What is an APN
The Access Point Name (APN) is the name for the settings your phone reads to set up a connection to the gateway between your carrier's cellular network and the public Internet.You carrier reads these settings, then does things like determine the correct IP address, connect to the correct secure gateway, and see if you need a private network like a VPN. All the heavy lifting is done on the carrier side, but we need to make sure the right settings are in place to get on the network we need, in the way we need to connect.
Depending on how your carriers network is structured, different settings are mandatory. The rest can be slightly altered to change some of the parameters, but for most of us we will need to use the exact settings provided by our carrier.
The good news is that most of the time, your phone already has these settings in the system files, and can fill in the APN information automatically when it connects. Small changes are often sent via SMS once the core connection is made. For example — inserting a Cricket SIM card will cause your phone to fill in the APN settings for a standard AT&T-based pre-paid carrier. Once that's done, you'll get a text with a download for "better" settings that optimize your connection. This sounds like a lot of work, and it is. But automated ways of entering settings and updating them mean less support calls.
But not every APN will fill in by itself on all phones. Sometimes, you'll have have to dig in an do it yourself.
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