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I love the idea of protecting my Gmail account using two-factor authentication, but I don't own a cell phone. And I don't want to tie Gmail to a land line since the whole point of having the account is to be able to use mail when traveling.

Am I hosed, or are there other means of authenticating?

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migrated from superuser.com Apr 21 '12 at 1:47


Perhaps some VoIP or soft phone which can receive text messages? –  iglvzx Apr 21 '12 at 1:47

2 Answers 2

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Google only offers the following options:

  1. SMS Text Message
  2. Voice Calls
  3. Google Authenticator application mobile app
  4. 1-time use printable backup codes

You could use the printed codes to access your account when traveling, but other than that you'd need a phone or device that can run the Authenticator application.

Google Help - Setup of 2-Factor Authentication

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You can probably make use of backup codes provided to you by Google but for that you need to start their service, you should have a cellphone or in your case, a landline, just to verify for first time.

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