{"id":523958,"date":"2024-02-05T20:46:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T18:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=523958"},"modified":"2024-02-05T20:51:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T18:51:45","slug":"we-tested-afrihost-airmobiles-esim-sign-up-and-it-is-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/523958-we-tested-afrihost-airmobiles-esim-sign-up-and-it-is-awesome.html","title":{"rendered":"We tested Afrihost AirMobile’s eSIM sign-up \u2014 and it is awesome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afrihost relaunched its AirMobile products on Monday, 5 February 2024, along with a new smartphone app and eSIM support that lets customers sign up online and get connected without visiting a store to RICA.<\/p>\n

We tested Afrihost\u2019s new systems, and they worked excellently.<\/p>\n

Some customers did report running into issues preventing them from going through the web-based RICA procedure on launch day.<\/p>\n

However, the app worked, and Afrihost assured it was working on its launch-day teething problems.<\/p>\n

(For international readers who might come across this while looking for a mobile service to use while visiting our beautiful country, RICA is South African for \u201cknow your customer,\u201d i.e. proof of identity, proof of address, and contact information.)<\/p>\n

When launching the AirMobile app for the first time, you are presented with two options: Sign up for a new SIM, and port your existing number.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirMobile SIM selection dialog<\/p><\/div>\n

We tested signing up for a new SIM.<\/p>\n

The app then prompts you to choose between an eSIM or a physical SIM and lets you log in with your existing Afrihost account.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t set up an Afrihost RICA profile before, you\u2019ll have to provide your name, email, contact number, and passport or South African ID number.<\/p>\n

You will then be prompted to provide a physical address.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirMobile order confirmation \u2014 Afrihost is offering customers 10GB data and R100 airtime free as a launch promotion<\/p><\/div>\n

After you have completed your order, you will be prompted to submit a scan or photo of your ID document and proof that you live at the address.<\/p>\n

You must also take a selfie while holding the ID document that you sent a copy of.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to do this immediately \u2014 you have until midnight on the day you signed up to provide the necessary documents.<\/p>\n

Failing to do so will result in the connection being suspended.<\/p>\n

Once the AirMobile eSIM is ordered, you will be taken to a screen showing that your package is being processed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Evolution of an AirMobile order: Processing, awaiting number, activated<\/p><\/div>\n

I immediately received a welcome email and a separate email with the QR code for my eSIM.<\/p>\n

You must navigate to the relevant menu on your smartphone to scan the QR code and install the eSIM (on iOS 17.2.1 and 17.3, this was under Settings->Mobile Service).<\/p>\n

After scanning the QR code, it took a few seconds for the eSIM to install.<\/p>\n

Upon turning on the SIM, I was immediately assigned a new phone number.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the eSIM installs with MTN\u2019s default APN settings, not AirMobile\u2019s.<\/p>\n

However, as soon as my connection was activated, Afrihost sent an SMS with the correct APN settings.<\/p>\n

After my RICA was validated and I set the new AirMobile APN, my phone automatically switched to MTN\u2019s 5G network, and the network ID changed to \u201cAirMobile\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

AirMobile speed tests in Centurion \u2014\u00a0MTN direct gave similar results<\/p><\/div>\n

Funny enough, in the places where I tested the service, I saw faster speed tests using the LTE network than 5G.<\/p>\n

This happened whether using MTN\u2019s network directly or AirMobile, suggesting that the speed difference was due to how MTN\u2019s radio access network was configured \u2014 not Afrihost.<\/p>\n

Overall, Afrihost\u2019s new AirMobile app and eSIM onboarding are slick.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s major mobile network operators may want to take a few notes for their own apps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Afrihost has relaunched its AirMobile MVNO with the ability to sign up online and be connected almost immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":457889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62528,14],"tags":[1669,64213,35,20557,42,18158],"class_list":["post-523958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5g","category-cellular","tag-afrihost","tag-afrihost-air-mobile","tag-headline","tag-mobile-virtual-network-operator-mvno","tag-mtn","tag-regulation-of-interception-of-communications-and-provision-of-communication-related-information-act-rica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}