Jun 5, 2023, 6:06 pm
Last edit by: username
Free data/trials (control-f to find the actual section for each provider)
Be ADVISED: ALL Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong version of EVERY Phone DOES NOT HAVE SUPPORT for eSim
eSIM features to consider
Unique feature
Longer term data (180day to no expiry)
PAYG data
- Eskimo 1GB 2year - Note: Even though Eskimo is based in Singapore, Singapore is not one of the included countries, probably due to regulatory reasons
- RedBullMobile 100MB 1year
- Yesim 350 coins 1 year
- ExtremeConnect
Be ADVISED: ALL Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong version of EVERY Phone DOES NOT HAVE SUPPORT for eSim
- Best device = Apple iPhone
- Supports dual eSIM (most android phones w/ eSIM have 1 physical + 1 eSIM slot, but cannot use 2 eSIMs together)
- Depending on carrier, supports DSDV (VoLTE voice calls on sim1 gets routed through sim2.data, as though you were doing WiFi calling)
- Some androids might support DSDV
- esim.me
- Allows you to use eSIM on non-native eSIM device
- Requires supported/modern phone
- Pricey / confusing options
eSIM features to consider
- Network coverage
- which networks are supported (not all eSIM list the networks, and networks can change overtime)
- You may want to avoid lower-tier networks or if your phone doesn't support their LTE/5G bands
- Amount of data
- "Unlimited" data typically has fair usage in ToS/fineprint, eg 0.5-1GB per day or 1GB every 3 days, reset on 4th day midnight. may or may not allow hotspot
- Generally data-limited plans allow full-speed w/ hotspot, some offer slow 128kbps after you hit the limit while others cut you off immediately)
- length of coverage
- eg: 1 day, 3 day, 7 day, 30day, 180day, 365day, noExpiry
- Country coverage (single country, regional/EU, global)
- Proxy/Latency/IP
- Most eSIM providers route you back to their main network, which can incur latency
- Your searches will probably geo-locate back to that main network (instead of the country you're in)
- Some of your apps may not work (eg Pandora radio only works in USA, won't work in another country)
- Data sharing / transfering of eSIM to new device
- A few providers allow you to share data, so you can split one plan with multiple eSIM devices (Eskimo, Dent, Vegolink)
- Many providers only allow you to activate eSIM profile once. if you have to switch phones, you either lose that data, or have to pay a token amount to get a new eSIM profile with the remaining balance
- Price/GB
- How data is counted per session
- Usually in ToS, usually its rounded up per 1KB/10KB/100KB/1MB increments. Obviously smaller increment is better
- Method of activation
- Some providers require you to use their app to load the eSIM
- Others send you QR code and/or activation URL, for you to manually load onto phone
- You need valid network access (via wifi or existing mobile data) to activate eSIM
- Expiry countdown
- Some providers start counting down expiry once you purchase, or once you activate eSIM onto phone, or once you set foot into country
- Speed
- generally these eSIM providers get low priority, could be a problem if there is network congestion
- you may want to consider a proper provider over an MVNO
- Visual Voicemail - it seems depending on the phone and carrier, Visual Voicemail might require a Cellular Connection through your provider or their roaming partners. So, Visual Voicemail might not work if you are using a data-only eSIM with roaming turned off for your "home line"
Unique feature
- Ubigi
- free eSIM profile. If you don't have valid plan, the eSIM still allows you to connect & browse ubigi.me (and purchase data via creditcard/paypal)
- Seems native geo-located IP but still through a regional proxy with some latency (Transactel owns part of Ubigi, and Transactel has their own backend)
Longer term data (180day to no expiry)
- Yesim (coins expire 1 year)
- Dent (1 year)
- Eskimo (2 year)
- Esimplus (no expiry)
- AIS eSIM2Fly topup (365 day)
- 3HK (365 day)
PAYG data
- Yesim (varies, deducts from sharedWallet)
- Dent (10/GB)
- RedBullMobile (varies, need to prepay per GB)
eSIM thread
Mar 21, 2019, 5:40 am
#31
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 238
I do not think this works. I am a T-Mo customer and am trying to find a way to use my T-Mo phone plus another SIM. It turns out that to get a T-Mo eSIM you have to have a T-Mo prepaid account which does not have roaming. This sucks for me as I was hoping to move a foreign SIM (from a country with no eSIM offers yet) to combine two phones in one and still have T-Mo roaming and other benefits of their postpaid accounts.
I have the Global Plus 15GB add-on which gives me the awesome global roaming, and now I'm adding RedPockets Verizon plan for coverage in the USA where T-Mobile isn't there. It's going to be the best of both worlds!
