Visible (one of Verizon's prepaid brands) has unlimited hotspot on all their eSIMs. They do limit hotspot speeds to 5-15mbps (depending which plan you choose), but even 5mbps is enough for most everyday stuff up to a zoom meeting (maybe not good enough if you're using it to stream really high resolution movies or something). Plans run $25-45 for a month with no contract, and they often have promos that knock of $5-6/mo. I can also give you a $20 referral code via PM (my wife uses Visible as her main mobile service).

What would be the cheapest e-SIM for the USA that can work with bank accounts? I always need to have the possibility to get verification codes from US banks

You mean you need a US phone number that can receive SMS messages from banks sending verification codes?

Google Voice is free and (usually) works for that purpose. Occasionally there are banks and other companies that will flag a GV number as a VOIP number and demand a real mobile phone, though.

If you actually need a SIM, Tello (which uses T-Mobile towers) is pretty darn cheap. They have a plan with 300 minutes of voice, unlimited SMS, and no data for only $5. Or 300 mins/unlimited SMS/2GB data for $8. (Expect another $1 or $2 in taxes/fees on top of the advertised prices.) Tello supports wifi calling so you should be able to receive SMS messages on your Tello phone number even when you're not in range of T-Mobile towers (as long as you have a wifi connection or have data service via a second eSIM). I'm not sure that it's 100% reliable, but I've definitely gotten SMS messages on my Tello eSIM when I was overseas.

I haven't needed the feature yet, but on my Pixel 9a, when I set up my e-sim (using Airolo only so far), I can choose whether to use my physical sim or e-sim differently for SMS, internet or telephone. So I could use the physical SIM for SMS to my regular number (e.g. for banking) and the e-sim for everything else.

Perhaps your phone allows something similar.

The selection nowadays is normally for which line/SIM to prioritise & use for outgoing calls / SMS and data, should not affect incoming calls / SMSs.

So long as the phone is Dual SIM Dual Standby or Dual SIM Dual Active, you should receive SMSs on the ‘non-prioritised’ line so long as it is not disabled on the phone. I am not sure a SMS to SIM2 comes through on a DSDS phone when on a phone call on SIM1, but it should at least may* come through after the call is finished… A DSDA phone should not have this limitation.

* Actually, seems to be lots of factors to whether this will work; how the mobile provider handles undelivered SMSs is one of them.

(There used to be ‘Passive’ dual-sim phones which required the user to actively select the line they wanted active / connected to the mobile network at any given time. Given this only saved the user from safely storing the second SIM elsewhere & then doing a physical switch of the SIM in the phone when switching lines, there’s really not much utility and I believe all phone manufacturers have now switched to either DSDS or DSDA for dual-SIM phones.)


​​​​For an eSIM… if you mean this new usage of the word, explicitly a data virtual SIM / eSIM service with no actual phone line (which I believe is to get around KYC requirements which phone service providers must meet)… then no, you cannot get an SMS on them.

If you mean the actual eSIM technology, then all you need is to have a line with a proper phone provider who offers eSIMs instead of physical SIMs. I do not know if Ultra Mobile’s $3 PayGo plan is still available and / or offers eSIMs, but that could be an option…

(GV might also work, but I’ve had issues getting SMSs from some companies on GV before, Paypal comes to mind.)

Thanks so much crackjack ! I need to spend some quality time learning how my phone works. This was really helpful.

Lots I don’t know, but I was looking at Dual-SIM phones since sometime in the mid-2000s, so have seen a few iterations…

A few additional (OT, I know) thoughts on Dual- SIM phones:

• On some phones (or all?), I think the user can specify that the phone line be selected before every call / SMS?
• Despite the phone-wide preference, some phones will allow the preferred SIM to be defined by contact in the address book.
  • I believe dual-SIM iPhones store which SIM was used for the last call / SMS to a specific number / contact, and use that SIM for the next outgoing call/SMS to that number, regardless of the phone default. Perhaps Android phones do that too?

• Thinking about it, I guess many(/most/all?) phones nowadays with eSIM capability can be considered ‘Passive’ multi-SIM phones, since multiple eSIMs can be stored at any given time and the eSIM to be used at any point is just activated while deactivating-but-not removing the previously-active eSIM held in the phone?
  • Anyone remember those adapters you could glue to the back of the phone to link the two SIM cards into the one SIM slot inside the phone? Those were definitely Passive ‘dual-SIM’ adapters, definitely not DSDS / DSDA…

• Reading up on it: depending on how the mobile service provider manages SMSs when the phone / SIM is not connected (which happens on 2G/3G/4G standard phone calls, though potentially not WiFi calling, not sure how 5G handles it), SMSs to SIM1 may not be stored and redelivered by the mobile service provider when the call on SIM2 is concluded. No way to know except via experience / trial & error, I guess…

Visible allows iPhones to use IMS for texts and calls outside the US including short codes. I have not tried the backup calling with my work Pixel using dual esims.

Going to UK for a couple of weeks.

Has anyone tried the EE eSIM for visitors to the UK?


https://ee.co.uk/mobile/travel-esim-uk

Or purchase one of the eSIMs from SIM Local, which resells a lot of UK carrier eSIMs. They're suppose to have stores at the local airports as well.

https://www.simlocal.com/plan-selection/united-kingdom

These are unlimited plans or plans offering over 100 GB of data.

UK is apparently KYC so I wonder if you can order eSIMs directly from the EE website using UK credit cards and install the eSIM via QR code.

Both of them want to push you to install their apps though and that may require creating an account and installing/activating the eSIM via their apps. That's assuming you can download the apps from the US App Store.

One thing I'm wary about buying from a single carrier, whether they will roam on competitor's networks if you go into a rural area. EE is supposedly the best network in the UK though but all the carriers apparently have download and upload speed caps or some don't even offer 5G on prepaid.

Got answers back from SIM Local:

1. Yes you can purchase online with US credit card and install with QR code.

2. Prices are mostly the same between stores and online.

3. If KYC is required you upload passport and selfie.

4. No roaming if purchasing a first-party carrier eSIM like EE or 3. They also sell some MVNO-branded eSIMs so presumably those could roam on another domestic carrier.

I'm in UK now. Signed up with Lycamobile UK and downloaded esim in US. My plan Is 5 UKP per month for the first 3 Months. 30 GB DATA, 1000 international minutes, unlimited UK minutes. It is an MVNO using EE. No KYC

Just remember to disable/cancel Lycamobile auto pay

And make sure you buy the month 2 month version, not the 12 month contract version

How are the speeds and coverage? Does it roam on more than one carrier?

Only one carrier EE 5G

It was very cheap and included EU roaming, so didn't care. A few times it didn't work (happens for various providers in London), I used my payg esim with another provider (jetogo has Vodafone/3/O2 at $1/GB)

This is why I have backup payg esim. Theyre more expensive per GB but I only need it for backup or layover purposes


Also, you should not attempt to activate Lycamobile esim QR code until you're physically in UK, otherwise things get wonky. It's less turnkey than other travel esim (that you can generally install in your home country before landing in London), but I cannot argue with price

Go with jetogo if you want more networks. $1/GB is a decent price for travel esim roaming in London/much of EU

So you purchased that Lycomobile UK eSIM from the UK site and it roams on EE?

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/esim/