eSim Nightmare on Surface Pro LTE

Question

I purchased a data plan from Transatel for the eSim on my Surface Pro LTE and sometimes it connects (maybe 1 in 5 tries if I keep restarting my tablet), but I keep getting an "eSim card has been removed" message over and over and a "No Service" message when I try to turn on cellular.  Then most of the time the Transatel won't even show up in Advanced Options in Settings.  Other times I restart the tablet and there it is again, but then it'll just disappear.  How can it be an issue with my settings if it does work sometimes?  I paid $99 for the six month Transatel data plan, since it seemed like the best deal for my needs, and I can't consistently access it or cancel it.  And what's the deal with permanently losing the initial Transatel eSim with a reset?  Why should that be?  Can't there be some kind of fix from Microsoft for this?  How are we supposed to know our eSim would seemingly never work again after a reset?  I even tried restoring the system to factory settings, but nothing worked.  And clearly just purchasing the eSim plan from Transatel's website, which I did, doesn't solve the problem either.  I'll have to try a Sim card (will an AT&T Sim card work?), but I bought this device because it now offered an eSim LTE; I need an independent, nonWIFI data plan at work.  Now I'm stuck with a $1,600 tablet I can't use, unless I also carry in my old iPad (which can't access some work websites that, for some reason, require Internet Explorer), and purchase another data plan for the iPad to have internet access at work.  I was hoping to use just one machine, and, as a teacher, I liked many of the features, such as the pen and type cover and MS Word, of the Surface, but no internet is a no starter.  From various online comments/reviews, many people are having eSim problems with the Surface.  Have others had success with the Sim card, specifically AT&T, as an alternative?  Should I give up on the eSim?  I tell you, every time I try to go with a PC/Windows, I end up going back to Apple.  Microsoft, please stop denying there's an eSim problem with your Surface Pro LTE and help us FIX THIS.  Thank you.

Answer 1

Microsoft release an update YESTERDAY that mentions eSim stability

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4037238/surface-surface-pro-update-history

• have you installed this?

> Can't there be some kind of fix from Microsoft for this?

Answer 2

Thank you for your response.  I checked for updates and installed whatever was available, and my Surface now says Windows is up to date.  Unfortunately, eSim is still not working.  Perhaps there are more updates coming.  I couldn't tell if that exact update for eSim stability downloaded -- the numbers didn't seem to correspond, nor the update descriptions; perhaps since it's so new, it hasn't arrived yet (please forgive my lack of technical knowledge).  At this point, I've spent hours on this and, frankly, I'm exhausted.  Perhaps I'll try a Sim card, and if that doesn't work, maybe just go back to my iPad.

Answer 3

can you expand all the categories under update history and upload a screen shot?

> I checked for updates and installed whatever was available, and my Surface now says Windows is up to date.

mine works with a Verizon physical SIM

Answer 4

Thank you so much for your help, Barb--  the next time I restarted my surface, a new eSim profile and default APN were there under cellular settings, and my Transatel cellular plan has been working reliably for the last few days, so that latest update must've done the trick.  Fingers crossed it continues!  (And I know to stay far away from that Reset button.)