Mar 21, 2019, 9:21 am
#32
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP; BoNVoY Tit LTP
Posts: 1,923
They officially don't support eSIM on postpaid, but you can "convince" them to let you try. Don't mention eSIM, I gave my EID and then the person pushed back saying it wasn't 19 digits and was I trying to do eSIM? I then complained that I really needed this to put by business sim on my phone as well, and just to try it please! The person did it and everything worked. Took about 3 tries through iMessage and Twitter DMs before one did it though. There is a guide out there on how to set it up.
I have the Global Plus 15GB add-on which gives me the awesome global roaming, and now I'm adding RedPockets Verizon plan for coverage in the USA where T-Mobile isn't there. It's going to be the best of both worlds!
I have the Global Plus 15GB add-on which gives me the awesome global roaming, and now I'm adding RedPockets Verizon plan for coverage in the USA where T-Mobile isn't there. It's going to be the best of both worlds!
Sorry to be a bit dense here, but could you take me step by step through what you asked for? Many thanks
Mar 21, 2019, 11:17 am
#33
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,231
Mar 24, 2019, 3:48 pm
#35
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: PDX
Programs: AA Plat, Nexus
Posts: 358
This reminded me to read that thread again. If you sort comments by "NEW", you'll get the most recent (and thus more accurate) results.
So, I tried it. Took 10 minutes, most of which was waiting for back and forth responses (reps are handling multiple chats at a time).
This is how it went:
Did it yesterday via the in-app chat, went like this: 10 minutes, no arguing needed.
Me: Hello, I would like to do a SIM swap on my xxx-yyy-zzzz line.
EID is 890400000999988887777666655554444.
TMO rep: Sure, I can definitely help you out to activate your eSIM. just a heads, T-Mobile postpaid does not support the eSIM. Would you still like to proceed?
Me: As in, does not support, but can be done, and I accept the responsibility and know there may be issues?
Her: Thank you so much for your understanding, /me. There might be glitches, but no worries, I can activate it for you,
Her: (Warning about contacts stored on SIM / downloaded visual voicemail deleted / Should take minutes, but may take up to two hours)
Me: Yes, I would like to proceed.
Her: Got it! Doing it now! (sends PIN)
Me: (Sends PIN back)
Her: Thanks! Almost done! 2 minutes please.
Her (two minute later): Done with the process!
Instead of steps 5-7 from the reddit post, I Scanned the QR linked in multiple comments in the reddit post ( https://imgur.com/a/3G0fMZc ). Done.
I used the mobile App chat, with my physical SIM in an old iPhone SE, on WiFi, so I was able to continue through the whole process, and go on to troubleshoot a related issue with the same rep in the same chat.
I did the EID via copy/paste to avoid any typos. iCloud cross-device clipboard came in handy here.
Despite having no physical SIM in the iPhone XS during this process, the eSIM line shows as secondary.
Heads up for anyone with an Apple Watch on cellular: Watch lost connection as soon as it went through. I had to unpair and repair it. TMO rep was kind enough to check on her end, and stayed on chat to make sure things worked.
So, I tried it. Took 10 minutes, most of which was waiting for back and forth responses (reps are handling multiple chats at a time).
This is how it went:
Did it yesterday via the in-app chat, went like this: 10 minutes, no arguing needed.
Me: Hello, I would like to do a SIM swap on my xxx-yyy-zzzz line.
EID is 890400000999988887777666655554444.
TMO rep: Sure, I can definitely help you out to activate your eSIM. just a heads, T-Mobile postpaid does not support the eSIM. Would you still like to proceed?
Me: As in, does not support, but can be done, and I accept the responsibility and know there may be issues?
Her: Thank you so much for your understanding, /me. There might be glitches, but no worries, I can activate it for you,
Her: (Warning about contacts stored on SIM / downloaded visual voicemail deleted / Should take minutes, but may take up to two hours)
Me: Yes, I would like to proceed.
Her: Got it! Doing it now! (sends PIN)
Me: (Sends PIN back)
Her: Thanks! Almost done! 2 minutes please.
Her (two minute later): Done with the process!
Instead of steps 5-7 from the reddit post, I Scanned the QR linked in multiple comments in the reddit post ( https://imgur.com/a/3G0fMZc ). Done.
I used the mobile App chat, with my physical SIM in an old iPhone SE, on WiFi, so I was able to continue through the whole process, and go on to troubleshoot a related issue with the same rep in the same chat.
I did the EID via copy/paste to avoid any typos. iCloud cross-device clipboard came in handy here.
Despite having no physical SIM in the iPhone XS during this process, the eSIM line shows as secondary.
Heads up for anyone with an Apple Watch on cellular: Watch lost connection as soon as it went through. I had to unpair and repair it. TMO rep was kind enough to check on her end, and stayed on chat to make sure things worked.
