Los Angeles eSIM
In Los Angeles you connect to T-Mobile or AT&T, whichever is performing better where you are standing. The median across the country is 64 Mbps. Your data starts working the moment you land, before you reach the immigration hall.
- Networks
- T-Mobile and AT&T
- Real speed in United States
- 64 Mbps median, 11 Mbps for the slowest tenth5,118 travellers across United States, rolling 90 days
- 5G
- yes, non standalone
- Throttle
- None on metered plans
- Tethering
- Allowed on every plan
Plans that cover Los Angeles
| Data | Validity | Price per GB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 GB | Never expires | $6.89 | $6.89 | |
| 3 GB | Never expires | $3.30 | $9.89 | |
| 5 GBMost travellers | Never expires | $2.58 | $12.89 | |
| 10 GB | Never expires | $1.99 | $19.89 | |
| 20 GB | Never expires | $1.64 | $32.89 | |
| 50 GB | Never expires | $1.52 | $75.89 |
How United States compares across North America
- Speed rank
- 1 of 10 destinations we have measured in North America
- Regional median
- 33 Mbps
- Consistency
- The slowest tenth still reaches 17 percent of the median
- Upstream networks
- 2, T-Mobile, AT&T
- 5G
- Yes, non standalone
- Next slowest nearby
- Canada, 58 Mbps
- Cities with their own page
- 6: New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago
- tenth percentile
- 11 Mbps
- Behind these figures
- 5118 travellers, rolling 90 days
Landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Airport
- LAX / KLAX
- Distance
- 29 km from the centre of Los Angeles
- Wifi on arrival
- Free wifi in the terminalFree wi-fi in the public areas of all terminals; the network is "_LAX Free WiFi".
Getting into Los Angeles
- Metro C Line or K Line to LAX/Metro Transit Center (LAX)
- Free LAX shuttle between LAX/Metro Transit Center (Bus Bays 1 and 2) and all LAX terminals (LAX)
- Metro Lines 102, 111, 117, 120 and 232 to LAX/Metro Transit Center (LAX)
- Catalina Express boat from San Pedro, Long Beach or Dana Point to Catalina Island, about 60 minutes
Underground and on the metro
Los Angeles Metro Rail (B and D Lines are the fully underground subway lines) runs 6 lines. It opened in 1990. The operator states mobile coverage in parts of the network only.
Worth knowing about Los Angeles
- The underground stations and tunnels on the B and D Lines carry service from AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, and as of 30 September 2025 Metro extended that coverage to the K Line's Expo/Crenshaw, Martin Luther King and Leimert Park stations and the tunnels between them.
- Rail does not yet reach the LAX terminals: you ride the C Line or K Line to the LAX/Metro Transit Center and transfer to a free, frequent shuttle at Bus Bays 1 and 2.
- The LAX Automated People Mover (SkyLink), which will link the terminals directly to the C and K lines at the East ITF station, had still not opened as of September 2026; systems demonstration testing began on 21 April 2026 and the project remains in litigation.
- LAX is 18 miles (29 km) south-west of downtown Los Angeles, so an airport-to-downtown trip is long by either road or transit.
- Metro trains and buses accept a contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB or UnionPay card, or the same card in Apple Pay or Google Pay, tapped at the station validator or bus farebox, with no sign-up needed.
- Metro caps fares at $5 a calendar day, reached after three rides, and $18 over seven days starting from the first tap. The caps only work if every ride is tapped with the same card in the same form, since a phone and a watch count separately.
- Transfers between Metro buses and trains are free within two hours of tapping, though a return trip does not count as a transfer. Cash is taken on buses only, needs the exact fare, and earns no fare cap.
- A free community Wi-Fi network built with the city's Bureau of Street Lighting runs around the clock along much of Crenshaw Boulevard in Hyde Park and Leimert Park, covering coffee shops, parks, outdoor spaces and even Metro trains.
- The Los Angeles Public Library offers free wireless access at its 73 locations. Joining means accepting its terms, and the library states plainly that it does not guarantee the security of the network.
- In the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the Park Service warns that cell phone service can be unreliable in the mountains, so save trail maps before starting a hike.
- Joshua Tree National Park has very limited cell reception and no gas stations, restaurants or water in its interior. The Park Service suggests saving the park in the NPS App for offline use before arriving.
- Catalina Island, 22 miles off the coast, is about an hour away on Catalina Express boats from San Pedro, Long Beach or Dana Point, with up to 30 departures a day.
Sources for this page
Other cities in United States we cover
- Las Vegas
- 368 km from Los Angeles, nearest airport LAS
- San Francisco
- 559 km from Los Angeles, nearest airport SFO
- Chicago
- 2802 km from Los Angeles, nearest airport MDW
- Miami
- 3758 km from Los Angeles, nearest airport MIA
- New York
- 3936 km from Los Angeles, nearest airport LGA