Registering Soracom Air IoT SIMs

When you purchase a Soracom Air IoT SIM, it must be registered to your Soracom account before use. This is similar to activating a SIM card with a traditional mobile network operator. The SIM registration process is required to confirm your receipt of the SIMs, and to associate basic fees and data usage fees from the SIMs to your account.

Once you register an IoT SIM to your account, its status will be Ready indicating that the SIM is ready for use, and you will be responsible for all fees associated with the SIM until you decide to terminate the SIM. For more information on fees associated with each status, please refer to the Subscriber Status documentation and the Pricing & Fee Schedule.


Registering IoT SIMs from an Order

If you purchased Soracom Air IoT SIMs or other products that include Soracom Air IoT SIMs from the User Console or Soracom Web Store, the SIMs may have been pre-registered to your account, and you can register them by registering the order. If you do not see a Register Order button next to your order, please register the SIM using its ICCID and PUK (Personal Unlock Key) as detailed in Manually Registering an IoT SIM.

For security, as each SIM in your order will be pre-registered to your account, the ICCID and PUK or IMSI and Passcode of each SIM cannot be used to manually register the SIMs to a different Soracom account.

To register SIMs from an order:

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

  2. Click the Register SIM button.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register SIM

  3. Click the From Order tab.

  4. From the list of orders, find the order that you want to register, and click Register.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register order

Automatic Registration Period

If you do not register your order, your order will be automatically registered to your account as follows:

  • Orders containing IoT SIMs (Global coverage) will be automatically registered to your account 14 days after shipment.
  • Orders containing IoT SIMs for Japan (Japan coverage) will be automatically registered to your account 4 days after shipment.

If you have not received your order, such as due to a shipping delay or lost package, and would like to pause automatic registration of your order, please contact us as soon as possible.

Customizing Initial Settings

While configuring an IoT SIM's settings from the User Console is simple, doing so for a large number of SIMs can become tedious. When purchasing SIMs directly from Soracom, you can customize the initial settings that will be applied to all SIMs in the order upon registration.

Note that initial settings can only be customized before an order has been registered. Once an order has been registered, including if the order was automatically registered according to the Automatic Registration Period above, the initial settings option will no longer be available. However, you can still modify these settings for each SIM individually, after registration.

The following initial settings can be customized for each subscription in your order:

Once you register your order, the initial settings you selected will be automatically applied to each SIM in the order.

If you do not specify any initial settings, your SIMs will be registered to your account without any Group setting or Tags, and the Speed Class will be configured according to the subscription's default Speed Class.

When customizing initial settings, the same settings will be applied to all SIMs in the order on a per-subscription basis. For example, if you purchase 100 IoT SIMs, the same initial Group, Speed Class, and Tags settings you choose will be applied to all 100 SIMs upon registration.

In order to apply different initial Group, Speed Class, or Tags settings, you must place separate orders and configure the initial settings for each order separately.

To customize the initial settings you want to apply to the SIMs in your order:

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

  2. Click the Register SIM button.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register SIM

  3. Click the From Order tab.

  4. From the list of orders, find the order that you want to customize, and click Configure SIM initial settings.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Configure Initial Setings

  5. Configure the Group, Speed Class, and Tags that you would like to be applied to each SIM in your order:

    • Group (optional) - Each SIM will be added to the selected group upon registration. If empty or if the group was deleted prior to registration, the SIMs will be registered without being added to any group.

      If you want to add SIMs to a new group, first create a new group by following the Groups: Managing Groups instructions. Then return to this step in order to select your new group.

      Note that the Group initial setting will be configured using the selected group's Group ID. Therefore, SIMs will still be registered to the selected group, even if you rename the group or modify group settings.

    • Speed Class (optional) - Each SIM will be configured with the selected speed class upon registration. If empty, the default Speed Class for the subscription will be applied to the SIMs.

    • Tags (optional) - Tags will be added to each SIM upon registration.

      The Tag Name name is used for giving a SIM a custom name. If specified, each SIM will be named according to the value specified. For example, if you configure Tag Name as name and its corresponding Tag Value as my-sim, each SIM in your order will be renamed to my-sim upon registration.

  6. Click Update initial settings.

The initial settings that you specified will be applied to each SIM in the order as soon as you register the order, or once the order is automatically registered according to the Automatic Registration Period above.


