Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I have a question, I currently live in the us and will be moving to London in a few weeks. Will I be able to get a esim on EE, even though my first line still be with a us Carrier ?
 
I have a question, I currently live in the us and will be moving to London in a few weeks. Will I be able to get a esim on EE, even though my first line still be with a us Carrier ?
Depends. You can’t use eSIMs on PAYG, so you have to be on a PAYM contract.

Also, if you live in the US, I highly recommend you wait for your US carrier to support eSIM and use them instead of using EE. Use EE as a physical SIM, then you have a choice of PAYG and PAYM. Not to mention the freedom of using any other physical SIM when you’re out of the UK.
 
You should report him, don't let him get away with it. But maybe if you didn't argue with him, things may have been different. Was there somebody else in the store or was it just him?

I've learned in the past that EE do not deal with complaints, there is no point in reporting him.

I actually spoke to two different people in the store, I wasn't arguing with them at all. They where the ones trying to tell me I was wrong. At one point two of them where both trying to tell me it's not possible to not have a physical sim card in the phone ‍♂️ I called 150 to try and get them to see sense but even after that the guy serving me refused to give me a pack even though they had them in stock. I gave up after that, wasn't getting anywhere and other people in the store where waiting to be served.

My issue is with EE, so far I've called 150 and been told that esim had been delayed world wide by Apple (this was on Tuesday, after the keynote) then this in the store. It's what I've come to expect, the only good experiences I've had with EE staff are the ones who run their Twitter account
 
I've learned in the past that EE do not deal with complaints, there is no point in reporting him.

I actually spoke to two different people in the store, I wasn't arguing with them at all. They where the ones trying to tell me I was wrong. At one point two of them where both trying to tell me it's not possible to not have a physical sim card in the phone ‍♂️ I called 150 to try and get them to see sense but even after that the guy serving me refused to give me a pack even though they had them in stock. I gave up after that, wasn't getting anywhere and other people in the store where waiting to be served.

My issue is with EE, so far I've called 150 and been told that esim had been delayed world wide by Apple (this was on Tuesday, after the keynote) then this in the store. It's what I've come to expect, the only good experiences I've had with EE staff are the ones who run their Twitter account
The problem is that a lot of EE stores are franchises, therefore don’t really report to EE head office at the ground level, only by proxy. The franchise stores don’t seem to care unless it’s a money maker for them.
 
I’ll add my two pence.

1. I think you can get eSim on Business Account but if you have a “consumer” tariff. I have a business account but all tariffs are “consumer” tariffs and I’ve ordered 5 eSims. The only thing is that they need to be ordered over 150 as in store have no clue how to deal with it.

2. The big problem. My eSim was activated as soon as it was dispatched and my current sim cancelled meaning I have No Service. Been on phone for half hour trying to resolve but not looking promising.
 
What would be really good is if you could assign a group of contacts to a line. For example I have all my work colleagues in a contact group so would be great to have a "use secondary line when calling anyone in my work contact group" option

Unless, you can actually do that.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: BadMelonFarmer
My eSim appears to have deactivated during the night, I had signal at 23:30 and not at 00:30. Still no service now, I think I’ll be going back to a physical sim until they sort out the wrinkles.

Edit:
Level 2 tech support were able to reactivate the eSim, so back in service for now.
 
Last edited:
Anyone know how it would work with eSIM if you needed to have your device swapped out with Apple via warranty etc? Obviously not as easy as removing the SIM and moving it across.
 
Che

Cheers.

I wonder if there is going to be any major battery life impact with 2 cellular radios firing away?
There hasn't been any noticable difference so far. It's been 2 hours since I unplugged my phone from the charger and it's still 100%.
 
One issue I do seem to have with EE since switching to eSim is that Personal Hotspot / Tethering no longer works. In fact the option no longer appears. It tells me to contact EE instead, who don’t know what to suggest.
 
One issue I do seem to have with EE since switching to eSim is that Personal Hotspot / Tethering no longer works. In fact the option no longer appears. It tells me to contact EE instead, who don’t know what to suggest.

Two things I'd add:

1. The personal hotspot option for me is still appearing. Edit: now tested and it still works here.
2. I can't send texts (iMessage works, but not SMS) on the eSIM line at all. EE have suggested a full network reset, which I'm loathe to do as it removes all stored networks etc. unless proven to resolve. Have you tested?
 
Two things I'd add:

1. The personal hotspot option for me is still appearing. Edit: now tested and it still works here.
2. I can't send texts (iMessage works, but not SMS) on the eSIM line at all. EE have suggested a full network reset, which I'm loathe to do as it removes all stored networks etc. unless proven to resolve. Have you tested?

