Help with Straight Talk APN for iPhone

If you recently signed up for Straight Talk Wireless and are having trouble getting your Cellular Data Connection, MMS Picture Messaging, or Group Text Messages working the problem may be that your APN settings are not set correctly.

If your having a problem with your cellular data connection, you may see the following error message: Could not activate cellular data network.

activate

Below is a list of article on smartphonemtters.com that can help you find and set your APN.

Setting up Straight Talk Wireless APN for Cellular Data, Internet, MMS Picture Messages on Your iPhone Using iOS 8 and iOS 9

Looking to sign up for Straight Talk Wireless? to Order a ...

Straight Talk APN Settings

Below are the APN settings for Straight Talk Wireless. Straight Talk AT&T Network The APN settings for Straight Talk's AT&T Network are below. Enter these values into [rps-include...

How to Setup Straight Talk Wireless Data and MMS for your iPhone running iOS 7

I published an update to this for iOS 8. See ...

How to Setup Straight Talk Wireless Data and MMS for your iPhone running iOS 6

This guide is for iOS 6. I have a new guide for iOS 7. See UPDATE: NOV 19 2013 Many readers This guide...

41 Comments

  1. Wendy | |

    I have iPhone 6 Plus, from T-Mobil, to straighttalk, every time I update now I have IOS 10.1
    I loose mms setting, can’t send picture texts, have to spend hours, searching internet for settings, that will work with the new IOS, now I’m looking for setting to enable mms and iMessages, I can’t even send picture messages to another iPhone of android phone

  2. Matthew Stewart | |

    Somehow hacked. It’s either a straight talk scam to get more money from their customers or it’s like when you buy the straight talk plan and somehow someone has already used the code #. Then you have to pay for another month of service to get the phone to work. There is a way to fix it but straight talk wont be able to help you. Read and learn, then based on all the opinions and fixes you gather, combined with your opinion and view as to whats wrong with your phone, formulate a fix for it. There is an answer. P.S. Don’t ever do what a text tells you to do.

  3. Jon | |

    Hi,

    I received a text saying I need to delete my existing profile and get the newest IOS before receiving my updated APN settings. So I deleted the profile and updated the IOS, but now I can’t access the internet or send/receive iMessages. I tried restarting my network settings and it’s still not working. What is the next step here??

    Thanks,
    Jon

  4. Mike | |

    Okay.. So I’ve got an Iphone 5 that I’ve had with straight talk on the verizon towers for about a year now, but I’ve had service with ST for about 5 years now. It is a CDMA phone with a sim card. Never had a problem like this occur the whole time. I receive a text from ST telling me that in order to update my IOS, that I would need to delete my profile. I did so and the iphone has not worked right since..
    In doing this, I can no longer access my cellular data network as it no longer shows up..
    I’ve tried the unlockit website, didn’t work.
    Tried resetting my network settings.
    called ST and spent probably about 2 hours on the phone with them.
    I’ve done the iapnupdatevzw.straighttalk.com and added that profile to my phone. reset my phone and then went to m.tracfone.com and entered my phone number, it forwarded me to ST website.
    I’ve tried troubleshooting the junk out of this phone and just can’t get my internet data to work as it did before.
    Also, on a weird note, not sure why this is, but my data will show either 1x or the can’t connect to internet message if I try to use it. If I restart my phone, the internet will show up either 3g or LTE and work for a limited amount of time, but in about an hour or so, it will end up reverting back to the 1x. Someone please help! The next steps I’ve considered is reseting the entire phone to scratch and/or getting a new sim card. I’m not sure if either one will fix it, so I’m looking for some help. Thanks, Mike

    • Mike | |

      Also, I’ve tried looking up my APN on the ST website using my phone number, but it says, “The Phone Number or the last 15 digits of the SIM card you entered does not belong to our GSM Bring Your Own Phone Program. Please note there is no need to update your APN Data settings if you have a Sprint or CDMA phone.”
      Thanks,
      Mike

    • Erin | |

      Did you ever get your phone working and if so, how?? My daughters phone is doing the same exact thing and I’ve been on the phone with straight talk constantly for over a week as well as looking online to try to fix her phone and I’m having no luck. Straight talk goes through the same things every time and then says it’s my phone and I need to take it to an Apple Store. Apple said the phone is fine and I need to resolve this with straight talk. I’m at my wits end!!

