This question is for those of you like me that use more than one phone with a single SIM card. Sometime I travel and switch my SIM to another older phone I have around so if I lose phone #2 traveling I still have my newer/better phone. I know I'm not the only one to do this If I put eSIM service on Pixel 2XL, can I put old SIM card in Pixel XL and continue service on that phone while traveling. Is there a way to temporarily disable eSIM?
Hmm, interesting question.
I went with eSIM on my Pixel 2 XL yesterday, allow me a few hours to fire up my Pixel XL (which is currently powered down but still has the physical SIM card in it) and see if the Project Find app can reactivate service on it - and then move service back to the eSIM on the Pixel 2 XL again.
-jd
I hope Pixel2 can ultimately support dual SIM (eSIM and physical SIM) simultaneously with eSIM opens up to all carriers (not just Project Fi).
jawmail1 said:
This question is for those of you like me that use more than one phone with a single SIM card. Sometime I travel and switch my SIM to another older phone I have around so if I lose phone #2 traveling I still have my newer/better phone. I know I'm not the only one to do this If I put eSIM service on Pixel 2XL, can I put old SIM card in Pixel XL and continue service on that phone while traveling. Is there a way to temporarily disable eSIM?
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Click to collapse
I am in a similar position and asked Project Fi pretty much the saem question. My Pixel XL 2 is on esim now but I want to be able to switch back adn forth from att and project sim (depending on which of my phones I will be using.)
They said that yuo can put an ATT SIM card into the phone, go thru sim setup to activate it - and later take it out and re-establish the ESIM when you wnat to use it on project Fi again. It will just take you back thru the saem setup process you went thru when you initially turned on the ESIM.
Pretty straight forward I think.
Geekser said:
I am in a similar position and asked Project Fi pretty much the saem question. My Pixel XL 2 is on esim now but I want to be able to switch back adn forth from att and project sim (depending on which of my phones I will be using.)
They said that yuo can put an ATT SIM card into the phone, go thru sim setup to activate it - and later take it out and re-establish the ESIM when you wnat to use it on project Fi again. It will just take you back thru the saem setup process you went thru when you initially turned on the ESIM.
Pretty straight forward I think.
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Click to collapse
Thanks. I removed the fi sim from the XL2 and cleared data and cache in settings/apps/project fi and went back to fi app and set up esim so phone is good now. I need to see what happens when I put old sim into XL, haven't done that yet but I assume when I go into fi app all I have to do is reactivate service on that phone and it will be active (and disconnect service on XL2).
I was wondering the same question
The old physical SIM is now disabled. The eSIM has taken its place. The only way to go back to a physical SIM is getting a new Fi SIM and activating service on that SIM. There is no difference between eSIMs and real SIMS other than the eSIM is virtual and issued 'on the spot' during setup.
If you guys run the Project Fi app for setup, you'll see it's asking if you want to "Move your number to this phone" => transfer main phone to this eSIM an cancel original main SIM OR "use this phone alongside main phone without calls or texts" => make the eSIM be just a data SIM in the account.
In summary, if you are planning of using only the Pixel for Fi alongside some local/USA carrier it makes sense to transfer your main SIM to the eSIM. Otherwise it maybe be better to keep the original regular SIM.
I finally tested this. I had new esim service in new P2XL and old sim in PXL, old sim disconnected of course. Turned off P2XL and booted up PXL, had notification from fi app that service has been disconnected do I want to activate, pressed activate. It took a minute then fi app said do I want to maximize service, I said yes, another minute and I have service. Checked what network I'm on and it says Verizon, that's weird so I make a call and it rings VZW customer service, I hang up. Reboot and it comes up with Sprint this time and service is normal and I can make calls on fi.
I then turned off old phone and turned on new P2XL, it asks me the same exact questions do I want to activate service, I say yes and let it do its thing and reboot and have fi on that phone w/ esim. So for now it looks like we can use old sim in other phones w/ fi but that could change.
jawmail1 said:
I finally tested this. I had new esim service in new P2XL and old sim in PXL, old sim disconnected of course. Turned off P2XL and booted up PXL, had notification from fi app that service has been disconnected do I want to activate, pressed activate. It took a minute then fi app said do I want to maximize service, I said yes, another minute and I have service. Checked what network I'm on and it says Verizon, that's weird so I make a call and it rings VZW customer service, I hang up. Reboot and it comes up with Sprint this time and service is normal and I can make calls on fi.
