Your eSIM is installed and you still have no internet
You have landed, the travel line is in the phone and there is no data. Nine times out of ten it is a single setting, and changing it takes half a minute. Work through these four checks in order and stop as soon as the signal comes back.
Check if my phone is compatibleThe 30-second fix: turn data roaming on
- iPhone: Settings › Mobile Data › tap the travel line › Data Roaming on. Depending on the version and the country, that first menu is called Mobile Data, Cellular or Mobile Service.
- Android: Settings › Network and internet › SIMs › tap the travel eSIM › Roaming on. On Samsung it usually lives in Settings › Connections › Mobile networks › Data roaming.
- The wording moves around between manufacturers and Android versions. If you cannot find it, type “roaming” into the search box at the top of Settings and let the phone find it for you.
Open the travel eSIM line in your settings and switch data roaming on. This is the number one cause, and most people leave it off on purpose, because roaming is the word attached to every horror story about phone bills. Here it costs nothing. The plan is already a local plan in the country you are standing in, paid up front, with no meter running and nobody to bill you. The switch does one thing: it tells the phone it is allowed to use a network that is not its home one. For a travel eSIM, that is every network there is.
Leave your own line alone for the moment. You are turning roaming on for the new line only, not for the one that carries your number.
One eSIM for 33 European countries
Several countries on one trip? Same eSIM, same data, no swapping lines at the border.
Choose your data
For one to two weeks of maps, messaging and the odd video.
Buy up to 180 days before you fly: the plan only starts when the eSIM connects at your destination.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
And if it turns out yours cannot use it, write to us and you get every cent back.
Discount code
How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Check which line is actually carrying the data
- iPhone: Settings › Mobile Data › Mobile Data (the line selector near the top of the list) › choose the travel eSIM.
- Android: Settings › Network and internet › SIMs › Mobile data, and choose the travel eSIM. On Samsung: Settings › Connections › SIM manager › Preferred SIM card › Mobile data.
- While you are in there, switch mobile data off on your usual line so it cannot roam behind your back.
A phone with two lines still has to pick one for data, and it does not always pick the new one. If your usual line is still the data line, the eSIM sits there installed and unused while your own operator charges you for roaming — the exact bill you bought the eSIM to avoid.
Step by step for each model, with screenshots of the menus, is in our guide to installing an eSIM.
Restart, then choose the network by hand
- iPhone: Settings › Mobile Data › the travel line › Network Selection › Automatic off, then choose from the list.
- Android: Settings › Network and internet › SIMs › the travel eSIM › Automatically select network off, then choose from the list.
- Inside an airport terminal there can be very little signal at ground level. If nothing registers, try again outside, at the taxi rank or the bus stop.
If both switches are right and there is still nothing, the phone has probably not registered on any local network yet. Restart it. That alone fixes most of what is left, because the phone searches again from scratch instead of retrying whatever failed on landing. Flight mode on for ten seconds and off again does something similar, and faster.
Still nothing after the restart? Turn off automatic network selection and pick an operator from the list yourself. The list takes a minute to appear and the right operator connects within a minute or so, while the wrong one leaves you with no service — so try them one at a time.
What is not the problem
- The plan has not “started”. It starts by itself, the first time your phone connects to a network at the destination. There is no button, no code and nothing to activate. Whether you bought the Europe bundle from 6,90 € or a single-country pack, it begins on that first connection and not a minute earlier.
- The QR code. If the new line shows up in your settings, the profile downloaded correctly and the QR has done its job. Do not scan it again and do not delete the line to start over: once installed it cannot be reinstalled, and whatever data is left is lost with it.
- Your phone number. The eSIM is data only. It never had a number, it does not make calls and it does not send SMS. Your usual line keeps the number, and WhatsApp, Telegram or iMessage carry on working because they belong to the account, not to the connection they travel over.
- Airport Wi-Fi. You do not need it for anything. The eSIM connects to the mobile network on its own, and the plan does not need an internet connection to “open”.
When it is the phone, not the eSIM
- Locked phone: ask your operator to unlock it. In the EU they normally do it free once the phone is paid off, but it can take a day or two. It is not an airport fix, it is a before-you-fly fix.
- No eSIM support: check your exact model on the compatibility page. Same model names cover very different phones depending on the year and the region.
- If the eSIM never installed, nothing has been used, so it can still go on another phone that is unlocked and takes eSIM. Once it is installed, though, it stays on that phone for good.
- Meanwhile: hotel and café Wi-Fi for messages, and an offline map of the city downloaded before you leave the terminal.
Two things stop a travel eSIM before any setting can help. The first is a phone locked to an operator: it will refuse a second line no matter what you switch on. The second is a phone with no eSIM support at all. In both cases the giveaway is the same — the line never appeared in your settings, so there was nothing to configure.
Quick table, and what to do if none of it works
| What you see | What to change | |
|---|---|---|
| Signal bars, no data | Data roaming is off on the travel line | Turn data roaming on for that line |
| No service at all | The phone has not registered on a local network | Restart, then select the network by hand |
| Data works, bill grows | Your usual line is still the data line | Set the eSIM as the data line, and turn data off on yours |
| The line is not in Settings | Locked phone or no eSIM support | Unlock the phone, or install it on another one |
If you have been through all four and you are still offline, write to us from the help page with the email you bought with, your phone model and what the status bar says. That is enough for us to tell whether the profile is active on the network or the phone is simply not asking for it.
Does turning on data roaming cost me anything?
No. Your travel eSIM is a prepaid local plan, so there is nothing to bill you for. Roaming is only the permission your phone needs to use a network that is not its home one, and for a travel eSIM every network abroad is one of those.
Do I have to activate the plan somewhere?
No. It activates on its own the first time the phone connects at the destination. That is also why you can install it at home days before flying without losing any days.
Should I delete the eSIM and install it again?
No. A deleted eSIM cannot be reinstalled and any remaining data goes with it. If the line appears in your settings, the installation worked and the problem is a setting.
How long should it take to connect after landing?
Usually under a minute once flight mode is off. If ten or fifteen minutes go by with nothing, go through the four checks rather than waiting: the phone will not fix itself.
Get your eSIM before you fly: the QR arrives by email in minutes and the plan only starts when you connect at your destination.
Check if my phone is compatible