eSIM Compatibility with Public Mobile

[J_PM]

Hi Community, 

We're excited about the interest in eSIM and thought it would be helpful to share some easy tips before you begin your new eSIM journey! 

Looking to activate?
Simply download the Public Mobile App to get started. When you purchase your subscription in the app, we actually check your eSIM compatibility for you, ensuring that you get the right SIM for your device.

Checkout our latest eSIM blog post  for more information on the benefits of using eSIM. 

Not sure if your phone is eSIM compatible? 
You can easily use the IMEI checker to confirm if your device is eSIM compatible ahead of time. If you purchase your subscription through our website, the checker will be available within the activation steps. 

If you're unsure how to find your phone’s IMEI visit this help article for instructions. 

Can you find out if your phone us eSIM compatible online?

Absolutely. Most manufacturers have compatible devices noted on their support websites. Third-party sites also offer insight into which devices accept eSIM in Canada. Be sure to check your device’s specific make and model. For example, Canadian models of the Samsung S20 do not support eSIM, while other international models do.

Note: Here’s a list of common device manufacturers, with steps to access your settings to confirm eSIM compatibility. Steps may vary depending on your phone model.   

Spoiler

Samsung Devices:

1.     Open the “Settings” app.
2.     Tap “Connections.”
3.     Select “SIM card manager.”
4.     Look for the “Add Mobile plan” option. If it’s available, it indicates that your device supports eSIMs.

 IOS Devices

1.     Open the “Settings” app.
2.     Tap “Cellular.”
3.     Select “Add a New Plan.”
4.     If an option to scan a QR code appears, then your device supports eSIM.

Pixel Devices:

1.     Open the “Settings” app.
2.     Tap “Network & Internet.”
3.     Select the “+” sign next to SIMs.
4.     Check if the “Connect to Mobile network” page includes a “Download a SIM instead?” option. If it does, then your device is eSIM capable.

We’ve heard your questions about eSIM compatibility, and want you to know that we’re using your feedback to make it easier to access these tools before you activate. 

- Public Mobile Team

[maximum_gato]

@Joshua57 

Can you describe your issue....rather having to search back to find the post with the issue you are comparing yours to?

[Joshua57]

Same here, hoping it fixes overnight. Did you get it figured out?

[Jakss8w]

Recently signed up with the new plan and opted for the eSim option. 

I find the process straightforward and easy to follow. Once installed, the signal is the same as the regular sim card, with no difference in strength. 

Overall, with the lower cost point and easy setup by ourselves, I strongly support this is a positive change and am happy to adapt to this new thing.

[J_PM]

@Mo38-4-  sorry for the inconvenience. If that virtual bot is not working for you, please submit a private message to @CS_Agent  someone from the support team will be in touch shortly.  

[mkhurram4all]

Please visit the store at Walmart or any Telus store.  They should be able to help. Public Mobile runs off Telus network and its sister company. 

[Mo38-4-]

Hi! My phone has an eSIM, but when I completed the sign up it said unable to use the eSIM on the phone and to contact Public Mobile. However, the online bot does not understand and i cannot submit a ticket online as it gives me an error page. I have cleared my cache and am now stuck without any service. Is someone able to contact me please?

I have no network whatsoever. This would be my biggest regret to switch to public mobile @J_PM 

[mkhurram4all]

You can check compatibility through app

[Korth_]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

I agree, if you do not need an eSIM, stay away.  Physical sim still is better.

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eSIM would still be fine for most people.

Yes, eSIM has some limitations. People seem largely unaware of this. The providers (including Public Mobile) don't seem to make any special efforts to educate consumers about these limits. The simple fact is that for most people the eSIM limitations won't be an issue, or will only be an issue (an added cost) when it's time to get a new phone.

eSIM does have advantages as well. The first is convenience and availability - eSIM is definitely the better choice if you need service and can't/won't wait a week or three (or longer) for a physical SIM card to (maybe) arrive in the mail. The vast majority of consumers blindly assume that some sales rep at a cellular store/kiosk will be happy to set up their phones for them and get everything working, whatever it costs, because they can't be bothered to learn technical details for themselves.

eSIM is non-transferable. Locked to one device forever. I've described how this could be a limitation. But it could also be a desired limitation in some instances ... for control, security, assignment, auditing, etc. Real people with real use-cases can benefit from eSIMs. Again, the providers have been negligent about educating their consumers about complicated technical details they assume nobody cares about.

