iPhone 14/Plus POLL: How was your eSIM transfer process?

[ChoiMinji]

I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say here. US mobile runs on Verizon as does Visible. Mint runs on TMobile. They aren’t “internet only.” They provide cellular service.

These MVNO cellular carriers are strictly internet, they cannot access the non internet end of the cellular spectrum. Maybe I’m wrong, but what you can do to test…turn off data and turn off wifi and try to make a call. Then let us know what the results are. Thank you. Have a good time now because our time is very short

 

[NYCValkyrie]

These MVNO cellular carriers are strictly internet, they cannot access the non internet end of the cellular spectrum. Maybe I’m wrong, but what you can do to test…turn off data and turn off wifi and try to make a call. Then let us know what the results are. Thank you. Have a good time now because our time is very short

An MVNO is literally a repackaged cellular service. It works the same way as any other cellular provider. US Mobile is my backup line and yes, it still works if you turn off wifi & data. I'm not really sure where you're getting your information from but it is incorrect.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

I did eSim for US Mobile after reading some reviews. The eSim process was easy, about a minute. Seems pretty cheap and they use Verizon network. If all goes well, I might keep it as back up, that way I'll have both ATT and Verizon.

Yes, US Mobile is my backup line so I have TMO & USM. I have the 1gb unltd talk/text plan for $14, which is pretty good. Cellular switch seems to work much better on the 14 also. The only thing about US Mobile is that I got a TON of spam calls & texts for the first couple of months. It's so bad that I had to forward calls to a fake disconnected number 😂😂. But both the spam calls & texts seem to have subsided 3 months in.

 

[ChoiMinji]

An MVNO is literally a repackaged cellular service. It works the same way as any other cellular provider. US Mobile is my backup line and yes, it still works if you turn off wifi & data. I'm not really sure where you're getting your information from but it is incorrect.

I got my information from directly from us mobile & visible, it doesn’t work. You might want to disable the other line.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

I got my information from directly from us mobile & visible, it doesn’t work. You might want to disable the other line.

It does work. I think you're misunderstanding some information. It is "internet only" in that there is no physical store. You can only sign up on their website or app.

I just did a test, as you requested, on my US Mobile line. It it can make calls with wifi and data turned off. It works just fine as cellular service. It literally uses the same cell towers as regular Verizon service. If you sign up for the US Mobile or Mint Mobile free trial, you can test it out yourself. I won't argue with you on this any further but you are very much mistaken.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

After 6 days I am still trying to get cellular service.🤣

Oh no! Who is your carrier?

 

[ChoiMinji]

It does work. I think you're misunderstanding some information. It is "internet only" in that there is no physical store. You can only sign up on their website or app.

I just did a test, as you requested, on my US Mobile line. It it can make calls with wifi and data turned off. It works just fine as cellular service. It literally uses the same cell towers as regular Verizon service. If you sign up for the US Mobile or Mint Mobile free trial, you can test it out yourself. I won't argue with you on this any further but you are very much mistaken.

Okay 👍 next time I’m in the US I will try it on us mobile. Thank you 🙏

 

[ChoiMinji]

But I wonder if these MVNO carriers allow wifi calling while I’m in other countries. Does anyone here know? I could never find an answer on their websites. Thank you

 

[ChoiMinji]

But I wonder if these MVNO carriers allow wifi calling while I’m in other countries. Does anyone here know? I could never find an answer on their websites. Thank you

Nevermind it won’t work for me

 

[Konrad]

I am just about to land in a few days in Senegal and Morocco followed by a hop to Zimbabwe. Anyone knows about e-sims there?

 

[Chucks4me]

I have 2 lines:
ATT - 30 seconds painless, psim to esim.

T-Mobile - Incompetence par excellence, esim to esim, took 14 hours, multiple calls to tech support plus trip to a retail store.

 

[shaown]

I have 2 lines:
ATT - 30 seconds painless, psim to esim.

T-Mobile - Incompetence par excellence, esim to esim, took 14 hours, multiple calls to tech support plus trip to a retail store.

I had Att ESM and t-mobile psim, and I got both done by simply transferring one, then hitting the back button and doing the second, and it just worked. no downtime.

 

[shaown]

I am just about to land in a few days in Senegal and Morocco followed by a hop to Zimbabwe. Anyone knows about e-sims there?

There is that cool Airalo app on the App Store - should try it.