      • Bob Thompson | |

        Erin,
        Are you also seeing a 1X in the status bar? Did you try the recommendations I made to Mike?

        • Erin | |

          I am now getting a Verizon LTE in the top left but when I try to access data or internet it says “could not activate cellular data network. Turn on cellular data or use wifi to access data” The cellular data is on though. Ugh!

  5. Megan | |

    Mine came back with

    wap.tracfone

  6. Christian baker | |

    The website kept saying my last 15 digit of my sim was wrong don’t know what’s wrong with it

    • Bob Thompson | |

      trying to look up your APN? use your phone number..

  7. Ricki | |

    I am using a Verizon Iphone 5c with Straight Talk, BYOP. It was first activated about 2 weeks ago, and was making/receiving calls fine. I honestly about not sure about cellular data, because I am usually around wifi. Since I updated Ios to 9.2.1 on 2-7-16, I have noticed to I do not have access to cellular data. I can make/receive calls, and messages, but no internet data. If I try to open Safari, it says “Could not activate cellular data network.” I have called ST multiple times, when they tinker with my settings, it will make my phone have “no service” and I am unable to make/receive calls. In the top corner of my phone, it alternates between saying TFW LTE, Verizon LTE or no service. ST sent me a new SIM card, it made no difference. They now say that the problem is in my phone settings, and they have no further help for me. Please help!

      • Ricki | |

        Hi, I did all of those things last night, along with turning airplane mode on then off. Now I have data back, but in the upper left hand corner, it says Verizon LTE, under Network it says Verizon, and Carrier says Verizon 23.2. A pop up came up that asked if I wanted to update carrier settings. When I clicked update, it changed to TFW, and I had no internet data again. When I went through the same process, and clicked “No”, it has remained Verizon, and I have internet data. What do I do now?

        • Bob Thompson | |

          Ricki,
          I’ll write more about this later. For now, if data and pic messages work without the carrier update then don’t use it.

    • mariska | |

      atleast they sent you the right sim card, they sent me one for a galaxy! its like 4 times too big for my sim card phone and the representative i talked to repeated back to me “iphone 5 sim card”. but i am having kind of the same issue. so i bought this iphone 5 in 2013 on walmart.com it was a straight talk iphone 5, not a byop. NEVER HAD A SIM CARD IN IT! Then last week my phone completely wiped and i had to load everything back from icloud, well it didnt load my straight talk network server back so i have no kind of data at all. no 3g, 4g, or lte. all i can do is use my callilng and texting. and im pretty PO’ed about it because i’m paying for service that i cant receive at all and they sent me the wrong sim card so i dont even know if that would have made a difference or not.

  8. David | |

    I have done everything thing listed above and it did not help at all.

    • Bob Thompson | |

      Hi David,
      Did you read the article I linked to in the beginning of the one you commented on.

  9. Gretel | |

    Hi,

    I have an iPhone 5 that I have been using with Straight Talk uninterrupted for the past 1.5 years. My phone does not have a SIM card and I have only ever used it with Straight Talk. This afternoon I finally reset my phone and updated to ios 8.4.1. I now get the message “Could not activate cellular data network” when I try to access the internet with wifi, bluetooth, and data roaming off (and with the latter two on). I tried to look up my APN on the Straight Talk website, but received the message “The Phone Number or the last 15 digits of the SIM card you entered does not belong to our GSM Bring Your Own Phone Program. Please note there is no need to update your APN Data settings if you have a Sprint or CDMA phone.” I called Straight Talk customer service, and they simply instructed me to dial *22890 and turn my phone off and on again, which needless to say, didn’t work. They instructed me to call back tomorrow, but I don’t have a lot of faith that they will be able to fix the problem. Do you have any ideas?

    Thanks!

    • Bob Thompson | |

      Hi Gretel,
      Your Straight Talk iPhone 5 is using the Verizon network. It doesn’t use a SIM and the APN is set automatically by Straight Talk you can’t do it yourself. I’d call them back, make sure they give you a case id. Ask them if they can check the I’d recommend calling straight talk. Ask them if they can push you APN settings and your MPN account settings. Let me know how it goes.

      • Gretel | |

        After spending a few hours on the phone with Straight Talk, they were finally able to resolve the problem. Thank you Bob; I appreciate your speedy response!

