eSims, what is your experience.

[moa999]

Set my parents up with a 3GB / 30day Euro eSIM via BNESim for the grand price of A$7.86. Worked perfectly as they got off the plane.

More for emergencies - not big data users, and on organised tours that will likely have Wifi in a bus.

 

[moa999]

And just picked up in a trip.com flash sale a 7-day 1G/day Thai/ Malaysia/ Sing eSIM for A$2.35.

You get an A4 sheet of paper emailed with QR code and a quick apple install link
Issuer seems to be rsp1.cmlink.com
But there is also a view usage link to a card info.gloableconnect.com domain.

Will use in the next few weeks. Needed 10-day but will just get something else for last few days

 

[VPS]

Any suggestions for a Doha sim. I’ll only be there one day (I hope) but just want to be prepared

 

[Flashback]

Any suggestions for a Doha sim. I’ll only be there one day (I hope) but just want to be prepared

Last time I used Airolo which worked fine. Since then, they tend to be expensive with ......... everything, so maybe check esimdb.com ?

 

[SYD]

Last time I used Airolo which worked fine. Since then, they tend to be expensive with ......... everything, so maybe check esimdb.com ?

Several cheapies on eSIMDB. But Kolet and Monte have 1GB/7d for a couple of dollars.

 

[Katja]

I’ve just returned from a 20+ country trip and used Roamless. Instead of buying the different regional plans, I opted for the Flex plan, where I deposited a fixed amount and it automatically connects to the local carrier in over 200 countries/territories.
In the past I’ve bought specific regions/countries and have overestimated the amount of data I thought I’d need.
There was a spreadsheet on one of the socials showing price per gig per country and Roamless was cheaper in some, more expensive in others, but the instant connection, especially in countries not included in many regional eSims, was well worth it. Would highly recommend.

 

[anat0l]

Just took the plunge into eSIMs by changing carriers, but opting to port my old physical SIM to an eSIM (much faster than having to wait for delivery, which would be very much delayed thanks to Alfred).

Was concerned with a heightened risk of SIM spoofing, until I read around and realised that the risk is pretty much the same even for physical SIMs.

While it's certainly more convenient, I think when I flip to another carrier, I will opt for a physical SIM so that I can have my active eSIM spot free for use abroad as needed.

...and this came to bite me (slightly) in the butt.

I am in China right now and took the plunge for an Holafly eSIM, giving me unlimited data (but no number) for the duration of my short trip.

It works great, but of course I conveniently forgot about my phone being unable to run more than one eSIM at a time. As a result, I had to turn off my Australian number, which I wasn't going to roam with in the first place, but it has meant that SMS verification has been impossible (lucky it has not been too limiting at all).

 

[moa999]

about my phone being unable to run more than one eSIM

Yep. Dual Active eSim is a relatively new feature at least on Android. (Google Pixel 7, Samsung Galaxy S24 and later). Think all eSim iPhones support dual eSim

 

[SYD]

Yep. Dual Active eSim is a relatively new feature at least on Android. (Google Pixel 7, Samsung Galaxy S24 and later). Think all eSim iPhones support dual eSim

Are you referring to eSIM only phones? ie no physical SIM slot (which I believe all new iPhones in the US are now).

In Oz, iPhone 12 onwards supported multiple (8) eSIMs (plus 1x SIM) and you can have dual active 2x eSIM or 1x SIM+1x eSIM. Switching between 3 or more loaded sims is easy, it just asks you which one to turn off.

 

[anat0l]

Are you referring to eSIM only phones? ie no physical SIM slot (which I believe all new iPhones in the US are now).

In Oz, iPhone 12 onwards supported multiple (8) eSIMs (plus 1x SIM) and you can have dual active 2x eSIM or 1x SIM+1x eSIM. Switching between 3 or more loaded sims is easy, it just asks you which one to turn off.

I guess that raises a good (maybe not so good) point.

Modern phones may support storing many eSIMs at a time, but it seems for now you can only have two active at the same time?

 

[SYD]

I guess that raises a good (maybe not so good) point.

Modern phones may support storing many eSIMs at a time, but it seems for now you can only have two active at the same time?

Yes, but that ought to be an enough if you need your home line for SMS (either SIM or eSIM) and another for roaming data eg eSIM.

A little more complicated if you have Private and Work SIMs on one phone, but a 3rd or more eSIMs for roaming can be switched in/off as required.