Now that NetSuite requires 2-Factor authentication, I get a code sent to me via text message each time I log in to my Admin account. Suddenly, today, I stopped receiving Auth codes. It turned out not to be NetSuite’s problem. Here’s how I found the culprit.

Each time I log in to my admin account, I get code that is good for up to 1 minute. After a minute, I get the option of resending a new code. I did that a number of times. None arrived on my phone. And, each time, NetSuite’s login screen said the SMS message had been sent. So I began troubleshooting.

First, I wanted to know if I was getting text messages. So I texted my wife. She’s on a different phone carrier. She responded immediately. This led me to suspect AT&T’s SMS gateway. Here’s how I tested that.

I sent a text message from my phone to both my business and personal email accounts. When you text to an email address, it passes out the gateway and exposes the gateway’s return address. In my case, the gateway is at [My Cell Number]@mms.att.net.

The result… I received 1 of the 2 emails. I got the one on my personal account. The one to my business account never arrived. This was my first clue the problem was with my phone provider’s SMS gateway.

Next, I went the other way. I sent emails from both email accounts to the [My Cell Number]@mms.att.net. None arrived.

To make a long story short. I could not find a status page that would let me know that AT&T was aware of their problem. So I called. Several calls later, I found someone that could help me. Take this down. It’ll save you several calls.

To report an AT&T SMS gateway outage: (800) 331-0500.

From this call, I learned that there is NO way to check the SMS gateway status on the web. You must call. And, I learned that AT&T was aware of the problem and was working on it.

One more thing… The expired SMS 2-Factor Auth codes started trickling in within seconds of my hanging up the phone with AT&T. Too funny!