this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2024
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Does anyone here have experience with Firefox Relay's paid Phone number aliases? (lemm.ee)
submitted 5 months ago by MagneticFusion@lemm.ee to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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How reliable is this? Is it VoIP based or actual phone numbers that will be accepted everywhere?

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[–] EpicMuch@sh.itjust.works 19 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I had no idea at all this was a service of theirs.

[–] MagneticFusion@lemm.ee 21 points 5 months ago

Mozilla is shit at marking their services aren't they? I'm really considering using that service as not only does it sound like it would be very useful, but also another way to support the development of Firefox and decreasing their dependency on Google. I already use the VPN as well and have no complaints

[–] yeehaw_cosmonaut@reddthat.com 5 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I was really intrigued by the phone mask offering, but you are limited to 75 texts a month, and 50 minutes of talk time. Given other limitations of the service, I think it's a far better deal to just get a fully pledged phone plan from someone like Mint mobile.

[–] MagneticFusion@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago

Interesting. Have you ever had any issues with it not being accepted for a service? I currently have a VoIP number from JMP Chat that I use for various different things that I don't want to give my real number for, like let's say a restaurant reservation. I'm not getting anywhere close to 75 texts a month though so this plan could work for me.

[–] bl4kers@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 months ago

Tello has a no data, 100 minute, unlimited texts plan for $5/month

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's VoIP-based, so yes, there are acceptance issues. Also good to be aware of: as opposed to the email masking, you get just a single phone number (more would be too expensive).

Still, kinda wish I could use it here outside the US.

[–] MagneticFusion@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ah it's only one phone number? I thought it would give you multiple.

[–] Vincent@feddit.nl 1 points 5 months ago

Yep, see https://relay.firefox.com/faq/#phone-masking-faq-question-how-many.

(Unfortunately, phone numbers are expensive, whereas email addresses are not.)

[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Their mask-my-mail service didn't work anywhere at all, but I hope it's better with VoIP.

[–] MagneticFusion@lemm.ee 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Really? I use the free version of relay for a couple of email aliases and they work very well, and the domains aren't banned by some services unlike SimpleLogin or Addy.io's domains are (e.g. Discord)

[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

For what I've tried, I couldn't login in at all ):

[–] MagneticFusion@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

thats unfortunate

[–] smeargle@lemmy.smeargle.fans 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

VoIP when I tried it around 2 years ago, so pretty much useless.

[–] christophski@feddit.uk 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Why does it being voip make it useless?

[–] smeargle@lemmy.smeargle.fans 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I don't think I managed to find one site that would accept a VoIP number. Google, Discord, Twitter, Azure, OpenAI, etc, all want real numbers.

[–] christophski@feddit.uk 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Hmm I'm not sure I understand what you're saying, here in the UK there is no way to tell whether a number is a VoIP number or a physical land-line. Is that not the case where you are?

[–] smeargle@lemmy.smeargle.fans 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Interesting, I thought it was the same everywhere. Where I live, sites can easily tell when my number is a VoIP or not.

[–] christophski@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How do you tell the difference? is it a specific range of numbers?

[–] smeargle@lemmy.smeargle.fans 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm not sure how it works, but if you look up VoIP/burner identification, there are a lot of services that offer it.

[–] christophski@feddit.uk 1 points 5 months ago

Ah I see, yes that would be possible as a telco provider but not as a layperson

[–] yeehaw_cosmonaut@reddthat.com 1 points 5 months ago

I was really intrigued by the phone mask offering, but you are limited to 75 texts a month, and 50 minutes of talk time. Given other limitations of the service, I think it's a far better deal to just get a fully pledged phone plan from someone like Mint mobile.