Yeah I did a full network reset, with no luck. They can reset certain network settings on their side, which they did for me, though it didn’t fix it. You get a text message then have to restart.

iMessages are working fine for me, for what it’s worth. I also had issues with WiFi Calling but that appears to have resolved itself for now.
 
Does switching from a physical sim to e-sim render the physical sim dead/deactivated? I called yesterday and battled with EE on the phone for about half an hour until I got someone who knew how to order the e-sim, but this morning I have no service on my physical sim?? E-sim could take days to arrive as well so I'm stuck
 
One issue I do seem to have with EE since switching to eSim is that Personal Hotspot / Tethering no longer works. In fact the option no longer appears. It tells me to contact EE instead, who don’t know what to suggest.

Just tested the hotspot and it’s working fine for me, I’m actually posting this from my iPad tethered to my Xs.
[doublepost=1541073556][/doublepost]
Does switching from a physical sim to e-sim render the physical sim dead/deactivated? I called yesterday and battled with EE on the phone for about half an hour until I got someone who knew how to order the e-sim, but this morning I have no service on my physical sim?? E-sim could take days to arrive as well so I'm stuck

Yes, I discovered my physical sim dead just after leaving the EE store, luckily I had the QR code to activate as soon as I got to some WiFi.
[doublepost=1541073829][/doublepost]
I can't send texts (iMessage works, but not SMS) on the eSIM line at all. EE have suggested a full network reset, which I'm loathe to do as it removes all stored networks etc. unless proven to resolve. Have you tested?

I’ve just tested it and can’t send texts either, I’ve done a network reset and it hasn’t made a difference.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tehn00p
Yeah I did a full network reset, with no luck. They can reset certain network settings on their side, which they did for me, though it didn’t fix it. You get a text message then have to restart.

iMessages are working fine for me, for what it’s worth. I also had issues with WiFi Calling but that appears to have resolved itself for now.
Yes, iMessage works, it's texts (ie. basic SMS to users not on iPhones) that do not work.

Is hotspot definitely included in the plan you have with EE?
 
Something definitely weird with SMS, they’re all failing to send except if I send a text to the iPhone and then reply to the message received which works. Once it works once it will carry on working, but only to that number.

When the incoming message arrived, a message appears in the conversation “Number changed to 07xxx xxxxxx” just before the incoming message so something is changed internally in the settings.


Edit

Turning off the second SIM card allows the txts to send, and once the “number changed to xxxxxxxxxx” appears in that conversation page you can turn the second sim back on and texts continue working.
 
Last edited:
Something definitely weird with SMS, they’re all failing to send except if I send a text to the iPhone and then reply to the message received which works. Once it works once it will carry on working, but only to that number.

When the incoming message arrived, a message appears in the conversation “Number changed to 07xxx xxxxxx” just before the incoming message so something is changed internally in the settings.

I've just seen the same. In fact the person I had failed to message this morning messaged me just now. When I replied they got my reply, but the original message I sent to them is still sitting unsent. Feels like this might be more an iOS issue than a carrier issue.
 
I know this is a little off-topic, but honestly **** US carriers ― I was just on EE's website and you can get 40GB of data for $42 (35 GBP) where in the US the prices are much much higher (Verizon wants $70 for 8GB on a share plan, now you can get an unlimited plan but they're even more expensive)
 
I know this is a little off-topic, but honestly **** US carriers ― I was just on EE's website and you can get 40GB of data for $42 (35 GBP) where in the US the prices are much much higher (Verizon wants $70 for 8GB on a share plan, now you can get an unlimited plan but they're even more expensive)
Yes, we're quite lucky in that respect in the UK. I pay less than £20 for 16gb of data a month! I'm always shocked when family overseas tell me what they pay for data in the US!
 
Last edited:
I know this is a little off-topic, but honestly **** US carriers ― I was just on EE's website and you can get 40GB of data for $42 (35 GBP) where in the US the prices are much much higher (Verizon wants $70 for 8GB on a share plan, now you can get an unlimited plan but they're even more expensive)
There is a lot more carrier competition in the UK than the US. You have 4 main carriers: EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three.

Then there are like 20+ virtual carriers - BT Mobile, giffgaff, Lebara, The People's Operator, FreedomPop, Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile...

That is what driving the costs low.

I honestly, would have gone virtual IF EE didn't have all the Apple carrier features (it's the only carrier to support everything Apple offers), because virtual network prices are even cheaper.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.