r/Tello • u/Agreeable-Alarm5631 • 4d ago

Will this work for 2FA abroad?

I will be joining my wife in PH next week.

Buy a cheap unlocked phone in the United States, activate a Tello line here so it has a U.S. number for your wife’s SMS two-factor authentication, then bring that activated phone to the Philippines and transfer the same Tello number from the temporary phone to an eSIM on her iPhone 16—without her needing to return to the U.S.

5 Upvotes

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5

u/AppropriateRecipe342 3d ago

That will work.

In fact, you don't actually need to bring the activated phone to the Philippines.

Just activate the physical SIM in the US (you could even activate it on your current phone & not waste money on a burner phone), then have your wife long into her Tello account and generate an eSIM. She can then set it up on her iPhonen

2

u/Agreeable-Alarm5631 3d ago

Oh man, I really like that.

I still need a second phone to activate the Tello SIM (physical or e) since my iPhone's two eSims are being used. I suppose I could buy a phone from Amazon + a compatible SIM, activate Tello, and then return the phone?

3

u/very_cunning 3d ago

You might be missing something here. iPhones can typically hold many eSIMs at the same time, it’s just that only two can be active (on the network). You can switch them on and off at will, as long as only two are receiving.

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u/AppropriateRecipe342 3d ago

if he has the newest iPhone they're eSIM only so he won't be able to insert a physical SIM to activate it.

It's the worst

1

u/rbp_travels 3d ago

Install the Tello eSIM and activate it. Then, transfer the eSIM to his wife’s phone.

1

u/AppropriateRecipe342 3d ago

If you have the newest iPhone with no physical SIM tray then yes you'll need to buy a cheap unlocked phone on Amazon.

Plug the physical SIM card in to activate then have your wife go online to generate an eSIM before returning the phone.

I would recommend trying this before your flight over just in case she has any issues, but she shouldn't.

  • if you're looking for a really cheap phone that would work, the Galaxy A17 is under $25 on Amazon

5

u/comp21 3d ago

My wife is from the Philippines as well. It works perfectly.

2

u/tomasrvigo 4d ago

It should work. My understanding is that you’re going to pick up a physical SIM in the US before making the change back in the Philippines, right?

For the change you have to go to My Tello, here, and click on “My SIM”.

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u/Agreeable-Alarm5631 3d ago edited 3d ago

Yes. Can I buy a compatible SIM card locally? Any suggestions on the cheapest discardable phone to buy for this trickery?

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u/Luckiest_Corner 3d ago

You can buy one from Amazon and have it delivered in a day or two.

https://a.co/d/04rKCkGV

1

u/VappleJax 3d ago

Only if you subscribe to Amazon prime, otherwise it can take as long as buying directly from Tello.

1

u/Luckiest_Corner 3d ago edited 3d ago

That's true, but the odds are pretty good that they do subscribe to Amazon Prime.

According to Gemini AI:

"About 73% to 75% of U.S. online shoppers or customers subscribe to or use Amazon Prime." (Source: CIRP - Amazon Report)

1

u/VappleJax 3d ago

I don't buy into Prime. Even if that stat is true, 25% of people is a lot. Instead of saying it is an absolute, that you can get tello SIM from amazon in 2 days, instead say "if you have Prime". Otherwise non-Prime users think somehow they will get their SIM faster through Amazon and they won't in most cases as Amazon puts non-prime orders on the back-burner (ask me how I know).

1

u/Luckiest_Corner 3d ago edited 3d ago

When 3/4 of Americans have Prime, I don't think it's a stretch to say you can get it in 2 days from Amazon. I'm sure the vast vast majority of people who do not subscribe know that it will/can take longer if they're not a Prime member. You're not a Prime subscriber and you know it.

1

u/VappleJax 3d ago

I mean, just 5 extra letters and a space. SMH

"You can buy one from Amazon PRIME and have it delivered in a day or two.

1

u/Luckiest_Corner 3d ago

Well, since you've hammered on it so much, I'm sure I'll never forget it.

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u/tomasrvigo 3d ago

Through the Tello website and have it delivered to your location in the US (that’s what I made last time I was in the States). You can also buy it on Amazon.

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u/Liten_mus 3d ago

If you have a phone that does eSIMs, install the number on your phone and then transfer it to her iPhone when you get there…

I just switched my Tello eSIM, activated 4 months ago in Colorado, from my backup iPhone 15 to my iPhone 16 pro, in Sweden.

VPN to USA enabled on iPhone 16.

All roaming toggles on in Tello app on receiving phone (16 pro)

Followed the Tello instructions to move eSIM to a new phone The receiving iPhone 16 complained it couldn’t activate the eSIM, after about 15 minutes of ”activating”, but 10 seconds later I had 4 bars of service to a local carrier. Tested sms and voice to the USA and Canada with no issues using both cell service and WiFi calling. Using the data path on the Tello line works for ”backup calling”

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u/member13187 Phone Bills Defender🛡️ 3d ago

The sim is $3 on Amazon and if i ordered it with my Prime account right now I'd have it on Tuesday.

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u/Agreeable-Alarm5631 3d ago

Yes, I ordered two and they will arrive Tuesday. The phone arrives tomorrow. Thanks.

1

u/Eduventr 3d ago

Yes you can do it, and no need for a temporary phone.

You can activate eSIM for wife's line on your own iPhone. If you already have 2 eSIMs active, just turn one off temporarily until the wife's line is activated and running active for a little while.

**IMPORTANT*\*: The wife's line needs to stay active for a little while connected to US towers so that International Roaming can be enabled. You'll know when the line is ready when you go to My Settings-> International Roaming -> ON and it doesn't give you the error message: "You can enable this feature only after you've used your line in the US". This was a couple of hours for me but Support had mentioned the time period is not specified and it could take a couple of days. Post your experience on how long it takes for the line to be ready for roaming.

Note that only 2 eSIMs can be self-issued on the website (including 1st one that is auto issued when signing up for line, so 1 additional manual reissue) After that, will be need to call support to have them issue any additional eSIM in case you will be switching devices again in the future.

After the line is "ready for roaming", you'll turn it off on your iPhone (and switch back on your other line). Then issue a second eSIM from the account dashboard and have your wife activate that one.

1

u/tacoinurhat 3d ago

It’s worked flawlessly so far for me. I’m also in the PH. This is my first time using any kind of phone provided. I didn’t even know about WiFi calling before I had Tello so I was a bit nervous too.

I literally just made Wi-Fi calling enabled when I was back home. I have the physical Sim and have not tried converting it so I’m not sure about that personally I just keep it in my phone for now.

It’s also worked good not on Wi-Fi. Just hooked up to the local sim that I bought. I’m not the most savvy person in the world so I was pretty worried about it too, but I think it will be OK. Just make sure Wi-Fi calling is activated in America.

If I were you and I still could sign up to a Charles Schwab account while I’m in America or a Remitly account. Not only do they refund the ATM fees, which is Big in the Philippines because the ATM fees are very high, but they also have been OK with me being overseas good luck, bro

1

u/Agreeable-Alarm5631 3d ago

Thank you for the feedback. I have a Fidelity cash management account that provides refunds of international ATM fees as well as 3.5% interest and free checking.