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I like the initiative and I’m not against experimenting, it’s fun. But why would you ever want an eSIM in a SIM device, I’d assume it’s more often the other wa
by yapyap 2y ago
I like the initiative and I’m not against experimenting, it’s fun.
But why would you ever want an eSIM in a SIM device, I’d assume it’s more
often the other way around
- harha 2y agoOne announce with eSIM is that you can’t move them freely, despite being advertised as equivalent. Depending on the provider it can get quite complicated (physical visit in store, fees) to move to another device.
- londons_explore 2y agoCould one make an all-software sim card emulator which would enable this? Or does the esim spec have some kind of DRM to require you to use physical hardware with an embedded yet secret-to-you key?
- notpushkin 2y agoThere is SoftSIM, but I think it’s geared towards IOT applications: https://onomondo.com/product/softsim/ https://onomondo.com/product/softsim/
- gruez 2y ago>Or does the esim spec have some kind of DRM to require you to use physical hardware with an embedded yet secret-to-you key? Yes. Basically there's an accreditation process by the GSMA, and if your esim doesn't have a certificate chain leading back to GSMA, you won't be able to get your esim provisioned. https://media.ccc.de/v/camp2023-57190-demystifying_esim_technology https://media.ccc.de/v/camp2023-57190-demystifying_esim_tech...
- stavros 2y agoSorry, move them from what to what? Surely an eSIM isn't locked to the first phone I use it on?
- klausa 2y agoIt is. The QR codes that provision the eSIM are single-use. Most "real" carriers will of course let you migrate your eSIMs, with varying degrees of pain involved (my Japanese eSIM migrated automatically from iPhone to iPhone; the German one involved making a phone call); but ~all "travel plans" eSIMS will be single-use only.
- stavros 2y agoOof, that's not great...
- smileybarry 2y agoThe QR codes aren't really single-use, my carrier reuses the QR code and you can move devices by removing the eSIM from one and re-importing the QR code on the newer. (The QR code is invalid so long as the eSIM is provisioned on a device, not necessarily powered on)
- barbafant 2y agoquote from TFA "Since I want to use the SIM with the integrated WWAN modem of a laptop running Linux, I was keen to see if I could get this all to work using Linux and Free software."
- abofh 2y agoI can't speak to anyone else, but I have a phone about a year too old for e-sims to have been commonplace, but I still need to travel, and services like airalo (global sims to go) are basically e-sim only -- so my secondary sim slot is a reprogrammable eSIM.
- orisho 2y agoYou may find yourself in that situation if you have a device that only supports SIMs, and you can't use any of the cheap travel esim providers with it. For travel, you would replace your local SIM with the 9eSIM, and be able to switch providers depending on destination. The difference can be huge in some countries, where a local provider's travel plan can be 30 to 50 USD, while a equivalent on an ESIM provider is just $4. I live in such a country and have parents with older phones who can't use esims, so the value is obvious to me. :)
- pjmlp 2y agoI have not yet traveled to a place that doesn't have cheap prepaid SIM on the Airport, or some Internet cafes.
- herbst 2y agoCheap is very subjective. There is always a way cheaper Esim option, especially if you have high usage. Not the common Esim provider spamming all of Google. But you often find local Esim resellers for local networks. Writing this from my Caravan WiFi, with a small streaming computer, 2 mobiles and a laptop using about 250 GB a month :)
- notpushkin 2y agoIn my experience, getting an eSIM is usually cheaper than the airport SIM card plans, but often there are cheaper plans available when you get to the city. In any case, having both options is nice!
- gruez 2y ago>getting an eSIM is usually cheaper than the airport SIM card plans, but often there are cheaper plans available when you get to the city I find that for light data users (ie. < 5GB), esims are always almost cheaper than local sims, except for maybe in developing countries.
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- arghwhat 2y agoChinese iPhone has no eSIM support (they have dual SIM instead), IoT stuff like alarms tend to use SIM slots, LTE/5G routers tend to use SIM, etc. Until eSIM provisioning for embedded devices is sorted out and popularized there will be plenty of reasons to adapt to a regular SIM.
- fer 2y agoSimply there are more eSIM providers than traditional SIM ones, so there's more competition and lower prices. That alone is enough.
- pjmlp 2y agoYep, it isn't as if there aren't cheap pre-paid throway SIM available as well.
- herbst 2y agoI got a second hand mobile router with SIM support, but very good hardware for 50$. I ordered a Esim adapter SIM for $20 and just switch to the cheapest network wherever I am. Easily saved $300 to a comparable device with Esim support.
- marcosdumay 2y agoWell, one nice thing is that a device like this allows you to use the services that are trying to lock you with an eSIM in the same way that you use a normal consumer friendly SIM.
- dangus 2y agoLet’s say you land in a new country that your primary provider won’t roam to for free or at all, there’s no need to visit the airport shop that sells SIM cards with limited options and try to buy and set up something which is often in a different language. You can buy your eSIM service at the best possible price ahead of time online and have it ready to go when you land, and you don’t have to upgrade your not-that-old phone to do so.
- akvadrako 2y agoBecause you can buy cheap short term data plans in most countries online. Getting a physical prepaid SIM is often a pain, especially in places like the US.
- chainingsolid 2y agoI clicked this as I don't think there's a phone meeting my prefrences (repairable, runs mostly mainline linuix) that has esim. There all regular sim. So something like this could expand options carrier wise.