have it. 

If you have an internet router from 3BB or True or whoever, that gives out a WiFI connection, so you can use things like Skype, Whats App or Internet phone without a SIM Card.

[dwagner]

Riclag - I am using a YeaLink W52P SIP phone  - it is several years old as it was from a company I worked remotely for back in 2015. I just looked on Amazon and they are not available. A quick search on Lazada for a SIP phone should get you something. They are not hard to set up - you just need a strong internet connection.

[Pib]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:38 PM, Pib said:

 

But fortunately when sending a text SMS from my Google Voice number to my TM number it arrives; however, there is now a 10 cent charge when checking my acct, whereas, before there was no charge...it just came out of my free 30 call minutes/texts per month. 

 

Just an update on my TM $3 SIM where most (not all)  texts from U.S. started being charged a 10 cents/text when on a mobile connection verses being deducted from my 30 free minutes/text per month like they use to up until a couple weeks ago is about the same time my TM online acct was switched from the "old" TM online webpage to their "new webpage--this timing may have just been coincidental and have nothing to do with the issue.  

 

I called TM CS about the issue...explained the issue in how "some" U.S. texts were being charged 10 cents per minute while others were not.  And I had the perfect example on my call record where a text from one area code in VA incurred a 10 cents charge and another text from another area code in VA did not.

 

The CS rep understood the problem form review of my call records....the rep verbalized the problem to me to confirm he understood....said I shouldn't have been charged for those texts....said he will submit a ticket to get the issue fixed (I'm not holding my breath) and also credit my acct with 50 cents for the 5 charged texts....then he said it would just credit my acct with $5.  And sure enough when I checked my acct after the call my TM wallet balance had increased by $5.   I also did a call to my TM number after the TM CS call just to ensure it would ring  (and it did) verses getting a recording of not enough money on the acct...a problem that appeared for at least a few days about a week ago and then just went away without me having to call TM or anything.

 

Will just see how things pan out over the coming weeks/months to see if some U.S. area code texts continue to incur a 10 cents charge while others do not but are deducted form my free 30 calls/texts per month like they always use to be.

 

 

[shdmn]

There are only about a thousand other options besides magicjack where you can port your number.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

22 hours ago, shdmn said:

There are only about a thousand other options besides magicjack where you can port your number.

MJ is great as a replacement U.S. home phone service to use in Thailand. The paid version works out to cost about $3+ per month (paid on an annual basis) and includes a real U.S. phone number and unlimited U.S. calling via VOIP, as well as regular SMS text messaging and calling via their Android and IOS apps.

 

The only area where MJ falls short is that its SMS system isn't compatible with financial institution short code SMS messages typically used to send log-in codes and similar. But other than that, it's a service I've kept and continually used ever since I moved to Thailand, and expect to continue using long into the future.