APN (Access Point Name) — Definition

An APN, or Access Point Name, is the setting your phone uses to find and connect to your carrier's mobile data network.

Think of it as the name of the door your phone walks through to reach the internet. Enter the right name and data works; enter the wrong one and you get nothing, or you get data but no picture messaging.

In practice

You'll meet the APN when mobile data stops working after a SIM swap, a factory reset, or moving a SIM into an unlocked phone. Most of the time the phone sets it automatically, so you only type it in by hand when that automatic setup fails. Our carrier pages list the exact APN for each network.