eSims, what is your experience.

[lovestotravel]

And it is often difficult to know which country their services appear from.

I've had issues where I get blocked because the eSim is routing your data through another country like China and gives you a Chinese IP address, or just in general gives you an IP that's not from the country you're roaming in, and some sites and apps block 'foreign' IP addresses.

100% - I used Sim Corner on a recent EU trip and it was a French IP address which caused some issues in the UK.

A VPN ought to get around some of those IP issues.

Otherwise, just ask here for advice. The name brands: Flexiroam, Saily, Airalo etc will usually all work fine but you’re paying a lot more than necessary these days.

Airalo used to be my go-to but their prices are just too high now, even with cashback!

 

[SYD]

Airalo used to be my go-to but their prices are just too high now, even with cashback!

Ditto for Flexiroam. They used to have long duration / low GB plans that were cheap in sales or with MC 20% off, but now they’re short duration / massive GBs for massive USDs…

Eskimo is now my default. No expiry. Buy Global, Regional or Country plans during Sales that all work off the same eSIM.

As above, amaysim $30 pm plan plus $20 for 12mths calls/txt (100mins/100 txt).

 

[patrickw]

Yep this was the main reason for selecting Superloop as a Telstra wholesaler (and moving.our NBN onto them also, which finally got all sorted today!).

I've got the bcengi esim for the VoWifi while roaming. So hoping it's fairly seamless.

Not sure if I've got the latest message in this thread or if this has been covered, but I'm able to get VoWifi to extend to "Voice-over-2nd-eSIM-with-data" if that makes sense?
In this scenario it effectively does Voice over WiFi but over the mobile data connection of your eSIM.
From my limited experience so far, it doesn't matter how fast or slow your eSIM data speeds are. The call quality is fine (can vary based on your eSIM's actual signal of course)

I've consistently achieved this on iOS by turning off automatic network selection when I board the plane in Oz, and asking it to connect to any network that isn't Telstra.
When I arrive in my destination country, I turn on the destination eSIM, set mobile data to route only through that eSIM, and my home sim will show "Boost using Mobile Data".


2 = eSIM
P = Home SIM (Boost)

The reason for turning network selection off in Oz is Telstra often has roaming contracts with multiple carriers overseas (e.g. Boost/Telstra connects to 2deg, OneNZ and Spark in NZ) which means the phone won't VoWiFi over the 2nd sim's mobile data.

I've managed to do the same on Android (Belong Mobile), but I haven't worked out the details. Similar approach, but the network selection trick doesn't quite work while in Oz.

 

[patrickw]

Eskimo is now my default. No expiry. Buy Global, Regional or Country plans during Sales that all work off the same eSIM.

How do you find their speeds? I've been experimenting with a few providers from esimdb.com .
Haven't found a single brand with consistently good speeds globally.

I try to buy "local IP" SIMs but even then, their data speeds can be hit or miss.

 

[SeatBackForward]

In this scenario it effectively does Voice over WiFi but over the mobile data connection of your eSIM.

I got it to work even without turning off the network - my android phone lets me select which sim to use for calls/messages etc. so I just make sure it's using the esim.

What I didn't realise and only found out while o/s was that the VoWifi only works to and from Australian numbers. I tried to make a call to a local NZ number using the VoWifi but this wasn't possible as I didn't have any roaming package associated with my Superloop mobile account.

 

[patrickw]

I got it to work even without turning off the network - my android phone lets me select which sim to use for calls/messages etc. so I just make sure it's using the esim.

Interesting, my Samsung behaves differently. If I select the eSIM for calls and messages, it tries to call/text using the eSIM number (which often doesn’t exist), and just drops the call right away.

If the home sim connects to a roaming network provider, any call, (EDIT) even to an Australian number (dialled +61) is intercepted with an Australian sounding “The number you have called is not available on this service. For more information please contact your service provider.”

 

[SeatBackForward]

Interesting, my Samsung behaves differently. If I select the eSIM for calls and messages, it tries to call/text using the eSIM number (which often doesn’t exist), and just drops the call right away.

If the home sim connects to a roaming network provider, any call is intercepted with an Australian sounding “The number you have called is not available on this service. For more information please contact your service provider.”

Sorry I should have clarified, the esim I use is data only. So yes when I tried to call the NZ number when in NZ, I also received the Australian voice about call could be connected"

 

[Volando]

How do you find their speeds? I've been experimenting with a few providers from esimdb.com .
Haven't found a single brand with consistently good speeds globally.

I try to buy "local IP" SIMs but even then, their data speeds can be hit or miss.

I'm on the final day of a trip that visited or transited 6 countries on 3 continents and had no troubles with speed and coverage on my Eskimo global plan apart from a few intermittent 3-5 second drop outs in Brazil. I didn't do any speed tests so I can't quantify that and I also wasn't using my phone to stream video or audio. But for dat to day travelling Eskimo has been great.

Mods, please edit if not allowed, but I', happy to share an Eskimo referral code via DM which gives 500 free mb each to referee and referee.

 

[SYD]

How do you find their speeds? I've been experimenting with a few providers from esimdb.com .
Haven't found a single brand with consistently good speeds globally.

I try to buy "local IP" SIMs but even then, their data speeds can be hit or miss.

It’s also a function of the local network obviously but for everyday stuff, Eskimo is fine. Usually connects to 5G where available. I believe it generally routes via SIN, so there could be some latency depending on where in the world you are.