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Carrier Xfinity Mobile e-Sim Activation?
- Thread starter Costino1
- Start date
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My iPhone is scheduled to arrive Oct 28th. Have you tried going to your local Xfinity Store to see if they can activate it for you?
I finally got it. The directions in the box said to go to the website to activate. Didnt work. Website is probably slammed. Had to call and took 5 minutes once they sent over the e-sim activation. I could have went to the store, too. The activation should be ironed out for you by then hopefully.
techiegirl
macrumors 65816
I was able to activate online without any issues. Go to Xfinity.com/mobile, my account, devices, replace your device.
rockyzhang24
macrumors newbie
Just finish transferring the physical SIM (iPhone 12 Pro Max) to the eSIM (iPhone 14 Pro Max) without any issues. The process was very smooth and easy to follow. I will share it in details below.
Note: Don't use the Xfinity Mobile App in a phone, and instead use a browser on your desktop.
1. Go to Xfinity Mobile website and login your account.
2. Go to "My Account" from the top right corner and then click the "Devices" tab.
3. Click your old device.
4. Click "Replace your device".
5. Click "Bring your own". Then we enter a webpage with a title "Upgrade or switch devices".
6. For "What type of device are you switching to?" question, select "iPhone". Then click "Next".
7. Enter the IMEI number from your new iPhone 14. You can find it from the iPhone Settings App (Settings -> General -> About -> IMEI).
8. It will show that your new device is compatible for eSIM.
9. Now it asks you to input a 6 digits code from the text message sent to your phone number.
10. Enter this code to finish the last step.
11. Finally, you will see a QR code.
12. Grab your new iPhone. Enter Settings App. Then go to Cellular and select "Set up Cellular".
13. Select "Scan QR code" to download your eSIM.
14. DONE!!
Note: Don't use the Xfinity Mobile App in a phone, and instead use a browser on your desktop.
1. Go to Xfinity Mobile website and login your account.
2. Go to "My Account" from the top right corner and then click the "Devices" tab.
3. Click your old device.
4. Click "Replace your device".
5. Click "Bring your own". Then we enter a webpage with a title "Upgrade or switch devices".
6. For "What type of device are you switching to?" question, select "iPhone". Then click "Next".
7. Enter the IMEI number from your new iPhone 14. You can find it from the iPhone Settings App (Settings -> General -> About -> IMEI).
8. It will show that your new device is compatible for eSIM.
9. Now it asks you to input a 6 digits code from the text message sent to your phone number.
10. Enter this code to finish the last step.
11. Finally, you will see a QR code.
12. Grab your new iPhone. Enter Settings App. Then go to Cellular and select "Set up Cellular".
13. Select "Scan QR code" to download your eSIM.
14. DONE!!
I was having trouble, no links were working and it wouldn't do it straight from the new device. I went onto Xfinity Mobile chat, waited about 3 minutes in virtual line, and the guy got my new device set up in less than 5 minutes.
do you know if this works if transferring number? they had a time trying to upgrade my device because it was BYOD and the phone number came from another carrier. so they assigned my new phone my old number, and my old phone a bogus new number so do the transfer but now my new phone is stuck in SOS and I don’t have carrier info
Just got off phone with them. I got 14 pro max, was upgrading from 13 and they said they can’t transfer my number from my 13 SIM card to an ESIM YET!!!!! Guy said “I can give you a new number”. I SNAPPED ON HIM. I said you telling me anyone that upgraded can’t keep their number??? He said it’s gonna rake 3/4 weeks for them to have the capability to do this. So right now, I have a phone I can’t use and I’m losing money on my resale of the 13 bc it was a private sale.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Shame on Xfinity for not making this clear, but you should not try and activate your new iPhone until you get the confirmation email from Xfinity that your device has been delivered and asks you if you are ready to activate. Just doing it right out of the box the moment you get your iPhone leads to all kinds of problems.
Hank282882
macrumors newbie
Hank282882
macrumors newbie
Hank282882
macrumors newbie
Hank282882
macrumors newbie
I am sorry to hear that. Mine worked perfectly after I received the email. I do agree that the rollout was very un-Apple-like and very much Comcast/Xfinity-like. Good luck.
Thats weird. I had an iPhone 12 Pro and was able to get my iphone 14 going within 5 minutes of being on the phone with them. Try recalling them and speaking to someone else.