Manually Registering an IoT SIM

If you purchased or received products that include Soracom Air IoT SIMs through resellers, Amazon, or as part of a promotion, including eSIM and other SIM formats included in device bundles, you must register each SIM individually to your Soracom account using their ICCID and PUK.

Manual SIM registration is not possible for orders placed through Soracom directly. SIMs ordered through Soracom must be registered via the process explained in the Registering IoT SIMs from an Order section above.

Registering an IoT SIM

When registering a Soracom Air IoT SIM (Global coverage, regardless of plan), you will be required to enter the ICCID of the SIM card, as well as the SIM PUK. See the table below for details on where to find the ICCID and PUK depending on the Soracom product.

Product ICCID Location PUK Location
Soracom Air IoT SIM Printed on the SIM card. Printed on the SIM card.
Soracom Onyx LTE™ USB Modem Separate SIM: Printed on the SIM card.
eSIM & Pre-inserted Nano SIM: Printed on the box and the inside of the removable cover.
Separate SIM: Printed on the SIM card.
eSIM & Pre-inserted Nano SIM: Printed on the inside of the removable cover.
Soracom LTE-M Button *1 eSIM: Printed on the box and the inside of the device. eSIM: Printed on the inside of the device.
Other devices Printed on the SIM card. Printed on the SIM card.

*1 - LTE-M Buttons purchased from Soracom directly have the eSIM ICCID and PUK printed in the same location. However, their associated eSIMs are pre-registered to your Soracom account and do not require manual registration.

Once you have obtained the ICCID and PUK, you can register the SIM to your account.

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen. Ensure that you have selected the Global coverage type.

  2. Click the Register SIM button.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register SIM

  3. From the Direct Input tab, enter the ICCID and PUK of the SIM, then click Register. You can also give the SIM a name, and assign it to an existing group.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register Global SIM

Registering an IoT SIM for Japan

When registering a Soracom Air IoT SIM for Japan (Japan coverage, regardless of plan), you will be required to enter the IMSI of the SIM card, as well as the SIM card's Passcode. Both the IMSI and Passcode are printed on the reverse side of the SIM card.

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen. Ensure that you have selected the Japan coverage type.

  2. Click the Register SIM button.

  3. From the Direct Input tab, enter the IMSI and Passcode of the SIM, then click Register. You can also give the SIM a name, and assign it to an existing group.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Register Japan SIM

When you purchase an IoT SIM for Japan, a registration deadline is printed on the reverse of the SIM card package. You must register the SIM card to your account before the indicated deadline. If the deadline has already passed, you will be unable to register the SIM card to your account. If you purchased and received an IoT SIM for Japan with a registration deadline that has already passed, please contact Soracom support in order to receive a replacement SIM card.

Bulk Registration of IoT SIMs

If you purchased the IoT SIM in a reel on a non-Soracom shopping site, you can register the IoT SIMs in bulk by entering the 19-digit First ICCID, 19-digit Last ICCID, and 8-character Authentication Passcode in the Soracom User Console.

  • The 8-character Authentication Passcode is listed on the product label.
  • The First and Last ICCIDs are partially printed on the product label, and the remaining digits can be confirmed by checking the ICCID numbers printed on the SIM directly.
  • When bulk registering Soracom SIMs, one Authentication Code will be provided per order unit of SIMs. Therefore this process will have to be repeated for each unit of SIMs being registered.
  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen. Ensure that you have selected the correct coverage type for your region.

  2. Click the Register SIM button.

  3. From the Authentication Passcode tab, enter the 19-digit First SIM ICCID, 19-digit Last SIM ICCID, and 8-character Authentication Passcode, then click Register

Downloading a List of Registered SIMs

You can download a CSV file containing a list of all SIMs registered to your account.

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the SIM Management screen.

  2. From the top right of the list of SIMs, click the Download button.

    https://console.soracom.io

    Download SIMs

    The columns of the downloadable CSV are explained below:

