If a QuickQ login SMS never shows, stop for 10–15 minutes, confirm the country code is not stacked (+86 plus 86 in the box), then disconnect the tunnel and tap Send once. While already Connected, the send-code API can ride smart routing into a dead egress. Burner farms and twenty taps in a minute stretch the cooldown to hours. This is not TAP and not pop latency.
Channel reminder: SMS news. First login: connect. Split-app misfires: per-app. Build: download 2.5.0.
On-device checks beat swapping pops
Number format: local region selected in the picker and 86 typed again is +8686. Roaming SIMs need their real country, not the domestic channel. Dual SIM: some OEMs bind app SMS permission to the data SIM, which is not the SIM that receives texts. Open the system Messages app and the blocked list.
Cooldown: do not bounce SMS ↔ email ↔ captcha while the button spins. A failed captcha can still spend an SMS credit. A clock off by hours expires the OTP before you see it—you think it never arrived.
| Check | Looks like | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Stacked country code | Invalid or silent | One country code |
| Tunnel already up | Tap does nothing useful | Disconnect or Direct QuickQ |
| Junk folder | No banner, message exists | Allow the sender |
| Virtual number | Never | Real SIM, stop retrying |
Tunnel, switch, smart routing stealing the API
GSM SMS does not ride Wi-Fi VPN; the “send code” button is still HTTPS. That call through QuickQ can hit a filtered pop; the UI says sent; the SMSC never fired. Disconnect, send on raw Wi-Fi or LTE, then connect. Kill Switch during disconnect kills the API too—Kill Switch.
Smart routing shoving the login host into a bad member looks the same—smart. A cafe portal that is not finished hijacks the API to an ad—public Wi-Fi.
Voice, email, humans
Three silent SMS tries: voice if the page offers it. Dual SIM: know which line rings. Email: promotions and spam. Support needs last four digits, tap time to the minute, 2.5.0, and whether you were Connected. Do not paste the code.
iOS SMS filters and carrier international SMS fees swallow OTPs. macOS forwarding can exceed the code lifetime. Permissions: iOS/macOS.
When to stop
More than five sends in an hour: wait the cooldown out. Retire the burner. After login, verify egress, then split-app and games. Linux has no SMS client; finish login on a phone—Linux. Guides: hub. Account: FAQ.
One line in Notes: “this SIM + this country picker receives codes.” New phone: prove that line, then install 2.5.0, instead of reinstalling into an empty inbox three times.