[hTideGnow]

HI @Mikeee 

I agree, if you do not need an eSIM, stay away.  Physical sim still is better.

[Mikeee]

so better way is still to buy physical sim for longer plan

[hTideGnow]

HI @Mikeee  almost all Canadian provider not support phone switching with esim

So, if you are using eSIM, you will need to re-buy a new one with you have a new phone

[Mikeee]

I see, so does eSim support phone switching?

[maximum_gato]

@Mikeee 

To clarify because your post sounds like you think the esim could "wipe " your phone. Rather if you choose or need to "hard reset" or factory reset your phone that will "wipe" or erase your phone of all user data including the esim.

[Sansan]

No esim around here!!

[Korth_]

I still disagree with the whole notion of charging money for eSIMs.

A physical SIM card has real costs (manufacturing, transport, etc). Getting one to each subscriber costs money. So charging enough to cover those costs is natural. Admittedly, the things cost less than $0.25 per unit when purchased bulk, maybe double that after paying for printing and packaging, maybe add the price of postage on top of that ... so a $5 price tag seems reasonable enough. And a $$ price tag seems like greedy moneygrab.

I can understand wanting to somehow track and limit eSIM distribution. Since you don't want some internet bot just grabbing a million units every day. And Public Mobile has already had experience with trespassers, opportunists profiteering off the brand, installing themselves as middlemen, sometimes installing themselves with malicious (phonejacking, identity theft) intents beyond just flipping sales. It's obvious that $0 FREE always attracts problems the business doesn't want to deal with, so a nominal cost is reasonable. Although, again, a $$ price tag seems like greedy moneygrab, especially since "delivering" and "installing" an eSIM involves nothing more costly than email.

Charging $$ for the SIM (or eSIM) you need to subscribe to phone service is like charging $$ for the ignition key you need to drive your new car off the lot.

[softech]

@Korth_ we can worry about the eSIm only phone later for now, even iPhone keeping the physical sim slot in Canada

For the cost, Canada is not giving free eSIM out.  I hope it will be changed later and we will no longer have to worry about the cost factors, but switching Physical sim is much much better and easier 

[Korth_]

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@softech wrote:

But while eSIM is "cool", there are disadvantages as well.  For eSIM, if you have a new phone, or if you ever wipe your phone, you will have to re-buy a new eSIM again.   There is no such problem with Physical sim card.

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You will eventually want or need a new phone. No phone lasts forever.

If you use eSIM then you'll have to buy a new eSIM at whatever price they charge ($5, $10, $15, $20+). This might be expected if you're replacing the phone simply because you want a newer model. It's "meant" to be expected when you're going through a normal provider at a normal store and buying a new phone on a contract. It's just an extra little cost if you're replacing the phone because it was lost, stolen, broken.

If you use eSIM, then your account is locked to that phone. The only way to switch it to another phone would be to buy and activate a new eSIM on the other phone (which again costs a little extra money). Compare vs physical SIM card which you can easily swap from phone to phone without any restriction, you have use a different phone every day if you like. You can use your same old SIM card on your fancy new phone when you upgrade.

You can switch SIM cards in one phone all you like, as well. While you're travelling out of country, for instance. This is not an option with eSIMs unless the eSIM-capable phone also has a physical SIM card slot.

I fail to see what is so "cool" about this commodity. Other than the fact that the marketing is trying to make it seem cool. It might have some application where control and restriction is desirable - say, a corporation is deploying phones to employees or whatever. But it's just more costs, more locks, more hassles for consumers. If phones every become eSIM-only (by ditching all physical SIM card slots) then consumers will be right back at the tiresome old "carrier-locked" and "OEM-locked" phone problems the CRTC attempted to abolish a decade ago.

[Mikeee]

I didn't know that, thanks, didn't know it'll wipe everything, i guess it's cause those data and contacts are bind to the sim itself, while you can transfer physical sim but not esim?

[softech]

@Mikeee 

pretty much phones with eSIM would work with PM

But while eSIM is "cool", there are disadvantages as well.  For eSIM, if you have a new phone, or if you ever wipe your phone, you will have to re-buy a new eSIM again.   There is no such problem with Physical sim card.

