Guide for Android
Install it at home. When you land, turn data roaming on.
The exact path varies by manufacturer, but the logic is the same on all of them.
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01
Install the eSIM
Settings › Network and internet › SIM › Add eSIM, and scan the QR code from another screen. If you cannot scan it, nearly every phone lets you type the code in by hand.
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02
Give it a name
If your phone lets you label the line, do it. You will have two, and you want to tell them apart at a glance.
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03
Choose it for data
In Settings › Network and internet › SIM, pick the travel eSIM as your mobile data line. Leave your usual line for calls and texts.
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04
Turn data roaming on
On that same screen, with the travel eSIM selected, turn data roaming on. It is required: without it there is no connection. Turn it off on your usual line so your own carrier cannot charge you.
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05
Wait until you land
The eSIM connects when you arrive, not before. The first connection can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.
If something goes wrong
I cannot install it+
- The phone has to be free of carrier locks.
- The phone has to support eSIM.
- You need a solid connection: the profile is downloaded and it is not small.
- It will not work behind a firewall that blocks the download.
- The QR code must not already have been scanned on another phone.
It is installed but I have no data+
- Check the travel eSIM is chosen as the data line and switched on.
- Check data roaming is turned on for that line.
- Look at the signal bars: if there are any, you are attached to a tower.
- With no signal, restart the phone for a fresh start.
- With signal but no data, select the network by hand in settings.
- Turn off any VPN.
- Turn the eSIM off and on again.