Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

neilzone.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 244 posts

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

#151

Post by Alive-in-2025 »

briodf wrote: post #106
sunaookami wrote: post #33

Haha what a coincidence, I bought a 9eSIM adapter a few weeks ago! There is a new eSIM-only card in Germany where you get 3 GB of data plus unlimited SMS and calls per month for free. To order it I had to use Frida and the Android emulator to fool the app into thinking the device had an eSIM. After that you have to do some JavaScript shenanigans on the website to get the QR code. But after that, everything works flaw…

3GB of Data + Unlimited SMS and Calls for free sounds very nice? Can you share the name of the provider so that we can add it to our eSIM comparison for Germany https://www.monito.com/en/esim-plans-compared

What's the reason for these lower prices? Data only 5gb/month for $5 or $6 seems to be the summary of the link, amazing! I think the answer is there is lots of competition and they've driven the price down to this point. That's an incredible price.

Of course this would be immensely useful. For example, can I put this in my vehicle with built in maps (or just have a hotspot in my vehicle to use with a tablet). As a price comparison, in the us there are some EVs that charge $100/year for basically this, most charge a lot more. That's $8.33/month, so only a bit more than $6 or 7. But in the us it's hard or impossible get anything that low for just raw service, I can't find anything like that.

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

#152

Post by mbesto »

brotchie wrote: post #145
mbesto wrote: post #140

Tangentially related - I recently got the holy grail of eSIM travel router setup: - GLiNet Mudi v2: https://store.gl-inet.com/products/mudi-v2-portable-4g-lte-r... - EIOT Physical eSim https://store.gl-inet.com/products/esim-experience-seamless-... - 20GB Worldwide Airalo for 365 days ($69): https://www.airalo.com/global-esim/discover-365days-20gb Buy the airalo esim on my iphone. Download the QR code. Upload it to t…

Nice, thanks for the reccomendations, the Mudi V2 looks great. Any limitations / bumps in the road, or it "just works"?

Yes! I had to flash it with beta firmware since the eSim Manager disappears using Airalo.

https://dl.gl-inet.com/release/router/testing/e750/4.3.21

   Fixed the problem that esim manage page is lost after installing some esim profiles.

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

#153

Post by miki123211 »

Ghoelian wrote: post #32
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…

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.

Calls can freely be handed over between VoLTE and VoWiFi, depending on signal quality, and that often happens without the user's knowledge or explicit consent.

This means that "no roaming costs over WiFi" is a very dicy proposition, as a carrier either needs to restrict handovers (and I don't even know if that's allowed by the spec, not to mention the implications of dropping calls when going out of WiFi Range), cover the costs themselves, or move them onto the unsuspecting user if a handover happens.

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

#154

Post by stavros »

mfkp wrote: post #124

These have been around for a while. Alternatives: https://esim.5ber.com/ https://esim.me/ https://jmp.chat/esim-adapter

Which one is the best of these? Do they work in every country? I can't tell if the do some internet-connected magic or if they just program the SIM so that it appears like a bog-standard SIM to the phone.

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

#156

Post by mfkp »

stavros wrote: post #154
mfkp wrote: post #124

These have been around for a while. Alternatives: https://esim.5ber.com/ https://esim.me/ https://jmp.chat/esim-adapter

Which one is the best of these? Do they work in every country? I can't tell if the do some internet-connected magic or if they just program the SIM so that it appears like a bog-standard SIM to the phone.

I've personally never tried since my phone supports e-sim but people on the internet report good findings with the 5ber card (note that you need the "Ultra" card for iPhone, the other ones are android only).

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

#157

Post by mrshadowgoose »

mfkp wrote: post #124

These have been around for a while. Alternatives: https://esim.5ber.com/ https://esim.me/ https://jmp.chat/esim-adapter

Just an anecdotal single data point:

I've tried the esim.me and the jmp offerings in the same set of phones.

esim.me was generally quite glitchy and ultimately just stopped working. The requirement of having an esim.me account also just rubbed me the wrong way.

jmp has been a seamless experience so far.

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

#158

Post by stavros »

mfkp wrote: post #156
stavros wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which one is the best of these? Do they work in every country? I can't tell if the do some internet-connected magic or if they just program the SIM so that it appears like a bog-standard SIM to the phone.

I've personally never tried since my phone supports e-sim but people on the internet report good findings with the 5ber card (note that you need the "Ultra" card for iPhone, the other ones are android only).

Thank you!

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

#159

Post by xeroaura »

mbesto wrote: post #140

Tangentially related - I recently got the holy grail of eSIM travel router setup: - GLiNet Mudi v2: https://store.gl-inet.com/products/mudi-v2-portable-4g-lte-r... - EIOT Physical eSim https://store.gl-inet.com/products/esim-experience-seamless-... - 20GB Worldwide Airalo for 365 days ($69): https://www.airalo.com/global-esim/discover-365days-20gb Buy the airalo esim on my iphone. Download the QR code. Upload it to t…

Have you checked out Eskimo esim?

They have coupons every so often on holidays for their worldwide esims. I believe they have one going for Chinese New Years that makes 30GB for $80. The data also has a 2 year expiration that rolls over on any global data purchase.

Downside is their esims (mostly? all?) terminate in Singapore, so higher latency outside of the Asia region.

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

#160

Post by bloggie »

doix wrote: post #28
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…

In which countries are eSIMs cheaper? I have never encountered this in Africa or in Asia. I was just in Vietnam, a local SIM was probably 50% cheaper than anything I could find on esimdb. Currently I'm in Georgia, unlimited internet for a week is 9 GEL, or around 3ish USD per week. The cheapest on esdimdb is 19 USD for unlimited internet for a week. What we usually do when we travel is buy the cheapest eSIM, usually…

I don't know if eSIMs are more expensive or less than a local SIM, but they are much more convenient for me when I travel. I can have working internet as soon as I step off the plane, which is great for finding transportation and not having to deal with kiosks that won't speak any language I know and might be closed. I don't have to hand over my passport to get a SIM, and in China they get around the firewall. The cost of an eSIM vs the cost of travel is too small to notice but the convenience is always noticed.
Post reply on HN