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Help · Abroad

Switch roaming off on the company iPad.

You have landed, the device has registered on a foreign network, and our greeting is sitting in Messages. If you would rather not transmit at all while abroad, turn the radio off on the device — it takes two moves and costs nothing.

Text message from mobileNet

Hello, this is mobileNet. Welcome to Switzerland! … Prefer not to use roaming? You can switch it off in your device settings. Find out how at mobilenet.lh-virtual.com/roaming.

Instructions · iPadOS

Four steps, under a minute.

This is about the LH-Virtual company iPad you open at app.lh-virtual.com. On a real iPad the switches carry the same names.

Unlock the device

The iPad shows the Lock Screen with our message on it. Unlock with Face ID or tap Unlock — you can swipe the notification away afterwards; it comes back at the next change of country anyway.

Open Settings

On the Home Screen, the grey cog labelled Settings. It sits in the last row; you will also find it in the Dock at the bottom.

Turn on Airplane Mode

Airplane Mode sits right at the top of the left-hand column. Slide the switch to the right — it turns green. That takes the cellular radio out, and without cellular there is no roaming: no connection to the foreign network, no data usage, no daily charge.

Wi-Fi is not affected. If it was on, it stays on — so you are still online in the hotel or the crew lounge.

Look at the top right

The status bar now shows a small aeroplane instead of signal bars. That is the proof: as long as it sits there, no connection to a mobile network can be established — and therefore no cost.

The pocket version

Settings → Airplane Mode on. Wi-Fi may stay on. Done.

What stops working

Calls and text messages will not reach you while Airplane Mode is on — not even work ones. If you have to stay reachable, leave the radio on and book TravelDay or Travel7 instead: then the price is known in advance.

Back on the network

And how do I turn it back on?

The same way, in reverse. Once you have landed back home it is worth a glance at the status bar: with no signal bars the device stays silent at home as well.

Turn the radio back on

Open Settings, Airplane Mode off. After a few seconds the bars come back, the device finds a network, and the messages of the past few hours are delivered.

Rather stay reachable?

Then leave the radio on and book a travel package: a free text message with Travel7 to 4400, valid from the next day. TravelDay needs no booking at all — you are billed only for a day on which you actually used the device.

Common questions

What pilots write to us about this.

Why did I get this message in the first place?

Because your device found a network in another country. The greeting comes from us as your contract partner — not from the operator on the ground. That is why the sender in Zurich is mobileNet and not the Swiss carrier.

It arrives once per country and day. A flight within the same country triggers nothing.

Does the welcome message cost anything?

No. Incoming text messages are always free with us, at home and abroad.

Does my domestic allowance apply in Switzerland or the United Kingdom?

No. The domestic allowance without a surcharge applies in the EU and the EEA. Switzerland was never part of that arrangement, and the United Kingdom has not been since Brexit. With us both sit in Zone World 1, where TravelDay applies at €7.99 per calendar day used.

Is it enough to turn off mobile data only?

For data usage, yes — but calls and text messages carry on, and a single answered call already triggers that day's TravelDay. If you want to be certain nothing is triggered, use Airplane Mode.

Can I have roaming barred permanently?

Yes. Your IT sets the bar per card in the self-service portal, either for all zones or only for World 1 and World 2. It takes effect immediately and can be lifted the same way — without anyone touching the device.

I still see data coming in while in Airplane Mode.

Then it is arriving over Wi-Fi, and that is free. In iPadOS, Airplane Mode only switches off the cellular radio; Wi-Fi stays on if it was on before. If you want everything quiet, switch Wi-Fi off in the same column.

Question not covered?

From any mobileNet line you reach business support free of charge on short code 4400 — abroad as well, even when you have not booked a travel package.

See zones and prices