Having a connection that is slow is more frustrating than having none at all, because you cannot tell whether to wait or do something else. Here is how to find the cause.
1. You have used up your high-speed data
This is the most common cause and the easiest to check.
On a daily plan, once the day's high-speed allowance is gone the connection is slowed until midnight. Messaging and maps still work; video does not.
Check your usage on your eSIM page — the link is in the email we sent.
If that is it: wait for the new day, or buy another plan.
2. You are somewhere with weak signal
Look at the signal bars. One or two means weak signal, and no plan can fix that.
Try:
- Moving near a window, or going outside.
- Leaving a basement.
- If you are on a moving train, waiting until the next station.
3. The network is congested
Rush hour at a major station, a stadium, a festival — thousands of people share one cell. Speeds drop for everyone, not just you.
How to tell: the person next to you on a local SIM is also slow.
There is no fix, only waiting or moving.
4. The phone is stuck on 3G
Sometimes a phone picks a weaker network and does not move back to the better one.
Try in order:
- Airplane mode for ten seconds, then off.
- If that fails, restart the phone.
- If it still fails: Settings → Cellular → Network Selection → turn off "Automatic" → pick by hand the operator named on the plan page.
5. The problem is the app, not the network
Open a simple web page. If web pages load quickly but one app is slow, the problem is that app or its servers, not your connection.
Common with: home-country banking apps used abroad, and services that are geo-restricted.
How to measure
Open a speed test. Above 5 Mbps means your connection is fine and the problem is elsewhere. Below 1 Mbps suggests you have been throttled.
When to tell us
If the signal bars are full, it is not rush hour, you have not used up your data, and a speed test still reads under 1 Mbps in several different places — that is genuinely unusual. Write to us with the ICCID, the speed-test result, and where you are.