A HelloRoam eSIM has no phone number, so calls use your home line
Your HelloRoam eSIM carries data only, so it has no phone number and cannot make normal calls or send texts. Keep your home line switched on for calls, texts, and codes sent by SMS. Your home carrier may still charge roaming for that line. For calls while traveling, use apps like WhatsApp or FaceTime over your eSIM's data connection.
The line that handles calls, texts and data
- Calls and texts stop arriving, and your home line is switched off.
- Switch the home line back on. Your number lives there, not on the HelloRoam line.
- A text you are waiting for, such as an SMS code, never reaches the HelloRoam line.
- It goes to your home line. Keep that line switched on and watch it there.
- Your phone asks which line to use as the default for calls and messages.
- Choose your home number. Pick the HelloRoam line for mobile data instead.
- One calling app will not connect, while websites open normally.
- Your data is working. Update that app, restart it, then check any VPN or filter.
- Nothing loads at all on the HelloRoam line.
- That is a data problem, not an app problem. Get data working on that line first.
Set the default line for calls and texts
iPhone
While you install the eSIM, your iPhone asks which line does what. Here are the answers.
- At the default line question, choose your home number.
- At the iMessage and FaceTime question, choose your home number again.
- For mobile data, pick the HelloRoam line instead.
- Calls and messages stay on the line you chose first.
- Names such as Primary and Secondary are labels only, so check which line is which.
- If the lines look alike, match the ICCID in settings with the HelloRoam app.
Samsung
Your phone groups its SIM preferences in one place, and the setting for which line makes calls sits among them.
- Open Settings > Connections > SIM manager to see both lines.
- Set your home line as the preferred line for calls.
- Leave your mobile data on the HelloRoam line.
- Line names are labels only, so check which line is which before you choose.
- If the lines look alike, match the ICCID in settings with the HelloRoam app.
Pixel
Your phone asks which SIM it should prefer for calls. The answer is your home line.
- Open Settings > Network & internet > SIMs to see both lines.
- When your phone asks which SIM to prefer for calls, choose the home line.
- Leave your mobile data on the HelloRoam line.
- Line names are labels only, so check which line is which before you choose.
- If the lines look alike, match the ICCID in settings with the HelloRoam app.
Other Android
Menu names change by brand and Android version, so look for the closest match.
- Open Settings > Network & internet > Mobile network to find both lines.
- When your phone asks which SIM to prefer for calls, choose the home line.
- Leave your mobile data on the HelloRoam line.
- Line names are labels only, so check which line is which before you choose.
- If the lines look alike, match the ICCID in settings with the HelloRoam app.
When one app fails and the rest work
- Open a normal website on the HelloRoam data. If it loads, your data connection is working.
- Check whether your other apps work. One app failing is not the same as the eSIM failing.
- Update the app that failed, then close it and open it again.
- Check any VPN, private relay or content filter, and switch it off to see what changes.
- If nothing loads at all, the problem is the data connection, not the app.
- In that case, get data working on the HelloRoam line first, then place the call again.
- Don't delete the eSIM because it cannot make a normal call. It is a data plan, and deleting fixes nothing.
Send these details about both lines
Email help@helloroam.com and tell us which line the trouble is on. These details let us read your setup instead of guessing.
- Your order number.
- Your phone brand and model.
- The country and city you are in now.
- What you tried to do and on which line: a call, a text, or an app.
- Whether normal websites open on the HelloRoam data.
- Whether your other apps work, and whether the app that failed is up to date.
- Whether a VPN, private relay or content filter was on.
- The exact words of any error message.
- Crop any QR code out of a screenshot before you send it.
Calls, texts and number questions
Can I use WhatsApp and FaceTime on a data-only eSIM?
Yes. Calling apps run over your HelloRoam data, so WhatsApp, FaceTime, Telegram, WeChat and Messenger all work for calls and messages. What they cannot do is reach you on your ordinary mobile number, because the HelloRoam line has no number of its own. Keep your home line switched on if you still want ordinary calls and texts.
Does HelloRoam sell an eSIM plan with calls and texts?
No. A HelloRoam e-sim carries data and nothing else. That means no phone number on it, and no normal calls or texts from it. Keep your home line switched on for those. For talking to people while you travel, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Telegram, WeChat and Messenger all run over your HelloRoam data.
Can you have two phone numbers on one iPhone for travel?
Your iPhone runs two lines at once, though a HelloRoam plan does not add a second number. The HelloRoam e SIM carries data only, so your home number stays the one people call and text. You do not need to take the physical SIM out. It keeps handling calls and texts while the eSIM handles the internet.
My eSIM's data works but I can't make or receive calls. Is it broken?
No, it is doing what the plan does. It carries data, so normal calls and texts were never part of it. Use a calling app over that data instead. If one app will not connect while websites open normally, update the app, restart it, then check any VPN or content filter. Don't delete the eSIM over this.
Will I still get calls and texts on my old number while using a travel eSIM?
Yes, on your home line, which keeps your number. Leave that line switched on and it goes on handling calls and texts while you travel. A text sent to your number goes there, not to the HelloRoam line, so keep the home line on if you are waiting for a code by SMS. Your carrier may charge roaming for what you use on that line.