Forum Discussion

mprowe's avatar
mprowe
SMARTY Pioneer
14-01-2025

Why does my data connection work WITHOUT an APN?

I have recently joined SMARTY. Soon after activating, I got (what I suspect is a generic) message advising me to update my APN if I was interested in roaming. I am, so I did.

However, due to finger trouble, I entered "mob.asn.net" (note the N in ASN) and not "mob.asm.net". Surprisingly (to me) this worked. Intrigued, I started experimenting and all the variants that I tried (including a null entry) worked.

Why/how is this?

Regards, M.

3 Replies

  • WelshPaul's avatar
    WelshPaul
    SMARTY Centurion
    14-01-2025

    APN only matters when outside the UK. You can put Mickey Mouse in the APN field and data will work just fine. 

    • mprowe's avatar
      mprowe
      SMARTY Pioneer
      15-01-2025

      What is the position in reverse?

      If I have a French SIM (Free) in my router, will Three complain because the APN info is wrong?

  • MSF's avatar
    MSF
    SMARTY Guru
    14-01-2025

    mprowe If you are not actually roaming, then I do not think that it affected anything.

    My limited understanding is that it comes into play when you are registering with a foreign network.