I then turned off old phone and turned on new P2XL, it asks me the same exact questions do I want to activate service, I say yes and let it do its thing and reboot and have fi on that phone w/ esim. So for now it looks like we can use old sim in other phones w/ fi but that could change.
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Click to collapse
This was not my experience:
Powered down Pixel 2 XL, which was activated using eSIM three (3) days ago
Powered up Pixel XL (which I performed a wipe/reset on before I powered it down), which still has the Fi physical SIM in it
Pixel XL booted and tried to auto-activate on Project Fi; hung for a ~three (3) minutes before failing and asking me to hook up to wi-fi & sign in to a Google account
Connected to wi-fi & signed in using the Google account the Project Fi subscription is associated to
Project Fi attempted to activate again; hung for ~three (3) minutes before reporting: "Activate service later. Unfortunately your Project Fi service can't be activated right now. You'll be prompted to activate as soon as you've finished setting up your device."
Completed initial login on Pixel XL; had a Project Fi notification which read "Project Fi not fully activated. Tap to finish activation."
Tapped this notification which took me back to an "Activating..." screen which hung for ~three (3) minutes before failing with the following error: "Contact us. Unfortunately, your Project Fi service can' tbe activated due to an issue with your SIM card. If you need help, call 1-844-TALK-2-FI. Code: T077."
Powered down Pixel XL
Powered up Pixel 2 XL and confirmed Project Fi service was still activated/operational on eSIM.
In short, my experience is that one would need to engage Project Fi Customer Service in order to move from eSIM to physical.
-jd
With this phone, and the eSIM, you can switch between physical SIM and the eSIM. I first setup my phone on Sprint, but wanted to try out Project Fi without giving up my existing Sprint plan. It took some work and some calls, but both services are active, and to switch I use the dialer code *#*#switchsim#*#*. There is an option in the settings area, under Mobile Network then Carrier, but it does not seem to work all the time. I'm not planning on keeping this setup long, especially since on Fi I cannot use a Sprint connection, as I was told that my phone is still registered on the Sprint service. When I try to connect to a Sprint tower through Fi, I have no data. So while this is not an actual dual SIM phone, it appears that it can function as such, so long as you use Fi, and the second network is not Sprint or T-Mobile (or US Cellular.)
I don't think this applies to the original post, but I just wanted to share my findings in case can help anyone.
I asked Project Fi support if I could use the e-sim for data only and the sim slot for a call/text.
they said e-sim is only for full service (call,text, data).
Hoping Tmobile will support e-sim soon
chris11882 said:
With this phone, and the eSIM, you can switch between physical SIM and the eSIM. I first setup my phone on Sprint, but wanted to try out Project Fi without giving up my existing Sprint plan. It took some work and some calls, but both services are active, and to switch I use the dialer code *#*#switchsim#*#*. There is an option in the settings area, under Mobile Network then Carrier, but it does not seem to work all the time. I'm not planning on keeping this setup long, especially since on Fi I cannot use a Sprint connection, as I was told that my phone is still registered on the Sprint service. When I try to connect to a Sprint tower through Fi, I have no data. So while this is not an actual dual SIM phone, it appears that it can function as such, so long as you use Fi, and the second network is not Sprint or T-Mobile (or US Cellular.)
I don't think this applies to the original post, but I just wanted to share my findings in case can help anyone.
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So your saying if I popped a Verizon SIM in the physical slot and pushed my personal number to Fi it'd function as a true dual SIM??? That'd be amazing. My current setup Is a OnePlus 3T with my personal ATT and work Verizon SIMs. Verizon doesn't get data cause the 3T is missing Verizon band 13. I still get texts and calls though.
izzyfanto said:
So your saying if I popped a Verizon SIM in the physical slot and pushed my personal number to Fi it'd function as a true dual SIM??? That'd be amazing. My current setup Is a OnePlus 3T with my personal ATT and work Verizon SIMs. Verizon doesn't get data cause the 3T is missing Verizon band 13. I still get texts and calls though.
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Click to collapse
No. It is not possible to have both SIM and eSIM active at the same time, it is one or the other.
You can switch between them at will, but both will not be active simultaneously.
uicnren said:
No. It is not possible to have both SIM and eSIM active at the same time, it is one or the other.
You can switch between them at will, but both will not be active simultaneously.
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Click to collapse
sorry for hijacking this thread, I'll respond at the one I created
izzyfanto said:
sorry for hijacking this thread, I'll respond at the one I created
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Click to collapse
You'd have to ask Google. And I have not seen anything via root to enable it.
