[HN Gopher] Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
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Ask HN: What's Your Experience with eSIMs?
As a tech enthusiast, I'm always excited to dive into the latest
advancements, but sometimes, new technology comes with its own set
of challenges. Unfortunately, these challenges can turn a fun
experience into a frustrating ordeal, especially when the
surrounding systems aren't quite as reliable as they should be.
Recently, I decided to upgrade my SIM plan on O2, the UK's largest
mobile network operator. At the time, I was using a physical SIM
card but was intrigued by the idea of switching to an eSIM. eSIMs
offer some great benefits, like the ability to use two numbers on a
single-slot phone and the added security of not being physically
removable, though the latter wasn't my main concern. I was using
an Android device when I made the switch, and a few months later, I
upgraded to a new Android phone. The O2 app allowed me to install
the eSIM on my new device, but I quickly ran into trouble. Despite
following the installation steps, my phone had no signal. The
dreaded notification 'SIM 2 not provisioned' kept popping up. I
tried everything--deleting and reinstalling the eSIM multiple
times, leaving it overnight in hopes it would activate, and even
turning off the old device to avoid conflicts. Nothing worked. In
a last-ditch effort, I deleted the eSIM from my old phone entirely,
thinking that might solve the problem. But that only made things
worse--now I couldn't install the eSIM on any device. When I called
O2 for help, they informed me that their system still registered my
SIM as a physical one. To make matters worse, the system was stuck
in a processing state, waiting for the eSIM installation to
complete before moving forward. Their advice? Wait for 3-5 days for
the process to time out because there was nothing else they could
do--not even a visit to the store would help. So here I am, stuck
in a tech limbo, waiting for time to do what technology couldn't.
It's a stark reminder that while new tech can be exciting, it's not
always smooth sailing. What's your experience?
Author : zikohh
Score : 30 points
Date : 2024-08-12 21:07 UTC (1 hours ago)
| zikohh wrote:
| Two years later, I've experienced the same issue as someone else
| https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Apple/Urgent-Help-Needed-iPhon...
| gtvwill wrote:
| I needed dual sim so I could separate work from private. Ordered
| a Canadian Samsung s20 because their dirt cheap that had 2g
| support. Reflashed it with American firmware and now I have no
| 2g/3g support but do have dual sim (turns out same hardware in
| the devices they just use rom to change featutes based on where
| in the world you are as the base chip it worked on supported all
| of them).
|
| I use the esim for work. Works great transferred a real sim to it
| via online portal, cost me $120aud for whole year plan, unlimited
| calls and text.
| wryoak wrote:
| What a ride
|
| Personally, I used them with great success traveling RTW. Being
| able to still use my home number (on rare occasions) while having
| a cheap local eSIM was great. Usually just for data (navigating)
| but sometimes having a local number was also useful. The apps
| generally sell overpriced eSIMs, unsurprisingly, but are very
| convenient. Don't really have a reason for two sims in my home
| country though.
|
| iPhone 15 fwiw
| mattl wrote:
| I've had my iPhone on eSIM (T-Mobile and Verizon) for the last
| 3-4 years with no issues.
|
| Sorry to hear you're having issues.
| acl777 wrote:
| I used eSIM for traveling - it's been such a joy to have a full
| working data plan in another country the moment I touch down in
| the country.
|
| https://redgreenrepeat.com/2024/05/12/traveling-and-your-int...
|
| From your post and experience - I can see eSIM would be a rough
| experience - my main line at home is still a SIM and the eSIM is
| optional
| ivanjermakov wrote:
| eSIM is amazing for purchasing roaming internet while traveling.
| There is a eSIM aggregator that I can recommend:
| https://esimdb.com/
| oriettaxx wrote:
| exacly!!! super reccomended
| minkles wrote:
| Urgh some of those are crazy expensive. Best to pick by
| destination if you can.
|
| For example they charge you $23 for 10 gig in Central Asia
| there but if you get a local eSIM it's $5 for the same and $10
| for unlimited. I just WiFi hopped because there was bugger all
| reception out there anyway.
