[ale] OT: blocking phone numbers

[DJ-Pfulio]

July 1, 2021, a law went into effect that US telecom companies are required to validate callerID from the source telecom.  This hits all the big players.  My VoIP company is validating, so it would likely be an issue only for overseas callers.

VoIP.ms referral code: https://voip.ms/en/invite/MTI0OTUw  You'll get $10 of service free and so will I.  That's ~2 months, for someone who doesn't call outbound too much. NAT traversal and stun supported.

They have bone-head blocking rules. I only use 4 and may have gotten 10 spam calls in 2021.  
* My cell phone goes through
* Block Anonymous : result: [System]  Message No Service
* Block cell neighbor calls : result:  [System]  Message No Service
* Voip local number filter 678-xyz-* : result: [System]  Message Disconnected

Basically, if my voip phone number was 404-321-5499, and I wanted to block "neighbor" calls, the rule would be "404-321-*".  It is possible to get into an expert mode if you know what you are doing or run your own PBX. I did for about 6 yrs, but it is just so much easier to pre-pay $60 to VoIP yearly and let them deal. 

Being prepaid limits any liability should someone hack your account. I've not been cracked and have used that account while traveling all over the place with ISDN or better connectivity.

A data-only cell phone can use a SIP client to connect into your VoIP service too. You can use it as a 1-number service if you like and setup a hunt group for other phones to be rung too.

It really is nice to only have 1 number to give out. Think I started doing this around 2002. Changed my life.


On 8/26/21 12:50 PM, Phil Turmel via Ale wrote:
> Those aren't the callers' real numbers.  They are spoofing their
> caller ID to make it look like a neighbor.  (Easy to do with bulk
> Voip providers, unfortunately.)
> 
> If you block them, you really can block a neighbor.
> 
> Supposedly, there is a move to require crypto-signed authentication
> of caller ID at the provider level, but I gather providers are
> dragging their heels at the expense/liability. ):
> 
> On 8/25/21 10:39 AM, Boris Borisov via Ale wrote:
>> Lately I've been getting phone calls with good deals on Medicare
>> :)
>> 
>> Seems to come from phone numbers with different last 4 digits.
>> 
>> How can I block entire "subnet" of phone numbers.
>> 
>> Android.