TMobile issues

davedanger

@kmsgli I know in Europe they're not having this issue or being able to correct it, so I think it's probably some sort of APN issue.

davedanger

Don't know if this helps, but I just received an MMS error message and I replied back saying, send the pic on Signal, I can't receive MMS right now. They replied back that they weren't sending a pic, they were creating a Group Message. So Group Message creates an MMS error message. Hope this might help any Developers.

rik

@davedanger, @kmsgli and others: I have gotten MMS (send and receive) and SMS receive (send was always working) to work on a Pixel 3A XL with US Mobile (T-Mobile network) but there are a few oddities. Let me explain what I did:

Background: I could send SMS but not receive normal SMS when on wifi OR send or receive MMS. I was on the "stable" branch but also tried RC and Devel. Note that LTE data and 3G data seem fine, as does all calling.
Installed MMS patches from here: https://forums.ubports.com/topic/5100/the-mms-lost-story/124?_=1626709684067
- Note: I had to unmount like this before applying the patch that would update repowerd: sudo umount /usr/share/repowerd/device-configs/config-default.xml
- After applying all patches and restarting, retried SMS and MMS. Still the same (only send SMS, no send or receive MMS.... what I mean by no receive was not even the error message, the messages just don't come)
Disconnected wifi (so on LTE only). Still could not receive SMS or anything with MMS.
Changed from LTE to 3G (wifi still off). Still could not receive SMS or anything with MMS.
Rebooted (with wifi still off): after reboot, SMS and MMS came! Also I could send MMS! I tested with .jpg and animated gifs. All came!
Enabled wifi: then could not receive SMS or anything with MMS again until reboot without wifi.

So I repeated that process a few different times with slightly different scenarios. But in short, at least for me MMS (and receiving SMS) ONLY works if the phone boots with wifi off and wifi never gets turned on. Once it is turned on, broken again until reboot with it off.

APN settings were obtained online (and the did NOT match what was installed automatically when inserting the SIM). Here are the working APN settings for MMS (again for US Mobile, T-Mobile network):
APN Mode: "used for MMS"
Name: US Mobile
APN: pwg
MMSC: http://pwg.mmsmvno.com/mms/wapenc
Proxy: <blank>
Proxy Port: <blank>
User Name: <blank>
Password: <blank>

Below are the T-Mobile settings auto-installed when i put in the sim (but I disabled this setting and added the above as a separate entry). Note these settings did NOT work, even if booting "with wifi off" so I think these are bogus at least for the US Mobile sim I have.
APN Mode: "used for MMS"
Name: T-Mobile MMS
APN: internet2.voicestream.com
MMSC: http://216.155.174.84/servlets/mms
Proxy: 216.155.165.50
Proxy Port: 8080
User Name: <blank>
Password: <blank>

So at this point, I have a fully functioning phone if I keep wifi disabled and only use cellular data. I am not sure if there is any log I can check to see what happens when I enable wifi that effectively breaks receiving SMS and all things related to MMS??

rik

Minor addition: using a Nexus 5 with the same SIM I am able to receive and send SMS and MMS with no problems with wifi still enabled. So it seems to be specific to the Pixel 3a rather than to TMobile that this issue exists.

Can anyone outside the USA confirm that Pixel 3a SMS and MMS work without issue when wifi is enabled?

rik

One more update: things aren't totally reliable with receiving SMS and MMS (sometimes / often don't get the messages until I reboot for example, and still get the MMS error message sometimes). So I still haven't seen SMS receive or MMS work when my wifi is on, but it may not be directly related. Anyway, more testing and debugging needed. If anyone can point me at the right logs to look at it may give some clues?

Again, can anyone not in the USA confirm Pixel 3a SMS receive and MMS send and receive working reliably?

Nutmeg

@rik I am having a terrible time getting these patches installed. Would they be the same for the 3a? I am using Puretalk, not T-Mobile but not getting any SMS. They are going out

rik

@nutmeg the patches, I THINK, address MMS (only) so that you can send / receive MMS (group messages, images, animated gif, etc) but don't affect, I THINK, SMS functionality. With the MMS patches applied, it did NOT solve the "no SMS incoming" for me. That only came by turning off wifi and then rebooting.

Can you please try that and confirm or deny if it sends you SMS? If that does NOT work, reset the APN settings then, still with wifi OFF, reboot and see if the SMS will come then. After SMS comes, try turning ON wifi and see if you can still get SMS. Then if you are willing, turn off wifi, reboot, confirm you CAN get SMS again. I have tried various scenarios like above with mixed results. I haven't isolated how to reliably get SMS, but it is something along the lines of resetting APN, keeping wifi off, rebooting, and MAYBE toggling between 4G (LTE) and 3G (with reboots).

Again this is not a solution, it is only attempting to be able to reproduce where the problem is.

Nutmeg

@rik I tried all of the above. There was no change. With wireless on and in 4G, I can send but not receive. With wireless off, reboot, and in 4G, send but not receive. Same with 3G. I am going to try and pick up a Red Pocket SIM on the way home and try that, will report. Looks like AT&T is the only game in town where I am.

rik

@nutmeg again, as noted in other threads, this is now solved: SMS is 100% reliable in and out, 4G, 3G, or no cellular data, or on wifi.

MMS don't work on wifi, that is a problem bigger than the P3a. But on cellular data, MMS photos work fine in and out. MMS group messages can be sent, but not received.

lsitongia

@rik It's surprising, but if I use your MMS APN settings with my Google Fi SIM (which gets set to T-mobile values after installing the SIM), then I can send MMS but cannot receive. I do have wifi off and have rebooted.