Changes to bank web security

[dennis]

The same way a mobile is connected to a HLR or a VLR, its connected to a server.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Your phone calls home.

Same as with a cell tower.

I presume it opens, and keeps open, a tcp connection that sends a keepalive packet every minute or so.

[Swer]

Because wifi calling works much better now because you can do that anywhere you can find a wifi service when you discover there is no mobile coverage where you happen to be even if that is just some place you will never go to again.

[Swer]

Yep, because it works like that world wide.

The phones have a number of tokens stored in the phone and use one for each new transaction. They get more tokens when the phone has coverage again.

That security is vastly more secure than 2FA can ever be because the one time token can never be used again so there is no need for any other authorisation of a transaction.

[Chris Hogg]

That's what I wanted to know. Thanks.

[Chris Green]

There is one big downside of 'WiFi calling', it only works on *some* phones with *some* mobile providers. It would cost me quite a lot of money (especially compared with the amount I currently spend on my mobile) to get a phone that can do WiFi calling and change provider.

[Brian Gaff]

I don't know but surely we should be able to carry on as we were. I certainly do not want to buy stuff on my mobile even though I can. I have had Amazon pestering me to add a mobile phone number to my account, but I have thus far declined as they have my home phone. . If there is a change coming it sounds like its been very poorly explained and is going to fall flat on its face if its not accessible by a blind person with no mobile or older person with not the fastest fingers in the world. We had all this with energy companies a while back where they needed a multi digit code to allow them to proceed, and nobody could type it in fast enough for the software. Its all run by 20 somethings who have learned to type at school, scant ref to t the real world.

[Brian Gaff]

I don't think that is the point for most people. I'm currently really pissed off by the tendency of Apple to need me to type in a number they text me, as by the time I've gone to the phone, opened it and found the number I then have to type it into a field on a pc which if I make one mistake generates yet another message with yet another code to remember, its really almost impossible since if you take too long they cut the link and the page won't work any more.

Somebody who is a real world person with average response times and a bad memory should be involved in such things. Still its one way to avoid people buying on line instead of in the high street I suppose!

Brian

[Brian Gaff]

The police are advising do not trust wifi hot spots particularly on holiday due to spoofing going on. Brian

[Swer]

Wouldn?t cost me anything at all. The iphones all do it and the provider does it and it?s the cheapest provider I could find, $10 per month for unlimited calls and sms and mms to any landline and mobile in the country and 1GB of data. Doesn?t cost much more for more data if you need that.

[Dave Liquorice]

internet

Do they work if your service provider is an MVNO rather than the network operator as well?

Very few MVNO's offer WiFi calling. The retail service provider side of the network operators are expensive.

I pay something over £5/month for 1GB and unlimited text/voice on a monthly basis to an MVNO with unused data refunded. To get a similar monthly deal from the retail side of the network operator it would be £15/month, OK that comes with 4GB but as I don't even use 1GB that's not a lot of use and isn't refunded.

[Andy Burns]

They do work e.g. I'm on virgin which is an EE MVNO and I connect through EE femtocells when at one customer's HQ.

But I doubt that MVNOs sell femtocells, and I doubt that EE will sell them to non-customers.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yep, why do people pay through the nose for service from the network operators and quite likely to be be tied into a 12 or 24 month contract, with a price that isn't fixed for the duration of the contract?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I didn't write ANY of that!

For the avoidance of doubt my 3 mobile wifi calling works through IDNET broadband, BT broadband, and indeed any other connection in any other country I have so far tried it in

There is no reason a femtocell would not, either. An internet connection is still mostly just an internet connection.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well how much would a femtocell coast?

You are going through exactly te same cost benefitr crap that I went thriough .

In the end the phone cost me nearly £200, but I have no contract - its PAYG.

I am not sure why people go for contracts anyway. Particularly 'all BT' or 'all virgin'

[dennis]

You would expect it to work, they do charge for it or it comes out of your allowance as a normal call does.

Any mobile should work with a femptocell, they are GSM as far as the phone is concerned.

[Andy Burns]

Blame Dave's quoting, not mine :-)

[Andy Burns]

As said, virgin mobile don't support WiFi calling, and don't discuss whether they may do so in future, though I gather as a "thick" MVNO virgin could provide WiFi calling, as they only thing they rely on EE for is the actual radio access.

but as a non EE-customer I can't buy an EE femtocell, and even if I buy a 2nd hand one from eBay EE won't enable it.

[Dave Liquorice]

I'd expect it to but you're missing the point that very few MVNO's offer WiFi calling. It's pretty much limited to having your phone service (not network) provider being one of the four, O2, Vodfone, EE or 3. And thus almost certainly paying 2 or 3 times as much as one needs to.

[The Natural Philosopher]

How is one in fact paying anything? On 3 I am payg.

I dont make many voice calls. Skype or whatsapp ...

Only extra expense was having to buy the damned phone from three.