No SIM card error confusion

[tsa523]

I have a Google Pixel 4xl through Sprint. After leaving it unattended for several hours, I noticed my Data was turned off. Turned it on, it turned back off. Then it said No Sim Card. I wasn't even aware that it had a physical SIM card OR a slot for one, so I assumed it was a software glitch. Then I noticed the slot & opened it to find it empty. There was only one person around the phone in that time so I accused them of stealing it. I had no access to WiFi, so I just started combing through the settings. After resetting network config and restarting the phone, it was back to normal. All SIM card stats back to normal. Then I found out about eSIM, so I'm assuming now that it never had a physical card.

So my question for anyone reading this are:

What exactly happened? and...

Is it possible it had one, had it removed, and automatically rebooted an eSIM with no WiFi access? (I realize that's highly unlikely, but why would it say 'NO SIM CARD'?!?!)

 

[mikedt]

I have read that it can use an eSIM, which does sound like what you've got there.

Maybe you just had some glitch and it's back working correctly now?

 

[tsa523]

I have read that it can use an eSIM, which does sound like what you've got there.

Maybe you just had some glitch and it's back working correctly now?

That's what I'm thinking. Just feel stupid for assuming someone stole it.

 

[Hadron]

Sprint is CDMA, but you need a SIM for LTE (4G) access at least (as LTE is a descendant of the GSM systems). You could in principle use 2G/3G without, but I don't know how they set accounts up these days now that everyone would have a SIM anyway.

You would either have a SIM or an eSIM, not both from the same provider, so we can discount the idea that the SIM was stolen and it fell back to the eSIM. If it's working normally now then you never had a physical SIM, and it was just some glitch.

 

[peter shahma]

If mobile is out off network then mobile data will turn off automatically. And when network back to normal, data will turn on.
google pixel 4 has Nano sim slot and eSIM. I would suggest keep mobile password protected. To restore eSIM, you need to log in to mobile. physical sim can be removed and inserted back without unlocking mobile screen.