Ya its a new phone from ATT so on a plan - Does it matter that Add Esim is active? and seems to give me the option of adding a second one?

AT&T has unlocked phones on my account for international use after a customer service call.

Having the option and being able to complete the process of adding a 2nd esim are not the same. I guess you could buy/try it and see, you should be able to see locked status for both sims in either the ABOUT page or the CELLULAR page. That’s where mine was showing before the unlocked the phone and both sims.

You can always try and call them, maybe 611, not sure. There isn’t a page or portal for “my phone is locked and I still owe money on it, but want to travel int’l and not use ATT but a third party eSIM, will you unlock it”. Hard to tell. I’ve tried that before and they wouldn’t budge. YMMV, I thought having been an ATT mobility or mobile customer for ~ 33 years at the time would have helped, but it didn’t. I just ended up taking my prior years phone for the int’l sim.

I just checked my iPhone 14 from a trade 3 months ago: settings, general, about, carrier lock which displays “no sim restrictions”.

just used airalo in liberia, costa rica.

note the WIFI blocks the airalo servers, so i had to hotspot

CJ

"The wifi"? Perhaps you can be m:confused:re specific.

i am sorry.

the public Wifi in the Liberia, Costa Rica blocks the airalo servers (404 error)

so, i needed to use a hotspot from another person

How does the public wifi block cellular data?

i needed WIFI to activate the esim in Costa rica

Not sure if this is new, or just new to the SIM I'm buying, but...

Tried to buy a new Israel eSIM from Airalo today, but it kicked me into a "eKYC" (Know Your Customer) workload where I needed to take a photo of my ID and then a selfie to verify who I was. They are using Jumio for the actual verification. The app struggled badly to even take a photo of my Australian drivers license, but eventually it did - only to have it rejected because there was a "glare" on the photo, and it told me to take it in an area with better lighting. Problem is, Australian drivers licenses have a number of reflective hologram images on them, that will show up in pretty much any light, and that seems to be what it had detected as the reflection. 2nd attempt also failed. 3rd attempt I actually took a photo whilst in a dark area and it finally worked.

Or at least, worked for that stage. Next it detected the license I was using was expired (which is fair - it did expire a month or two back, although technically it's still considered valid ID in Australia for the next year or so). Using my US drivers license did work, although the app is still showing as it being in the process of verification despite me already receiving an email saying it's already been done.

This wasn't needed the last time I bought an Israel SIM, but obviously is now. Not a major problems, but if you were trying to buy one quickly it certainly delays the process...

I've always wondered where the "eKYC" was required, because it's shown up on Airalo's descriptions for a few years but every eSIM I've ever looked at said "Not Required". I'm sitting at DXB now and noticed that the same thing is listed for UAE eSIMs, which might explain why the Flexiroam SIM I've been using all over the place doesn't work here.

Interestingly, 3 HK's 'world' plan covers Israel and the UAE and still only requires ID verification if you want Hong Kong local service.

I really wish more carriers would allow you to sign up for a plan online and activate an eSIM before you even arrive in the country. Having to go to a store to do it defeats the purpose because often they aren't near the airport and are closed by the time you arrive.

Airalo is good but I don't find the speeds to be great as it appears the service it being routed through another country. I guess it's really a SIM from another country with roaming activated. Also, their prices are much higher than local SIMs but I guess you are paying for convenience.

"Default Voice Line changed"
 

I'm using an Airalo eSIM in an iPhone SE (2020) in England. Repeatedly, the phone has presented the notification "Default Voice Line changed". When I check the Cellular settings, the default voice line has not changed, Cellular Data is using the Airalo eSIM, and there is a new entry is the list of SIMS: Used as "Personal". Where the other SIMs in the list say On or Off, Used as "Personal" says No SIM and under it, where the default voice line shows a telephone number and a formerly used Airalo eSIM that has expired says No Number, Used as "Personal" says No Number. Interestingly, the Airalo eSIM that is in use for Cellular Data does not show anything corresponding to a telephone number or No Number. If I touch Used as "Personal", I see a message Cellular Plan No Longer Available and an option to choose the Airalo eSIM that is shown as being used for Cellular Data or the SIM associated with the Default Voice Line.

What is going on?

I'm presuming it's down to the laws in the country where the SIM is from (NOT where you're using it, which may or may not be the same place).

For example, Australia has fairly strict rules around verification when activating a SIM card (rules that likely even Airalo's eKYC wouldn't meet). However their eSIMs for Australia appear to be roaming SIM from another country, so they can avoid this requirement..

That said, the Israel one doesn't seem to make much sense. Their currently eSIM is from Annatel, which is an Israel based provider (non-roaming), and Israel doesn't require verification of ID before using a prepaid SIM, so there should be no need from eKYC from what I can see...

Hi, looking for some advice.

I am based in the UK and travelling to Qatar. I have an iPhone 14 that is unlocked. I use an eSIM in the UK.

Any thoughts on which eSIM I should get for use in Qatar. My current package allows use in EU / USA / Canada so this is a first for me.

Thanks