| miohtama wrote:
| I am using https://www.dent-app.com/ for travelling and never
| going back.
|
| I would also use eSIM for the main SIM, but the local monopolist
| telecom do not give this option yet.
| zikohh wrote:
| Dent looks really cool thanks for sharing!
| trelliscoded wrote:
| I use a Helium Mobile eSIM, which I pay with crypto. I set it up
| in something like 10 minutes when I became eligible for an
| account. No problems so far.
|
| I've also had eSIMs from FirstNet and AT&T, no problems there
| either. Running dual-sim hasn't been a problem either on any of
| my Galaxy or iPhones.
| chedabob wrote:
| I won't run my primary as an eSIM as it's just way too much aggro
| to move it between phones if needed, and you're well and truly
| stuck if you need to reprovision but don't have a Wifi
| connection.
|
| We've just switched mobile providers at work, and the eSIMs were
| a monumental headache. A lot of it was user error, but ultimately
| it's hard to cock-up taking a physical SIM out and putting a new
| one in.
|
| As a secondary they're great. I had awful speeds on Lebara in
| Prague on my main SIM, so grabbed a 3-day one off Nomad just for
| data.
| oriettaxx wrote:
| super great as secondary sim (I mean internet)
|
| I experienced some, but to me https://etravelsim.com/ is good
| choice (europe and balcans)
|
| support impressive (super responsive) plus you get a uk number,
| free calls to other their esim... just discovered this e-sim
| world thanks to HN: it is the future
| spike021 wrote:
| I've tried travel eSIMs (Ubigi) on a couple of trips to Japan. In
| my experience compared to when I've gone and used physical SIMs,
| the reception and coverage wasn't nearly as good. Just super
| random neighborhoods and areas where the phone just completely
| drops connections. Even the top of a mountain near Fuji, my eSIM
| failed completely but my Japanese friends with eSIMs had
| completely normal and fast service despite supposedly being
| connected to the same network (DoCoMo iirc at the time).
|
| Not sure if it's an eSIM issue or that the service (Ubigi in this
| case) that fronts the cellular network just can't operate it
| smoothly or what.
| bmoxb wrote:
| I can say for certain of course, but I would guess at that
| being the result of the poor service that travel network
| providers typically offer. I have also used travel eSIMs in
| Japan and had generally a pretty poor experience (bad coverage
| and slow speeds). Conversely, I've had non-travel, regular
| monthly eSIM contracts in both the UK and Germany and
| experienced few issues (at least no more than my experience
| with physical SIM cards).
| weikju wrote:
| > Not sure if it's an eSIM issue or that the service (Ubigi in
| this case) that fronts the cellular network just can't operate
| it smoothly or what.
|
| Or the bands supported by your phone. Could be any of these
| possibilities
| kbrackbill wrote:
| I used an eSIM on my trip to Japan last year and had the
| opposite experience. I got a really generic sounding "4G Japan
| eSIM" from klook (just checked and the carrier is listed as
| KDDI/Docomo). I was surprised at the remote places I got
| service: the whole way along the Shimanami Kaido, Mount
| Ishizuchi, other rural places in Shikoku. I also don't recall
| having any issues in Tokyo, though I was using much more wifi
| there.
| systemtest wrote:
| Works great on iOS but can be a bit fidgety. I bought a data-only
| eSIM for Switzerland and as I crossed the French/Swiss border I
| had to go deep into the settings menu to enable the eSIM, set it
| as the data primary and keep using my primary SIM for phone calls
| and FaceTime, but then also disable data roaming on my primary
| SIM as to not accidentally occur charges in case reception of the
| eSIM fails. And disable roaming on the eSIM so I wouldn't occur
| extra cost if it connected to the French network, as I was close
| to the border. When going back to France I would disable the
| eSIM, set the data primary back on my primary SIM and enable data
| roaming on that SIM (after waiting for it to connect to the
| French network).
