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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

#221

Post by hintymad »

rendaw wrote: post #83
hintymad wrote: post #61

I wonder if there's a reversed solution: using physical SIM card on devices that have only eSIMs. The use case: recent fewer versions of iPhone support only eSIMs, yet we will need a physical sim when traveling in China (yes yes, one could use roaming. It's just that with a China phone number, one can do more).

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

A big reason is that an eSIM is virtual, which means anyone can easily get an eSIM that allows them to punch through the great firewall -- a defeat that the Chinese government would never allow to happen

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

#222

Post by betamaxthetape »

Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

PhD student here, working on 5G systems. I too would be very interested in this. Email in my profile - and am happy to link you to my academic email once you've reached out if you want to confirm my academic credentials :)

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

#223

Post by lxgr »

sureIy wrote: post #201
lxgr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but that's a problem of bad network operators, not the eSIM standard. Operators could also release physical SIMs that get tied to a given phone's IMEI after first insertion if they really wanted to.

Yes, but that's a problem of bad people, not guns. Either way, the end result is that I have to identify myself at a store to move some eSIMs and many are simply not transferable (particularly from Airalo)

Airalo SIMs wouldn't even exist without eSIM, so arguably that's still a consumer win, not a loss, even though I obviously also wish they were transferable.

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

#224

Post by porphyra »

Elucalidavah wrote: post #110
porphyra wrote: post #107

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".

I wonder if there's a way to use a dongle (or a small wireless Bluetooth device or something) to connect a physical SIM to a phone that doesn't have a physical SIM slot.

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

#225

Post by venusenvy47 »

herbst wrote: post #18
pjmlp wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have not yet traveled to a place that doesn't have cheap prepaid SIM on the Airport, or some Internet cafes.

Cheap 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 :)

What is the best way to find a cheap eSIM? Do you wait until you arrive in the country? Or can you ship somewhere before arriving?

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

#226

Post by Fischgericht »

mmastrac wrote: post #220
Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

I'd be interested as well.

Sent.

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

#227

Post by Fischgericht »

betamaxthetape wrote: post #222
Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

PhD student here, working on 5G systems. I too would be very interested in this. Email in my profile - and am happy to link you to my academic email once you've reached out if you want to confirm my academic credentials :)

Sent.

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

#228

Post by Fischgericht »

GoldfishTank wrote: post #210
Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

Not the OP, but I would appreciate any docs you could share. I have an email in my profile. Thank you!

Sent.

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

#229

Post by Fischgericht »

deivid wrote: post #211
Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

if you could send it my way, email is in profile

Sent.

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

#230

Post by Fischgericht »

Fischgericht wrote: post #94

In case the original author reads this: Depending on what 4G/LTE modem/chip your laptop it is using (it must be based on a Qualcomm SoC which 99% are), there are and I can share documents on how you can do the provisioning directly on the Laptop the SIM card is in. The feature is present in the stock Qualcomm firmware bundle, but vendors like Quectel, Sierra etc may decide if they include the feature or not. I know t…

I hope I am not overhyping this. It's just some source code and documentation. And meanwhile I found out that the libqmi team also is already working on an implementation, so none of this may be needed.

To make the source code work in a general fashion with most Qualcomm modems you might have lots of work to do.

Also, as mentioned: It's up to the vendor to decide if they keep the LPA eSIM support in their firmware, or remove it, or disable this in QMI. Sierra Wireless for example for long was known to throw most stuff out because their flash else would not have had enough space for both the PCIe MBIM and USB QMI firmware they needed to implement, so tons of stuff is missing in their QMI.

For some vendors you will need some magic commands to enable some SIM-related features.

So please don't be disappointed if this turns out to be of no use. It's just a fragment that may be able to help solving a puzzle, or maybe not.

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