Many people face data reception and MMS issues when they switch to a new mobile carrier. One of the major reason for this is incorrect apn settings. In this article we will get to know more about what is apn settings (Access Point Network) and how to configure them.
What are APN settings (Access Point Network)Â ?
These include a bunch of settings or unique values. These settings has to be configured on your mobile to connect with data services.
Each mobile network send and receive data over government regulated radio frequencies. Hence for each carrier these settings varies.
How APN Settings Works ?
Your phone reads APN settings to set up a connection to the gateway between your carrier’s cellular network and the public Internet.
After reading these settings, the cellphone network further perform various complex process. It determines the correct IP address and it connects to the correct secure gateway. We just have to make sure that we had given exact settings provided by the mobile carrier.
Based upon your carrier and mobile there will be various parameters which needs to be filled.
Most of the settings parameters will be having some default values. For example, username and password will be blank most of the time. But this might also change based on the carrier.
The four most important APN settings are:
Below, we have categorized four important parameters of apn settings and their importance.
- APN: Access Point Name is the unique name which varies for each network. Make sure you provide exact name provided by the cellphone carrier.
- APN type: There are four APN types — generic, supl, mms and wap. These vary from carrier to carrier. “generic†is the most used default setting.
- MMSC: Multimedia Messaging Service (MMSC) is used for MMS functionality.
- Proxy: Some carriers provide proxy for data access. By default most carriers might not be having this.
How to change or configure APN Settings ?
Depending upon your phone model the process to change APN settings may vary.  You need to make sure that you have the correct APN Settings of your mobile network before you proceed.
APNSettings.net strive to provide you the latest and most updated list of all mobile network settings. We have collected these details from the support pages of the carrier networks and various forums.
To change the apn settings for most of the phones, follow the below steps.
Open the settings, and look for Wireless and Network settings. Next thing you need to look for is the ‘Mobile Networks’. This can be accessed by tapping the ‘more’ button.
In the Mobile Networks, choose the ‘APN’ or ‘Access Point Names’ to open it.
You should see a list with at least one APN on it. Now you can either select the menu or the plus sign to create/edit a new apn settings. Enter all the apn settings unique values here to create the new settings. Save the settings.
Tip:Â Don’t change or delete the one you see, instead make a new one and we can choose it when we’re done.
4 Important things to Remember:
- All the apn fields need not be filled in. Only fill in the items your mobile carrier provides, and leave the rest as-is with the default values or blank.
- Enter all the values exactly the way they are given. For example, default,supl,hipri is different than default, supl, hipri because of the spaces between items.
- Don’t forget to save the new APN settings and make it as the default apn settings to make it active settings to be used. If you press the back button after creating the new apn settings this will simply undo your work.
- Reboot your phone to use the new APN setting. Sometimes your phone needs to be switched off and turned on again to choose the new apn settings.
Improperly configured APN Settings seems to be one main problem faced by many users while switching to new network or getting a unlocked phone. We have made this simple by providing you the correct working apn settings for all major mobile carriers in United States. Please bookmark this page for your future reference and share it with your friends.
If you have any queries or suggestion feel free to reach out to us through comments or email.