 

[SpecB]

I activated my eSim in Jamaica with the carrier Flow & the process took less than 5mins.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

I have 2 lines:
ATT - 30 seconds painless, psim to esim.

T-Mobile - Incompetence par excellence, esim to esim, took 14 hours, multiple calls to tech support plus trip to a retail store.

Sorry this was your experience. I’m also with TMO and have never had an issue with their esim or their overall CS.

 

[Six0Four]

Fine, but my carrier only lets you swap an esim once per billing period which kinda sucks if you have multiple phones.

 

[Konrad]

There is that cool Airalo app on the App Store - should try it.

You’ve got to be joking! Did you see the rates? Hahaha…those apps, packages and prices were specifically set up for the hipster modern e-sim Americans getting off the cruise ship with a number affixed to their t-shirt, so they won’t get lost and on time for the back on-board all you can eat buffet.

Africa eSIM | Travel Without Roaming Fees | Airalo

Coverage across all popular countries in Africa. Instantly connect to a mobile network. Affordable eSIM plans. 100% digital installation. 24/7 support. World's largest eSIM marketplace. Download your Africa eSIM now.

www.airalo.com

 

[BurgDog]

I'm on T-Mobile's prepaid $15/mo for 3GB data Connect plan. I called them to transfer my pSIM to eSIM on my 13PM about a week before I got the 14PM as I knew pSIM to eSIM wouldn't work on transfer for prepaid so thought to get ahead of the game. The option to do the transfer automatically wasn't on the phone. Basically security ID check, told them my IMEI and pSIM disabled and eSIM worked.

When I got the 14PM it told me the eSIM transfer from my 13PM wasn't possible as part of the move to the 14PM. I tried the move eSIM manual process after I got the new phone up and running, but it told me it couldn't do it with my plan. It was a waste of time to do the pSIM to eSIM conversion on my old phone. I had to call T-Mobile to move the eSIM. About a half hour wait on the phone, talked to an agent, went through a verify it was me interaction that involved a SMS to my old phone with a pin to give back to the agent, my account pin and my new IMEI. Then they sent a notice to my new phone. Clicked on it and the transfer happened. Bit of a hassle but it worked fairly well.

Things were significantly easier when all I had to do was move a SIM card to the new phone and calling T-Mobile every time I want to move the eSIM is very annoying.

Obviously T-Mobile knows how to do eSIM transfers automatically without their involvement and the restriction on prepaid eSIM transfers is a deliberate business decision, not technical. I assume because of the series of security questions and proof it was me validations, they want an agent involved as some sort of fraud prevention process they think is more likely on prepaid plans.

 

[BurgDog]

ignore

 

[NYCValkyrie]

So it's been a week and 2 days since the eSIM only iPhones were launched and I have to say these numbers are better than I expected. Of the 409 people who have voted as of today, 331 or 80.9% had a pretty smooth experience. This would be no issues, minor issue or "CS chat went smoothly."

Clearly there is tons of room for improvement as there are still carriers that don't support eSIM, quick transfer or had other issues. The people who had major issue have every right to be frustrated and their experiences are very valid.

I also think there were a handful of international users who voted, which I should have made a separate choice for but perhaps a follow up poll next year with more specificity. Non-US users are absolutely welcome to vote. It's just a little bit different since US iPhone 14 users had no choice 😬

I'm going to leave the poll open for a long while as people are still receiving their devices but this has been very interesting and I really want to thank the people who took the time to vote and tell us of their experiences. Most of all, I thank you for being civil as this is a very hot topic. Thanks again!!

PS - I've added this little blurb to the original post as well

 

[choreo]

Well, I spent no less than an hour per day for the past 10 days trying to get my 40 year old phone number transferred over from my iPhone 11 Pro Tracfone pSIM to my replacement iPhone 14 Pro eSIM. Total of 11 Tech support calls plus online Chat sessions to Tracfone and Mint Mobile (I finally had to give up on activating the new phone on Tracfone and just started paying more to Mint Mobile).

Mint Mobile was much more organized and helpful even though their online activation got stuck on the transfer of the phone number from Tracfone. A couple days ago I contacted Mint Mobile and they were able to bypass the phone number transfer step on their website and activate my eSIM directly with a new temporary phone number. All that was left then was to get my old phone number to come across.

Everything I could find online said my Tracfone Account Number would be the last 15 of the physical SIM card and I was using my Tracfone account PIN number - neither of which turned out to be correct!

