topic Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue in Get Support

eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 01:45:11 GMT

Hi all,

I've noticed a few posts where others signed up for PM then ported their number from previous provider to PM via eSIM and they did everything correctly (replied YES to number port text, received PM welcome email with QR code and set up eSIM on iPhone prompts) but they were still stuck with "no SIM" appearing in the cellular bar. The commented solutions were to reach out to customer support because it could be a provisioning issue that PM support can fix.

So I've reached out to PM support and their advice is that I should've chosen a physical SIM instead. This simply isn't true as I've witnessed others successfully sign up via eSIM and PM wouldn't offer eSIM if it did not work.

Has anyone successfully received help in this topic from PM support and can share what solutions worked?

Desperate need of help as I've been without cellular all day today and need my phone for work.

Thank you in advance!

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

Littleman13 — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 01:54:17 GMT

Have you checked Settings > Cellular on your iPhone to see if there is a Public Mobile eSIM installed already? If so, you might just need to toggle the "Turn on this line". If it isn't installed, then what do you see when you log into your Public Mobile online account? Do you see "continue activation", or do you have access to your new subscriber information?

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

hTideGnow — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 01:56:23 GMT

hi @emann

what phone do you have? it really depends

but for easy and quick fix, PM usually ask those to get a physical sim first so they can have the service working first. Then once confirmed the phone really should work with esim, they can then download the app and re-buy esim

for most the time, esim problem is just people not 100% sure how to setup and caused extra headache

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:13:46 GMT

iphone 13

yes I understand not many people can follow the steps properly but I set up my siblings phone the exact same steps at the same time with same iphone 13 and theirs worked and mine didn't so that's adding to the confusion.

yes in the cellular part of the settings, it shows one line labeled "Used as "Phone" with my number in it and says at the end of that line "no SIM" - it will not let me click into that

then a second line labelled "Personal" and at the end of that line says "On" - I can click into that one and that displays as Public Mobile but it does not have a phone number with it

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

hTideGnow — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:17:33 GMT

HI @emann

you should not have 2 lines in the Settings-> Cellular

do you still have the old carrier sim card ? Remove the old carrier sim if it is physical or disable Turn on this line if it is esim

And PM esim should be the only one there, set as Primary and have Turn on this line toggled on. Then Reboot phone and Reset Network Settings

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:19:18 GMT

I completely agree with you - I shouldn't have two lines.

there is no physical sim card in the phone - so it's very strange that I have two lines, one that I cannot click and the other I can click that says PM but my phone number is not attached to it.

My Rogers plan doesn't have my phone on it's portal overview anymore either so the number port did remove it from Rogers but doesn't seem to have landed properly into PM

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

hTideGnow — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:25:36 GMT

hi @emann

even the Rogers line is not on your portal, the esim ( I assume your Rogers is esim) could still be on your phone and you need to find ways to manually delete it

try Reset Network Settings first, some same it might delete the inactive sim (Rogers)

or try
To erase your eSIM:
1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap either Cellular or Mobile Data.
3. Tap the plan that you want to erase.
4. Tap Delete eSIM.

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:26:34 GMT

previous Rogers sim was a physical one and that is removed, the phone has no physical sim card in it.

network settings has been reset

tried turning phone off for many minutes at a time then turning back on - no changes

I've tried many things it seems

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

slusagm — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:27:47 GMT

some suggestions I googled:

Just select update contacts and they disappear

General -> Mobile Service (Cellular) -> "Problem eSIM name" -> Delete eSIM

Check do VPNs turn on, if yes -> turn off it

Check are some security profiles installed on the iPhone, if yes -> remove it

Check are some security software installed on the iPhone, if yes -> remove it

General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone -> Reset -> Delete All eSIMs

General -> Transfer or Reset iPhone -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings (it will reset Wi-Fi too, so you will need connect to it again)

Remove all VPN certificates and VPN apps, and then try again previous point (#6).

Forcefully close Settings app by swipe, try point #1, again forcefully close Settings app by swipe, and again try point #1

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

slusagm — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:29:50 GMT

and for update contact, Tap on it and you will see:

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:37:44 GMT

Thanks for the suggestions - I did read in google research that deleting the eSIM is a hard no and you would need to buy a new eSIM again.

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

slusagm — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:42:02 GMT

It looks to me is the old sim profile blocking the PM esim

Any Apple store close by? I would visit them first before trying to buy a new PM esim

Afterall, maybe hard to login PM app to buy esim if you have trouble with current esim, not sure if you can receive the 2FA

Don't delete the current PM esim yet., could still be useful

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

emann — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:49:53 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion.

No apple store in the city unfortunately. I'm able to do 2FA via email at least.

support rep most recently asked for the eSIM number so they may be working on something in back end.

Re: eSIM not working ; no SIM ; cellular issue

Chussmee — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:02:37 GMT

Not all phones are compatible with esims. I originally came to public mobile on a pixel 6 got a esim ported my number with no issues. But when the screen got smashed I bought a moto and it was not compatible with esims and had to get a physical one (on Amazon same-day delivery) got my number back no issues