E series 3rd party sim

General
22

Hi @el-jefe,

Thank you for pointing this out. It is my understanding that the term eSIM in our datasheet refers to embedded SIM. However, we recognize that this name has become co-opted to also refer to eUICC which is a reprogrammable SIM. As a result, our data sheet is now ambiguous. I will be filing an internal request to update the language to remove ambiguity to prevent further confusion and instead referring to it by “embedded SIM” as opposed to eSIM.

I was able to find your Zendesk ticket in regards to this matter. Under normal circumstances, we do normally request a restocking fee. I will ask that it be waived in this circumstance.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. :slight_smile: Sorry for the troubles on this.

2 Likes
23

Hi @mstanley,
Thank you for looking into this. I agree that updating the documentation will be useful in reducing future confusion. Much appreciated.

1 Like
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Hello everyone, I’m evaluating an e-series devkit and i’m interested in the 3rd party sim card change. The mobile operator I’m working with can provide sim in the mff2 format like the e series already have onboard. Now even if there will be no warranty on the board if something goes wrong, will be possible to de-solder the already present eSim and solder another one in it’s place ? is the ublox module operator locked in some way ? Hope that one of the particle Engineers can address my question. Thanks a lot

25

We obviously do not recommend it, as it would void the warranty and be difficult to do at scale. However, it is possible to unsolder the MFF2 SMD SIM and replace it with a different one. The MFF2 SIM is not under a can, but it surrounded by capacitors that you have to be careful not to disturb.

You’ll need to set the APN and keep-alive to be appropriate for your 3rd-party SIM.

With the E Series module with a 3rd-party SIM card you will need to be careful doing Device OS upgrades OTA. On Gen 2 devices (Electron, E Series), the APN is stored in the modem in volatile RAM and set from user code, instead of configuration flash as on Gen 3. If the device goes into safe mode during a Device OS upgrade, then loses power, it will never be able to connect to the cloud again to complete upgrade, because the APN would no longer be set. The device would need to be flashed by USB or JTAG to get it out of this state.

Thus it is technically feasible, but unsupported, not recommended, and has some potential pitfalls.