Why does my travel eSIM show an IP from another country?

Your phone connects to a local mobile network where you are travelling. The data does not always reach the wider internet from that same country. A travel eSIM can carry it onward through its roaming partner, then let it exit to the internet from another country.

That exit country is what many websites see when they look at your IP address. It does not mean your phone has lost the local network, and it does not mean the eSIM is using the wrong destination plan. It describes the route your data takes after it leaves the local network.

We publish an "Exits via ..." note on each plan so you can see that route before choosing. It is a useful detail, especially when the country you visit and the country websites see may not match.

Some services use an IP address as one signal when deciding what to show or whether to ask for another check. The result can be familiar, even when the eSIM itself is working normally.

Streaming services can use the connection’s apparent country when selecting a catalogue. If your eSIM exits through a country other than the one you are visiting, the catalogue may reflect that exit country instead. The same service can also use account settings, payment details and other checks, so an IP address is not the whole story.

If a particular show matters on a trip, check the plan’s published exit before you travel rather than assuming the local destination decides it.

A bank may notice that you are signing in from an unfamiliar country or from an IP country that differs from your physical location. That can lead to an extra verification step, or the bank may decide it needs you to use its usual recovery process. That decision belongs to the bank, not to the eSIM.

The practical setup is dual SIM. Leave your home SIM active for calls, SMS and banking codes, while the travel eSIM carries mobile data. Your bank can still send a code to your usual number, and you do not need to move your number onto the travel eSIM.

Before leaving, make sure you can receive the verification messages you rely on and that your home line is set up the way you want for travel.

The route above applies when the phone is using the eSIM’s mobile data. Hotel, airport and cafe Wi-Fi are separate local connections. Your eSIM does not change where somebody else’s Wi-Fi exits, or what that Wi-Fi can reach.

That is why a service can behave one way on eSIM data and another way when the phone quietly joins the hotel network. If you are checking how a service works on the travel eSIM, turn Wi-Fi off for that test and use the eSIM data.

1. Check that mobile data is set to the travel eSIM.
2. Turn Wi-Fi off, then check again, so you are seeing the eSIM route rather than the hotel’s route.
3. Open the plan page and read its "Exits via ..." note.
4. For a banking app, keep your home SIM available for SMS codes and follow the bank’s own verification steps if it asks for more.

An IP country is a routing detail, not a map pin. Once you know where your plan exits, the result makes more sense, and you can choose a plan with the route that suits your trip.