The carrier network, as your users see it.
Ostra rents real carrier lines on physical iPhones in Los Angeles, one line to one verified customer, an individual or a business. Each line gives you a proxy whose traffic goes out over that phone's cellular connection, and the line's own number for the texts and calls it receives.
What a line looks like
One on each carrier network. The line IDs are made up.
| Line | LAX-T-07 | LAX-A-14 | LAX-V-22 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrier network | T-Mobile | AT&T | Verizon |
| Exit network | AS21928IPv4 and IPv6 | AT&T's own networkIPv4 and IPv6 | AS6167IPv4 and IPv6 |
| SIMs in the phone | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Customers | Exactly one per line: an individual or a business that passed Ostra’s sign-up check | ||
| Handset | A physical iPhone in Los Angeles | ||
| Texts and calls | Received only. A line never texts or calls anyone. | ||
| New carrier IP | On request, at most once every 5 minutes and 24 times in any 24 hours | ||
A customer line passes these five stages before it goes live.
One line is one iPhone
Ostra owns the phone, the SIM in it and the record of what the line did. That is why it can state facts about a line that a shared or virtual service can't.
Traffic goes out through the phone
- Your clientA browser, script or test suite, pointed at lax.gw.ostranetwork.com:30022
- Ostra gatewayChecks your credential and the blocked list, and records the connection: time, your client’s address, host, port and bytes.
- The lineLAX-V-22, an example line: an iPhone on Verizon's network in Los Angeles
- The site you testSees the line's carrier address, on AS6167
Texts and calls come in to its number
- Your serviceTexts a sign-in code to the line's number
- The lineYour verification code is 482915.
- OstraReads the code from the text and keeps the text encrypted, 30 days by default.
- Your webhookGets the event message.received with the code.
- The phone
- A physical iPhone in Los Angeles, owned by Ostra. The line ID names the metro, the carrier network and the slot.
- The number
- The SIM's own mobile number. When the line ends, the number is deleted and never given to another Ostra customer.
- Who uses it
- One verified customer, an individual or a business, serving one person or organization.
- Exit network check
- every 60 s. A port closes if its traffic would leave from any network other than the line's carrier.
What you get
A line, and the ways to use it, all under one account and the same rules.
- The lineIts number, its proxy ports and a page that says whether it is working, from a probe through its port about once a minute.
- Apps and extensionA whole iPhone or Mac on the line, or one browser.
- API and MCPYour test suite or agent reads the codes your own service sends to the line.
- The price sheet$199 per line per month, plus sales tax where it applies, and what each line includes.
Every account gets the dashboard, the API, webhooks, the sandbox, the MCP server, the command line tool, the browser extension and the iPhone and Mac apps.
Who a line is for
A line receives codes only for accounts and services you are entitled to test. Each line has exactly one of these three bases, stated when the line is assigned to you.
Your own service
An account, service, domain or app you or your business owns or operates.
Written permission to test
A service whose operator has given you written permission to test it. Ostra keeps a copy.
The line's own number
Codes that confirm the number Ostra issued to you.
Teams that use a line
- QA and fintech test teamsRun signup, login and checkout flows over a real carrier connection, the way people on phones reach you.
- One-time code deliverySee whether your codes reach a real handset on a US carrier, and when. Carriers can filter a text without returning a failure code; the handset shows what arrived.
- Ad and content verificationSee what your ads and pages show to a visitor on a mobile carrier network in Los Angeles.
A line is never for
- Creating accounts on a service you don't own or operate, including for a real person who agrees to it.
- Buying or selling codes, in bulk or one at a time.
- One line serving more than one person or organization.
- Verifying an account again after a service banned it.
- Automating a carrier's website or app.
- Asking for a number that "works on" a named consumer service.
- Defeating a website's or carrier's fraud, bot or account-creation controls.
- Spam, fake engagement or fake reviews.
The full policy is Acceptable use.
How a line is ordered
Every line passes the same five stages, in this order, before it carries a customer's traffic. The customer app names them the same way.
01Sign up
Create an account as an individual or a business, at app.
Create an accountostranetwork.com . Accounts are open now in the United States.02Verify
You give Ostra your legal name (and your business’s, for a business account), a US address and a US mobile number, which you confirm with a code texted to it.
Customer verification03Agree
You confirm you are 18 or older and accept the acceptable use policy, and Ostra records that you did. The policy sets out the one basis each line needs: your own service, written permission, or the line's own number.
Acceptable use04Review
Ostra’s sign-up check clears your account when you submit: it confirms you are signing up from the United States and screens every name against the US sanctions lists. A person at Ostra reviews an order that would take you above 5 lines before its lines are assigned.
Who decides05Lines
Ostra assigns each line to you alone, with its number and exit address, under the terms. Ostra keeps connection records, never traffic content.
Terms
Price$199 per line per month, plus sales tax where it applies. Nothing is charged before a line is assigned to you.
Records and reports
What Ostra keeps, who reads abuse reports, and where lawful requests go.
- Verification
- Every customer, individual or business, before any line goes live. Ostra’s sign-up check clears each account; a person at Ostra reviews an order that would take you above 5 lines. Verification
- Acceptable use
- Accepted by the customer at sign-up and attested for each line. Lines that break it are suspended. Acceptable use
- Connection records
- Time, line, your client’s address, destination host and port, and bytes for each connection. No traffic content. Kept 90 days. Privacy and records
- Texts and calls
- Encrypted at rest and kept 30 days by default. The code Ostra reads from a text or a call is cleared after 15 minutes. Every staff view is logged.
- Report abuse
- abuse@ostranetwork.com. A person at Ostra reads every report. Send the address you saw, the time and the destination, and Ostra can find the line. How to report
- Law enforcement
- Where to send legal process and preservation requests, and what records exist. 3.9 Law enforcement
- Carrier suspensions
- If a carrier suspends a line or a customer, Ostra does not move that use to another line, account or carrier.
01Sign up
Create your account at app.ostranetwork.com, as an individual or a business. Enter your email, then type the 6-digit code Ostra emails you; the first one starts your account. There is no password to keep.
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AccountsOpen
Individuals and businesses in the United States can sign up now. Ostra’s sign-up check clears each account when you submit.
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LinesOpen
Order lines from the dashboard or the API once the check clears your account. A person at Ostra reviews an order that would take you above 5 lines first (stage 04 Review). A line that is ready is assigned at once; otherwise the order waits for a line to be provisioned, and nothing is charged until one is assigned. There are no free or trial lines.
Before a line is yours, you can build against the sandbox line, a simulator.