[maximum_gato]

 @Evan3456 

I'm assuming by now support has fixed your issue? If not read below....

@kittylover143 

Check for the welcome email. If you recieved it there will be a QR code for your esim. But you will need to contact customer support first before scanning it to install it on your phone.

If you didn't get the welcome email you're in a bigger pickle like I was....I had to contact support and they told me they could see my plan and payment in the account but I would need to order or go purchase a physical Sim card for service. The account I was activating  needed service on their esim only. My only option to use esim was to repurchase it in the self serve account .

But you cannot access the self serve account without the secondary verification text sent from eversafe that is only sent via text message. Lucky for me I always have spare Sim cards. The CSA swapped /added the physical sim card to the account and i put it in a phone to get the code from eversafe to gai9n access to the self serve account. The CSA  credited the account $5 for the new esim and $10 for the Sim card.

However when I logged in I was greeted with a suspended service message and a backdated 30 day plan of october 1st to 31st. I could not purchase an esim. I messaged support overnight and in morning i had an active account and services and was able to purchase and install the esim on the S22 Ultra.

To contact customer support end a detailed message.....

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[Mikeee]

Are there any lists of types of phone that supported the esim?

[kittylover143]

I’m going through this as well!! Please update if you get it to work. 

[Korth_]

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@maximum_gato wrote:

 Everyone gets a welcome email nowadays? Esim activation went sideways after payment with an error message. No esim prompt. No welcome email. No QR code but customer support says payment went thru and the account is active?

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You should at least get an SMS from 100 or from 611 when you activate a new account. 611 is used to send payment reminders and messages - including a confirmation notification every time your plan cycle successfully renews, including a confirmation notification the first time your plan cycle starts. (At least, that's what I've seenon my own old phone long long ago, and on a referral's phone almost as long ago.)

It's not really a "welcome" message. But it is a "your payment works, your plan works" message.

[maximum_gato]

 Everyone gets a welcome email nowadays? Esim activation went sideways after payment with an error message. No esim prompt. No welcome email. No QR code but customer support says payment went thru and the account is active?

[Evan3456]

Hi! My phone has an eSIM, but when I completed the sign up it said unable to use the eSIM on the phone and to contact Public Mobile. However, the online bot does not understand and i cannot submit a ticket online as it gives me an error page. I have cleared my cache and am now stuck without any service. Is someone able to contact me please?

[dust2dust]

@Ac562- Go into the account profile and change the email address to some kind of useless junk email.

[Ac562]

Have turned them all off. Cancelled all 3 accts 

[Ac562]

I have unsubscribe from everything twice now! I have no more accounts, I have gone to another company.

[Korth_]

@Ac562 

If you're complaining about emails - just click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom and you'll never get another one again (unless you sign up again).

If you're complaining about the "Public Mobile here..." SMS texts - there are a few that you can "unsubscribe" or "stop", and they'll always tell you how to opt-out in the message itself.

But you cannot "unsubscribe" from most of these SMS texts. Not the useful payment/account reminders. Not the useless marketing spam. Not the Telus/Koodo migration offers. The best you can do, if you think they're truly obnoxious, is to use your phone software to block texts from those incoming numbers. (And even then - if you're using the OEM default built-in SMS-handling software "app" on a consumer smartphone - you cannot block the mandated regulatory notices about CRTC/CCTS and 911/E911 on many new phones intended for the Canadian market.)

Beware that you cannot claim any gifts or freebies Public Mobile might hand out if you don't get the message. Maybe you never got the message (because you chose to get taken off Public Mobile's "subscriber" list). Maybe you just can't reply "yes" to a message you never got (because you blocked the number). Either way, I've seen people complain before because they aren't able to score that free/gift 5GB data add-on or 1000 minutes long-distance add-on which everybody else around here was happy to brag about. (That being said, these gifts/freebies are entirely random, there's really no way to predict if or when Public Mobile might choose to hand out more, even the xmas holiday gifts aren't something you should bank on in today's post-covid economy.)

[Ac562]

I have cancelled all 3 accts because of the customer service. Now,  I have changed subscription to not receive emails from community and still receive them. 
Take me off this list pls