|
| It would be nice if there was a more hands-off approach when
| crossing a border, or some sort of "do whatever is going to cost
| me the least amount of money" approach to roaming and having two
| SIMs.
| Lammy wrote:
| I've never used one but am biased against them because they seem
| like a step toward a future where it's impossible to unplug a
| device from The System at all.
| jedberg wrote:
| It's been great for me. I just went to Europe and used an eSIM
| with a different plan while I was there. The biggest issue is
| that it required some unique settings deep in the iPhone config,
| but once those were properly set it all worked great.
|
| Also it was kinda cool having two lines for a day before I left.
| stevenwliao wrote:
| Airalo works well on my iPhone for travel. I had super fast data
| in Europe (including UK), Japan, Mexico.
|
| IIRC the rates are not competitive compared to local plans
| though, so not sure if it's worth it for you.
| minkles wrote:
| This is the fateful combination of O2 and Android together,
| possibly the worst experience in the universe (from experience).
| Nothing but trouble for years.
|
| I dumped my Pixel 6A and O2 a couple of years back after a
| roaming shit show in Iceland where they billed me PS400 and went
| iOS and Giffgaff. Despite giffgaff being the same company in
| theory keeping a physical sim with them has been trouble free.
| And I just add an additional eSIM when travelling wherever and
| everything just works! Giffgaff gives you 5Gb of roaming a month
| as well in Europe which is good enough for the odd weekend here
| and there if you are careful and enable low data mode.
| warkdarrior wrote:
| I got a prepaid eSIM from O2 this summer and then traveled
| through Europe. It worked great, got some 50GB of traffic for a
| month, had no connectivity issues.
| totoglazer wrote:
| Found it to be a really unpleasant experience using Airalo in
| Europe on an iPhone. Maybe user error, but everyone in our group
| had confusing issues. Lots of problems with the phone forgetting
| the home number meant it was hard to get messages with iMessage,
| and no SMS caused a big mess with local businesses and with 2
| factor/fraud detection. No phone number was also an issue a few
| times. I don't know what we did wrong, but it was really
| frustrating.
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| I have two lines on my iPhone. One is an eSIM (AT&T), and the
| other is a simSIM (T-Mobile).
|
| I don't travel internationally, these days, so I know that I'm
| not a "power user," but my experience has been great.
|
| Does what it says on the tin.
|
| From what I hear, Apple is considering going all eSIM, on future
| phones. There may be nations, where that won't wash, though.
| bananapub wrote:
| Excellent on iOS - I have four permanently installed and switch
| between them (only two can be active at a time) with no issues or
| reboots, etc.
|
| Android certainly seems far behind in support and in ceding about
| it working well.
| croemer wrote:
| Totally smooth experience on my Pixel 8, both in home country
| (for dual sim) and when travelling.
| biztos wrote:
| Using Airalo plus a Verizon physical sim in Europe with an iPhone
| SE 2 worked, and I found the cost fair enough, but it drained my
| battery like mad, so bad in fact that I found myself turning the
| eSIM off a lot. I think this is probably just Yet More Shoddy
| Apple Software, and I will probably use eSIM in future, but it's
| something to watch out for.
| blntechie wrote:
| I love the convenience of physical SIMs. Will hate the day when I
| don't have a choice but to 'upgrade' to eSIMs.
|
| I have a phone with dual physical SIM card slots. I can go to any
| country in the world, buy a SIM, put it in, and am up and
| running. eSIM provisioning at airports is barely available in few
| coubtries.
|
| I broke the display of my phone? Easy, remove the SIM and put it
| in a spare phone and I can still make and receive calls.
| FanaHOVA wrote:
| You can buy eSIMs before you reach your destination fyi. Used
| them in Europe and India through Airalo after buying them in
| the US.
| rootusrootus wrote:
| Not sure why you attracted downvotes with that comment. It's
| 100% correct. You can buy an eSIM while still in the US and
| just leave it turned off, then flip it on when you get to
| your destination. Some providers do still advise waiting to
| install the eSIM until after you reach their home territory,
| but that's not any more difficult.
