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Carrier T-Mobile (postpaid) eSIM
- Thread starter nutmac
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If anybody has any idea what is the real problem that causes T-Mobile to make us jump through hoops to set up an eSIM, I'd really like to know.
It seems so strange because T-Mobile is otherwise the very best at human services that I've ever experienced in a cellular provider.
On the phone, via the App and Internet, and even in stores, people sound like they like their jobs and they're glad to see you.
So this strange procedure you have to go through to set up your eSIM seems so uncharacteristic.
It seems so strange because T-Mobile is otherwise the very best at human services that I've ever experienced in a cellular provider.
On the phone, via the App and Internet, and even in stores, people sound like they like their jobs and they're glad to see you.
So this strange procedure you have to go through to set up your eSIM seems so uncharacteristic.
is anyone having any luck doing this via the app lately? every single time i’ve attempted it i’ve gotten a boilerplate answer about supporting eSIM in the future. what’s the strategy to push it through??
Simple - they haven't figured out a way to monetize it yet, Apple really screwed them on this one.... They had a nice money maker going with people paying the $25 "service fee" for a new sim. Imagine every time someone upgrades their phone, opens a new line or needs a new sim card thats $25 each time... and with E-sim that goes away...... So until they don't find a creative way to make money off of it then its just not "supported".
I’ve been using esim for T-Mobile since beginning of this year. Works flawlessly on iPhone. It will auto switch to WiFi calling when connected to WiFi
Is it getting easier now?
Can you get direct support or is it still up to the user to know how to do it?
Can you get direct support or is it still up to the user to know how to do it?
Though i have had no issue, so no reason to call support! But i will say i had to find out how to set it up with QR code.
I had to replace my phone due to damage and re-did this today. Took approximately 1 hour. The chat service rep claimed he could not do this and that I had to do this over the phone. After a few transfers the phone/voice service rep I ended up with didn't understand what I was asking, and I probably spent 40-50 minutes on hold. The service rep kept coming back on and asking for different numbers, and I kept politely stating that I had done this before, and only the EID was necessary to initiate a SIM swap. Towards the end of the phone call I re-started a chat support and the new agent on chat was about to do the SIM swap when the voice service rep came back on and told me it was complete.
TLDR: This can still be done but it depends on the service rep. I talked to 5 different reps over the course of one hour, two of them were willing to do it.
TLDR: This can still be done but it depends on the service rep. I talked to 5 different reps over the course of one hour, two of them were willing to do it.
Tried it today after I ran out of my patience level for T-Mobile to pick up Postpaid e-SIM support.
Edit: Both were phone calls
I repeated per instruction, "I need your help with a SIM swap, here is my EID". The first operator asked what was it for, then I told her that I'd be traveling internationally and that I'd have to free up my physical SIM slot. She asked me if it was for e-SIM and I had to say 'Yes'. After being placed on holds on & off for 1 hour, their so-called "technical expert" came back and said, "Sorry, e-SIM support currently is only for prepaid".
I tried the next time. This time, all I did was the following to get the job done:
Me: I need your help in a SIM Swap, here is my EID
Rep: what is it for, an e-SIM?
Me: yes
Rep: Let me check.. hang on for a minute
Me: waiting
Rep: Sorry, we don't support e-SIM for Postpaid yet
Me: Alright, let's forget about this whole e-SIM thing. All I need your help now is doing the SIM swap, please. I completely understand if anything goes wrong, that it would be my responsibility.
Rep: Sure, what is your EID?
Me: Blah blah blah, Meh Meh Meh
Rep: Here is the confirmation PIN. Read it back to me
Me: Baa-baa black sheep, have you any wool...
Rep: Turn off your device and let me know what you see (I had initially called her on a different phone number, not on the one I'm activating the e-SIM)
Me: it says, No-sim and no coverage
Rep: Sorry.. Like I said, Postpaid e-SIM doesn't work
Me: Can you help me get the activation code via a text, please?