Ordered two 14 pros from xfinity mobile as upgrades to existing BYOD lines on my by the gig plan which arrived 9/17. Activation of the first phone (mine) went smoothly once I received the email from xfinity that it's time to activate, which arrived about 1 hour after the phone was delivered. Started working on setting up my wife's phone later in the day, well after we got the activation email. Feeling confident about my setup from earlier, I set hers up the same way I did mine - updated the old phone to iOS 16, then setup the new phone using the quick setup/transfer from old phone. No issues were encountered. Then I logged in to my xfinity mobile account > devices and launched the activation. A text message was delivered to the old phone with a confirmation code, which I entered and worked fine. Got the message that the activation was in process and an email would be delivered when it was complete. Told my wife to watch for a notification on the new phone about esim transfer and to accept. No notification came through. 30 minutes later I logged back into my devices page and I see the following message:
Let's fix a glitch
Looks like we ran into an issue with activating your device. Give us a call and we'll get it worked out.
I got on chat with support - this was around 8:20pm PT. Took a good 20 minutes to get through to someone at xfinity mobile, who went back and forth with me a bit before saying he was seeing the same issue on his end and need to consult with his team. Then he asked me ridiculous questions like "did you receive a SIM card" and started sending me links to various generic support articles like "what is an esim". Finally after about an hour, he says I have to wait 12-24 hours and that he created a case in their CRM for someone to resend the activation message.
The next day I decided to try calling and getting through to tier 2, after some hours I was successful. The rep tried to help but was candid with me and explained that their system currently lacks the functionality necessary to fix this issue. He explained that currently the only way he's observed the issue get resolved is by trying various steps on the new phone to get the push notification from the esim activation to go through, and even then he said these steps don't guarantee the issue will resolve. I asked him if he had a way to restart the activation process on his end, and he said that for esim there isn't. He advised performing the following steps to see if the esim activation push notification would go through on the new phone
-Go to settings > general > about and waiting for a carrier settings update notification (I had none)
-perform a network reset on the new phone,
-perform a full factory reset on the new phone.
None of the above steps worked for me, I got no push notification on the new phone and the activation error on the device in my account remains "let's fix a glitch" with no button to click to retry activation. The rep asked me a few times if I ever got an email with a QR code to activate the esim - I never got any such emails from xfinity. He also had me try the various other cellular plan activation options on the new phone, including transferring the SIM from the old phone and registering the esim manually via URL. None of these options worked.
The rep went on (very candidly I might add) that they are well aware of the issue and are expecting a fix to be implemented within 48-72 hours. He also said he would put my contact information on a list of all the other customers who are experiencing this issue, and that I will receive an email, text or phone call when the fix is available. He even said he would call me himself, personally! (not sure I believe that, but we'll see).
Based on his tone and candor I believe he was being honest. That said, it doesn't make me feel any less disappointed about a >$1000 purchase that will sit on a desk as a glorified ipod touch for the next 3 days (or more) while I wait for xfinity to hopefully get their act together. Xfinity has REALLY dropped the ball on their esim rollout. I was a happy xfinity mobile customer before, but this experience has really soured me and I will absolutely be shopping for a new carrier once these device credits expire. I've gotten two new phones from them over the years and added lines - I never once had a problem. I will also be filing a complaint with the FCC.
Let's fix a glitch
Looks like we ran into an issue with activating your device. Give us a call and we'll get it worked out.
I got on chat with support - this was around 8:20pm PT. Took a good 20 minutes to get through to someone at xfinity mobile, who went back and forth with me a bit before saying he was seeing the same issue on his end and need to consult with his team. Then he asked me ridiculous questions like "did you receive a SIM card" and started sending me links to various generic support articles like "what is an esim". Finally after about an hour, he says I have to wait 12-24 hours and that he created a case in their CRM for someone to resend the activation message.
The next day I decided to try calling and getting through to tier 2, after some hours I was successful. The rep tried to help but was candid with me and explained that their system currently lacks the functionality necessary to fix this issue. He explained that currently the only way he's observed the issue get resolved is by trying various steps on the new phone to get the push notification from the esim activation to go through, and even then he said these steps don't guarantee the issue will resolve. I asked him if he had a way to restart the activation process on his end, and he said that for esim there isn't. He advised performing the following steps to see if the esim activation push notification would go through on the new phone
-Go to settings > general > about and waiting for a carrier settings update notification (I had none)
-perform a network reset on the new phone,
-perform a full factory reset on the new phone.
None of the above steps worked for me, I got no push notification on the new phone and the activation error on the device in my account remains "let's fix a glitch" with no button to click to retry activation. The rep asked me a few times if I ever got an email with a QR code to activate the esim - I never got any such emails from xfinity. He also had me try the various other cellular plan activation options on the new phone, including transferring the SIM from the old phone and registering the esim manually via URL. None of these options worked.
The rep went on (very candidly I might add) that they are well aware of the issue and are expecting a fix to be implemented within 48-72 hours. He also said he would put my contact information on a list of all the other customers who are experiencing this issue, and that I will receive an email, text or phone call when the fix is available. He even said he would call me himself, personally! (not sure I believe that, but we'll see).
