---
title: Swap a SIM in a cellular robot
description: Insert a new SIM, reboot its slot, and let the platform transfer the number, the settings and the monitors of the card it replaces.
lastUpdated: "2026-09-18"
---

> **For AI agents:** the complete documentation index is at [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Append `.md` to any page URL for its markdown version.

The number you type at the end of this procedure decides everything. Type one that another SIM in your workspace already holds, and the platform offers to hand that card's settings and monitors over to the new SIM. Type a number nobody has used, and you set the SIM up yourself. Seating the card is the easy half: until the platform has a number, the SIM stays **Unnamed** and runs nothing.

Every cellular robot works this way, 4G or 5G, whatever generation it belongs to. Web and smartphone robots have no SIM to swap.

## Before you start

- Physical access to the robot.
- A SIM ejector tool on a 4G robot.
- Access to the **Equipments** area of the platform.
- The number of the card you're replacing, if the new one takes over its tests.

<Warning>
  A SIM card used in a robot must be configured **without a PIN code**. A locked SIM stops at the **PIN REQUIRED** status and runs nothing.
</Warning>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Insert the card">
    The robot stays powered on. Slots are hot-swappable.

    Take out the card that's in there, if any, then fit the new one. On a 5G robot, push the SIM into its slot until it clicks. On a 4G robot, eject the tray first: press the button at its top right corner with the ejector tool, drop the SIM in, then slide the tray back. Install a robot has photographs of each, [for 5G](/hardware/install-robot#inserting-the-sim-cards-5g) and [for 4G](/hardware/install-robot#inserting-the-sim-cards-4g).

    Note the number printed beside the slot, **SIM1**, **SIM2**, and so on. It matches the **Slot** column in the platform.

    <Frame caption="The four SIM slots on the front of a 4G robot">
      ![The front panel of a 4G cellular robot, with its four SIM slots in a row, each printed SIM1, SIM2, SIM3, and SIM4 and followed by two indicator lights](/images/hardware/swap-sim-slot-labels.webp)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
  <Step title="Find the robot in Agents">
    Under **Equipments**, open [**Agents**](/equipment/agents), where the platform lists your robots. Open the **SIM** tab, then find the robot by hostname or narrow the list with the **Status** and **Zone** filters.

    <Frame caption="The SIM tab of the Agents area">
      ![The Agents area on the SIM tab, with the Web, Smartphone, SIM, and Passive tabs, a search box, Status and Zone filters, and two robots showing status, zone, type, slots, and version](/images/hardware/swap-sim-01.webp)
    </Frame>

    Open the robot, then go to its **Connected devices** tab.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Reboot the slot">
    Your slot still reads **No SIM inserted**, and that's expected. Pulling the old card out removed it from the platform there and then, and nothing brings the new one in but a slot reboot.

    Open the three-dot menu on that row, then click **Reboot slot**, the one action an empty slot offers.

    <Frame caption="The menu of an empty slot, on the Connected devices tab">
      ![The Slots table of a 4G cellular robot, with a working SIM in slot 1 and three slots reading No SIM inserted, slot 2 having its action menu open on its single entry, Reboot slot](/images/hardware/swap-sim-02.webp)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
  <Step title="Wait for the slot to pick up the card">
    The slot detects the card and lists it as **Unnamed**, with the status **Configuration**. Don't wait for it to register on the network before you give it its number; registration can take a few more minutes.

    <Frame caption="A card waiting to be configured">
      ![The Slots table of a cellular robot showing two unnamed SIMs with the status Configuration and the network Searching, and one slot with no SIM inserted](/images/hardware/swap-sim-03.webp)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
  <Step title="Give the SIM its number">
    Click the SIM to open its page, then open the **Settings** tab. Fill in the **National MSISDN**. The **International MSISDN** field is optional.

    Leave **Name** empty: the SIM's name comes from the number. Click **Save changes**.

    <Frame caption="The About section of the SIM settings">
      ![The Settings tab of a SIM, with the About, SIM Details, and Default APN sub-navigation and the About form holding National MSISDN, International MSISDN with a country selector, Name, and a Save changes button](/images/hardware/swap-sim-04.webp)
    </Frame>
  </Step>
</Steps>

That click is the fork in the road. A **Swap SIM values?** dialog means the number was already taken, so carry on with [reuse the number of the card you replaced](#reuse-the-number-of-the-card-you-replaced). No dialog, and the number is yours alone: go to [set up a new number](#set-up-a-new-number).

## Reuse the number of the card you replaced

This is for a card that was already running tests. The new one inherits its work.

The dialog opens because the number you just saved still belongs to the old SIM.

<Frame caption="The dialog that offers to hand over the old SIM's settings">
  ![The Swap SIM values dialog, warning that another SIM is already using this MSISDN and listing the information it would move over: International MSISDN, Products, Phone prefix, and APN address and credentials, with Cancel and Swap values buttons](/images/hardware/swap-sim-05.webp)
</Frame>

Click **Swap values** and the whole set moves at once: **International MSISDN**, **Products**, **Phone prefix**, and the APN land on the new card, and the monitors that ran on the old one resume on the new one. Nothing else to configure.

**Cancel** leaves both SIMs as they were.

## Set up a new number

A brand new number arrives bare. Two things get it ready for a test run: the products allowed to use it, and an access point to go out through. Both live on the SIM's own page.

Open the SIM's **General** tab and go to **Products**. Turn on **This SIM can be used by all the products** and any product can use it.

For a shorter list, leave the toggle off and click **Add product**. Tick what you need in the dialog, then click **Add**, which is what saves the selection.

<Frame caption="The products allowed to use the SIM">
  ![The Products section of a SIM, with the toggle This SIM can be used by all the products, an empty product list, and an Add product button](/images/hardware/swap-sim-06.webp)
</Frame>

Then head back to **Settings** and fill in the **Default APN**. Click **Save changes**.

<Frame caption="The default APN of the SIM">
  ![The Default APN section with APN name, APN login, and APN password fields and a Save changes button](/images/hardware/swap-sim-07.webp)
</Frame>

## Check that the SIM is in service

The robot's **Slots** table tells you when the swap is done. The SIM now carries a name built from its number, its status has moved from **Configuration** to **Available**, and the **Network** column has left **Searching** for the technology the card registered on, **LTE** for instance. [Statuses](/equipment/statuses) lists every one of these.

<Frame caption="A slot whose SIM is back at work">
  ![The Slots table of a 4G cellular robot, slot 1 holding a SIM named after its number, with the status Available, the network LTE, and the usage Healthy, and three empty slots](/images/hardware/swap-sim-08.webp)
</Frame>

Ten minutes on **Searching** is a fault, not a wait. Work through [SIM cards troubleshooting](/hardware/sim-troubleshooting).

## What's next?

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="SIM cards troubleshooting" icon="sim-card" href="/hardware/sim-troubleshooting">

    If the new SIM never registers

</Card>
  <Card title="Devices lab" icon="mobile-screen-button" href="/equipment/devices-lab">

    Browse every SIM in your workspace and check its usage

</Card>
  <Card title="SIM tests" icon="bolt" href="/tests/actions/cellular/overview">

    Send a USSD, an SMS, or a call from the new SIM

</Card>
</Columns>