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

Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

arstechnica.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 292 posts

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#171

Post by expedition32 »

walidthedream wrote: post #32

I am quite annoyed by the people who don't see the issue with eSim because "they never had an issue" with it. It's like having one murder down your block and stating that you don't see the issue because nobody attempted to murder you so far. ESim are backed up as part of iCloud backups, had one dodgy carrier in Europe (Lyca) who never activated my eSim so I switched back to a new carrier but I had to get a transfer a…

So don't do business with dodgy telcos and stick to the big ones?

And as a bonus the established players even have their own stores in every mall!

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#172

Post by mikepurvis »

kiwijamo wrote: post #154
abigail95 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I'm lucky enough to only have had providers where it would take 0-3 hours to create a new eSIM profile. Compared to 3-7 days for a new SIM.

Note that if you just have a broken phone you don't need a new SIM, you just pop it out and pop it in the new phone. So 1min for a physical SIM vs 0-3 hours to create a new eSIM profile. I know which one will be faster. :)

Yes, that was the situation for me exactly, that basically if I lose or break my phone, I obviously have other devices that can access 1Password and my email, but I'm locked out of anything that requires SMS or an authenticator app to 2FA.

Definitely made me feel that at the very least I should be getting a yubikey so that I can have authenticator codes across multiple devices.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#173

Post by precommunicator »

pan69 wrote: post #110

The way telecommunications works needs a complete overhaul. IMHO it needs something similar to a domain name system where you register (and own) your phone number and control which provider your eSIM is pointing to (like DNS). But so many industries are rooted in control it would be nearly impossible to make any meaningful change.

there is the e164.arpa domain, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_number_mapping

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#174

Post by Carrok »

squigz wrote: post #146
vovavili wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It might be more expensive than the competition By a _substantial_ margin, because the best bang-for-your-buck strategy with smartphones for a long time has been to buy used or refurbished popular flagships for the last one or two years. As much as I like what Xperias are doing with a headphone jack and an SD card slot, the used market for them is almost non-existent. Even if you somehow manage to get a good deal, i…

Those magnetic wallets seem like a terrible idea.

I've used one for years now. No issues. Not sure what you're worried about.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#175

Post by pwdisswordfishy »

expedition32 wrote: post #171
walidthedream wrote: post #32

I am quite annoyed by the people who don't see the issue with eSim because "they never had an issue" with it. It's like having one murder down your block and stating that you don't see the issue because nobody attempted to murder you so far. ESim are backed up as part of iCloud backups, had one dodgy carrier in Europe (Lyca) who never activated my eSim so I switched back to a new carrier but I had to get a transfer a…

So don't do business with dodgy telcos and stick to the big ones? And as a bonus the established players even have their own stores in every mall!

Yay for oligopolies!

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#176

Post by jech »

reverserdev wrote: post #12

Some random person I met dropped their phone in a river, just after arriving in a foreign country. He bought a new phone, but getting back to his phone number was not easy or possible for him (while in a foreign country). If he had an eSIM it would have quickly solved the problem for him. Instead he had to wait until he got home to pop in a new SIM card. I learned from this experience that maybe eSIM is a good idea a…

> in a foreign country [...] If he had an eSIM it would have quickly solved the problem for him. Instead he had to wait until he got home to pop in a new SIM card.

Are you sure that his carrier allows activating an eSIM while roaming? Mine definitely doesn't, which means that if I break my phone while abroad, I lose access to online banking.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#177

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

waweic wrote: post #16

Technologically, eSIMs are pretty nice. The electrical interface between the phone modem and the eSIM is the same as with a real SIM card, and the eSIM can run the same applications as a real SIM card, so at this point you can buy smartcards that can be swapped between devices and run eSIM applications. esim.me, 9esim and the "sysmocom eUICC for eSIM" (seems to be the most open/friendly at this point) are some of the…

> The major advantage is now that the expensive and time-consuming part ... is ... sending out a physical SIM card

For the carriers I can see that. Especially the part where users can't move their esim without carrier cooperation. That grants telcos (and sometimes handset manufacturers) additional control over users - control that they don't get with physical sim.

And physical sim save me time and money. I get a new SIM each month. It's 1 min to swap it and update my forwarding #. Service is reliably cheap.

When I need my sim elsewhere (ex:5g router), I just move it.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#178

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

AlexandrB wrote: post #92
spwa4 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The spec allows carriers to disallow removal of an eSIM, to allow for subsidized phone business models (in other words: this change was demanded by the carriers). So you should blame the carrier, not the manufacturer that simply implements the spec. It might be nice if manufacturers implement a HUUGE LOUD warning when enabling an eSIM that requires carrier authorization to remove though. Someone should put that in th…

It's manufacturers ( cough Apple) removing the option to use more user-friendly SIMs that don't give the carriers this lever of control.

Yes because Apple of all companies have a history of giving carriers control of the experience.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#179

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

dredmorbius wrote: post #148
tayo42 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the cameras as good?

If you're so concerned about camera quality ... buy a dedicated camera. A 32 MP+ point-and-shoot starts at about $40, though goes up from there (to several thousand dollars for top models). As a bonus, it has an expected life far exceeding that of a smartphone.

Yes because I really want to carry around two devices including a crappy phone. The latest version of iOS supports iPhones from 2019 and Apple is releasing security updates farther back than that.

Re: Swapping SIM cards used to be easy, and then came eSIM

#180

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

Lvl999Noob wrote: post #153
delta_p_delta_x wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse quality, latency, potential to lose one (or both) earbuds, having to faff with batteries and charging and cases (and charging the charging case) when I can just... plug it in, bam, music in my ears. The knotting is a small price to pay for the improved quality and convenience in every other way. What's wrong with analogue audio?

My 2c. The risk of losing one (or both) earbud is a real one. My ears don't tend to keep snug grip on the earbuds so they tend to get loose after I walk a little. With earbuds, this might just be my own singular piece but, there is also the chance that only one of the two would connect to your phone. On the other hand, the cables get tangled together. I can't walk around with them because the cable gets stuck in the…

Then don’t buy headphones like that. I have AirPods Pro. But I also have a pair of $50 Beat Flex that if they fall out of my ear they just go around my neck. I use them when I travel.

I bought a pair of double flange doohickies to replace the standard ones.

Post reply on HN