ESims

[Qwerty909070]

Just got a new iPhone 11 and Watch. No one mentioned to me but the old phone cut off and they said it was because the new phone was set up for eSim. Got new phone and there is no instructions how to sort out eSim. Can anyone help as Birgin support has me waiting for over an hour 

[sophist]

Virgin need to supply you with a QR code (which i believe is done by email) - on the iphone you navigate to settings -> mobile data -> add data plan, scan the QR code and you're good to go.

Not sure how you go about getting the QR code from VM tho - maybe you've already had it? check your emails..

Also, moving this thread to teh mobile board..

[enlli]

Esims are available through your online account. I think it is in products and services but I may be wrong.

Just go through the menus if not

[BenMcr]

When you move to eSIM you get an email with the QR code and the manual activation code along with those details being in the online account.

Your existing SIM shouldn't stop working until you've followed the activation steps on your device. When I changed I also had to text from my existing physical SIM before the eSIM was activated - although this can also be triggered in the online account I believe.

[enlli]

Reading back to the original post I am surprised the original SIM was cut off. As said above the original SIM should not stop working before the transfer. Quite frankly the phone being eSIM capable should not mean they don't supply a SIM first. I suspect it's 789 not knowing their A from their E.

When I swapped with Vodafone I was advised to keep the original SIM in case I wanted to swap back for any reason. I can do that online by simply giving the SIM number.

[BenMcr]

With Virgin Media eSIMs it's treated as a separate SIM card, and you don't need a physical SIM first.

So if you join as a new customer with an eSIM device, you won't also get a physical SIM.

As an existing customer my physical SIM is now deactivated and can't be reactivated. If I want to go back from eSIM to a Physical SIM then Virgin Mobile will need to send me one.

Looking at Vodafone they do it differently as they need an activation code that's sent to a physical SIM first before the eSIM is enabled.

[enlli]

The thing that worries me here is that an upgrading customer can have their original SIM cut off before being able to change.   And we all know how Virgin can potentially **bleep** that up leaving a customer without service

[BenMcr]

There are two ways a new SIM can be activated.

Most of the time it's a customer led action i.e. any existing SIM card continues to work until the customer is ready to move over. There are some exceptions to this where a SIM will activate itself after 30 days.

The other is 'Immediate'. This is usually only used for lost and stolen devices as it stops the existing SIM working as soon as the new SIM is sent out.

As far as I know all Upgrades default to a customer led activation if a new SIM is required for any reason. That includes eSIM.

Also I believe that for any upgrade even if a device is eSIM compatible it'll stay on physical SIM if that's what the customer currently has unless they choose to move to an eSIM during the upgrade. Only new customers will get eSIM by default for an eSIM device.