sorry to ask again in so short a time but this is a very important question for me. I have the physical authenticator version and am not sure if i am going to get a smart phone in the near future as i have no current need for one. (Most of my family still have landlines and my work doesn’t require a smart phone since I’m just a cashier.)Plus I do not have the money to pay for a expensive monthly phone plan plus phone but thats not the issue.
my question is this: when the time comes for my authenticator to be removed because its dying do i still have to fax my identifying info over to blizzard to get it removed like when they had actual physical phone lines for customer support? What is the process to get it removed? (if i remember correctly that’s what was required back in the day.)
(i will be back later i have to leave soon for my grandmas to pick up some food i wanted to eat but got sent over there by mistake.)
Fax, no, but if you don’t remove it and you lose it or it no longer works, they may as you to attach a censored version of your id to the ticket.
Id is often used only if you can’t login to account management on your own, or if there’s doubt on account ownership. Otherwise you might not need to. Try removing and replacing it before that happens.
Also something to note, the physical authenticators would all be close to dying now since the batteries were rated at a max of 7 years and it has been about that long since they discontinued making them for Blizzard.
There are two ways to get the Auth removed when broken/lost - one is to have SMS set up which no longer requires a contract phone. They changed that a week or so ago so that most pre-paid services do work now. That would let you set up SMS protect, even on a simple phone, to remove it yourself.
Otherwise, you have to attach a digital copy of your edited Govt Issued ID to a ticket for CS to remove it for you.
Here is the Govt ID article you would need.
I personally still have my keychain Auth on my account. However, I set up SMS messaging so that when it dies I don’t need help to remove it. When that time comes, I will likely, grudgingly, get the phone app.
Source for SMS Protect Changes to accept some Pre-Paid phones. I know it is OW, but it is for the whole Battlenet account, not just one game.
oh yay i can use a prepaid phone I’ll probably do that then! thank you so much mirasol! you are the best! prepaid phone is much more affordable for me. otwo more questions does that work with wow? i dont play overwatch 2 at all.
how would sms work if my physical one dies if i have both connected to my account do i just use the sms authenticator to login then and it would let me login? or do i need to rebuy a new physical one and have that tagged on as well? also my authenticator is still going steady. it seems to have a couple more years of life left. I’ve had a couple before this and bought it shortly before it was discontinued.
Most work, although not all and VOIP certainly does not. So, yes, use of a pre-paid phone should be an option for you.
SMS Protect/Messaging is for your Battlenet Account overall. It has various uses within certain games, but it is an account level service. Once set up, it can be used for any of the SMS services or game features linked to it.
So, once you set up SMS Protect on your account so that it has the keychain Auth + the phone number, you can get the 4 bag slots in WoW and edit the group finder titles.
At the Bnet account level you can do the following
When you can’t log in, you can receive texts that can:
Unlock your Battle.net Account
Remove a lost authenticator
Recover your account name
Approve a password reset
In addition, you can receive phone notifications to help keep your account safe:
Get a text message if your account is locked by a suspicious login attempt
Know immediately if your password has been changed
Be alerted when security features are changed on your account
What happens is that you come here to the website and hit the Support button at the top right then Contact Support. Use the menus to get to “Remove Authenticator”. It gives you an option there to send a code to your phone so you can enter it on the website and remove the physical Auth.
Once done, you can then set up the Mobile Authenticator on a compatible device.
Phys Auth can also be removed by entering the codes and stuff from it if it is still working.
You can’t buy a new one anymore so that is not an option.
To explain the services a bit better - there are three services here. You can only put one Authenticator on the account at a time.
Authenticator = Keychain OR Mobile Auth
SMS Messaging = separate service that lets you remove a missing Auth, etc. A phone number can only be used for one Bnet account.
okay so what are the ones that are being sold on amazon? counterfeits? or old stock? it has the blizzard logo and everything and i didn’t see anything on the packaging that would indicate otherwise other than it cost 20$. but i thought that was because the manufacturers increased the price of them.
so basically once my physical autheticator looks like its about to die soon i just follow the steps listed above and it will send a code so that it switches to using my sms protect authenticator?
sorry for all the questions i just want to be sure.
Old stock likely. And they wouldn’t last long. They stopped production on Blizzard-branded ones over seven years ago (the life-span of the batteries in them.)
No. The code set from the Website to your phone SMS text removes your Physical Authenticator. Your account then has no protection.
You have to ADD the Mobile Authenticator yourself, after you remove the physical one. That means downloading the app, setting it up, and attaching it to your Bnet account. You also would want to write down the serial number and restore code so it can be put in a different device if you lose the phone.
The US government offers a free lifeline service for people who meet certain criteria. The service includes a free, older model, smart phone and some time each month. I believe the current offerings are in the iPhone 7 generation of phones.
They work with several different companies to provide the offering.
Google “free phones from the government” to see the program details, companies involved, and offerings.
you can put the Mobile Authenticator on a tablet, so you can still use a basic phone for the sms and the tablet for the Mobile Authenticator. The tablet just needs wifi to setup and sync.