Register

Registration process

To register by phone:
(USA/Canada only!)

• Read our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
• Dial into +1 (515) 400-4001
• Select option #1 to register.
• Accept the TOS/Privacy Policy.
• Successfully pass STIR/SHAKEN Validation.

To register via the Web:
(Required for PPP access)

• Visit the Web Registration System
• Sign up with a valid e-mail address.
• Verify your e-mail address by clicking the link sent to you.
• Sign into the registration portal and add a phone number.
• Call 515-400-4001, 833-PLZ-DIAL and press option 3.
• (You can also dial ANY of the Dial-up numbers while you are in the Web-Phone Verification process)
• Enter your six-digit verification code

Each new user is granted a default of $1.00 worth of service. The amount of usage you'll get varies by which location or carrier you dial. If you'd like more minutes, consider donating.

Why do I have to register?

As 2600.network grew in popularity, so did the costs. As much as I'd like to provide a completely free and unrestricted service to the public, I am not able to continue in the way it once was.

While I was in the midst of struggling with the cost issues, I made small changes in order to prevent abusive use of the service. Many users used the services responsibly, using only a few minutes to connect, or limiting their connection to an hour or less. Some users, however, dialed in for hours at a time; totalling their usage to thousands of minutes over a small span of time.

Therefore the first change was a strict time limit of 15 minutes per call. This was proven unsuccessful, as many callers would dial right back in after being disconnected, as they had no idea why they were disconnected, or perhaps, they didn't care.

Then came the second change: disconnecting all services. People continued to dial in still, with some users dialing in up to 15 times in a row. Even though the system was executing immediate hangups on all callers.

These problems lead me to investigate other options in order to prevent abuse to the service, and to limit the cost. I found several problems that existed:

• Users were using too many minutes
• Users were calling back-to-back to escape time limits
• Users were using different phone numbers (possibly to escape limits)
• Users were not verifying their Caller ID was correct before calling

With these problems identified, I came up with a solution: User Registration and Call Accounting. With registration enabled, users would only be able to dial in with numbers that have been registered. In tandem with user registration, call accounting would limit the amount of minutes available to any given user. I'm hoping that with these two technologies it'll prevent many of the issues I was encountering.