For my home internet I use the SXT Lte6. Since moving to this our internet has been awesome. Having the modem and antenna together really makes it work really well. The big down side is having to climb on the roof and balance there trying to insert this tiny sim through the opening that is way too small. Is there an option to use an eSIM with this or other Mikrotik devices?
Maybe I miss something, but why do you need to access the device more than once? I’ve set up a number of these for a local rural community - they’ve all been running on a data plan on the same SIM for 2 years (apart from one where the SIM died for some reason).
eSIM is not something you “use with a device”, it is something that is “built into a device”.
So you would need to wait for a Mikrotik device “that has eSIM” to be announced and you would need to replace your current SXT or at least the LTE modem board.
(I don’t think it is easily replaced in the SXT as it is in some other MikroTik LTE routers)
Various reasons. I have a sim from work that I might like to use occasionally, it has less data but is a more reliable network. I also have a mikrotik at a remote property that I like to use with deals I got on sims. Also when I’m at that remote property it would be handy to be able to put my work sim in while I’m there.
Which is why I wrote “or other mikrotik device”. I thought I read of an “eSIM in a SIM” which was basically a SIM card that could be programmed over the air. Not sure if it was a single provider or I was just misunderstanding their website. It was a bit vague. But that is why I am asking the question.
Any SIM card (including eSIM) is pretty much hard coded from factory. It is manufactured for a particular MNO - IMSI (that’s SIM’s serial number) includes MCC (Mobile Country Code) and MNC (Mobile Network Code). With eSIM that’s different, IMSI includes manufacturer’s identity, but then MNO needs to enter that particular IMSI in their subscriber database. SIM card includes also other things, such as set of encryption and identity identifiers, algorithms etc., which makes it possible for device having SIM to communicate with MNO’s core network. Those settings are usually MNO’s trade secret (if they were not, it would be easy to construct a fake network making user believe they’re connected to legitimate network). So it’s not really possible to change (e)SIM card settings OTA.
Meaning that if device includes eSIM, one doesn’t need a physical SIM card in order to provision device into some mobile network (if MNO accepts eSIMs, I guess all of them do since Apple started to use eSIM quite a while ago). But that doesn’t mean that subscriber can change IMSI to change to another subscription plan or to another MNO just like that. Actually to change plan or operator, it’s much easier to use traditional SIMs. In cotext of eSIM OTA means that it is possible to change network operator without changing SIM card … but that’s only possible because most (if not all) operators agreed to accept eSIM producer’s set of SIM settings and they need to provision particular eSIM in their subscribers database. Which is essentially the same process as when MNO receives a batch of traditional SIM cards … they are useless until they are provisioned in MNOs databases.
I think it is a different thing. Look at what mkx already wrote, but in addition I can tell: we recently bought a number of Dell laptops with 4G and they came with a generic SIM card in the slot that according to Dell could be registered at any provider. But our provider (T-Mobile NL) could not use them, we had to insert the usual SIM cards we receive from them. However, they do support eSIM.
So apparently there are different things around, not all the same solution.
And, it probably is not a solution for your problem anyway. I think there are other models with 2 or even 3 SIM slots, maybe that is more useful.
Which is why I wrote “or other mikrotik device”. I thought I read of an “eSIM in a SIM” which was basically a SIM card that could be programmed over the air. Not sure if it was a single provider or I was just misunderstanding their website. It was a bit vague. But that is why I am asking the question.
Was it this one ? https://en.comgate.io/esim/
Yeah that was it
“The eSIM is available in different formats, namely: the embedded version, but also as a regular 3-in-1 plastic sim shape (ejectable nano, micro and normal)”
Yeah, you’re likely right as it’s likely not going to be that easy to switch back and forward. My device has 2 SIM slots and you can switch in software but I need the other SIM to travel with me also.
Would you like to exchange this profile for another profile available in the market. Let us know. > We have a Core network, which means that data session handling is not done by local operators> , but is directly available in our IoT Portal.