Rep: Sure
Me: Inputed the SM-DP + Address manually and the activation code from the text
Me: I've T-Mobile Signal now, thanks!
Rep: You're so smart! How did you do that?
Me: Duh!
Lol, JK... thanks a lot to everyone involved with this thread.
Edit: Both were phone calls
I repeated per instruction, "I need your help with a SIM swap, here is my EID". The first operator asked what was it for, then I told her that I'd be traveling internationally and that I'd have to free up my physical SIM slot. She asked me if it was for e-SIM and I had to say 'Yes'. After being placed on holds on & off for 1 hour, their so-called "technical expert" came back and said, "Sorry, e-SIM support currently is only for prepaid".
I tried the next time. This time, all I did was the following to get the job done:
Me: I need your help in a SIM Swap, here is my EID
Rep: what is it for, an e-SIM?
Me: yes
Rep: Let me check.. hang on for a minute
Me: waiting
Rep: Sorry, we don't support e-SIM for Postpaid yet
Me: Alright, let's forget about this whole e-SIM thing. All I need your help now is doing the SIM swap, please. I completely understand if anything goes wrong, that it would be my responsibility.
Rep: Sure, what is your EID?
Me: Blah blah blah, Meh Meh Meh
Rep: Here is the confirmation PIN. Read it back to me
Me: Baa-baa black sheep, have you any wool...
Rep: Turn off your device and let me know what you see (I had initially called her on a different phone number, not on the one I'm activating the e-SIM)
Me: it says, No-sim and no coverage
Rep: Sorry.. Like I said, Postpaid e-SIM doesn't work
Me: Can you help me get the activation code via a text, please?
Rep: Sure
Me: Inputed the SM-DP + Address manually and the activation code from the text
Me: I've T-Mobile Signal now, thanks!
Rep: You're so smart! How did you do that?
Me: Duh!
Lol, JK... thanks a lot to everyone involved with this thread.
It seems so odd to me that T-Mobile is so very good with personal support in every other way, but fails so badly with eSIM support.
Their *theory* is correct, that it's the main physical SIM is the one that is supposed to be for your main cellular plan, and eSIM is in theory supposed to be the one used for occasional or auxiliary cellular plans.
You can see that this is what Apple intended by analyzing how iOS handles the eSIM and physical SIM, and how many applications developers fail at what you want because they're doing what Apple intended.
An example that comes to mind is the famous OpenSignal application, which defaults to your physical SIM and attempts to use it even if you have it turned off. Even if you have both cellular plans active and have primary data set to your eSIM, the application will still identify that it's taking data from the cellular plan associated with your physical SIM.
That's if it works at all.
The application is trying to do what iOS tells it, and the developer has never applied code to see if an eSIM is active.
Their *theory* is correct, that it's the main physical SIM is the one that is supposed to be for your main cellular plan, and eSIM is in theory supposed to be the one used for occasional or auxiliary cellular plans.
You can see that this is what Apple intended by analyzing how iOS handles the eSIM and physical SIM, and how many applications developers fail at what you want because they're doing what Apple intended.
An example that comes to mind is the famous OpenSignal application, which defaults to your physical SIM and attempts to use it even if you have it turned off. Even if you have both cellular plans active and have primary data set to your eSIM, the application will still identify that it's taking data from the cellular plan associated with your physical SIM.
That's if it works at all.
The application is trying to do what iOS tells it, and the developer has never applied code to see if an eSIM is active.
I already have a T-Mobile esim (Postpaid) activated through the method suggested on this thread here.
do I just leave the way it is or should I call T-Mobile to get the official support? If so, what story do I tell them? Do I need the physical SIM card that I had before I activated the esim? Please help.
do I just leave the way it is or should I call T-Mobile to get the official support? If so, what story do I tell them? Do I need the physical SIM card that I had before I activated the esim? Please help.
