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MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337
Even if my iPhone is unlocked but using any AT&T SIM like Straight Talk or Go Phone I still can't reach Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network. To me this sounds like a software bug because you can't make the required APN and MMS settings like other unlocked phones can and like the iPhone can in say europe or canada.

Is this an artifact of being restored but keeping the carrier settings I had when the phone was locked and/or on AT&T? I just got an unlock and haven't had a unlocked iPhone before, I have restored and gotten the message in iTunes. Will restore as new phone allow me to see Cellular Data Network you think?


I researched and see a tmobile SIM swap trick and obviously there are jailbreak tweaks that can accomplish this too but I was getting the impression these are for locked phones.
 

MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337

I'm doing that for data.

Also I feel dumb, I was researching how to do it but not actually trying it with another phone I know works. I dug out my corp blackberry and I can send and receive pics from that fine. Problem must be on my friends end.

Funny, I was assuming all this time on Go Phone I had no MMS picture message capabilities.
 

Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
The iPhone is unique in using "carrier settings" files. These files are built in to the firmware of the iPhone and can be updated separately for each carrier when needed.

The carrier settings file allows each carrier to provide settings that the device should use (SMSC, MMS settings, APN details, Voicemail numbers, carrier customized web links, whether certain features are enabled etc.)

One of the options the carriers have is to disable the menu that lets you change the "Cellular Data Network" settings.

The carrier settings file is loaded based on the MCC (Mobile Country Code) and (Mobile Network Code) of the SIM that has been put into the phone.

For all AT&T MVNOs, the iPhone will simply think that the phone is on AT&T and apply their settings to the device - this is causing the issue in your post.

You mention Europe being ok, but the same issue happens here. There are several MVNOs on the different networks here, but the iPhone thinks you're on the host network and uses their settings. Only one MVNO (Tesco - a large supermarket chain) is an official Apple "supported carrier" and gets its own carrier settings files.
 

alaiia

macrumors newbie
May 21, 2012
1
0
AT&T iPhones on AT&T MVNO... Use the APN Changer

The Network Settings are HIDDEN in the APN Profile you get from the AT&T MVNOs.

From your iPhone browser,

1) go to http://www.unlockit.co.nz
2) Select your country phone and MVNO
3) Save that as your APN Profile

It will automatically do the following (below) setting for you... even if you cant see it directly, and enable SMS and picture messaging, just as if you were on AT&T, rather than a restricted MVNO


It worked in 3 seconds on my AT&T iPhone4 with a Red Pocket Mobile sim... I can get and send SMS, MMS and picture messaging as well... for $39.99 per month... Unlimited Talk & Text and MMS, and since I use WiFi, the 10MB data limit doesn't bother me.


MANUAL PROCESS
http://www.unlockit.co.nz/mobilesettings/settings.php?id=242

- Select Settings.
- Select General.
- Select Network.
- Select Cellular Data Network.

- Under Cellular Data Option
APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:

- Under MMS Option
APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: 66.209.11.33:80
MMS Max Message Size:
MMS UA Prof URL:

- Click Network Tab up the top to save
 
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MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337
Bottom line IMO is that this is a bug in the software of the phone. We should not have to do all this crazy stuff to set the required setting for a supposedly unlocked phone.

I sent feedback on this and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html


At the moment I am just using the T-Mobile SIM swap trick to reveal the hidden menu.
 

conartist4u

macrumors regular
May 4, 2012
149
1
Lima Peru
Bottom line IMO is that this is a bug in the software of the phone. We should not have to do all this crazy stuff to set the required setting for a supposedly unlocked phone.

I sent feedback on this and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html


At the moment I am just using the T-Mobile SIM swap trick to reveal the hidden menu.

All you need is a jailbroken iPhone. APNedit is what you need.

Why wait for change, when change is not needed?
 

MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337
I know we are only a day or two away from a jailbreak but we should not have to jailbreak to set required carrier settings.
 

Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
Bottom line IMO is that this is a bug in the software of the phone. We should not have to do all this crazy stuff to set the required setting for a supposedly unlocked phone.

This is not a bug, it's an intentional feature.

The device is designed to allow each carrier to choose whether or not some features are enabled on the device.

As the MVNO uses AT&T's network, the phone isn't able to tell the difference between an AT&T SIM and a (Red Pocket/whatever MVNO) SIM.

Apple could:

i) Disable the feature (unlikely, as the carriers like it so much)
ii) Work with a wider range of carriers to get them to have their OWN settings

Apple does work with some MVNOs to make them "official carriers", but this hasn't happened in the US.


It will automatically do the following (below) setting for you... even if you cant see it directly, and enable SMS and picture messaging, just as if you were on AT&T, rather than a restricted MVNO

MMS settings cannot be configured using a profile. It's just coincidental that the MVNO's settings are the same as AT&T's. That's not the case for all MVNOs
 

MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337
the phone isn't able to tell the difference between an AT&T SIM and a (Red Pocket/whatever MVNO) SIM.

I isolated the defective part for you.

Not being able to enter these REQUIRED settings on an "unlocked" phone is a big problem, not a feature.

IMO if locked phones hide that it might be ok, but not on an unlocked phone.
 

Diode

macrumors 68020
Apr 15, 2004
2,443
124
Washington DC
I know we are only a day or two away from a jailbreak but we should not have to jailbreak to set required carrier settings.

True - but the blame should be on AT&T for blocking such settings. Think of it as a feature they impose to make it harder to switch to pre-paid.

