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Last vacation, one of our phones broke. We bought a new one, popped in the old SIM, and went on vacationing. How does that work with an eSIM?

jiqiren 1y ago
Install phone company app, login, and click migrate eSIM to this phone. Whole process can take up to 5min depending on how fast wifi is to connect to your phone company.
- rsync 1y ago
  "Install phone company app ..." You've already lost me there. I don't install the samsung dishwasher app or the mcdonalds value points app or the Mountain Dew summer of fun app ... why would I install some random national carrier telco app ?
JumpCrisscross 1y ago
> How does that work with an eSIM? Same, except you download it.
- mbirth 1y ago
  Ha, you say that. When my wife’s German T-Mobile eSIM vanished during transfer to a new phone, their portal for downloading a new one required a token sent to that very phone number we just lost access to. This meant we had to do a trip to their store where they said that there’s no process for the store to supply us with an eSIM, but they’ll setup a new traditional SIM which we could then convert to eSIM. Ridiculous! At least it was all free - apart from the time spent. That was a few years ago, though. So, I very much hope they’ve improved on the process.
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    If we're going on anecdotes, I've had a number of times when a physical SIM popped into a smartphone started behaving bewilderingly.
- Aachen 1y ago
  How do they know it's you, what makes you able to download the subscription token onto your device but not me? Do you need to receive a letter, or email via WiFi somewhere? Do mobile carriers accept unauthenticated devices to let them download SIMs, or does it require WiFi always?
  - JumpCrisscross 1y ago
    > How do they know it's you You scan the QR code and then download. Sometimes there is like a code you have to enter. It's a prepaid SIM, the carriers--particularly in East Asia or Africa--aren't particularly concerned with authenticating that much.
pests 1y ago
Connect to Wi-Fi and download your service providers mobile app. Load eSIM via that.
sherry-sherry 1y ago
The flip-side to that is what if your phone had been stolen or lost? You're out of luck with a physical SIM, but eSIM could be transferred to a new device.

jiqiren 1y ago

Install phone company app, login, and click migrate eSIM to this phone. Whole process can take up to 5min depending on how fast wifi is to connect to your phone company.

rsync 1y ago
"Install phone company app ..." You've already lost me there. I don't install the samsung dishwasher app or the mcdonalds value points app or the Mountain Dew summer of fun app ... why would I install some random national carrier telco app ?

JumpCrisscross 1y ago

> How does that work with an eSIM? Same, except you download it.

mbirth 1y ago
Ha, you say that. When my wife’s German T-Mobile eSIM vanished during transfer to a new phone, their portal for downloading a new one required a token sent to that very phone number we just lost access to. This meant we had to do a trip to their store where they said that there’s no process for the store to supply us with an eSIM, but they’ll setup a new traditional SIM which we could then convert to eSIM. Ridiculous! At least it was all free - apart from the time spent. That was a few years ago, though. So, I very much hope they’ve improved on the process.
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  If we're going on anecdotes, I've had a number of times when a physical SIM popped into a smartphone started behaving bewilderingly.
Aachen 1y ago
How do they know it's you, what makes you able to download the subscription token onto your device but not me? Do you need to receive a letter, or email via WiFi somewhere? Do mobile carriers accept unauthenticated devices to let them download SIMs, or does it require WiFi always?
- JumpCrisscross 1y ago
  > How do they know it's you You scan the QR code and then download. Sometimes there is like a code you have to enter. It's a prepaid SIM, the carriers--particularly in East Asia or Africa--aren't particularly concerned with authenticating that much.

pests 1y ago

Connect to Wi-Fi and download your service providers mobile app. Load eSIM via that.

sherry-sherry 1y ago

The flip-side to that is what if your phone had been stolen or lost? You're out of luck with a physical SIM, but eSIM could be transferred to a new device.