APN change doesn't let me leave blank APN Type

[SharanKa_790369]

Going abroad so I made a new APN following instructions on smarty post.

However I cannot set the APN Type to blank, as it says in post. It shows as "default,mms,supl,hipri,fota,CBS,xcap" and I cannot delete this.

Will this allow me to roam when abroad or how do I change this if it will cause a problem to using my phone abroad? 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

As per my reply on your other post :

Making a new APN may not work, if your device keeps pointing to the original but incorrect APN.

You may well need to look at your device’s manual, google the instructions, or contact your device’s manufacturer.

I just wonder, if you cannot change the APN in your device for some reason, whether it’s network locked to another network. 

As this is the Smarty community forum, populated by Smarty customers, we don’t work for Smarty, nor are we tech support staff. 

What is the device, a phone or a portable WiFi unit, who is the manufacturer, where did you buy it, etc ? This info may help to shed more light on your issue. 

[SharanKa_790369]

Hi, thanks for your reply. 

It's a fairphone bought from fairphone. I have only had smarty on this phone, no other network

To clarify, I can change the main APN to ASM.mob... etc as the smarty advice goes. But further down the settings I cannot change the APN "type". Do you think the phone will work abroad or is this a major problem? I am not very good at tech and haven't had to approach this before when going abroad. Any advice would be helpful, thankyou 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

As long as you have changed the main APN to “mob.asm.net”, whilst there are no guarantees, you should be fine.

[Eldeano64]

Sorry to jump in on this thread but I have just joined SMARTY from Vodafone. I will need to use data roaming during an upcoming cruises when in port and I'm invested in the APN settings also. Currently it is set to three.co.uk.  Do I need to delete the current APN and replace it with the other address or put it in as an additional address and select the new APN when I am using data roaming when abroad? If I replace the three.co.uk address with the new APN would my phone still work ok in the UK?

Thanks in advance for any advice 👍🙂

[MSF]

@Eldeano64 You should be fine with it set to three.co.uk - mine says that for MMS settings (iPhone). The important thing is to have the Mobile Data APN set to mob.asm.net.

[Eldeano64]

Hi MSF thank you for your reply. I've tried to change the APN to mob.asn.net but everything is greyed out even though I'm on the Edit setting. It's as if the settings for the APN are locked and I'm not allowed to change them?

[MSF]

@Eldeano64 

A. What kind of phone is it?

B. What does the current APN say for mobile data?

C. Any chance that it is locked to a network other than Three?

[Eldeano64]

Hi, it's an Android phone, a Vivo X80 Pro which I bought new about 20 months ago. It was a Sim Free phone which I've been using on the Vodafone network since. I'm certain it's not locked to Vodafone as the system is showing the 3 settings.

I have taken a series of screen shots to illustrate the settings which are in there now but don't know how to post them directly into my reply.

There's a long list of settings, protocols etc but nothing which actually mentions mobile data 👍

[MSF]

@Eldeano64  Have you looked at the User Manual?: https://eu-exstatic-vivofs.vivo.com/8Xa6evfY85lu15Pb/1658104668257/29560f9ca97a61cc8da83000dbb2a2de....

If that doesn't do it, why not contact the company or a specific user forum for the phone?

[Eldeano64]

Sorry for the delay in replying, thank you for the link to the download to my phone's manual. I'll have a check through it and see if there's anything relevant to my issue. If not I'll have to contact Smarty see if they can help...nothing is ever straightforward with changing network providers but at least the new SIM is working ok in the UK. I just need the new settings for if I want to use data roaming when I go abroad. Why don't Smarty/3 give these settings automatically with the SIM instead of having to change them manually? When I used my Vodafone SIM when in the EU all I had to do was add a 8 or 15 day roaming pass on to my account and switch on data roaming in my settings and hey presto it worked. 

Thank you for your great help trying to sort it anyway... hopefully I'll eventually get it sorted and I'll let you know👍🙂

[Chalkychap]

Unfortunately @Eldeano64, it sounds like SMARTY don't provide the relevant network carrier settings for your Vivo X80 handset.

Without the appropriate carrier settings, the ability to edit the APN value in the Android settings menu won't be available. 

Is your handset using the latest Android version available from the device manufacturer?

