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Native international roaming

In most cases, all you need to do is turn on data roaming in your phone settings — as long as your plan includes roaming.

Your line must have domestic usage before roaming will work

Before roaming can work, your line needs to connect to US towers and register some domestic data usage — this completes the roaming provisioning process. If your line has never been used domestically, roaming will not work regardless of when you enable the Data Roaming toggle. Once provisioning is complete, you can turn on Data Roaming either before you leave or after you've already arrived at your destination.

Network coverage varies by destination

International coverage differs across our three networks. Light Speed covers 180+ countries, Warp covers 125+, and Dark Star covers 110+ destinations (30 of which are data-only). If you're traveling somewhere off the beaten path, check your network's coverage before you go.

Wi-Fi Calling abroad

When using Wi-Fi Calling internationally, calls back to US numbers are generally included. Calls to local foreign numbers while abroad may incur additional charges. Check your plan's Wi-Fi Calling terms before relying on it for local calls.

Make sure you have roaming on your plan

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If your plan doesn't include roaming, or if you've run out of roaming data/minutes/texts, you can add more through our app dashboard.

Make sure you're on a plan with roaming or you've purchased our roaming add-on before continuing.

Turn on data roaming on your phone

Follow the steps for your device type below.

On iPhones

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Cellular Service or Mobile Service.
  3. Select your US Mobile line.
  4. Turn on Data Roaming.
  5. Under Network Selection, make sure it's set to Automatic.

On Androids

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Network and Internet.
  3. Select SIMs.
  4. Select your US Mobile line.
  5. Turn on Roaming.
  6. Under Network Selection, make sure it's set to Automatic.

If you don't get service after following the above steps, here are a few more things you can try:

1. Set the roaming mode (Dark Star only)

If your line is on Dark Star, make sure you've set the correct roaming destination on the US Mobile app by following the steps in the How to set up your roaming destination for your Dark Star line section below.

2. Update the APNs

Set up the APNs on your phone by following the steps in the List of APN settings article.

3. Provisioning

When you arrive in a new country, avoid manually changing networks and let your phone connect automatically — manual selection can interrupt and delay the connection process. This might take up to 60 minutes, but once connected, your roaming will work uninterrupted.

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With roaming, you can only call to the country you're roaming in and back to the US. Calls to a third country might not be supported.

How to set up your roaming destination for your Dark Star line

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If your line is on Warp or Light Speed, you don't need to set up the roaming destination.

On the mobile app

  1. Go to your Lines dashboard and select the Dark Star line you want to update.
  2. In the Line Settings select Roaming Destination (under International Travel).
  3. Enter your destination in the search bar and select it from the list.
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Upon selecting a destination, the tile on the bottom will update to show if the destination has Data, Talk & Text, or Data Only.

  1. Select Confirm and your roaming destination will be updated.

Roaming in multiple destinations

You only need to switch the roaming destination when moving from a region that supports data-only roaming to a destination that supports full-service (talk, text, and data) roaming, or vice versa.

If you're moving between two destinations that both only support data-only roaming, you don't have to set the roaming destination on the app again. It will continue to work even when you enter the second country.

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