Related
For whatever reason I can't get my totalwireless sim to connect to data in my pixel 2 xl. The sim works fine in my pixel. I can put a xfinity mobile sim in the pixel 2 and it will connect to data just fine. I can't even edit the apn settings when the totalwireless sim is in the phone. It just tells me I'm not authorized. Anyone got any ideas on how I get my pixel 2 to connect to LTE on totalwireless?
munkle said:
For whatever reason I can't get my totalwireless sim to connect to data in my pixel 2 xl. The sim works fine in my pixel. I can put a xfinity mobile sim in the pixel 2 and it will connect to data just fine. I can't even edit the apn settings when the totalwireless sim is in the phone. It just tells me I'm not authorized. Anyone got any ideas on how I get my pixel 2 to connect to LTE on totalwireless?
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Click to collapse
Get a new sim from them. Sprint is the same way
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Got a new sim, activated it with the pixel 2 xl imei. Still no data, cannot edit the apn settings. The new sim also works fine in my pixel 1. Google just tells me to factory reset or reset network settings. That doesn't help. Totalwireless wants me to manually add the apn, which I would have done from the begining but the apn settings are locked and I cannot change them. Just going to return the phone as its not really useful without data.
A fix!
munkle,
Me and another reddit user have been battling with the same issue. I've gone through 3 Total Wirless SIMs and haven't fixed the issue. It has to do with not being able to add or edit an APN on the phone. Another user figured out a workaround though. I'll copy his reply here. I haven't tried this yet but I'm going to try it this weekend. Here is the quote
"Holy ****, I think I've cracked it.
This is the most convoluted set of steps I think I've ever had to do on something that should be easy... however this answer is kind of a pain.
I managed to get my hands on a H20 wireless sim crd which uses the att network. As I said before it lets me add an APN but not save it. So what I did is leave the screen open where I entered the APN info. swap out the sim cards in the middle of it and hit save whenever the phone got service and bam! LTE!
I can't believe this is what I had to go through... And I can't even promise it will work every time. I tried the process again on my RMA phone, but all that phone would pick up is 3G... go figure... So I think your best bet would be to swap in a buddy's sim card who uses att or tmobile, just to get to that 'add an APN' screen and then swap your sim card back in."
I can confirm that the above works. I now have LTE data. That is messed up that you need to do that.
Edit: actually it only half works. I still can't send mms messages. Probably because the apn screen wouldn't let me exactly match the settings on my pixel 1, it says the carrier didn't support certain things.
See this topic: https://productforums.google.com/fo...!msg/phone-by-google/_PGJbTEuY0M/BY724wAkBwAJ
It's the future of android, unfortunately, in that it's an android 8.1 issue (at least Android 8.0 on 1st gen Pixel XL doesn't have this issue, but Android 8.1 on 1st gen Pixel XL does have this issue).
There is a new setting in the apns-conf.xml file (found in /system/system/etc or /system/etc), which setting is labeled "user_hidden" with options "true" and "false". All of the Verizon MVNO settings are labelled as "true", meaning that APN editing access is now restricted.
There is no way that I know of to edit this file without bootloader unlock and root.
And, it's definitely an Android issue, as Android 8.0 (other than on the Pixel 2 XL) and earlier did not have this issue.
Speculation on my part, but this is probably Google's response to its exclusive carrier, Verizon, request that these phones not be made easy to use on much-cheaper-than-Verizon MVNOs.
In anticipation of my Pixel 2 XL arriving I have a question regarding the ability to switch between Verizon and eSim.
Ideally I would use TMobile and Verizon together, but I believe TMO eSim is not yet possible.
So I could run TMO via NanoSim and Verizon via eSim?
OnePlus3 has an amazing feature with in their Oreo beta where one can toggle between data service. (See pic). Does stock Oreo on the P2XL offer similar convenience?
AMRivlin said:
In anticipation of my Pixel 2 XL arriving I have a question regarding the ability to switch between Verizon and eSim.
Ideally I would use TMobile and Verizon together, but I believe TMO eSim is not yet possible.
So I could run TMO via NanoSim and Verizon via eSim?
OnePlus3 has an amazing feature with in their Oreo beta where one can toggle between data service. (See pic). Does stock Oreo on the P2XL offer similar convenience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that I've seen.
I tried on my phone, you need to swipe once and press six times to change between physical and eSIM
AMRivlin said:
In anticipation of my Pixel 2 XL arriving I have a question regarding the ability to switch between Verizon and eSim.
