Note · · 4 min
Grandparents and eSIMs: setting it up for a parent, patiently
The technology is the easy part. The harder part is doing it in a way that still makes sense to them on day three of the holiday, when you are not in the room.
If you are sorting out data for your own parents, the best version of this happens in person. Their kitchen table or yours, a week or two before they travel. A video call can work if you cannot be there, as long as someone can show a second screen. The version that does not work is sending instructions and hoping.
Set aside more time than it needs. Most of it goes on finding the phone's passcode, charging the phone and agreeing which line is which. Very little of it goes on the eSIM itself.
Check the phone first
Older parents often have older phones, or phones supplied years ago on a contract. Check that the phone supports eSIM and is not locked to its network before you get anything for it.
On an iPhone, Settings, then General, then About, should show an EID if eSIM is supported. On many Android phones, typing *#06# into the dialler shows the EID. If there is no EID, search for the exact model with the word eSIM. If the phone is locked, the network it came from is the one to ask about unlocking it.
Adding them to the family pool
In the PERDIEM console, add your parent as a family member. All you need is their name. An email address is optional, which helps with people who rarely use email or would rather not hand it out.
Choose the countries they can use and, if you like, set a spending limit. Then get their SIM by picking the destination and a plan. The price is shown before you confirm, and it comes out of the family pool. There is nothing for them to pay and nothing for them to sign up to.
PERDIEM does not email the SIM to anyone. It appears in your console with a QR code, an activation code and an ICCID. You install it on their phone yourself, or share those details with them privately.
The install, slowly
With their phone on wifi, open the mobile data section of Settings and look for the option to add an eSIM. The wording varies by phone and software version. Scan the QR code from your own screen, or type in the activation code by hand.
When the phone asks what to call the new line, name it something plain, such as Holiday data. Rename the existing line Home if it has a less obvious name. Those two labels will prevent more confusion later than any written instruction.
Before you finish, make sure the holiday line is not yet set for mobile data, and check that the home line still shows as working for calls and texts.
A card they can keep
Write a short card, by hand if they prefer, with a few lines on it. When you land, set mobile data to Holiday data. Data roaming on for Holiday data, off for Home. Keep Home switched on for calls and texts. Restart the phone once if nothing connects.
Add one more line: do not delete Holiday data. An eSIM often cannot be reinstalled from the same details, and a well-meant tidy-up of the settings can remove it for good.
It also helps to take a screenshot of the mobile data settings screen and keep it in their photos. Seeing which screen to look for is often easier than reading a description of it.
What it will and will not do
Explain that the holiday line is for data only. It has no phone number. Their usual calls and texts still come to their home number, which stays on the phone, and their network's roaming terms still apply to those. WhatsApp, FaceTime and similar apps work over the holiday data, and are usually the simplest way for family to reach them.
Explain too that nobody can see where they are through PERDIEM, and nobody is watching their data. It records the SIM you got for them and what it cost. For some parents, that reassurance matters more than any of the steps.
When you are not there
Agree how they will tell you if something is not working. A message over the hotel wifi is often easiest. Keep the SIM details in your console until they are home, because the ICCID is the number any support conversation starts with.
And if the plan runs out before the trip does, you can get them another one from the console, from wherever you are. They do not need to do anything except install it, or let someone help them.