        • Hope | |

          How did they finally fix your phone? My son’s phone is an unlocked, no SIM iphone5 that had been working fine for a long time until recently (ios9.2.1) and with StraightTalk. My phone is an iPhone 6 also with the latest iOS and also stopped functioning properly at the same time as his stopped working. We both had problems with cellular data network being unable to be accessed, late texts, inability to send texts, delayed voicemails. The difference is that with the iPhone 6, it only took 2 hours of troubleshooting for StraightTalk to get it all working again. With the iPhone5, the problem is still unresolved. I have spent 6 hours with them restarting, reconfiguring, re-doing everything over and over again, because the StraightTalk people must follow a script no matter how many times the same steps have been tried. The second representative told me she had run out of things to try and to call back when Verizon was open that the problem was on their end. The third representative was about to have me try something new when she accidentally disconnected me from the call and so I had to start all over again with a fourth representative. At the end of yet another series of steps that led to no fix, she told me it was Apple’s fault and that it was an OS issue. Makes no sense to me as the iphone6 has the same OS and our phones had the same problems at the same time. So now I have no recourse except either to quit StraightTalk service for that phone or to buy another phone, which if I do, will not be Apple, as they are too expensive.

          • Ricki | |

            They told me the same thing, and I actually called Apple, they said the problem was not on their end. This is what was done during the call with Straight Talk that “finally” fixed my problem. They had sent me a text to update my profile, and she had me do it what she was on the line: Visit iapnupdatevzw.straighttalk.com from the phone and follow the instructions. It said that the update could not be verified, but they told me to click install anyway. (I had already done this step multiple times, and it didn’t work, but the next step seems to be what made it work, it was the only thing that was different.) Turn the phone off, then back on . Then visit m.tracfone.com from your phone to verify your data services are working. When I did, it went to a Straight Talk page, and there was a number there that she had me read off to her. She had me open my browser again, and that time, it just went to the regular Straight Talk page, and I have had working data ever since. Hope this will help, I totally understand your frustration, I also spent too many hours on the phone with them, trying to get this fixed.

  10. April | |

    I’m trying to upgrade from a jailbroken iPhone 5s to an iPhone 6 which is on iOS 8.1.3, and cannot be jailbroken. My problem is that without a jailbreak, I can’t update my APN settings (the old att.mvno) for mms (even with the sim swap method) and the Straight Talk website doesn’t help since my sim originally came from a Straight Talk Nokia e71 and is not supported by their bring-your-own-phone program. Am I basically screwed unless/until I either wait until a new jailbreak is released or I break down for a new sim? Is there anything else I can do? Unlockit.co.nz gave me cellular data, but mms remains out of reach.

    • Bob Thompson | |

      Hi April,
      I think you pretty much summed it up. the only way I know to fix the problem is to order a new straight talk ATT nano sim. You current sim is old enough that I am wondering if you are getting LTE service. I’d also use Speedtest to check your up and down speeds. I’ve seen really old sims get LTE,have fast down speeds, but slow up speeds.

      I’ve pretty much given up trying to find any hacks to enter the APN since the SIM swap stopped working. I think if you order a sim from straight talk it will be less than 10 bucks shipped. While I recognize that many people jailbreak their phones, I’ve never recommended it soley to be abLe to enter your APN settings.

      After you order a new sim, you can transfer your current service to it. Your APN will be tfdata and your iphone will automatically set up the data and mms apns.

      When you get your new sim you can transfer your service online. It should transfer you existing balance too. You can wait till the end of your plan to transfer just in case the system tells you you need to add service whe. You transfer.

      Please let me know how it goes.

      Regards
      Bob

      • April | |

        I updated the sim (I actually had a spare on hand) and it looks like everything is working. And now it’s showing LTE network, so I guess it’s a good thing. I jailbreak for more than just control of the APN settings, but those things can wait since having the advantages of a better phone outweigh them. Thanks.

  11. Javier | |

    I recently switched phoned companies from T-mobile to Metro Pcs I have an IPhone 5 and can’t send picture messages or group text. Is there anyone else going through the same thing or know how to fix it?

  12. Connie | |

    I need help, looks like this is an issue already on here, but my son has a verizon iphone 5 that we converted to straighttalk using the att nano sim card, everything works fine except unable to send receive any messages I have read all of the info regarding APN, however i cannot find where to change this info no the phone, it only has vpn?? Any help is appreciated.

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