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

neilzone.co.uk

171–180 of 244 posts

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

#171
post #126
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…

I'm implementing a fully libre open-source vowifi/volte client for Android that runs in JVM sandbox, rather than untrustable modem. During my development I went through a protocol detail that I was too lazy to implement: you're supposed to announce which is the last 4g cell you saw even when doing Vowifi. I just hardcoded a value and forgot about it. And then, I get a user who tells me that their carrier is saying th…

Is there a link to this client? I'd be interested to play around with it.

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

#172
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.

Also a +1 for JMP. not glitch free, but I think the glitches were in me, and in the eSim provider. The tool(s) do what they say on the (virtual) box.

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

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I think most EU carriers use geo blocking for VoWiFi. A lot of non-European carriers advertise VoWiFi as a cheap alternative for roaming.

For EU carriers roaming used to be a big business (Europe is probably the region where most traveling abroad happens, many small countries close together without travel restrictions). The EU carriers don't seem to be able to let go of crazy roaming charges (5€ per minute and more are not uncommon outside of EU).

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

#174
post #3
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

One 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.

Sorry, move them from what to what? Surely an eSIM isn't locked to the first phone I use it on?

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

#175
post #143
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> eSIMs _could_ have been an anti-consumer nightmare Really? Because I can swap a SIM card between phones in 30 seconds whereas swapping eSIM lies between "hoping it works" and "not possible", passing by "you'll need a document" or "visit the store, if it's anywhere in your city/country"

I can swap my eSIM between phones faster than I can remove my phone case.

There's a difference between "my specific thing works" and "all such things work". Not all eSIMs are transferable.

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

#176
post #89
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need a physical sim in China? Are there just no esim providers? Or is it something deeper?

I only know eSIM providers for data

But normally you wouldn't want to use a local SIM in China because of the great firewall. I usually buy local SIMs but China is an exception. I can't live without Wikipedia.

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

#177

I'm interested in solving the opposite problem: using physical SIMs with devices that only have eSIM. This is extremely important when going to mainland China as physical SIMs are required there.

Using an eSIM data on a physical sim is relatively straightforward; getting the keys from a physical SIM to use as an eSIM is relatively non-trivial, as "the card is designed to never divulge this key to the outside world".

It sounds like a regular SIM is more secure than an eSIM. Are there any implications to the user?

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

#178
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.

+1 jmp a bit weird interface but no artificial restrictions like esimme

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

#179
I would love to have a simple device out of the box that can receive sms and send them via api to a Webserver.

Just with my own SIM card, or even multiple SIM cards.

I m working on a diy solution with cheap sim800c usb modems but it’s just not that good.

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

#180
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…

What's the reason for the mudi device? Why not just use the esim in the iphone and have the iphone in hotspot mode? Just battery life?

A 4G/5G router creates a "real" WiFi network rather than a personal network.

Hotspotting is great for 1 or 2 devices, but devices are reluctant to connect to a personal hotspot automatically (Apple devices, at least). You have to manually select/tap the hotspot every time, which gets to be a pain when you have multiple devices and you're using it as your daily, primary internet connection.

I might also want to leave the house/hotel room/office for whatever reason with my phone but keep other devices connected. In this case the router can either be fixed in place (and plugged in) or travel with me on battery. Flexibility!

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