So, if anyone is trying to transfer FROM Tracfone, this info "might" help:

• My Account Number turned out to me my IMEI number
• For the PIN number, you have to go to your Tracfone Account on their website and request a "TRANSFER PIN #" (not the same as your account PIN used for Tech Support and the like)

What finally allowed me to complete my transfer, is I went to the Tracfone Chat support and asked if they could at least verify my account number. They responded that they could not give out that info for security reasons and tried to end the Chat. I said "you mean to tell me that after all these years with Tracfone, you cannot let me know what my own Account Number is to complete the transfer?" Finally, they said they would have someone from Transfer Services call me back in 15 minutes. When they called back they said my account number was my IMEI number (not the last 15 digits of my pSIM card like everything said online). I gave her my IMEI number and she said "I see where Mint Mobile has been trying to initiate the transfer unsuccessfully". She said, "Give me a minute, and I will RELEASE your phone number to Mint Mobile?" When she came back on the phone a minute later, my iPhones had made the transfer! So apparently all it took was going through half of India to get the right Tech Person! 10 hours of wasted time for something that took one-minute. Neither carrier's instructions said anything about how the phone number had to be "released for transfer" by someone in Tech Support?

 

[Nautilus007]

PSIM to ESIM and then eSim to eSIM,

T-Mobile - I believe it’s because I’m a business customer , their business support and business website are abysmal - I had a lot of issues.

 

[macstever]

An MVNO is literally a repackaged cellular service. It works the same way as any other cellular provider. US Mobile is my backup line and yes, it still works if you turn off wifi & data. I'm not really sure where you're getting your information from but it is incorrect.

Agree. My US Mobile plan allows me to make calls, send texts, and data. I disabled ATT and Wi-Fi to make sure all is working like it should. On my test call I could see it was coming from my US Mobile number.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Being on AT&T Prepaid, I had to go to the store to get my physical SIM moved to my new 14PM eSIM. Error message prevented me from doing it myself and when calling ATT, they all say to go to the store.

 

[NYCValkyrie]

Well, I spent no less than an hour per day for the past 10 days trying to get my 40 year old phone number transferred over from my iPhone 11 Pro Tracfone pSIM to my replacement iPhone 14 Pro eSIM. Total of 11 Tech support calls plus online Chat sessions to Tracfone and Mint Mobile (I finally had to give up on activating the new phone on Tracfone and just started paying more to Mint Mobile).

Mint Mobile was much more organized and helpful even though their online activation got stuck on the transfer of the phone number from Tracfone. A couple days ago I contacted Mint Mobile and they were able to bypass the phone number transfer step on their website and activate my eSIM directly with a new temporary phone number. All that was left then was to get my old phone number to come across.

Everything I could find online said my Tracfone Account Number would be the last 15 of the physical SIM card and I was using my Tracfone account PIN number - neither of which turned out to be correct!

So, if anyone is trying to transfer FROM Tracfone, this info "might" help:

• My Account Number turned out to me my IMEI number
• For the PIN number, you have to go to your Tracfone Account on their website and request a "TRANSFER PIN #" (not the same as your account PIN used for Tech Support and the like)

What finally allowed me to complete my transfer, is I went to the Tracfone Chat support and asked if they could at least verify my account number. They responded that they could not give out that info for security reasons and tried to end the Chat. I said "you mean to tell me that after all these years with Tracfone, you cannot let me know what my own Account Number is to complete the transfer?" Finally, they said they would have someone from Transfer Services call me back in 15 minutes. When they called back they said my account number was my IMEI number (not the last 15 digits of my pSIM card like everything said online). I gave her my IMEI number and she said "I see where Mint Mobile has been trying to initiate the transfer unsuccessfully". She said, "Give me a minute, and I will RELEASE your phone number to Mint Mobile?" When she came back on the phone a minute later, my iPhones had made the transfer! So apparently all it took was going through half of India to get the right Tech Person! 10 hours of wasted time for something that took one-minute. Neither carrier's instructions said anything about how the phone number had to be "released for transfer" by someone in Tech Support?

Sounds like the eSIM process was very successful but the issue is the good 'ol phone number transfer, which is a separate issue. But yes, typically, when you transfer a number from one provider to the next, you have to have the old one either release it or give you the pin # plus your account #. That process isn't new but some providers to make it harder than others to leave.

But glad this was handled for you in the end.