SIM/ESIM

[Trvlr55]

SIM/ESIM

Purchased a new Dual SIM phone this year; Android Galaxy 22 Ultra.

Wife got a new Iphone also Dual SIM. On both phones we had our US carrier "Verizon" installed on the ESIM, so hopefully would make it easier to get standard SIM when traveling, as a lot of countries do not support ESIM, or it's difficult to find the right vendor, and person familiar with the setup, and not just totally muck it all up.

 

When traveling, we both need access to our US phone numbers for business.

Is anyone familiar with doing this in Thailand?

 

                          With my current setup, hoping can just have them drop in their local Thai SIM, and then I'll have Thai/Sim + US Verizon ESIM on the one phone; same with Wifes Iphone.

 

Took quite a bit of conversation to get the salespeople to understand why I wanted ESIM enabled for my US phone, and not the regular SIM.... You want to do what? explain that to me again, then calling their backline support, and going over it a dozen times or more, before it was all settled out.

[Onerak]

I have the same set up with US eSim from Google FI. In Thailand i bought a dTac sim and inserted the physical sim in the sim slot in my phone and lo and behold, it picked it up and started working. I get all the phone calls/text messages  from US when some body dial/text to my US number and the same for when somebody dials/text to my Thai phone number. I did not have to post in this forum and get instructions to do that. Sorry for the snarky remarks. 

[Trvlr55]

15 minutes ago, Onerak said:

I have the same set up with US eSim from Google FI. In Thailand i bought a dTac sim and inserted the physical sim in the sim slot in my phone and lo and behold, it picked it up and started working. I get all the phone calls/text messages  from US when some body dial/text to my US number and the same for when somebody dials/text to my Thai phone number. I did not have to post in this forum and get instructions to do that. Sorry for the snarky remarks. 

Awesome!! thanks

 

[Spamhead]

I have a Galaxy Note and simply followed the instructions in the user manual to do an eSim/Sim

set-up similar to yourself.

[sometimewoodworker]

13 hours ago, Trvlr55 said:

When traveling, we both need access to our US phone numbers for business.

Is anyone familiar with doing this in Thailand?

It is simple, but not very cheap. Just make sure you have your Verizon number set for international roaming, then make a call using the Verizon number as the originator, calls to the US number should come through automatically.

 

there are les expensive ways but they are much more complex.

[Wake Up]

I have an iPhone with no SIM card slot. 
 

I have esim from TMobile USA, True esim from Thailand and AIS data esim from Thailand. 
 

SIM cards will probably be outdated in next 5 years for most people. Esim is great. 
 

in Bangkok had no problem with the esim at True or AIS. They know exactly what esims are and it takes less than 3 minutes for them to do it. 

Edited December 2, 2022 by Wake Up

[edwardflory]

I use TEXTNOW APK. Unlimited US calling and receiving voice or text.

 

Cost is $0.00 to use or you can get a paid subscription for $5.00 to keep your same US number for a year, OR $ to kill the small ads, they don't bother me.

 

I DO my US banking using TEXTNOW.

 

Use ANYWHERE you have a DATA or WiFi connection. ( HOTEL WiFi  works fine. (or if necessary ROAMING - esim cost?

 

[wpcoe]

18 hours ago, Onerak said:

I have the same set up with US eSim from Google FI. In Thailand i bought a dTac sim and inserted the physical sim in the sim slot in my phone and lo and behold, it picked it up and started working. I get all the phone calls/text messages  from US when some body dial/text to my US number and the same for when somebody dials/text to my Thai phone number. I did not have to post in this forum and get instructions to do that. Sorry for the snarky remarks. 

I'm a little bit of a cell phone luddite, but I thought you could only have one active at a time:  either the eSIM or the physical SIM.  Are you saying you can have both active simultanesously and, for example, receive a call on the eSIM and a minute later receive a call on the physical SIM without changing any settings?

[sometimewoodworker]

35 minutes ago, wpcoe said:

I'm a little bit of a cell phone luddite, but I thought you could only have one active at a time:  either the eSIM or the physical SIM.  Are you saying you can have both active simultanesously and, for example, receive a call on the eSIM and a minute later receive a call on the physical SIM without changing any settings?

You can have 2 numbers active though naturally you can only use them after each other. With the iPhone you can have multiple e-sims though you can still only have 2 active at one time.

 

there is nothing to change for receiving calls, depending on the phone you may specify which number is used when you call a specific number.

[Jaybott]

Like the another poster mentioned, I have Google Fi too, although with a regular SIM,  not an eSIM.  It works out great, International roaming just about everywhere in the world as well.

 

If you go with Google Fi, you can probably keep your same US number too.

[Trvlr55]

11 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

It is simple, but not very cheap. Just make sure you have your Verizon number set for international roaming, then make a call using the Verizon number as the originator, calls to the US number should come through automatically.

 

there are les expensive ways but they are much more complex.

Sorry, didn't explain that well maybe...

 

We never do international calls, however texts incoming/outgoing, as long as there is "WIFI" network access have always worked without any delay or cost; 3 trips to Thailand so far. Verizon International Roaming "even if not used, just enabled" is insanely expensive. so we just text; if someone calls me the call still comes up, just don't answer, never charged; and I text back next chance I have WIFI access ( sorry I can't call you at the moment but we can discuss via text, etc ).

 

Thinking that with ESIM enabled I can setup a hotspot between the two numbers. Last trip I took a very old cheap android and had local SIM installed and was able 2do this quite easily.  Also with a lot of things, banking, etc will get a text as extra level of security, and need that to access these sites. this also worked perfectly just with WIFI access, no local number.

 

If hotspot on same phone doesn't work, I can setup hotspot on wifes phone for my android and other way around for hers.  If someone knows, please advise. thanks!! That would really suck, as unless we're with each other 24x7 isn't great, however don't require it to be 100%, texts will popup next time I can access WIFI or a hotspot. The only things I used the local number for was the hotspot, and apps like Grab and Bolt which seems to require a local number, and of course my Bangkok Bank account, hotel registrations.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, Trvlr55 said:

Thinking that with ESIM enabled I can setup a hotspot between the two numbers. Last trip I took a very old cheap android and had local SIM installed and was able 2do this quite easily.  Also with a lot of things, banking, etc will get a text as extra level of security, and need that to access these sites. this also worked perfectly just with WIFI access, no local number.

I think that you don’t understand the way dual numbers work.
 

The phone can only communicate with one number at a time, so it’s impossible for one number to act as a hotspot for the other number on the same phone.

 

One phone or mobile hotspot can provide a Wi-Fi connection for multiple devices, but not itself.

 

your best choice maybe a mobile hotspot, these are not expensive.

[Rachevenmo]

When it comes to SIM vs. eSIM, it depends on your needs. If you’re like me and don’t want to deal with swapping physical SIM cards, eSIMs are fantastic. They're more convenient and often more secure since you don’t need to handle a tiny piece of plastic. Plus, it’s nice not to worry about losing or damaging your SIM card.

On the other hand, if you switch phones frequently or travel a lot, having a physical SIM card might still be your thing. It’s simple, and you can easily swap it out. For info on getting an eSIM or a regular SIM, you might want to check out https://simsdirect.com.au/collections/europe. They have many options and information to help you decide what’s best.

[edwardflory]

If you need a USA number, a APK is available and I use it for US banking. The APK, calls and service are FREE.

( On some phones and tablets it will not work )

You MUST USE the service or you LOOSE the service.

www.textnow.com