eSims, what is your experience.

[RealtimeY]

I like the potential for it to just do wifi calling and act as if I am roaming so I can receive calls etc.

Vodafone won't let you use Wi-Fi calling whilst overseas, if that's what you mean?

 

[cdp88]

Vodafone won't let you use Wi-Fi calling whilst overseas, if that's what you mean?

Ok, not to worry. I probably wasn’t going to make calls.

 

[SeaWolf]

Another experience, I'm in Auckland for five days, got a eSIM from Yesim for €0.50 (after referral sign up bonus) for 3gb for seven days. Simple process and it's worked flawlessly when I land last night. Internet breakout is in Poland though, so there's a little latency, not a big issue but might be annoying for video calls.

Don't recommend their app though, it immediately began sending push notification spam every few hours. The website works fine for keeping track of usage though.

 

[drron]

Again no problems using the airolo e-sim in Japan or Thailand. The only slightly annoying part was instead of adding value as the esim expired before leaving Thailand I was advised to run down the data then get a new one.
As to phone calls Whats App worked when out and about and not connected to the internet so that was used for calls to family. And fortunately using the Commbank app they now send their confirmation codes to the app.

 

[RealtimeY]

Recently I've used MobiMatter a couple of times to get my overseas eSIMs for Europe, USA and Singapore. They are transparent about what provider the eSIM being sold to you is with and so far everything's worked very smoothly. Some of them can also be topped up, but switching an eSIM isn't all that difficult either. Of course, the pricing is also very competitive.

Buy Travel eSIMs Online | MobiMatter eSIM Marketplace

Buy travel eSIMs from MobiMatter for 200+ destinations. Enjoy instant eSIM delivery and seamless activation for your trips.

mobimatter.com

 

[Isolar]

Could I get advice from members here about my upcoming trip to the UK and what my telcom/data needs are?

Have a new iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I transferred an existing Telstra physical SIM card to (i.e. has my Australian number).

Most of the time I'm away I will have access to WiFi and in the past Telstra WiFi calling & text messages have worked fine for when I needed to do calls back to Australia.

While I'm in the UK - for the times I would be outside a WiFi network, I was thinking of a data only eSIM. This is assuming I would still be able to get Telstra WiFi calling through that.

However, there are a couple of things I need to do while in London that need a local number (UK mobile is fine).

So, what do you think the best solution is to get a UK number but still have access to Telstra WiFi calling for people at home that need to reach me and when I need to call them?

 

[RealtimeY]

Check these out, with O2 and Vodafone UK

UK O2 eSIM | Local Travel | Voice, Data and SMS | eSIM.Net

Looking for a local eSIM? eSIM.Net offers standard and premium O2 eSIM plans that include data and unlimited UK calls and texts for just £14 per month.

www.esim.net

UK Vodafone eSIM | Local Travel | eSIM.Net

Looking for a local eSIM? Our UK Vodafone eSIM plans include data and unlimited UK texts that supports 5G and WiFi Calling for just £14 per month.

www.esim.net

 

[SYD]

Check these out, with O2 and Vodafone UK

UK O2 eSIM | Local Travel | Voice, Data and SMS | eSIM.Net

Looking for a local eSIM? eSIM.Net offers standard and premium O2 eSIM plans that include data and unlimited UK calls and texts for just £14 per month.

www.esim.net

UK Vodafone eSIM | Local Travel | eSIM.Net

Looking for a local eSIM? Our UK Vodafone eSIM plans include data and unlimited UK texts that supports 5G and WiFi Calling for just £14 per month.

www.esim.net

GiffGaff is another to consider. They also have Euro roaming included.

I have a physical SIM but they’ve rolled out eSIM - I believe.

https://www.giffgaff.com/

.

 

[Isolar]

Thanks RealtimeY.

They look like good plans but information about how they work is pretty sparse (but that could just be my inexperience with this).

I'll send their support an email to ask the specific questions I'm hoping their plans will address.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Could I get advice from members here about my upcoming trip to the UK and what my telcom/data needs are?

Have a new iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I transferred an existing Telstra physical SIM card to (i.e. has my Australian number).

Most of the time I'm away I will have access to WiFi and in the past Telstra WiFi calling & text messages have worked fine for when I needed to do calls back to Australia.

While I'm in the UK - for the times I would be outside a WiFi network, I was thinking of a data only eSIM. This is assuming I would still be able to get Telstra WiFi calling through that.

However, there are a couple of things I need to do while in London that need a local number (UK mobile is fine).

So, what do you think the best solution is to get a UK number but still have access to Telstra WiFi calling for people at home that need to reach me and when I need to call them?

We use eSIM on Optus as secondary then buy a £10 physical sim from Vodafone as primary for calls and data. Very cheap in the UK.

 

[Isolar]

Thanks SYD. GiffGaff plans are a bit cheaper, will also see if they can ask my specific questions.

 

[Isolar]

We use eSIM on Optus as secondary then buy a £10 physical sim from Vodafone as primary for calls and data. Very cheap in the UK.

Good idea but my physical SIM slot is taken up by my Telstra SIM and I don't have time to go through the process of converting to eSIM.

In the dark past I used to have two phones - local SIMs for home and visiting country. Have to leave those dinosaur times behind lol.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Good idea but my physical SIM slot is taken up by my Telstra SIM and I don't have time to go through the process of converting to eSIM.