Apr 4, 2019, 7:38 am
#37
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Cleveland, OH
Programs: UA-GS 1MM), Hertz Pres Circle, Starriott Titanium)
Posts: 1,966
Apr 12, 2019, 9:17 am
#39
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: LAX
Programs: Fallen DL DM (PM) 2MM
Posts: 4,783
I am coming up on my next trip (Germany, Czechia) and am looking to try one of the international eSim providers but there really is very little objective discussion of GigSky, Ubigi, Truphone, eSIM2Fly, SomethingElse? out there on the web. The price differences aren't really the issue for me, the reliability and usability are the key. A few in this thread have reported good results but I was wondering if anybody had any more recent experiences, good or bad? TIA
Apr 21, 2019, 11:54 am
#40
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Boise and McCall Idaho
Programs: DL, UA, AA, Hawaiian, Alaska
Posts: 245
Just back from 4 days in Barcelona. Tried Ubigi for this trip. Normally I'd bring a MiFi device and just buy a local data sim. I have a iPhone Xs max on Verizon.
I was on a trans Atlantic cruise and made the mistake of trying to set up the Ubigi profile while at sea. That really didn't work well as it needed a good data connection to validate, not just a wifi connection. Once I was finally able to set up the esim profile I didn't have any issues. I selected the 10gb plan for 30 days at $19 paid through PayPal. Apple pay would have been a nice option.
While in Barcelona the connection was almost always on Orange LTE with some time at 3G. On LTE I SpeedTested at between 15 and 20 mbps down and 10 up.
I was able to use my phone as a hotspot. Note that you have to go in and manually add the APN's for this to work. Which is outlined on their FAQ's
The one issue I had, and it just might be the way I was using the device, is that I couldn't receive SMS without activating my Verizon plan and then incurring a $10 daily international fee. iMessage and WhatsApp worked just fine. I did have WiFi calling turned on as well. I received a notification from Verizon, I'm assuming, that a SMS text was waiting form me if I activated the roaming, which I thought was a sneaky way to get me to use the international day pass.
Overall I was happy with the service. Had I just used the Verizon daily pass I would have blown through the minuscule daily LTE allotment they give you.
I'm thinking one solution for the SMS issue is to have people use email or WhatsApp to get a hold of me.
I was on a trans Atlantic cruise and made the mistake of trying to set up the Ubigi profile while at sea. That really didn't work well as it needed a good data connection to validate, not just a wifi connection. Once I was finally able to set up the esim profile I didn't have any issues. I selected the 10gb plan for 30 days at $19 paid through PayPal. Apple pay would have been a nice option.
While in Barcelona the connection was almost always on Orange LTE with some time at 3G. On LTE I SpeedTested at between 15 and 20 mbps down and 10 up.
I was able to use my phone as a hotspot. Note that you have to go in and manually add the APN's for this to work. Which is outlined on their FAQ's
The one issue I had, and it just might be the way I was using the device, is that I couldn't receive SMS without activating my Verizon plan and then incurring a $10 daily international fee. iMessage and WhatsApp worked just fine. I did have WiFi calling turned on as well. I received a notification from Verizon, I'm assuming, that a SMS text was waiting form me if I activated the roaming, which I thought was a sneaky way to get me to use the international day pass.
Overall I was happy with the service. Had I just used the Verizon daily pass I would have blown through the minuscule daily LTE allotment they give you.
I'm thinking one solution for the SMS issue is to have people use email or WhatsApp to get a hold of me.
Apr 22, 2019, 7:22 am
#41
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,231
SMS is tied to your SIM card and phone number. You can only use it if you're using your normal account. Some carriers might offer SMS forwarding, but I don't think I've ever seen it.
WhatsApp/email/Viber/Facebook Messenger/Instagram/Snapchat etc are all other options.
WhatsApp/email/Viber/Facebook Messenger/Instagram/Snapchat etc are all other options.
Apr 22, 2019, 7:34 am
#42
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
Verizon's Messages+ makes your Verizon account's SMS available from a Windows or iOS device. I haven't used an iOS version, but I don't imagine it will work from an iPhone that doesn't have a Verizon SIM card in it.
Apr 22, 2019, 7:46 am
#43
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: San Jose CA
Posts: 1,100
- .
- “Victim of its success, we cannot provide new eSIM profiles during a few days”
- My iPhone X doesn't support eSIM, I'd need an XS or XR. But given how much I travel, I'd probably save money by upgrading.
Apr 22, 2019, 9:24 am
#44
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: City of Angels
Programs: DL Kettle| HH Pot
Posts: 525
The Verizon Messages+ app does work with a different SIM. I assume you just need to activate the app with a Verizon SIM. After that it uses data.
Apr 22, 2019, 12:06 pm
#45
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474