Forum Discussion
How do you get ID without a T-Mobile phone number (for Home Internet)
I just signed up for Home Internet but can't get an ID to open an account because I don't have a T-Mobile phone number. Anyone solved that problem?
MajorRathbone wrote:
From HeavenM: "Hey folks! I am making some headway on this situation, but I do need to clarify one thing. When you enter the name, email, and password into the signup page that I linked, you should receive an email with a one-time PIN in your email. Even though it is asking for the phone number on the next screen, has anyone received that one-time pin while working in this loop?"
Yes. I receive the one-time confirmation code (PIN) every time I try to log-in. The one-time confirmation code is sent to the email that I used when signing up for T-Mobile internet. Unfortunately, when I enter the confirmation code, the next screen requests a phone number. As noted in a previous posting, if entering a non-T-Mobile phone number, the error message is that I need to verify that the T-Mobile phone number is correct (see screenshot above). If I enter the internet line number on the T-Mobile gateway, the error message is that my email is not recognized (again, see screenshot above). My T-Mobile gateway is able to receive messages -- e.g. when my auto-pay processes I receive a message on the gateway; when I phone customer service I receive follow-up messages.
How was BChat able to get access to their account? What is the trick?
I really appreciate everyone that let us know something was not working and providing examples and details. These have been extremely helpful and let us figure out what was missing. If you contact our customer support teams, there is a new process they can file to quickly resolve the registration issues.
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Hello HeavenM. Thanks very much for following up on this. As BChat wrote, "...the frustration of setting up the account (with a non-T-Mobile cellphone) has worn me down." I agree with that completely.
I signed up for T-Mobile 5G Internet online on April 14.
That same April 14 I received three emails from T-Mobile: "You're In" (essentially a welcome message), T-Mobile Order Confirmation, and T-Mobile Service Agreement. On April 17 I received an email that my order (gateway/modem) had shipped.
On April 22, the day I connected my internet and got it up and running, I tried to create a T-Mobile ID and kept getting the error message "We're sorry, we don't recognize this email. Please provide the email you used when purchasing your T-Mobile service..." When I contacted Customer Service the person told me that my account was locked, but the customer service person said they unlocked it; however, I was told that the "Create a T-Mobile ID" page was having problems and so I should try again in a day or two.
A day or two later I was still getting the same error message: "We're sorry, we don't recognize this email..." Yet, as noted above, I had received four email messages to the email account I used when ordering internet service.
On April 25 or 26 I phoned Customer Service again and was told that it appeared that the person who took my order did not enter my email address (which clearly was not true since, as noted above, I had received four emails to my email account). This Customer Service person said they would put me in touch with a technician.
In the meantime, I tried multiple variations of my email address -- all lower case, ALL CAPS, and since my email is my name, I tried capitalizing the first letter of my first name, the first letter of my last name, etc., etc. Nothing worked; I kept getting the same error message: “We’re sorry, we don’t recognize this email...”
The technician contacted me a few days later and accessed my account and after about 10 minutes said that he found a way to enter my email, which he did. He said to give it 48-72 hours and then I would be able to set up my T-Mobile ID. Wrong. Still the same error message: "We're sorry, we don't recognize this email..."
I phoned Customer Service again on April 30 and got an international technician who took a long time trying to figure out what was wrong. After some time, the person said that they would submit a ticket and I would hear from technical support within 72 hours. I never heard back.
On May 4 I used the Chat option and explained the issue in detail. Unfortunately, after being on a 30 minute wait that person simply recommended going to t-mobile.com/isp to create an ID since that page is for Internet Only customers. Of course, I had previously been at that page and I was not able to create a T-Mobile ID.
I was about ready to give up. After all, like ChatB, I am on Autopay (I set that up online when initially ordering the internet service) and so I guess that was as good as things could get.
I was still getting regular emails from T-Mobile, mostly marketing emails. On May 10, I received an email titled "Give your T-Mobile home internet an edge." That email essentially provided tips on how to set up the T-Mobile gateway (even though I had set up my T-Mobile internet three weeks earlier). When I clicked on the link in the email I was taken to https://www.t-mobile.com/support/home-internet. Near the bottom of that page there was a section titled, "Still need help?" with a link: "Go to T-Mobile Community." Having tried everything else, I thought, why not; let me see what the Community might have to offer. In order to make a posting I needed to sign in. I figured that would be futile, but I gave it a try, and voila, I was logged into the Community and able to make a posting. When I went back to my personal email, I had received an email message titled "Welcome to My T-Mobile," which included the message that my "T-Mobile ID is officially ready to use." ¡Ohh! I had created a T-Mobile ID. I was so excited.
Desafortunadamente, when I go to the T-Mobile website and try to log into my T-Mobile account, I run into the problems noted in my previous posting (the one with screenshots) -- if I enter a non-T-Mobile phone number I get the error message that I need to verify my 10-digit T-Mobile telephone number. If I enter the telephone number on my 5G internet gateway, I get the error message "We're sorry, we don't recognize this email" (which contradicts all of the previous emails, including the one titled "Welcome to My T-Mobile" notifying me that my "T-Mobile ID is officially ready to use").
I have received numerous (text) messages on my T-Mobile gateway device, such as follow-up messages from Customer Service, so I know that the internet line number is functioning and is in the T-Mobile system.
I have tried to log into my T-Mobile account on the main T-Mobile webpage, the t-mobile.com/isp webpage, as well as using the “My account” pulldown menu in the upper right corner on the T-Mobile Community webpage, as well as the T-Mobile app.
I have tried different web browsers, and different days of the week, and different times.
As described in my previous posting I can enter my email and password, but I hit a dead end on the page that asks for a telephone number.
Thanks again for following up on this. If you need more information, let me know.
