You have landed, the eSIM is installed, and there is no internet. Almost every time, this is a setting rather than a fault. Work down the list in order — the early items are the common culprits.
1. Is data pointed at the right line?
The single most frequent cause. The profile installed correctly and the phone is still using your home line for data.
iPhone: Settings → Cellular → Cellular Data → select the travel eSIM.
Android: Settings → Network & internet → SIMs (or SIM manager) → Mobile data → select the travel eSIM.
2. Is roaming ON for the travel eSIM?
Counter-intuitive but essential. A travel eSIM connects through partner networks, which your phone treats as roaming. With roaming off, it will never connect.
iPhone: Settings → Cellular → tap the travel line → Data Roaming on.
Android: open the travel line’s settings → Roaming on.
While you are there, turn roaming off on your home line. That is the one that costs money.
3. Has the plan actually started?
Most plans activate when they first attach to a network at the destination, not when you buy them. Check the remaining data in your provider’s app. If it shows the full allowance and a status of “not activated”, it has not connected yet — continue to the next step.
Also check the plan has not expired. Validity is counted in days from first connection, and a plan bought two months ago for a trip that got postponed may simply be over.
4. Restart, properly
Not a glib suggestion — network registration genuinely fails sometimes and a restart forces a fresh attempt.
Do it in this order:
- Turn Airplane Mode on, wait ten seconds, turn it off. Give it a minute.
- If that fails, power the phone fully off, wait thirty seconds, and back on.
5. Select the network manually
If the phone will not pick an operator on its own, choose one yourself.
iPhone: Settings → Cellular → travel line → Network Selection → turn Automatic off → pick a network from the list.
Android: mobile network settings → turn off Select automatically → pick from the list.
Scanning takes up to a minute. Try each supported operator in turn if the first fails. Your provider will list which networks the plan uses at your destination.
6. Check the APN
Rare, but real. Most eSIMs configure this automatically; occasionally a phone needs it typed in. Your provider will publish the correct value.
iPhone: Settings → Cellular → travel line → Cellular Data Network.
Android: the line’s settings → Access Point Names.
Enter exactly what your provider specifies, save, and restart.
7. Confirm you are somewhere the plan covers
Worth a sanity check. A local plan for one country will not work across the border. A regional plan works only in the countries on its list — and those lists have edges that are not always obvious.
8. Is the phone locked?
If the eSIM installed but will not connect anywhere, and everything above is right, the phone may be carrier-locked.
iPhone: Settings → General → About → Carrier Lock. You want “No SIM restrictions”.
Android: ask your carrier — the wording varies too much to give one path.
Still nothing?
Contact your provider, and save time by sending the useful details up front:
- Phone model and OS version
- Country and city
- Whether the plan shows as activated
- Which networks you tried manually
- A screenshot of the line’s settings
That turns a multi-day back-and-forth into one reply. You can reach us at our contact page.
What not to do
Do not delete the eSIM. Most profiles install once. Deleting it while troubleshooting usually destroys a plan you have paid for and cannot reinstall. Exhaust everything above first, and ask support before removing anything.