No service after landing abroad? Quick troubleshooting checklist
Polina Gankina
How-to
2 Min read
Landed and your eSIM isn't connecting? Work through this quick checklist before assuming something's wrong with your plan.
Landing with no service is stressful, but it's almost always a settings toggle rather than a broken plan. Turning on data roaming for your eSIM line, setting it as your data line and restarting your phone fixes most cases. Work through the checklist below in order and you'll usually be online in a couple of minutes.
The checklist
- Confirm the eSIM line is turned on. Go to Settings → Mobile Data (Cellular on some iPhones, Mobile Network on Android) and check the eSIM line is enabled, not just installed.
- Turn on data roaming for that line. This is a separate toggle from having the eSIM active, and it's the single most common cause of "no service".
- Set the eSIM as your default data line. If you're running it alongside your home SIM, cellular data may still be pointed at the wrong line.
- Restart your phone. This forces it to re-register with the local network rather than holding onto a stale connection from your last location.
- Try manual network selection. If automatic network selection isn't finding a partner network, switching to manual and picking one from the list can resolve it.
- Check your plan's validity and data balance. Confirm in your account or order confirmation that the plan has started, hasn't expired and still has data remaining.
Still nothing? Contact support with your order number so we can check your plan's status directly. Mentioning your destination helps too.
Frequently asked questions
- Usually because the eSIM line or data roaming is switched off, or cellular data is still routed through your home line. Enabling the line, turning on data roaming and restarting your phone fixes most cases.
- Usually, yes. Travel eSIMs connect to local networks as a roaming line, so data roaming needs to be on for the eSIM line. Your regular SIM's roaming setting isn't affected.
- That's a data problem rather than a network one, with its own checks. Work through our guide to an eSIM that shows signal but no internet.
- Your remaining data and plan validity are shown in your account and order confirmation.
Sorted? For your next trip you can browse eSIM plans for 100+ destinations and land already connected.
- Your remaining data and plan validity are shown in your account and order confirmation.
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