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Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

neilzone.co.uk

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Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#71

Post by lxgr »

winterswift wrote: post #36
ewuhic wrote: post #30

I always wondered - can you have no roaming if you use eSIM with wifi calling and an exit node in country where eSIM is issued? So, basically: - you bought eSIM in Germany - you are currently in US - you use tailscale with exit node at your apartment in Germany - voila, no roaming when you call German mobile lines Right? [EDIT FOR ADDITIONAL QUESTION] If I have troubles receiving SMSs from Germany to German number wh…

In my experience, wi-fi calling works as if on the home network, regardless of IP location/endpoint. So this would work similarly with an eSIM.

At least Vodafone Germany intentionally blocks (or used to block) foreign IPs for their gateway. I'll always trust them to needlessly ruin perfectly fine technologies.

Fortunately, as far as I remember at least iPhones route VoWiFi traffic over a VPN, if any is connected, so that's one way to still use it abroad.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#72

Post by lxgr »

simtel20 wrote: post #55
Ghoelian wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there even roaming costs at all when calling over wifi? Would make sense to me if there weren't, since you're not using the mobile infrastructure you would be paying for. Then again I could also easily see telcos charging roaming anyway, just because they can.

There's also a technical hurdle of the telco can't know where you're coming from over the Internet. The terminate your end of the vowifi call and from there they only charge for the connection as though it originated in their network, which is all they know for sure (that is their SIM and your account that's authenticated from somewhere in the world)

Well, I know at least one provider that looks at your IP's country registration and will block you if they believe it's not domestic: Vodafone Germany. I wouldn't wish their service upon my worst enemies.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#73

Post by lxgr »

Gormo wrote: post #67
gruez wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is an activated eSIM linked to the device's MAC address, making it impossible to use with a different device? After an esim is "activated" it's bound to the esim chip. By design, you can't copy it onto another esim chip or device. If you want to transfer devices, you need to ask your carrier to issue you another esim.

What if you use a solution like the one described in the article, and physically swap the SIM card to another device?

That should work, as "physical eSIMs" are usually not bound to the device they're in in any way. Your provider might restrict the set of allowable IMEIs conencting per SIM (profile), though.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#74

Post by craftkiller »

singpolyma3 wrote: post #58

If you use the JMP eSIM Adapter you can use a fully open source app, or even your own build of the app or whatever you like.

Thank you! I came to the comments to find the most open version of this. Unfortunately, the JMP eSIM's order form is broken so I cannot purchase their device (it never asks for city/state and then the order form errors out with "City or state/province not specified")

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#75

Post by SSLy »

everdrive wrote: post #62

Does anyone have any resources which explain why eSIMs tunnel your network traffic to the provider? My mental model for old fashioned physical SIMs is that they would roam on the network you're visiting. ie, a Chinese physical SIM on a US network would show up from the US network, and would otherwise be normal except that the phone and network traffic would be very expensive. My understanding of eSIMs is that they ac…

That's not ordered by the SIM but by the packet-core network policies set by both parties.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#76

Post by daveoc64 »

everdrive wrote: post #62

Does anyone have any resources which explain why eSIMs tunnel your network traffic to the provider? My mental model for old fashioned physical SIMs is that they would roam on the network you're visiting. ie, a Chinese physical SIM on a US network would show up from the US network, and would otherwise be normal except that the phone and network traffic would be very expensive. My understanding of eSIMs is that they ac…

It's not really anything to do with eSIM. If you used a physical SIM from the same carrier with the same settings, you'd have the same experience.

When connecting via a cellular data network, all data will be routed via your carrier's Access Point Name (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_Point_Name).

Most carriers only have servers in their home region capable of handling the traffic. It is possible to have regional servers for this, but most carriers don't bother with the expense. Roaming data is usually expensive or restricted in usage - so there's traditionally been very little demand for higher speed connectivity.

Travel eSIMs are usually just a regular SIM with a very limited plan from a carrier that has favourable roaming deals.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#77

Post by sofixa »

RicoElectrico wrote: post #51

Transitioning to eSim-only could enslave us even further, as if Windows 11 secure boot shenanigans were not enough. Please raise this with your favorite digital freedom advocate. Let's be proactive on this one.

> Transitioning to eSim-only could enslave us even further, as if Windows 11 secure boot shenanigans were not enough

How are eSIMs "enslaving" people? Or for that matter, Windows 11 secure boot? There's plenty to complain about in Windows 11 from a privacy perspective, but secure boot is your problem?

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#78

Post by prmoustache »

orisho wrote: post #6
yapyap wrote: post #2

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

You 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 jus…

I expected to use an eSIM when I went abroad for a month last year. It turned out the providers offering "travel eSIM" are 2 to 4 times more expensive compared to buying a prepaid physical sim at the counter valid for 30 days.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#79

Post by daveoc64 »

winterswift wrote: post #36
ewuhic wrote: post #30

I always wondered - can you have no roaming if you use eSIM with wifi calling and an exit node in country where eSIM is issued? So, basically: - you bought eSIM in Germany - you are currently in US - you use tailscale with exit node at your apartment in Germany - voila, no roaming when you call German mobile lines Right? [EDIT FOR ADDITIONAL QUESTION] If I have troubles receiving SMSs from Germany to German number wh…

In my experience, wi-fi calling works as if on the home network, regardless of IP location/endpoint. So this would work similarly with an eSIM.

As noted by other commenters, some carriers (I think all of the UK carriers) use IP-based geoblocking to ensure that Wi-Fi Calling only works when using an IP address registered in the UK.

Re: Using eSIMs with devices that only have a physical SIM slot via a 9eSIM SIM car

#80

Post by mrg2k8 »

nico wrote: post #13
orisho wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You 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 jus…

Currently traveling, and the savings are real. Although in this case it’s the opposite: travel eSIMs rates are about $80 for data for 30 days, whereas a cheap local prepaid SIM card is $8-16 (but with no eSIM option)

I've encountered this in Cape Verde and ended buying a local SIM off the street for a fraction of the price.
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