Column Description
simId The SIM ID.
iccid ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card ID): an identifier for a SIM or Virtual SIM/Subscriber.
imsi IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity): a unique identifier assocaited with a subscription. In Soracom, it is used as a key to operate the SIM and as an identifier in various services.
msisdn MSISDN (Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number): a phone number assigned to the SIM. This includes the country code. Virtual SIMs/Subscribers do not have an MSISDN.
serialNumber Manufacturing number written on the back of the SIM. Virtual SIM/Subscriber does not have a manufacturing number.
ipAddress Private IP address assigned by Soracom. It is only output when the session is ONLINE. For details on how to access devices using IP addresses, please refer to this FAQ.
status The status of the SIM. For more information, see the Subscriber Status documentation page.
lastSeen If the session is OFFLINE, this column will display the date and time when the IoT SIM was last online. If the session is ONLINE, this column will be blank.
session The state of the SIM session. If the SIM is ONLINE the column will read "True", if the SIM OFFLINE it will read "False".
plan This column shows whether the SIM is able to utilize SMS or is data only. "1" indicates SMS compatability. "0" indicates the SIM is data only.
bundles Some Soracom SIM card subscriptions include bundled data. If your SIM currently has a data bundle the size of the bundle will be displayed in this column.
subscription Soracom SIMs are assigned a subscription plan that determine different levels of connectivity service. For more information, see the Subscription Plan documentation page.
moduleType The SIM type. For example; "embedded" for eSIMs, "virtual" for virtual Arc SIMs, or "trio" for trio precut cards that fit 2FF, 3FF, and 4FF SIM slots.
speedClass The SIM's speed class. For more information, see the Speed Class documentation page
expiryTime Expiration date (UNIX time in milliseconds). For more information, see the Expiration documentation page.
imeiLock If IMEI lock is activated, the linked IMEI is listed in this column. For more information see the IMEI Lock documentation page.
terminationEnabled This column details whether Termination Protection is enabled for the SIM. If Termination Protection is enabled, the column will read "False". If Termination Protection is disabled, this column will read "True". For more information, see the Termination Protection documentation page.
renewalFeeStatusSetTime Start date of renewal fee (UNIX time in milliseconds). If displayed, a renewal fee will be charged after a certain period from the renewal fee start date. If not displayed, no renewal fee will be charged. For more information. see the Pricing and Fee Schedule documentation page.
currentMCC The current Mobile Country Code if the SIM is ONLINE.
currentMNC The current Mobile Network Code if the SIM is ONLINE.
previousMCC The Mobile Country Code for the SIM's most recently closed session
previousMNC The Mobile Network Code for the SIM's most recently closed session
name The name given to the SIM in the User Console
(Any Tag) Additional columns will be added here for tags assigned to your SIMs.
group:groupId The ID of the Group this SIM is assigend to. For more information, see the Group docuementation page.
group:name The name of the Group this SIM is assigend to. For more information, see the Group docuementation page.

You can also download a CSV file containing a list of SIMs that belong to a specific order.

  1. Login to the User Console. From the Menu, open the Orders screen.

  2. From the list of orders, find the order that contains the SIMs you want to download, and click the List subscribers button.

    https://console.soracom.io

    List subscribers

  3. In the dialog window pop up, click the Download CSV button.

    The columns of the downloadable CSV are explained below:

Column Description
SIM ID The SIM ID.
IMSI IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity): a unique identifier assocaited with a subscription. In Soracom, it is used as a key to operate the SIM and as an identifier in various services.
MSISDN MSISDN (Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number): A phone number assigned to the SIM. This includes the country code. Virtual SIMs/Subscribers do not have an MSISDN.
Serial Number Manufacturing number written on the back of the SIM. Virtual SIM/Subscriber does not have a manufacturing number.
ICCID ICCID (Integrated Circuit Card ID): An identifier for a SIM or Virtual SIM/Subscriber.
Bundles Some Soracom SIM card subscriptions include bundled data. If your SIM currently has a data bundle the size of the bundle will be displayed in this column.

Programmatic Usage

You can also use the Soracom API and Soracom CLI to register IoT SIMs to your account.

Soracom API

To access the Soracom API, first use the auth API to obtain an API Key and Token. Refer to the API Reference Guide for instructions on how to use the API Key and Token in API requests.

Then, use the registerSubscriber API to register an IoT SIM:

curl -X POST \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-API-Key: <MY-API-KEY>' \
>  -H 'X-Soracom-Token: <MY-TOKEN>' \
>  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
>  -d '{
>        "registrationSecret": "12345678"
>      }' \
>  https://g.api.soracom.io/v1/subscribers/<IMSI>/register

Soracom CLI

To use the Soracom CLI, you must first configure it to authenticate with your account information, authorization key, or SAM user credentials.

Then, run the following command to register an IoT SIM:

soracom subscribers register --imsi <IMSI> --registration-secret "12345678" --coverage-type g