Ideally I would use TMobile and Verizon together, but I believe TMO eSim is not yet possible.
So I could run TMO via NanoSim and Verizon via eSim?
OnePlus3 has an amazing feature with in their Oreo beta where one can toggle between data service. (See pic). Does stock Oreo on the P2XL offer similar convenience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know Project Fi is the only provider that supports the esim right now. I'm using Fi and T Mobile and you can have both on the phone. Under mobile networks there is a carrier option which will show the physical sim and the esim. You just select the one you want to switch to and it will take you to the lock screen. Just unlock and the other carrier will be active. You can't have both active at the same time, but still it's real quick and convenient! There might be a way to use Tasker to make a quick settings toggle to switch, but haven't tried yet so can't say for sure.
THEbigSWEEN said:
As far as I know Project Fi is the only provider that supports the esim right now. I'm using Fi and T Mobile and you can have both on the phone. Under mobile networks there is a carrier option which will show the physical sim and the esim. You just select the one you want to switch to and it will take you to the lock screen. Just unlock and the other carrier will be active. You can't have both active at the same time, but still it's real quick and convenient! There might be a way to use Tasker to make a quick settings toggle to switch, but haven't tried yet so can't say for sure.
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Click to collapse
I understand both data options won't be on, Can you use both, to take calls?
The dual SIM and switcher or OP is very handy.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
AMRivlin said:
I understand both data options won't be on, Can you use both, to take calls?
The dual SIM and switcher or OP is very handy.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct, it's one or the other. I believe if you get a call on the inactive sim it will be like if your phone is off and go straight to voicemail, but I have calls and texts from my Fi number forwarded to the T Mobile which is the one I mainly keep active right now so I can't say for sure. I know when I switch back to the Fi esim all the texts come pouring in.
THEbigSWEEN said:
Correct, it's one or the other. I believe if you get a call on the inactive sim it will be like if your phone is off and go straight to voicemail, but I have calls and texts from my Fi number forwarded to the T Mobile which is the one I mainly keep active right now so I can't say for sure. I know when I switch back to the Fi esim all the texts come pouring in.
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Click to collapse
Bummer. Wish they were both active (for calls) at the same time.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
My Pixel 2xl was happily working with Google FI on Android Pie here in China. Updating to Android 10 was uneventful and Google Fi continued to work. A China Telecom SIM was tested in the Pixel 2xl. After it failed I put my Google Fi SIM back in, and the phone showed the esim options and actual SIM. I chose actual SIM and it attempted to activate the SIM.
It gets to the place where the phone asks:
=====================
Set up your device
Activate Google FI to your device for calls, text and data.
Set up later / Next
=====================
Pressing Next, just loops back to this same screen in 2-20 seconds. Doesn't matter if the phone is wifi on or off. Rebooting the phone does not help. Here in China, moving the Fi SIM to my old Nexus 6P where it had lived previously resulted in normal activation. Putting it back in the Pixel 2xl, neither the actual SIM options or the esim would allow activation. It always fails on the above error. I have attempted to clean the SIM card slot of the Pixel 2xl in case there is some corrosion as the phone has seem some torrential rain storms lately. Nothing seems to work.
How can the China Telecom Sim cause Google Fi to no longer activate?
Otherwise the phone works fine. Wifi, bluetooth, camera etc is fine on the Pixel 2xl. And the SIM works in a Nexus 6P. So the problem must be the Pixel 2xl???? What do I need to do to resolve??
It is rumored that Android 10 may be responsible for this issue. Downgrading to Pie may allow activation especially when outside the USA
We're you able to solve the problem?
I'm having the same problem; after testing a China SIM, my Fi eSIM won't function and I can't get it to reactivate. It's maddening and Fi support seems unable to help. They're telling me that it's already activated.
---------- Post added at 08:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------
We're you able to solve the problem?
I'm having the same problem; after testing a China SIM, my Fi eSIM won't function and I can't get it to reactivate. It's maddening and Fi support seems unable to help. They're telling me that it's already activated.
