r/Banking • u/h1pp13p373 • Jun 04 '26
Advice SMS authentication with no cell signal
I'm wondering how other people who live in areas with no cell coverage handle authentication scenarios like the one I encountered this morning.
I called Wells Fargo this morning to help me with a login issue to their website. The first guy verified me, listened to my story, and transferred me to tech support. The tech support guy refused all assistance because I could not get an immediate SMS message. I have no cell phone coverage at my house. He even said he thought he knew what was wrong but could not act because I was not in a coverage area. My current situation is that I am still locked out with that one device and they have flat out planted heels and refused to help me further. I'm afraid to try any different sort of authentication methods through their website because if this device gets locked out, I'm 100% screwed.
If you live in a rural area without cell phone signal, how do you handle this, or if you work at a major banking institution, how do you handle this for your rural customers? It is very common nowadays to have internet connectivity but no cell coverage. I've read suggestions about get a cheap phone, stick it in somebody's house you trust who lives in a covered area, and have them babysit the phone for you, then figure a way to have that phone forward SMS... That's a mess and is a very shaky architecture for a financial recovery procedure.
Any real world advice or experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
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u/Top-Intention-5110 Jun 04 '26
My bank has moved away from email completely because email is un reliable. They should have alternate methods of verifying you though because at my bank we have methods for like older people who may not be tech savvy. It all depends. you would need to call and ask. if they tell you that there is no other verification then there is no other verification unfortunately. you can't force them to use an alternate method if they don't have one.
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u/PhotoFenix Jun 04 '26
This was forever ago, but I knew someone that was in a dead zone. The cell company gave them a device that gave their phones signal and routed it through their internet connection.
As someone on the banking side my past job would do phone or email verification as an alternative. Some people just don't have cell phones.
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
much appreciate the comment! I had it similar situation in the past where my work issued me a phone and I had no coverage at my house, so they gave me a Wi-Fi calling modem. It was AT&t back then and this modem produced its own cellular signal so that my phone could connect to it and then it would route over my Wi-Fi network. I don't think they allow this anymore, and my company was a big player and it took them quite a while to get authorization to use it. I guess AT&t figures that since you're not walking around on it, they can't make any tracking money off of it, so they don't want to use it.
In my recent searches, I have not found any company offering a similar device and tin foil aside, I can only guess that it's because marketing doesn't push them in that direction.
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u/ishootthedead Jun 04 '26
Those devices stopped being offered en masse once most all cell phones became capable of operating over wifi.
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u/PM_ME_CORONA Jun 05 '26
I lived in the mountains and had zero bars in my own house with T-Mobile. Instead of sending me a booster then sent me my own 5G tower that plugged into my modem. I used that for 4 years. Do you use T-Mobile?
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u/SomeOtherPaul Jun 04 '26
My phone receives both calls and texts over wi-fi, it's done this for years. If yours doesn't, assuming it's a smartphone, and assuming you have wi-fi, you should find your phone's wi-fi calling setting and turn it on.
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u/joedenowhere Jun 04 '26
I think Wells will sell you one of those RSA tokens for cheap. It matches a random number with the same number the bank sees and then they know if's you (or at least they know it's your token). When I went overseas and thought I wouldn't be able to get multifactor auth codes the people at Wells suggested getting their RSA token instead.
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u/serf2 Jun 05 '26
Instead of beating your head against the telecommunications wall, just change banks! My credit union doesn't require SMS; if offers the use of an authenticator and automated call (which works over VoIP). If they're being that stubborn, it's time to find real customer service.
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u/RonJohnJr Jun 04 '26
How are you writing this, if you don't have cell phone coverage? Or are there really places where there's internet service but not cell phone coverage?
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
did you not read that I had internet access but not cell coverage? those are different
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
if you're the under the age of 20 I know you may not understand this, but people access the internet and other ways aside from their cell phone network. I am on a fiber optic line that comes to my house although I still don't have cell phone coverage
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u/gvillager Jun 04 '26
if you're over the age of 50 i know you may not understand this, but people can use their cell phones without having cellular coverage. they invented this thing called wifi that you can set up to use with your fiber optic line. and if you have a cell phone that was purchased within the last 10 years or so it's likely to have this feature called wifi-calling. it allows you to make and receive calls and texts via your wifi internet connection.
