With the new changes, I’d like to see the Keychain authenticator make a return. I remember back in Cata, when an officer in my guild got hacked and our guild bank gutted, I bought a bunch of them for friends and officers. They were great. This way, people who have phone issues have a work around.
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Same. I have mine from years ago. When it eventually dies… I just won’t have one. I use MetroPCS which is a better deal than T-Mobile. Exact same service, but my unlimited family plan is $131 per month for 4 lines and T-Mobile’s is like $175.
I’d essentially be paying over $40 per month for authenticator service. lol
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I also want one for my kids account.
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I have a physical authenticator and it doesn’t work for this.
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This is one of the few comments on the authenticator I can agree with completely. Despite what many (including Blizzard) may think, not everyone has a smartphone. The physical option should be restored, really.
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And many who do have them use prepaid service that isn’t covered. What’s more frustrating is I had mine connected to my old account, but when I made a new one it wouldn’t work. Same number, same service, literally the same physical phone on the same plan I started in 2014… absolutely nothing changed.
And The GM told me basically I was lying because they’ve never allowed prepaid phones to be connected to Bnet. Mine was for 5 years.
/rant 
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Even though I switched to my smart phone, because I could tell the battery was dying, my authenticator is still sitting next to my computer for nostalgia.
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I still have the one I used and a spare one I bought that is still in the box. But I moved to the smart phone version as it is just much easier to use. It would be nice if they brought them back for those who can’t use the mobile version.
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Alternatives should definitely exist. I finally got a smartphone through Cricket, was going to add the app auth for the extra security, but the phone number doesn’t work. It’s not even a prepaid service. We’ve been with Cricket for years, we have so much tied to these phone numbers. I’m all about extra security, but there should be other secure ways to further secure my gaming account.
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Mine died 
It may just need new batteries though.
This is an excellent point. This is a game rated T for teen, and many parents do not allow their teens to have a phone of their own (for many and varied reasons).
In addition, as others have mentioned, financial concerns are also a factor for lots of people with a smartphone app as the only option.
They have the free app for those who wish to/are able to use it, so I don’t see why allowing us to purchase keychain authenticators again would be a problem. I’d love to see them come back.
I never got one and am SO jealous of my guildies who still have theirs.
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All you need is a prepaid phone and a card set it up with app then you can request a code or connect to pc via hotspot and tap to unlock. A phone that cant connect to anything is as safe as a keychain.
The moment you open it and replace batteries it will be invalid
It’s a security feature of those physical authenticators
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The app is designed to not work with prepaid phones, although some people have reportedly slipped past this roadblock in the past.
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Opening it causes it to self destruct so that is not advisable. I mean, if it is already dead it can’t hurt. Don’t expect it to work though.
I bought my key chain authenticator around the time they came out. I use it at least once per day and it has yet to do die on me. I had no idea they stopped selling them.
I didn’t realize there was no longer a physical authenticator option…
cradles Cata authenticator like a baby Last forever, you amazing thing, you…
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i agree bring back the physical authenticator blizz. i don’t have the money to buy a phone service JUST TO HAVE A AUTHENTICATOR.
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If you’re really having phone issues, can’t you just download Google’s Android emulator on PC and get the authenticator app that way?
No, that won’t work. The Auth used to be stand alone on your phone or device. It now requires a valid contract phone number registered in your country of residence on the account. VOIP, Pre-paid, most Cricket, numers don’t work. Cricket seems to have a bunch of numbers that were registered as pre-paid even though they are not being used that way right now. It won’t go through on the Auth system.
People who already had the Auth set up without a phone number will have to add one to their account if they want to edit group finder titles. Same as the requirements for the 4 extra backpack slots - that took Auth and the SMS Protect phone text thing.
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