topic Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone in Account and services

6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 17:24:06 GMT

I can no longer access my account dashboard on the three website. I need to set up to send the 6-digit login verification code to my regular O2 mobile because my three broadband sim lives in the dongle in a waterproof enclosure up a mast and connects via active usb to laptop. No way of getting texts off it. Does anyone on this forum or at three know how to set up alt phone number to receive the 6-digit verification text? I've been through various sets of instructions and nothing works. We really need someone at the control centre to just enter my alt number in the correct box.

I've just spent/wasted the whole blinking day on the phone help and online help with must be total 6 different three staff to no avail

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 17:27:44 GMT

PS. I am in UK. No, I can't put the three sim in another device. I get sent password change links via email from the help system but they don't change the situation.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

Clever-Trevor — Fri, 25 Nov 2022 19:42:18 GMT

Hi,

most routers or data sticks have a web portal - this includes sms messages which can be read - when I had similar issues I found the code via the devices portal - Hope this helps.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 09:24:44 GMT

Thank you. It is a ZTE MF730M dongle not a memory stick or router. I thought we had to log in to retrieve texts. Please explain how to retrieve texts without being able to log in. Thank you. I had presumed it was chicken vs egg and that three had accepted the need to set up an alt number. I qute directly from the three webpage:

2 Factor Authentication

To improve security, we've recently launched 2 Factor Authentication. This means that when you log in, you'll be asked for your mobile number and password. We'll then send a PIN to your mobile and you'll need to enter this before you can access your account. To keep your details secure from fraudsters, we'll ask you to complete 2 Factor Authentication every 30 days. For this to work, you'll need to make sure that the SIM is in your device. If you're on the app, you'll get 3 attempts before you'll have to request a new code.

If you have a Home Broadband or Mobile Broadband account with us, you’ll be asked for an alternative MSISDN for 2 Factor Authentication instead.

Otherwise I'd imagined that at least one of the six people at three that I spoke to yesterday would have said how to get the texts off the dongle instead of going off on the alt tangent.

Muchos X

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

PeteG — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 18:35:25 GMT

Hello, Mothsky.

It looks like you can access the dongles dashboard by going to http://192.168.0.1 on your web browser via whichever machine is connected to the dongle.

Once there, you can access messages that the SIM card has received.

Pete.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:25:53 GMT

Hi Pete

Thank you for the suggestion. That doesn't work nor does m.home. The dongle is on the end of an active usb cable if that makes any difference. To find a good signal the dongle has to be up a mast in a waterproof enclosure.

So I am trying to find a way to set up an "alternative MSISDN" as per the above statement from Three. Is there a way to find out if there's actually somebody that knows anything about this at Three? Maybe the guy that wrote the webpage can offer some input. All instructions given by Three staff thus far have failed.

Thank you,

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

PeteG — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 19:06:30 GMT

What do you have the dongle plugged into?

Pete.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 21:49:41 GMT

Hi Pete, Sorry for the delay - still not sorted.

The dongle is attached to an active USB cable, the other end of the cable is attached to one of the USB ports on my laptop. It's been that way for years. It only became a problem when they introduced 2-step verification.

They keep telling me it will be sorted by them sending me a password reset email but that always goes to the page that tells me a verification text is sent to the dongle not the alternative phone.

A couple of days ago the customer service guy took note of my phone number as if to set it up then sent the same old monotonous reset email but still the same webpage. There's no way back to the same guy because the number he gave me was the generic enquiry number, not his number. The enquiry always starts at zero on the snakes and ladders so I never get beyond the first snake.

Cheers

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

PeteG — Sat, 17 Dec 2022 18:30:45 GMT

That's not so good.

I can't think of any other way to access the information, unfortunately.

The Dongle Dashboard should load up when the 192.168.0.1 address is entered into the computer the USB is connected to. It might be worth unplugging the dongle to power it down, and then plug it in to try again, or even try plugging it into another computer to see if it's able to access the page.

If that doesn't work, the only alternative would be to get the device down from it's enclosure in order to access the messages from the SIM. I know that's not ideal, but I can't see any other way.

Pete.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

mothsky — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 19:19:09 GMT

The dongle is unplugged and powered down between each sitting (and often during a sitting if I get the common glitches like the yellow exclamation triangle or the autonomous disable occurring in the network connections list)

I don't have another device with that sort of USB port.

I am trying to avoid retrieving the dongle because the webpage says that's going to be a monthly (every 30 days) task and I won't want to do it just when it feels like it in the middle of the night in a gale because it entails (amongst other things) some dodgy terrain and a cliff.

Are we now saying that the webpage instruction/statement that I quoted above ("alternative MSISDN") is an error? Is there a way to talk to somebody who knows what that is all about? It's very frustrating for me this end because that would be the obvious route to go if it exists. We really need a system where the same person follows the problem through or puts me through to someone who knows what that is all about instead of starting from zero each time and not getting past the first hurdle. A ticket/email system perhaps?

Thank you.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

PeteG — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 19:50:42 GMT

Apologies, Mothsky.
That process is indeed the correct process, and alternate numbers can be used for 2FA codes.

My understanding was that you needed to gain access to the account before this setting could be changed. A little further digging however seems to indicate that it's something the team can update for you directly.

I'll drop you a PM with some details so that you can arrange to speak to us about the account.

Pete.

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

artvoid — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:22:17 GMT

I have the same problem. Did you get it sorted? If so, how? Thanks

Re: 6-digit verification text - sending to alternative phone

PeteG — Fri, 05 Jan 2024 20:53:44 GMT

Hello.

Welcome to the Three Community.

This is something the Support Team should now be able to help with. The team will just need a mobile phone number that they can use to arrange for future verification messages to be sent to.

Once that's updated on the account, you should be able to log in without any problems.

Pete.