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Is JMP.chat expensive? Are there any alternatives?

I've been using this phone number from JMP.chat and I've barely used it for much of anything (Started February 27th, 2024), and somehow its telling me I need $35? I tried out their service plan but it was way too expensive. I only bought it once and took off my credit card after because auto pay kept auto depositing money into my account too frequently. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Edit: Found out what happened, it's $6.99/GB for the eSIM, I'm billed 5GB at a time. So $35 total.

TurtleTourParty ,

It should be $5 a month for a phone number. Unless by service plan you're talking about their data SIM.

You can check your account info and plan if you open up a chat with cheogram.com in the cheogram app and go to the command tab.

I only get the "your balance is low message" but the account info says I'm paid through June.

LWD ,

To keep a US phone number functioning to some degree, most services seem to want $5 a month minimum. $35 or even $15 seems pretty steep. Are we talking a multi-month commitment here?

mac ,
@mac@infosec.pub avatar

What other services that are alternatives to this?

LWD ,

You can get 3 months of Tracfone service for $20 from a store. That includes minutes, text, and data. Other services probably cost way less but that's a major one.

solrize , (edited )

No a lot less, twilio is $1/mo, see also VoIP.ms and vitelity.net

Lemmyfunbun , (edited )

Will these work for registering on social media sites?

LWD ,

Yeah, and Twilio has a reputation as a horrible company that sucks for both privacy and security

sloppy_diffuser ,

I pay $4.99/mo. Also have the data eSim (rarely use as its a backup). Don't use auto-top up as I pay with XMR.

The bot has a transaction ledger. Did you inspect it?

CrypticCoffee ,

Maybe I'm being dumb here, but what is this and why would I use it over Signal or Matrix?

What about it justifies payment?

poVoq ,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

It gives you a normal mobile number (US & Canada) you can use for calls and sms from within your XMPP apps.

CrypticCoffee ,

Ah, appreciate the clarification.

If your payment is linked to the number, is it any more private than a PAYG number?

poVoq ,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

It can be used entirely without a SIM card or even a mobile-phone. All you need is an internet connected device and a compatible XMPP client.

CrypticCoffee ,

This is pretty useful. Is there anything for UK based folk?

poVoq ,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

Sadly no, but you can self-host their stack and link it to an SIP voip provider: https://blog.jmp.chat/b/mobile-friendly-sip-gateway

But that will give you only a land-line based phone-number with no SMS support most likely.

Manalith ,

Maybe look into Hushed. I know they advertise having UK numbers. It's a similar service but I don't think they have a desktop client

mac ,
@mac@infosec.pub avatar

Is it possible to use this number with matrix? That'd be a perfect option for me, I don't really want to sign up to another chat service.

poVoq ,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

No, but you can use Matrix through an XMPP gateway.

mac ,
@mac@infosec.pub avatar

Does this mean you'd be able to send people text messages and call via matrix?

Honestly if I could do that I'd be happy to remove almost all other Comms methods from my devices.

poVoq ,
@poVoq@slrpnk.net avatar

No, but you can do it via XMPP, which is better than Matrix anyway.

Hazzia ,

That is weird. Auto top-up only charges me $15 USD every 3 months. Maybe you can ask in their support chat?

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