Based on his tone and candor I believe he was being honest. That said, it doesn't make me feel any less disappointed about a >$1000 purchase that will sit on a desk as a glorified ipod touch for the next 3 days (or more) while I wait for xfinity to hopefully get their act together. Xfinity has REALLY dropped the ball on their esim rollout. I was a happy xfinity mobile customer before, but this experience has really soured me and I will absolutely be shopping for a new carrier once these device credits expire. I've gotten two new phones from them over the years and added lines - I never once had a problem. I will also be filing a complaint with the FCC.
UPDATE: the issue has been RESOLVED! I went to local xfinity store today and explained the situation. The store manager came over to help me and said there wasn't anything they could do in the store other than create a ticket for me, which would be handled by tier3 and has an ETA of 72 hours (during business days only). I explained how I already got a ticket, and have been on chat/phone/text with support since Saturday, including one call with tier2 and nobody has been able to resolve the issue. He was adamant that there was nothing he could do, explaining that the stores are just "service points" for mobile and beyond very basic things like issuing SIM cards and helping people with voicemail, there was literally nothing he could do. He basically wanted me to turn around and leave the store - I wasn't having it. I repeatedly asked him if he, as the manager of a xfinity storefront, has a special hotline to reach the mobile team for issues like this which he repeatedly said he didn't. Finally I got him to admit he can reach tier2 directly, but not tier3 and he was 99% sure that tier2 would be of no help in my specific instance. He did have visibility to the error message on this phone which was "Network Compatibility". He said his tool in-store gave him no ability to affect that error in any way - it HAD to be tier3 or nothing else. I said I wanted to have them try calling support anyway, as I was already there in person and really just wanted to get the issue resolved and move on with life. He very reluctantly agreed, telling me it could be an hour wait. I said no problem, I'll wait. I sat down and he went into the back to get on chat. About 20 minutes went by, he came out and asked if he could borrow the new phone. He said while he was on with tier2, they saw tier3 grab my ticket and start working on it. A few minutes later I checked the old phone and there was no service. A few minutes later he came out and said they were successful at fixing the problem, and that the timing was just very lucky that tier3 happened to get involved as they were and they were able to triage them in while I waited. He went on to say that tier3 was actually getting ready to call me instead. It's funny how we went from "99% sure we won't be able to fix the problem" to getting the problem fixed in about 30 minutes while I waited in the store. It's also funny how they were magically able to get in touch with tier3 at that very moment. I suppose it could have been a coincidence just like the manager said I think my persistence had a bit to do with it as well.
If anyone out there reading this runs into a similar issue, make sure to get a ticket number from support. The store had access to view the ticket, including the status as well as the notes. It was not terribly hard to get a ticket from support either, although the first few times I called them between saturday and sunday they did not provide one. Finally, if you decide to visit the store be firm with them and be ready to wait while they call it in for you.
Time for me to move on with life and close the book on this "fun" little adventure in esim activation with xfinity mobile.
After chatting with five reps and them not resolving the problem, I went to an Xfinity store today. My line is still not activated, and my account says "Service Suspended". They should not be selling eSIM-only phones because they clearly cannot handle them.
I ordered my 14PM from Apple and it has been sitting in the box for the past few days mostly because I haven't had time to start what seems like a very protracted process. I just tried to follow step 2 above and got an error message telling me to try later. My questions are:
1. Seeing I ordered my phone from Apple and will not be receiving an xfinity email, is it worth trying to activate the phone myself or better to just take it to the xfinity store before trying anything?
2. Should the above procedure work in my situation and have others had success with it?
3. Why is xfinity so screwed up on this issue? I just tried to follow step 2 above and got an error message saying I should try later. Xfinity knew this was coming yet their system seems overwhelmed every day.
Last edited:
moved my iP12 pro psim to iP14 pro esim successfully using xfinity website on desktop in 1st try. Thanks.
Finally transferred my number from a physical SIM to eSIM on my new iPhone bought from Apple. Super unintuitive process so wanted to share the steps I went through in case it can help someone:
- Log into your account on desktop, go to Devices and your device, then Replace Device.
- Enter your new iPhone’s IMEI. After that, you’ll get an error.
- Open the Xfinity mobile app on your iPhone (I did it on the new one but either one should work), and you’ll see the new iPhone listed there. It may take a few minutes to show up.
- Return to the desktop site and Devices. Select the new iPhone and begin the activation. Make sure adblocker is disabled. Each step will be slow to load the button for some reason, just be patient and it’ll be enabled for you to click next.
- Select Keep your number. The next steps will look like it’s porting your existing number from another service, but I went through it and it worked. Put Other for existing carrier and fill in the blanks and continue.
- Your new iPhone will get a notification, open it and it will connect to the network, download the eSIM, and your number will be transferred over.