How can we help?
Guides, FAQs and troubleshooting — written by humans, kept short on purpose. Search a question or browse by topic.
Six places to start.
Questions, answered.
The eight questions we get most often — kept honest, kept short. If yours isn't here, write to us.
An eSIM is a digital SIM card built into your phone. Instead of a plastic chip, you install a profile over the air. Your physical SIM stays put — so you keep your home number and add a data plan for travel side by side.
Most phones from 2019 onward are eSIM-ready: iPhone XS and newer, Google Pixel 3 and newer, Samsung Galaxy S20 and newer. EU-bought Android variants sometimes ship without eSIM — check Settings → Mobile Service → Add eSIM.
Open the confirmation email on a laptop or second device. Scan the QR code from your phone's eSIM setup screen. Installation takes about 60 seconds; activation happens automatically when you arrive in your destination.
Yes. Your physical SIM stays active for calls, SMS and your WhatsApp number. Data flows through the avelis eSIM. You can flip data routing between the two SIMs anytime in your phone's settings.
We send a heads-up at 80% and again at 100%. You can top up the same plan in one tap from your account — no new QR, no reinstall — and stay on the same local network.
If a plan was never installed, we refund in full within 30 days. If it was installed but truly never connected, write to us — we look at each case individually and almost always make it right.
An eSIM profile is bound to one device. For a second phone or a tablet, you can buy a second plan or share data via personal hotspot from the device that holds the eSIM.
180+ countries on local partner networks. Each plan lists its exact coverage, the carriers used, and the network technology (4G LTE or 5G where available).
Read like a postcard.
Our guides are short on purpose. Each one walks you through exactly one task — install, activate, top up, share — with screenshots and the small print that actually matters.
“A good guide reads like a postcard, not a manual.”
Installing your eSIM on iPhone
Step-by-step setup from the confirmation email, with screenshots from iOS 18.
Installing your eSIM on Android
Pixel and Samsung walkthroughs, including the EU-variant quirks.
Activating on arrival
What to switch on the moment you land — and what to leave alone.
Sharing data with a second device
Personal hotspot setup so a tablet or laptop rides on the same plan.
Topping up mid-trip
Extend or upgrade the same eSIM profile without reinstalling.
Switching between plans
Moving from a regional plan to a single-country plan, and back again.
When something's off.
- Issue 01
No signal after install
Your eSIM is installed but shows "No service". Almost always a routing setting.
- Toggle Airplane mode on, wait 10 seconds, off.
- Settings → Mobile Service → make sure the avelis line is enabled and set to Data.
- If still nothing after 2 minutes, restart the device — first activation often needs one cold boot.
- Issue 02
Plan installed but not active
Activation happens on first connection in the destination country. Until then the plan sits dormant — that's expected.
- Confirm you've actually arrived in a supported country (check the plan page).
- Enable Data Roaming on the avelis line (this is the eSIM, not your home SIM).
- Manually select a partner network in Settings → Mobile → Network Selection.
- Issue 03
Slow or unstable connection
Speed varies by carrier and location. A few minutes of tuning usually helps.
- Switch network mode from 5G Auto to LTE — more stable in many regions.
- Manually pick a different partner carrier if multiple are listed.
- Move 10 meters: indoor concrete and metro stations kill signal fast.
- Issue 04
Can't make calls or send SMS
avelis plans are data-only by design. Calls and SMS stay on your home SIM.
- Use WhatsApp, FaceTime or Signal over the avelis data line — they work the same everywhere.
- For local numbers (hotels, taxis), enable your home SIM briefly for the call.
- Check that your home carrier hasn't suspended roaming for SMS.
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