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Ireland and UK eSIM setup: get connected after landing

Buy your Ireland and UK plan and save the setup email before flying. After landing, sign into working Wi-Fi, add the eSIM, select it for mobile data and test with Wi-Fi off. Follow the email’s roaming setting for the travel eSIM. Keep your usual SIM’s data roaming and automatic data switching off unless you deliberately want to use its roaming…

By Lachlan4 min read

In this guide 5 sections

Save what you need before flying

For Ireland and the UK, save the two-country order's email with your first transfer details before departure. After landing, use working Wi-Fi to install it and test mobile data; the selected plan's allowance and expiry then follow you through the countries it includes.

Before buying, use our phone compatibility checker with the exact model and the country where you bought it. The phone needs to support the plan and be unlocked. Seeing Add eSIM on the screen is helpful, but it does not check both of those things for you.

Where it works and when your days begin

The selected 20GB total-data example covers United Kingdom, Ireland. Save this plan’s country list with the email before flying. Another plan on the same product page may cover different places.

For the 20GB plan, valid for 30 days, you have 60 days after purchase to start using it. Its 30 days begin when the eSIM first connects to a mobile network covered by the plan. Buying it and starting it are different dates; other plans may have a different start window, so keep the setup details for the one you bought.

The Ireland and UK product page shows the current offers, while your issued email is the reference for installing the plan you bought. Calls through internet apps use the data. Ordinary phone calls, SMS and a local phone number are not included.

Install once you have landed

Join airport Wi-Fi, complete its sign-in page and open an ordinary webpage before starting. If it will not load, wait for hotel Wi-Fi or another steady, trusted connection. Keep the setup email saved before departure, but leave the QR code, quick-install link and manual activation details untouched until after landing.

  1. Open the issued email on the phone that will use the eSIM, then choose its supported installation method.
  2. On iPhone, use Settings > Mobile Service/Cellular > Add eSIM; on Samsung, Settings > Connections > SIM manager > Add eSIM; on Pixel, Settings > Network & internet > SIMs > Add SIM > Set up an eSIM. Labels can vary, so use the full device installation guide if your screen differs.
  3. Once the profile appears, select the travel line for mobile data. Leave automatic mobile-data switching off, and keep data roaming off on the Australian line unless you deliberately intend to use its roaming service.
  4. Follow the email’s roaming and APN instructions for this eSIM. APN is an internet connection setting; use the value supplied for your order, rather than one copied from another plan.
  5. Turn Wi-Fi off briefly and open a simple webpage to test mobile data. If it fails, reconnect to Wi-Fi before continuing with the checks below.

If the QR code is on that same iPhone, iOS 17.4 or later can offer Add eSIM when you touch and hold a supported QR in a default email app or browser. Otherwise, display it on another screen or use only the manual details supplied in the email; a random APN or copied activation code is not an alternative.

If the line appears but data does not work

First make sure the travel eSIM is switched on and chosen for mobile data, with Aeroplane Mode off. Check its roaming and APN connection settings against the setup email, then give the phone a little time to connect. If the settings match, briefly turn Aeroplane Mode on and off and try a webpage again. Buying more data will not fix the wrong eSIM being selected.

Keep the installed profile in place if it still will not connect. Contact the Travel Desk with the order number, exact phone model, software version, current country and the error or test result. Do not send the QR code or private activation details in a public message, and do not delete, transfer or repeatedly rescan the profile while we check it.

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