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How it works

An eSIM's APN: what it is and when you have to touch it

You hardly ever need to, and when you do, nothing browses at all. What the APN is, where to change it, and why it isn't the eSIM's server address.

Bea Nogales 5 min Photo by Ralf Leineweber on Unsplash

The APN is the access point name: the internal address telling your phone how to get out to the internet within the operator's network. It sounds technical and in practice it's a text field that almost always fills itself in.

When you have to touch it

  • When the plan you bought says so explicitly in its instructions.
  • When the line shows as registered on a network, with signal, and still doesn't browse at all.
  • When you've moved the profile to another phone and it has lost its settings.

Outside those three cases, touching it is more likely to break something than to fix it.

Don't confuse it with the eSIM's server address

They're two different things that look alike on screen and have nothing to do with each other: the server address is for DOWNLOADING the profile when you install it, and the APN is for BROWSING once it's installed.

Putting one where the other goes is a classic mistake, and it leaves the installation working and the data dead.

What each one is at install time is in an eSIM's QR code.

Where to change it

  1. On iPhone: Settings, Mobile Data, the eSIM's line, Mobile Data Network.
  2. On Android: Settings, Connections or Network & internet, the relevant SIM, Access Point Names.
  3. Create a new one with whatever the plan's instructions say and set it as active.
  4. Then restart the phone, which genuinely helps with this one.

On some phones the option is hidden while the line is switched off: you have to switch it on first.

Frequently asked questions

What is the APN?

The access point: the setting that tells your phone how to get out to the internet within the operator's network.

Do I have to configure it with an eSIM?

Hardly ever: it fills itself in. Only if the plan says so, or if the line registers on a network and still won't browse.

Is it the same as the server address?

No. That one is for downloading the profile when you install it; the APN is for browsing afterwards.

Where do I change it?

On iPhone, under Mobile Data and Mobile Data Network. On Android, in the relevant SIM under Access Point Names.

Keep reading

How it works Changing phone with an eSIM installed: what you lose and what you don't 6 min How it works An eSIM's QR code: what it is, why it works once, and what to do if you lose it 6 min How it works When to install and when to activate your eSIM: getting the timing right 7 min