I have a pixel 3xl, up to date stock non rooted, on straight talk lte/cdma Verizon network. I got a text saying straight talk now has VoLTE so I tried to find it in settings but there's no option for it. When I search it it comes up but when I click it it goes to mobile settings and it's not there I did the *#*#4636#*#* and it's also grayed out there. I changed the network mode in that diag screen to lte/cdma to see if that helped, was on global before i think. Still no VoLTE and for some reason I can't make calls. I have data, can send and receive texts but when I go to call it says no network. Removed Sim card didn't fix it, restarted it. Safe mode doesn't help either. Tired clicking trigger carrier provisioning, updated the smsc. Change mobile network to lte only, back to global, lte/cdma. I have no idea what else to try. Straight talk is basically useless for customer service so I haven't even tried yet lol.
Update!! It works!! Somehow I either damaged my sim card when I switch from my pixel 2xl to this 3xl and it somehow lasted till now. Or when I changed my network settings something wrote to the sim?( And it messed it up?? IDK much about how the phone and sim interact with each other)... But I did have a 2 year old sim card, it did not have VoLTE or wifi calling capabilities I now realize. So I bought a new SIM card at Walmart and activated it though the straight talk app on my account and kept the same number. Works perfectly and I now have VoLTE, no wifi calling yet but the option is now there and lets me click it but it fails. Doesn't matter to me, I'm just happy to have VoLTE. I'm leaving this post because straight has horrible customer service and I could find anyone who ran into this specific issue.
Just updated this morning, we now have eSIM support (supposedly) with the second IMEI showing up in settings. I haven't tested it yet though, so ill try to later today.
Edit:
So my secondary carrier is GoogleFi, which won't recognize the available eSim. So I had to convert my physical TMo sim to an eSIM (permanently disabled your physical sim card). This allowed me to move my GFi card to the phone.
GFi app recognized the sim card and activated, however it looks like Samsung/TMo baked in a TMo network selection feature for this sim. Instead of recognizing that it's GFi with it's networks, you had to select if this card was a TMo/Metro/Assurance carrier. I selected TMo thinking that GFi uses them mostly around my locale that it'll work. However we now get the X on the signal chart.
My guess is this is the good ol network lock coming into play. So we got eSim and 2 sim cards...we're locked to TMo and Metro still. Hopefully better luck for those with Unlocked US phones
I have a Samsung version (still on TMO but not TMO branded) and got the update today with esim too
So new update: becareful with converting your Physical Sim to an eSim. I can't figure out why, and am on the phone with support, but the eSim for TMo doesn't register on the network. wifi-calling works for the eSim, but nothing else. In the Sim card settings, it detects an "unknown" carrier, whereas the GoogleFi (which doesn't work probably due to network lock) at least detected GoogleFi.
Edit:
So...whatever you do, don't listen to Help desk. They had me removing my eSim so that I can do the "scan qr" method even though I did the proper Convert to eSim method previously. The removal doesn't actually remove anything from the phone, so you can't "start over" hoping to try a different method. Even if it could, you disabled the physical sim, so you have no method of receiving the TMo verification codes needed to add a sim card to the phone. You literally lock yourself out of the network until they send you a new physical sim or reactivate your old sim
To reactivate the old sim, while forgoing the text message, is a 10min processs. Fortunately that's probably the most straight forward aspect. The 10min wait is to let the verification process timeout and it'll just activate.
I gotten it 5 days ago I really like the new features
What is esim?
bmakk2055 said:
What is esim?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Esim is where you can ditch the actual sim card and your phone have a built-in sim card manager to keep digital copies
I switched one of my other lines to my fold3 esim today (on TMO network) and been on with support for a while now they have no idea the issue. But it detects it as a T-Mobile network but it won't discover the number. It stays as unknown number. Can't use the data, calls or texts but it activated
Edit: after going back and forth with tech support, the issue has reversed itself. Now the esim has a number but no provider lol will keep this post updated
Edit 2: after more back and forth with some escalated executive support team they found the problem and fixed it. It's supposedly a bug in Samsung's esim that needs manual high level settings changed on TMOs end to fix on a per device basis
spart0n said:
I switched one of my other lines to my fold3 esim today (on TMO network) and been on with support for a while now they have no idea the issue. But it detects it as a T-Mobile network but it won't discover the number. It stays as unknown number. Can't use the data, calls or texts but it activated
Edit: after going back and forth with tech support, the issue has reversed itself. Now the esim has a number but no provider lol will keep this post updated
Edit 2: after more back and forth with some escalated executive support team they found the problem and fixed it. It's supposedly a bug in Samsung's esim that needs manual high level settings changed on TMOs end to fix on a per device basis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to say that after several days with physical sim and esim, I've zero problems. It just works. My only complaint is how voicemail is handled for the 2nd sim.