|
| We just did exactly this a couple weeks ago when we went to
| the UK & France. Super easy, as soon as the plane took off I
| toggled roaming off on my regular US line, and turned on the
| traveling eSIM when we landed. Bam, phone works as normal,
| still gets calls and texts, etc, but way cheaper than paying
| roaming charges.
| Bluestein wrote:
| SIMs are one of those things that work so well they shouldn't
| be touched - which doesn't mean doing away with progress (ie.
| eSIMs) - it means both should coexist.-
| reboot81 wrote:
| Had it for years. The security, convenience and not having to
| wait 2-3 days for a replacement is great. At work they haven't
| supplied users who select an iPhone with physical SIM the last
| two or so years. Even my mom had her new phone set up with an
| eSIM. Never heard of any issues, and our department has 100s's of
| devices with eSIM.
| nixosbestos wrote:
| eSIMs are fantastic! Except that they just make me even more
| irate with various service providers that don't work with them,
| or don't work with the VOIP number that I use when using data-
| only SIMs.
|
| Seriously, my Airbnb account has been broken for TWO MONTHS
| because Airbnb:
|
| 1. Uses SMS (only) for 2FA. For a fucking international travel
| company.
|
| 2. They don't support VOIP numbers for SMS 2FA. An issue I
| reported to them at least 4 times over the past 2 years.
|
| I'm sorry, but what the fuck is wrong with people. Not everyone
| uses an iPhone, and even then, I'm pretty sure those iPhone
| carriers will NOT DELIVER SMS WHEN IM IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.
|
| If I could donate 10% of my salary to just sending boxes of dog
| shit to the AirBnb C-Suite, I would.
| floam wrote:
| One nice thing about eSIM is if someone steals my iPhone, they
| can't remove the SIM card and keep the device offline.
| bloggie wrote:
| I use eSIMs exclusively for travelling. They are extremely
| convenient and the cost is great. The alternative is often
| handing over your passport to a random shop seller that then does
| who-knows-what with it before handing over an expensive and
| easily-lost SIM that usually costs a lot more and only works in
| one country, and may not be rechargeable.
|
| I tried a few different services before settling on Airalo, which
| I now use exclusively. Nomad did not work at all. Some others
| like 3HK or DENT were cheap but unreliable.
|
| Also, using Airalo in China gets you around the great firewall.
|
| Oh, I also use Keepgo for cheap 365-day LTE access on an iPad. It
| has been reliable.
|
| Although my experience has been good with iPhones, it has not
| been good with Android phones. This may be related to your
| experience, or your poor experience may be due to a shaky rollout
| from a legacy carrier.
|
| For my main phone I will still prefer a normal SIM as the service
| can be easily transferred if the phone is damaged. Maybe this
| perception will change as eSIM client-facing features improve.
| BWStearns wrote:
| I used one on my iphone for a work trip and now my iMessage stuff
| is all broken after switching back. There's still some rough
| edges.
| aristus wrote:
| A SIM card is an often-overlooked "what you have" second factor,
| yes leaving aside phone company social engineering hacks.
|
| I made the mistake of buying an iphone on a trip to US, which is
| eSIM only. The tech works fine --Google Fi is a pretty good
| example-- but I later traded that phone for the exact same
| "international" model, traded even plus cash, to get my slot
| back.
| crispyambulance wrote:
| I tried eSIM's for the first time while traveling in Ireland,
| used Orange on iPhones.
|
| Terrible experience. So confusing. Data worked fine but I had a
| lot of trouble with everything else. Probably should have taken
| more time to do it, I researched and bought them on the ride to
| the airport and then activated upon arrival, jet-lagged and
| tired.
|
| It's just too much to go through. And it seemed to take arbitrary
| amounts of time for configuration changes to work, with no
| feedback on if what you're doing is correct or not.
|
| The physical sim days were easier. Oh well I will try again on
| the next international trip.
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(page generated 2024-08-12 23:00 UTC)