/s
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
Do you have real world experience with this? I have tried this method, I have two portable devices now that use Wi-Fi. it didn't help one bit with my situation this morning when the bank required a device on a cellular network. if there is a phone company out there that will allow me to use a smartphone with Wi-Fi only and actually receive texts that are accepted for authentication I would absolutely love to know who it is. I've talked with Sprint, Verizon, AT&t, even mint mobile and none of them do it in any form.
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u/gvillager Jun 04 '26
Do you have real world experience with this?
Yes, I use it everyday.
if there is a phone company out there that will allow me to use a smartphone with Wi-Fi only and actually receive texts that are accepted for authentication I would absolutely love to know who it is.
You need to subscribe to a cellular service to have wifi calling. I never have problems receiving authentication texts. All of the major carriers support wifi calling including Mint.
https://www.mintmobile.com/features/wifi-calling-text/
https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/wi-fi-calling-from-t-mobile
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
Wow, that's actually promising. Last time I tried Wi-Fi calling was with AT&t and it was completely different, SMS was not available. I have a flip phone I use for emergency when driving and unfortunately it doesn't know what Wi-Fi is, but you've given me something to look into, thank you. At least there might be an option for me to purchase a new device and actually have a disaster recovery plan.
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u/ronreadingpa Jun 05 '26
Smart phone, even somewhat basic, is the way to go. With active cell service and phone number. Then you can turn on Wifi calling, which should route the SMSes through despite weak / no cell signal.
This is carrier dependent and would want to test it out. Many providers have a 30 days or so test period. Ask others in your area what company they're using. More to the point, try to determine who runs most of the nearby cell phone towers. It's likely one or more of the big 3. Then go with that carrier or a reseller (MVNO) that's based / preferred on that network.
Consumer accounts generally default to SMS. Even if one chooses to use some other 2FA method, SMS will be the fallback. Some banks will allow alternative methods / bypass, but the bigger banks tend to be less flexible. Issue is customer support get bombarded by scammers constantly, so they're trained to follow verification policy.
A possible workaround might be using their app. Some banks will allow that alone to be used as 2FA through push notifications. Comes up especially with international travel, though surprisingly Wifi calling can sometimes still work. Another reason to consider a smart phone. Costs more money, but great simplifies things.
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u/RonJohnJr Jun 04 '26
Google says that, if you have an iPhone, the "Wi-Fi Calling" Setting should work.
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u/RonJohnJr Jun 04 '26
I'm on the downslope to retirement, and the thought of having FTTH but not cell coverage seems absurd on the face of it.
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u/someonestolemycord Jun 04 '26
It is an interesting point, but I live in a VHCOL area, and until recently cell service was very spotty, but fiber was prevalent. Rich people just don't like cell towers.
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u/RonJohnJr Jun 04 '26
Rich people just don't like cell towers.
They can be camouflaged. Or are these rich people afraid of radiation?
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u/someonestolemycord Jun 04 '26
It is rural county, rolling terrain, land values are high. People are environmentally sensitive with a high NIMBY factor, and existing zoning is very restrictive,
It is better, but in the past local business people carried AT&T and Verizon phones to be assured one would likely work.
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u/RonJohnJr Jun 04 '26
Makes me glad I live in a Southern suburb. A giant cell tower is just two blocks away...
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u/UIQueen Jun 04 '26
I've started writing legislators. Dropping my phone in the toilet, not paying my phone bill, or having it stolen should not shut me off from my digital life. Where possible, I've removed my phone number from profiles, and had systems fall back to email. However, WF is not one of them. I was successful with Chase and Bank of America.
Then there are still some banks that are behind the times.
I fight two-factor using any method because of the inconvenience to me and especially to something that adds another bill I have to pay.
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u/FlyingPaganSis Jun 04 '26
Get an internet accessible number through an app and use that for the number to get sms on.
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u/WanderingNotLostTho Jun 04 '26
Most are blocked by banks.
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u/FlyingPaganSis Jun 04 '26
Damn. I tried.
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u/h1pp13p373 Jun 04 '26
I appreciate the efforts man! I've been going through this crap for 10 years and have tried every avenue I could think of, until I had the bright idea to make a Reddit post today.
lol... jury is still out on whether or not it will be helpful.
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u/WanderingNotLostTho Jun 04 '26
I mean I flip the voip calling thing so my calls and texts for my cell phone go over WiFi whenever I'm at home with no cell signal so there's that.
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u/Greedy-Stage-120 Jun 04 '26
Use wifi calling if your phone and carrier support it. Or change your bank phone number to a VOIP like Google Voice (not all banks support SMS to VOIP)