Mobile 101
What is an eSIM, and why does it matter when you travel?
An eSIM is a SIM card built into your phone that you load over the internet instead of sliding into a tray. Here is what actually changes when you use one.
4 min read
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Mobile 101
The mobile industry explains itself badly. This is the plain-English layer underneath everything else on the blog: what a SIM actually is, what an eSIM changes, what roaming means on your bill, and how much data a week of maps, messaging and video really uses. Start here if a term in another article did not land.
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What you will find here
- eSIM basics
- What it is and how it works.
- Roaming
- What the word actually means.
- Mobile data
- Gigabytes, speeds and usage.
- Networks
- Carriers, bands and coverage.
More in Mobile 101
eSIM vs physical SIM: what actually differs
They do the same job. The differences are in how you get one, how fast you can switch, and what happens when something goes wrong.
3 min read
How much mobile data you actually need for a trip
Most travellers buy either far too much data or far too little, because nobody tells them what a day of normal use costs. Here are the real numbers.
3 min read
What data roaming is, and when to leave it switched off
Data roaming is your phone borrowing somebody else's network. Whether that is free, expensive or ruinous depends entirely on your plan and where you are.
4 min read