Late last week, AT&T finally launched MMS on the iPhone. The launch came after months of delays and missed deadlines on AT&T's part, as the company was reportedly nervous about the strain that the picture- and video-messaging service would place on its network. As it turns out, AT&T may have been right to be nervous, as many users are reporting trouble getting MMS to work properly.
To activate MMS on your iPhone, you need to download new carrier settings via iTunes. (For a quick guide to the entire process, read: "How to Get MMS on Your iPhone.") I download the new settings without problem, and was able to send and receive MMS messages on my iPhone 3GS within minutes.
But not all iPhone users are having the same experience. AT&T's Facebook page is full of messages from users complaining that MMS is not working. "MMS image still not working with sending a photo. Unless you consider sending ONE image out of 50Â...working," one user wrote.
Another said: "Day 3 and still no MMS on my iPhone."
Another user writes: "MMS still isn't working for me -- spent hours trying everything the tech support people said to doÂ...It's not what I would call a smooth rollout."
As of 11pm on Saturday night, AT&T said: "There are no nationwide latency issues. MMS for iPhone is working well on the network."
It seems there are still plenty of iPhone users out there who would disagree.
Comments
ATT tech support made it sound like I was the only one having problems. Glad to know it wasn’t just me. I so wish apple chooses to add additional carriers when the contract is up.
My iPhone MMS is still not working… wondering why this is. I have done all of the correct downloads and have restarted my phone, yet I still cannot send them. WHAT DO I DO TO FIX THE PROBLEM? This is really frustrating.
Well after numerous calls to AT&T and getting the famous, “well it is an ongoing issue and there is no fix time. Just keep trying and see what happens”, I waited a week and still nothing. Frustrated, I took a trip down to the AT&T retail store I was told by an AT&T associate that, “Well I haven’t heard of any problems with MMS on the Iphone. I think you should go to apple and check with them because it is not an AT&T problem”. By this point I was a little pissed, but what could I do. I then went home and gave Apple a call and spoke to an associate who walked me through the restore steps again, and still nothing. I called back and spoke with another associate at Apple, and after just a few moments of explaining what I did and that I spoke to AT&T with no success, he knew exactly what to do. He explained to me that the AT&T associate is mistaken and that it indeed was a AT&T problem. He told me that with the new carrier update there were some IMEI compatibility issues. He then called the AT&T after hours number and explained the situation for me. After about half an hour everything was solved and I am now able to send MMS on my iphone.
So basicly what it seems the fix is is that you will need to call AT&T and get the IMEI issue solved in the AT&T database. Then you will need to reset your network settings and when your phone reboots you will need to shut the phone off for 30 sec. Then you need to turn your phone on and MAKE A CALL. Apparently this step is a crucial one because the AT&T associate seemed to stress this point. After you make you call you should be able to send MMS on the Iphone. If this dose not work then you will need to contact AT&T again.
I think the worst part of all this is the fact that AT&T apparently knows about this issue because when I asked what was wrong the AT&T associate told me exactly what was wrong and exactly what the fix was, and they are not making this information public for everyone. It seemed like an easy fix because the longest part of the process seemed to be the waiting on the phone for someone to pickup. I am not sure who is at fault here, but I do know that AT&T says that it is an Apple issue because there is something with the Itunes update that is bad, and Apple says that it is an IMEI issue in the AT&T database. Whoever it is, someone needs to let everyone who is having this problem know what the fix is!!!