You can do two things to enable MMS settings for Go-Phones/ AT&T MNVO:

Do a sim swap (place a third party sim to enable the settings, enter AT&T settings, and then swap your AT&T MVNO sim back in)
Edit the settings through the backup files and put those files back on the phone

Their are lengthy threads describing how to do both.
 

jay47

macrumors member
Apr 8, 2012
58
27
On my carrier unlocked 4s i removed the original at&t sim and installed a t-mobile prepaid sim and got the mms & apn settings menu after downloading a carrier update .

Currently there is no t-mobile service in my area so im roaming on their partner network at&t at 2g speeds with no data .
 

MaxBurn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Nov 25, 2010
1,453
337
Yup I'm actually doing the SIM swap too.

Really it can't be hard to have it detect that it is an unlocked phone and offer the automatic settings OR allow an override where you can type things in manually like usual. Locked phones get nothing but the automatic one, as it is now.

----------

True - but the blame should be on AT&T for blocking such settings. Think of it as a feature they impose to make it harder to switch to pre-paid.

I don't think that's the right way to go, the carrier shouldn't be allowed to make decisions for unlocked phones.
 

chestvrg

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,176
75
I'm of the opinion that it is an Apple's decision influenced by the telecoms to no allow Cellular Data Network(CDN) activated and we should writes feedback (the one the other user MaxBurn/OP posted a link) so that Apple allows this setting visible (CDN) on an update.

I have an unlocked iPhone and I don't remember this feature ever been visible, but of course the iPhone was an AT&T one when I bought it (it was not an official factory unlocked), bought it just weeks before the official unlocked went on sale in US Apple stores.

Ps: to change me MMS settings on straight talk I have used the SIM swap trick.
 
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oongi2Iedie

macrumors newbie
May 24, 2012
2
0
MMS settings cannot be configured using a profile. It's just coincidental that the MVNO's settings are the same as AT&T's. That's not the case for all MVNOs
 

chestvrg

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,176
75
Well I know for sure my Straight Talk MMS settings are the the same as AT&T, although the parent host carrier is AT&T.
 

chestvrg

macrumors 65816
Dec 13, 2010
1,176
75
I wanted to point out that I left feedback to Apple at the link MaxBurn provided, if many of us starts to leave feedback in mass proportions perhaps in iOS 6 this feature will be enabled.
 

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Daveoc64

macrumors 601
Jan 16, 2008
4,074
92
Bristol, UK
I isolated the defective part for you.

Not being able to enter these REQUIRED settings on an "unlocked" phone is a big problem, not a feature.

IMO if locked phones hide that it might be ok, but not on an unlocked phone.

It's a problem, but I think it's a far bigger problem that Apple thinks it should be paid money by carriers all over the world so that they can restrict a device that people have bought, more than they can restrict any other device on the market.

The functionality operates how it should.

The device may be unlocked, but the locking functionality on the iPhone happens at a very low level. The OS itself doesn't care if the device is unlocked or not, it just looks at the SIM, sees the carrier code that the SIM is providing (which will match AT&T for these MVNOs) and then loads the matching carrier settings file.

As I mentioned earlier, either Apple can:

i) Stop using this feature - I'd imagine that contractually they can't (they must have deals in place with carriers to have this functionality) and that as a result of that, they won't want to for financial reasons.

ii) Work harder to support each MVNO - something they seem reluctant to do. Probably money is an issue here too. For any carrier to become "Apple Supported", it probably costs them money. Most MVNOs just don't have enough money to do it. The only MVNO in the UK that's supported by Apple is the UK's largest Supermarket - they certainly have the money!
 

bpress54

macrumors newbie
Apr 4, 2013
2
0
Unlocked or not unlocked?

Hi guys,
I'm new here and have been reading the thread regarding the unlocked iPhone, but I haven't been able to find the info I need, as it all seems rather confusing. I have an iPhone 3gs which I want to use on Straight Talk. It was with AT&T but my contract has expired and I got "permission" from them to unlock the phone. They told me to do a restore in iTunes, which I did and at the end of the process a message came up that said Congratulations your iPhone is now unlocked. However, an Apple rep I spoke to told me that this technically does nothing, and that AT&T would have to do something on their end to actually unlock the phone. The AT&T rep said this is not the case, and they show the phone as being unlocked, as does Apple.
As many here have mentioned I'm still unable to get to the APN settings. All I see is the Cellular Data button, but pressing it does nothing. I have downloaded the iPhone configuration utility from Apple, and also am aware of the unlockit.co.nz site. I'm just wondering, before I go through all this, is will it work? I have not applied the unlockit app to the phone nor tried the iPhone config utility as yet, because I don't have the Straight Talk SIM yet. Also, I see mention of the "TMobile SIM swap trick." What is that, exactly, and how would I go about getting a TMobile SIM? Can someone please advise me; I just want a no bs answer to the question will my iPhone 3gs work with MMS and data on the Straight Talk network? I don't want to jailbreak the phone. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
 

dave420

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2010
1,426
276
If you got that message then your phone should be unlocked. Simply put your new sim in and start using it. If you hadn't done the restore yet you could simply put your new SIM card in and then connect the phone to the computer with iTunes open. It will then go through the unlock process automatically.
 

bpress54

macrumors newbie
Apr 4, 2013
2
0
Unlocked or not unlocked?

Thanks Dave,
So you're saying I don't need to configure the APN settings?
 

Mwinder123

macrumors newbie
Apr 13, 2013
2
0
Bpress54 the profile only works for data not mms. To do mms you need to do sim swap or jailbreak and use an app to change apn settings.
 
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