You did what the guide said: installed the eSIM, turned on data roaming, and you still have no internet. It’s the most frustrating moment of all, because you already did the obvious step and it wasn’t enough. The good news: it’s almost always one specific second cause, the one nobody explains, and it takes a minute to fix.
When your phone has two active lines —your home SIM or eSIM and your MolaHop travel eSIM— the phone has to decide which one to use for data. And by default it doesn’t always pick the one you want. Turning on roaming is only half the job; the other half is telling your phone to use the MolaHop eSIM for data, and stopping your home line from stealing the connection. Let’s do both.
Why roaming alone isn’t enough
Think of your phone with two lines as a house with two internet doors. Data roaming is opening the MolaHop eSIM’s door. But if the phone keeps trying to go out through your home carrier’s door —which abroad either has no data, or has it at a blocked, sky-high price— you don’t connect, even though the other door is wide open.
That’s why, after enabling roaming, there are two more things to do: set the MolaHop eSIM as your data line, and make sure your home SIM isn’t interfering. This is what fails in most “I turned everything on and it still doesn’t work” cases.
iPhone: set the eSIM as your data line
After enabling data roaming on the MolaHop eSIM, go to:
Settings → Mobile Data → Mobile Data (the section that appears inside, not the toggle at the top).
There you’ll see your two lines. Select the MolaHop eSIM as the line that uses mobile data. This tells your iPhone: “for internet, use this one.”
The setting almost nobody knows about: automatic switching
The iPhone has a feature called “Allow Mobile Data Switching” that, without warning, can move your data to your other line if it thinks it has better coverage. It sounds helpful, but abroad it’s exactly what you don’t want: you end up using (or trying to use) your home SIM, and you’re left with no connection or an unexpected charge.
To turn it off: Settings → Mobile Data → Mobile Data → turn off “Allow Mobile Data Switching”.
This is the culprit behind many “I did everything right and it still doesn’t work” cases. If you got this far and it still wasn’t working, this is very likely it.
And turn off roaming on your home SIM
To leave no room for doubt —or surprise charges from your home carrier— go into your home SIM line (Settings → Mobile Data → [your home line] → Mobile Data Options → Data Roaming) and turn it off. That way your phone isn’t tempted to connect through it. The MolaHop eSIM stays as the only data door, which is what you want.
Android: set the eSIM for data
Menu names change by manufacturer (Samsung, Xiaomi, Google Pixel…), but the path is the same. After enabling roaming on the MolaHop eSIM:
Settings → Connections → SIM Manager (or “SIMs & networks”). There, under Data SIM (or “Mobile Data”), select the MolaHop eSIM.
And as on iPhone, go into your home SIM in that same menu and turn off its data roaming, so it doesn’t interfere.
Some Android phones also have an “automatic data switching” option similar to the iPhone’s; if you see it, turn it off so it doesn’t jump to your other line.
What each line does (so you don’t get confused)
With both lines active, it helps to know who does what:
- Data (internet): the MolaHop eSIM. The one you just selected.
- Calls and SMS: your home number still works for receiving your usual calls and messages —handy for your bank’s SMS code, for example—. Note: receiving calls abroad on your home line may cost you through your carrier; data won’t, because it goes through the eSIM.
- If you only want data and zero surprises, you can leave your home line in airplane mode and use only the eSIM. But then you won’t receive calls or SMS on your home number.
Quick checklist
If you still have no internet, run through this in order:
- The MolaHop eSIM is installed and activated.
- Data roaming is on for the MolaHop eSIM line.
- The MolaHop eSIM is selected as your data line.
- On iPhone, “Allow Mobile Data Switching” is off.
- Your home SIM’s roaming is off.
- Airplane mode is off.
- If none of that works, restart your phone —often the connection appears after a restart—.
If it still doesn’t work
If you’ve been through the checklist and still have no data, it may be the APN. On your MolaHop eSIM, check that the APN is globaldata (leave all other fields blank), save and restart. You’ll find the details in our fix-by-symptom guide, which covers the rest of the cases (no service, activation error, etc.).
And if after all this it still won’t connect, message us on WhatsApp: with the eSIM already installed and these steps checked, sorting it out is a matter of minutes.
Last updated: August 2026. Menu paths may vary slightly depending on your iOS version or Android manufacturer, but the order of the steps is the same in every case.
