Lebara Roaming Not Working? Fix Data, Calls and Texts Abroad

The useful answer

Do not start by changing every setting

First check whether your destination is included and whether your plan, add-on or PAYG credit is active. Lebara recommends activating the plan or add-on before travel and warns that it starts on the purchase date.²

Lebara's roaming finder says its mobile plans include EU roaming, subject to the published allowance and fair-use rules.⁵ Outside the EU or India, standard roaming charges apply, so you may need PAYG credit or a relevant roaming add-on before anything will work.³

A clean repair sequence

Work from the account outwards

1. Check the country.Open Lebara's roaming finder for the exact destination. Do not assume that "Europe" means the same thing as the EU roaming zone.
2. Check the plan, add-on or credit.Confirm it is active rather than merely purchased, and that it has not expired halfway through the trip.
3. Reconnect to the local network.Turn flight mode on for about 30 seconds, turn it off, then restart the phone if service does not return.
4. Split the symptoms.Test a normal call, an SMS and a simple web page with Wi-Fi switched off.
5. Fix only the failed branch.Use network selection for no service, APN and data-roaming settings for data, or dialling format and credit for calls.
6. Collect evidence before support.Note the country, local network name, error message and the fixes already tried.

If you are still in the UK and planning a new line, check the current Lebara referral plans before ordering. A new purchase is not a useful roaming repair once you are already abroad.

No bars, SOS or emergency calls only

Get the phone registered before chasing data

Set network selection to automatic, wait a minute and look for a local network name. If it remains blank, toggle flight mode and restart. With a dual-SIM phone, make sure the Lebara line itself is switched on.

If automatic selection fails, open the manual network list and try the available networks one at a time. A failed first choice does not prove roaming is broken; the handset may simply have picked a network that does not accept the line. Return to automatic after the test.

Lebara's general call guide recommends a manual network search when a phone is not connected. It also says you can check the balance with *#1345#, 5588 or MyLebara.⁴

Calls work but mobile data does not

Check data roaming, the chosen SIM and the APN

Turn on mobile data and data roaming for the Lebara line, then switch off Wi-Fi while testing. On a dual-SIM phone, check that Lebara is selected for mobile data. It is surprisingly easy to repair the correct SIM while the phone is trying to use the other one.

If that fails, compare the access point with Lebara's current roaming settings:

Lebara publishes those three values and says to restart the phone after setting them manually.¹ Photograph the old APN before editing it, save the new one, select it if the phone asks, then restart. Do not invent values for fields that Lebara leaves unspecified.

Test with a lightweight page rather than a video. If basic data works but streaming does not, check the remaining allowance, roaming cap and any phone-level data limit before undoing the APN.

Data works but calls or texts do not

Check the number format and available credit

For an international call, use the international prefix or a plus sign, then the country code and the number without its leading zero. Lebara gives the same dialling rule in its call troubleshooting guide.⁴ For example, a UK number beginning 07 becomes +44 7, not +44 07.

Check PAYG credit if the destination sits outside your included area or the attempted call falls outside the plan. A phone can be registered on a network and still reject chargeable calls because there is nothing available to pay for them.

For texts, try one plain SMS to a full international-format number. If outgoing messages fail but incoming ones arrive, note the exact error and avoid repeatedly changing APNs: the APN governs mobile data, not the basic job of sending an SMS.

If calls drop immediately, test a second number and note whether incoming calls work. That small distinction gives support something better than "roaming is broken", which is the telecoms equivalent of telling a mechanic that the car feels funny.

When the quick repairs fail

Contact Lebara with a useful fault report

Lebara lists chat and phone support from 7am to 11pm UK time every day. From outside the UK or another network, call +44 207 0310791; call charges depend on the operator.⁶

Use Wi-Fi for chat if mobile service is dead. Give support the Lebara number, country, phone model, local network shown, whether calls, texts and data fail separately, the exact error and the steps already tried. Ask them to check whether roaming is enabled on the account and whether there is an account-side block.

If you are replacing a separate UK line rather than fixing this one, open the current referral journey and confirm the offer before paying. Do not cancel a number you want to keep merely because roaming has had a sulk.

Quick answers

Lebara roaming fault questions