So basically when using their eSIM you’re their subscriber. What you perform OTA is changing how your device performs roaming … almost all operators perform “steering of roaming” where they try to steer subscriber to use particular MNO when not in home network (e.g. operator belonging to same international group).
I guess.
Yes, we want to combine the multi-SIM-router (with antenna cable and external directional antenna) , with the benefits of the “no-antenna-cable-attenuation” outdoor modem, without the need to climb on the roof to switch SIM cards.
Having 4 SXT LTE kit on the roof, still has to send somebody on the roof. Aggregated monthly data need is 4 TB. Can handle 2.4 TB right now, with many SIM cards plugged in, the need to switch operators as they have regular down time, and costly yearly subscriptions when the high volume need is only 3 months. (And many carry EU roaming SIM cards in their pockets that have a free 30 GB monthly allowance).
A multi SIM card 4G modem comes close. But still dream of a solution like this https://www.glocalme.com/BE/en-US/simbox/poster , where it probably only is designed for smartphones !???
I think there is potential for some confusion, reading that article it appears that this company uses the name eSIM for something else.
Or maybe I do not fully understand the eSIM concept?
There have been earlier “special SIMs” that provide functionality like switching between providers in the same country, roaming all over the world, etc.
But they were just standard SIMs released by some MNO that had lots of roaming contracts. They are offered for better coverage in difficult situations.
What I think is an eSIM is something different: a SIM that is not from a specific MNO but can be adopted by the MNO of your choice using some over-the-air message.
So it does not have any permanent connectivity when you buy it, as that comgate.io SIM appears to have. It is only prepared to receive its activation message.
Indeed eSIM as normally referred to is nothing like Comgate’s offering. For one, the whole point of using eSIM is that it’s physically embedded into device (to save considerable amount of space inside device), the “OTA provisioning” is actually side effect (it’s not possible to make it work otherwise).
it would be interesting to have an eSIM, here in my country it is possible to request it but the problem is to pass it to the modem, as the certificate is provided via a qrcode and a smartphone app
QR code can contain almost anything, from simple text, URL, to a complex data structure … in theory one could read contents of QR code using some generic QR reader and then type it to Mikrotik’s UI.
My personal guess, though, is that frequently changing MNO of broadband interface of a CPE (where use of eSIM would be sensible thing) is a niche use and I would not be surprised if MT (along with other vendors of similar gear) would skip it.
I assure you instead that we use an LTE connection is very important, because it would allow the transition to a backup eSIM or choose the cheapest plan. I have a quectel modem that can hold several eSIMs but I can not extract the certificate insertion seems easy because you can also use a command AT.
https://forums.quectel.com/uploads/short-url/aCFNp1v9fRZtWU9mucGbJy3N0rq.pdf
I’m not saying that for users like yourself easy provision of different MNOs/plans/whatever is not important, I can very well imagine it’s highly important sometimes. I’m just saying that users like you are a tiny minority of all users and as such possibly commercially not important to equipment vendors.
And I’m not saying MT should not introduce some eSIM models, I’m just commenting on probability of this happening, that’s all. I think that transition to all-eSIM would make unhappy many more users than it would make happy. All that while having double number of device models is driving manufacturing costs higher which would make all users unhappy.
I just thought of a possible solution. Surely the sim card has some sort of serial interface that is pretty low speed. All we need is a way to send that serial data over ethernet and have a device inside the home that can take a sim card. Basically just build a device that plugs into the network and the mikrotik on the roof can read whatever information it reads from the sim card from the remote device instead. If they can build their own protocols like mesh and EoIP then surely they can manage a slow serial connection over ethernet. And the great thing from Mikrotik POV is only the users who want it pay for it. This would be the best of both worlds and would be an industry leading feature.
BTW, I disagree with your statement that it’s a tiny proportion of customers, I imagine a good percentage of customers would need to climb on their roof at some point. I was up there just 2 days ago when one provider was doing tower maintenance and I need to get up there again to get the sim back. Every time I get up there there is a risk of falling so this would be a very significant feature for me.
I agree with what you said and with the way to solve the problem, not like mkx’s which is just sterile controversy as always.