Thank you, greatly appreciated!

Had a big hassle with eSIM in Australia. Last year I was able to buy eSIM prepaid on the Telstra app.

This year, I got a week of "network trial" on Optus, up to 30 GB for 7 days on the Optus app. That was the case last year.

This year, when I try to buy on the Telstra app, I can't log on. It takes my password and email but then prompts for a Telstra account. I called, went to store and they finally determined that my account is borked and I can't create a new one either because it's tied to my passport. Telstra asked if I had an Australian drivers license I could use to make a new account.:rolleyes:

Tried Vodafone, as their website promises to send you a QR code. Well they had a 12 AUD deal so I went for it but then it wants you to store a credit card and save it for auto charge. This is according to a chat agent. Then it says they couldn't activate right away, we'll get back to you.

They NEVER activated. Again go to store, call phone support. They kept handing me around to different departments, never activated. I disputed the charge with Apple Card, because they also refused to refund, claiming that I should have a receipt number. I have an order number, a reference number and I even picked a phone number for the eSIM.

So screw Vodafone Australia.

I only had a few days left so I went into my iPad and looked at the choices there. The best I could see was RedTeaGo, 5 GB for 7 days for $7. There was another plan for 10 GB for $15. But I figured I could always do the 5 GB twice if I needed to.

So it worked alright but the network says RedTeaGo. I don't know if that's an actual Aussie MVNO. I assumed RedTeaGo was some international MVNO and it would roam on Optus or something like that.

Speeds never hit triple digits though it showed 5G at times. I was in Melbourne CBD.

Also the hotspot was spotty, my iPhone 17 Pro Max would not always connect to it.

Ok to use in a pinch but RedTeaGo in Australia, I'd say meh.


Anyways, I complained with both Vodafone and Telstra. Telstra encouraged me to call in and they'd try to help me create a new account somehow. As I was returning to the US in a few days, I didn't call them.

On Whirlpool forums, they noted the prepaid situation is bad, some talked about how they could get an eSIM in some Asian countries easily, get a QR code with minimal hassles.

Hopefully the Australian carriers will do more to cater to visitors.

However, they're also pushing postpaid, like I said they wanted me to set up auto-recharge and Optus, after their free deal, would only show me postpaid plans through their app.

That network name can be overwritten by the esim provider, doesn't mean anything.

iPhones have field test menu, so you should be able to see the MNC/MCC if the underlying operator. But if you try to go to manually select network, all the networks will show up as the same name, soyou can't force yourself on another network (assuming esim supports those networks)

https://docs.celona.io/en/articles/1...ield-test-mode

https://www.reddit.com/r/Visible/com...me_as_verizon/

Esim provider does this name overriding for different reasons. Could be name recognition (provider want phone to show their name), or network steering (provider doesn't want you to manually select a more expensive network, provider wants to control which network you connect to)

First time I've encountered this.

Don't like it, prefer transparency.

But I guess that is how they offer the lowest prices, route you on the lowest-price roaming carrier.

Custom SPN (service provider name) is generally a more premium feature lol. Some resellers won't have it because the reseller infrasture doesn't allow for it (or costs more)

Esimaccess wants onetime fee $5000
https://esimaccess.com/docs/android-install-sdk-spn/

I've seen cases where it's appended (underlying network plus the esim reseller) , like esim.sm

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cae7996b99.jpg

offish topic
For a phone account/number the AU govt requires a 100 point ID check.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_point_check
• https://www.telstra.com.au/support/a...d-verification

At airports the people at phone kiosk's selling SIM cards know what to ask for (~know the correct answers ;) )
AU SIM thread (getting a little dated) -- https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trav...australia.html

Not quite. The telco is required to confirm the identity of the subscriber. They can do that in a number of ways, including based on the persons credit card that is being used to pay for the service, based on one of a few types of ID, or by some other means that strongly identifies the person. It's specifically NOT a 100 point ID check. (eg, I normally use my medicare card, which is only 25 points). For a foreign visitor, I believe the only suitable ID is a passport number, which the telco then needs to check the passport has been issued a valid visa for Australia.

Not relevant for foreigners, but Telstra can also use ConnectID (https://connectid.com.au/) for authentication, which uses some banks Internet banking as federated login to authenticate you.

Has anyone gotten a prepaid eSIM in Spain recently?

Well their prepaid prices are really good, at least 100 GB for less than €20, but only like 10-20 GB of roaming outside of Spain.

This compares well to the Euro Travel eSIM from Orange, which is typically €35 or €40 for 100 GB in all the EU countries, UK, Switzerland, etc. I've used this the past couple of years and it's great, you get access to the big name carrier networks.

But within Spain it might be possible to get as much total data for less than half the price.

Here is Vodafone ES saying 5G and instant availability, with QR code.

https://esimprepago.vodafone.es

That sounds great, too good to be true. I don't recall if Spain has passport verification for prepaid.

Orange has good prices as well but no indication on how the eSIM works.

Ideally, I wouldn't have to go into a store at all. I've done so in the past and often the prices are not the same as the ones listed on the website. The one time that wasn't the case was when I bought a Vodafone SIM at BCN on the way to France and activated it at the airport. I spent no more than €20 total and at the time got tens of gigs. That was 5-7 years ago. Great thing about that was I could recharge online from the US and I used it on a couple more trips for a couple of years afterwards. Plus they had great English support on Twitter, though you had to direct message them and now you can't DM anyone unless you pay for Twitter.

My recollection was that speeds were fine in other EU countries. Speedtests routed through Spain so the pings were a bit high .

Spain is one of the more competitive mobile data markets in the EU.

I bought the Orange eSIM from eSim Holidays for roughly the same price, and had a great experience. I think I did have to validate my passport. I didn't try roaming out of Spain, though, so I can't vouch for those speeds. Within Spain it was fast and reliable. Found my post, validation was a picture of my passport.

An eSim for multiple countries?
 

My next trip weaves around Europe, and I'm wondering what eSim might work best for arrival in Budapest, then through Austria (very brief stopover) to Italy, then on to the Netherlands? I will need wifi more than voice calls. Experiences or suggestions? This would be for less than 30 days.

I hate to sound like a paid shill, but you can't beat esimholidays.com. They are NOT selling esim data plans made for travelers, but are selling plans from cell companies operating in various countries in Europe - at the same prices that locals pay. . E.G, you can get 22 GB of data along with 2000 minutes of calls for 15€, for 28 days.

Wow if you get the eSIM only valid for Spain the rates are really competitive:

https://www.esimholidays.com/en/spain

€15 gets you 260 GB and €35 for unlimited data, with options from €10-€35.

I don't believe they sell eSIMs valid only for Spain - they come with a Spain data limit (very high), and an EU data limit (much lower but still generous.)

I used the Orange eSIM in the Netherlands and it worked as advertised.

Look at the Destinations tab at the top, they have ones for Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, UK as well as for Europe.

Prices are lower than for Europe or you get more data at the same price points.

I don't see texting listed as an option, do you know if esimholidays supports texting? Does any short term phone include texting (I know WindTre didn't).