[Eldeano64]

Hi Chalkychap, thank you for your reply. It's a funny carry on with this! Smarty/3 must have different ways of doing things from Vodafone. As far as I'm aware I have the latest updates for my Android operating system. It's confusing when these changes are supposed to be simple and quick. Is there any reason that the settings don't come as standard that would allow data roaming please? Looks like this might turn out into a short lived stay with Smarty and having to go back to Vodafone😢

[Chalkychap]

Okay @Eldeano64, latest Android is v14. 

I'd speculate that creating and maintaining network carrier settings for many different mobile handsets isn't something all UK mobile network operators choose to do, with some only supporting handsets they sell with a pay monthly contract.

Where did you purchase your Vivo X80 - perhaps the retailer can help?

[Eldeano64]

Hi Chalkychap, 

I purchased the phone through Amazon as it was the only retailer in the UK selling it. It wasn't cheap either, it cost £1150 SIM free but I bought it for it's superb camera array which at the time, 20 months ago was state of the art. Amazon will be as useless as a chocolate fireguard with an issue such as this but I have had a good response from Vivo customer support when I had a previous issue with the camera and it's compatibility with a DJI product. I'm not sure if the issue would be with them or Smarty though. I've checked and I'm running version 14 of Android and Vivo's operating system is called Funtouch 14. I may try contacting Web chat to try and sort it with them if I can get a person rather than a bot to answer. It could be that because Vivo is relatively unknown in the UK that 3/SMARTY don't recognise the phone. My wife has an iPhone with a SIM only contract with 3 and she has not had to put in any different settings to be able to use data roaming, she just has to switch data roaming on in settings and pre-arrange a roaming bolt on.

[Chalkychap]

Okay @Eldeano64, fyi I've got an iPhone with a SMARTY SIM card, and I'm able to edit the APN value in the iOS settings.

Perhaps because Apple have ~50% share of the UK Smartphone market, the UK mobile networks might be likely to provide network carrier settings allowing APN changes, when using an iPhone. 

However, with iD Mobile (who also use the Three UK mobile network), you cannot make APN changes on an iPhone - iD don't allow this option in their network carrier settings, for iPhone devices. 

I'm not sure SMARTY customer support will be able to solve this issue - switching back to Vodafone / Voxi / Talkmobile might be the answer. Talkmobile at least have inclusive EU roaming with their SIM only plans, for 42 destinations.

[Eldeano64]

Thank you again for your quick response. I will try and explain the issue to the Web chat Team and if as expected, they can't help I will just have to cancel the contract and go back to Vodafone. Strangely enough I left Vodafone who I had both my broadband and SIM only contract with because the data they were offering me was laughable...yet now I've left they've offered me a 100Gb SIM only deal for £10 a month which then combined with the Together discount would make it the equivalent of £7 per month...if they'd offered me it before I cancelled I'd have never moved it. I can't see beyond cancelling this deal but if I get anywhere with Smarty I'll let you know, thank you🙂👍

[JJP2RidesAgain]

You can always look at “Voxi”, a sub brand of Vodafone, which offers value for money month to month tariffs, so no long term contract. If you decide to join Voxi, send me a private message, as you can have my referral code if you wish.

[Eldeano64]

Thank you to all you guys who have helped and offered advice. I've been in touch with the Web Team and believe we've got it sussed. I had help from a Team member called Suraj. As I couldn't delete the existing APN the three.co.uk version, he suggested I add using the + symbol to add a separate APN. He gave me a list of info which I needed to input, leaving some of the fields blank. Once I'd inputted all the info and clicked on save, I then had 2 separate APN's one of them the mob.asm.net. Suraj asked me to select that option and now the phone should work in both the UK and Europe. Fingers crossed I've got it sorted now but until I try and use it outside these shores, I can't be sure. I have asked Suraj if he can suggest an amendment to the instructions on how to ready Android phones for use abroad for those phones where you can't edit the initial settings and need to add an additional APN. 

Looks like I'm going to be around the SMARTY fold for a while now so hopefully if I can help in any way around the Community with my experiences as they unfold, I'd be willing to add my little bit too.

Thank you to everyone and hopefully I've got a better outcome than expected 👍🙂

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Hopefully, this has done the trick for you. 🙏🏻

[Eldeano64]

Just to let anyone know who may have been interested in this subject (once again thanks for the help and advice I received) my phone worked perfectly when abroad during my cruise to the Northern tip of Norway and Iceland. 👍🙂