In the dark past I used to have two phones - local SIMs for home and visiting country. Have to leave those dinosaur times behind lol.

Wrt: it takes 5 minutes to convert from physical sim to eSIM.

 

[VPS]

Could I get advice from members here about my upcoming trip to the UK and what my telcom/data needs are?

Have a new iPhone 15 Pro Max, which I transferred an existing Telstra physical SIM card to (i.e. has my Australian number).

Most of the time I'm away I will have access to WiFi and in the past Telstra WiFi calling & text messages have worked fine for when I needed to do calls back to Australia.

While I'm in the UK - for the times I would be outside a WiFi network, I was thinking of a data only eSIM. This is assuming I would still be able to get Telstra WiFi calling through that.

However, there are a couple of things I need to do while in London that need a local number (UK mobile is fine).

So, what do you think the best solution is to get a UK number but still have access to Telstra WiFi calling for people at home that need to reach me and when I need to call them?

I use three - I get data roaming if its month to month but not if it is on a plan

Honestly it will take less than 5 minutes to convert your Telstra to an Esim and then you can put whatever you like in

How long are you away - might be easier to get a sim from Sim Corner

 

[Isolar]

Wrt: it takes 5 minutes to convert from physical sim to eSIM.

TBH I haven't really looked at converting Telstra to eSIM - agree it is probably easy and will look into before I leave.

I use three - I get data roaming if its month to month but not if it is on a plan

Honestly it will take less than 5 minutes to convert your Telstra to an Esim and then you can put whatever you like in

How long are you away - might be easier to get a sim from Sim Corner

I'll be away for 10 days, so any of the products that are around 30 days would be fine, so long as they have a UK number.

Anyway, after many hours into the early morning trying to see if I could achieve what I want, it looks like the answer is no. i.e. you can't have a local SIM that provides cellular data and your home SIM use that for WiFi calling on the same phone.

Seems the simplest solution is to take a plan with a UK number that allows tethering and then use another phone with my Australian number operating over WiFi calling. Same kind of thing I've done in Japan with a rented pocket WiFi hotspot device.

 

[VPS]

TBH I haven't really looked at converting Telstra to eSIM - agree it is probably easy and will look into before I leave.



I'll be away for 10 days, so any of the products that are around 30 days would be fine, so long as they have a UK number.

Anyway, after many hours into the early morning trying to see if I could achieve what I want, it looks like the answer is no. i.e. you can't have a local SIM that provides cellular data and your home SIM use that for WiFi calling on the same phone.

Seems the simplest solution is to take a plan with a UK number that allows tethering and then use another phone with my Australian number operating over WiFi calling. Same kind of thing I've done in Japan with a rented pocket WiFi hotspot device.

Anyway, after many hours into the early morning trying to see if I could achieve what I want, it looks like the answer is no. i.e. you can't have a local SIM that provides cellular data and your home SIM use that for WiFi calling on the same phone.

I'm sure I did that last year. You just need to turn off one of the sims I think - I can't 100% guarantee though

 

[Thibault]

Anyway, after many hours into the early morning trying to see if I could achieve what I want, it looks like the answer is no. i.e. you can't have a local SIM that provides cellular data and your home SIM use that for WiFi calling on the same phone.

I'm sure I did that last year. You just need to turn off one of the sims I think - I can't 100% guarantee though

That's incorrect - agreed - I use it all the time.

You can use SIM 1 for internet connection - then you set up SIM 2 - likely Telstra - on a network that they can not roam (or turn off roaming in my Telstra app) - the phone will then establish a connection to Telstra servers, allowing you to place/receive calls and sms over the SIM 1 internet line connection.

If OP has an iPhone 15 - it would be best to swap the Telstra service to an e-sim, freeing the physical slot as newer iPhones can run 2 eSims or 1 eSim and 1 SIM at the same time.

 

[kookaburra75]

That's incorrect - agreed - I use it all the time.

You can use SIM 1 for internet connection - then you set up SIM 2 - likely Telstra - on a network that they can not roam (or turn off roaming in my Telstra app) - the phone will then establish a connection to Telstra servers, allowing you to place/receive calls and sms over the SIM 1 internet line connection.

If OP has an iPhone 15 - it would be best to swap the Telstra service to an e-sim, freeing the physical slot as newer iPhones can run 2 eSims or 1 eSim and 1 SIM at the same time.

I use the same type of set up on my Google Pixel 7a. I can use two eSims, or physical + eSim. I did have to dig into the bowels of the settings.

 

[ellen10]

Trying to sort out what we will use for our up coming Europe and UK trip for 6 weeks.
I think I am a bit of a telco novice.

In the past we have bought local sims, but last year to NZ we used sims corner.
I have an iPhone 11
More reading for me needed.

 

[SYD]

Anyway, after many hours into the early morning trying to see if I could achieve what I want, it looks like the answer is no. i.e. you can't have a local SIM that provides cellular data and your home SIM use that for WiFi calling on the same phone.

This was discussed up thread at post #529/530. The second SIM can’t be “roaming” to get the wifi calling to work off that 2nd sim.

Seems the simplest solution is to take a plan with a UK number that allows tethering and then use another phone with my Australian number operating over WiFi calling. Same kind of thing I've done in Japan with a rented pocket WiFi hotspot device.

Tethering works (also confirmed up thread). But a UK plan should also work in the same handset if configured correctly.