MMS Won't Download

[boko346]

I keep getting multimedia messages from people. They continually say 'failed to download message. Try again later'. My carrier is Straight Talk, but the phone is unlocked. What setting is borked here?

 

[lunatic59]

MMS messages require mobile data, so if your APN settings are correct, then I'd suggest that your signal is pretty weak or intermittent.

 

[boko346]

MMS messages require mobile data, so if your APN settings are correct, then I'd suggest that your signal is pretty weak or intermittent.

What is the best way to check to see if my APN settings are correct. I should have unlimited data.

 

[lunatic59]

Go to settings>cellular networks>access point names and see what you have listed there.

For Straight Talk from AT&T it should look something like this:

Name: straight talk
APN: tfdata
Proxy: Not Set
Port: Not Set
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mms-tf.net
MMS Proxy: mms3.tracfone.com
MMS Port: 80

For T-Mobile:

Name: straight talk
APN: wap.tracfone
Proxy: Leave blank
Port: 8080
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mms.tracfone.com
MMS Proxy: Leave blank
MMS Port: Leave blank

 

[boko346]

Go to settings>cellular networks>access point names and see what you have listed there.

For Straight Talk from AT&T it should look something like this:

Name: straight talk
APN: tfdata
Proxy: Not Set
Port: Not Set
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mms-tf.net
MMS Proxy: mms3.tracfone.com
MMS Port: 80

For T-Mobile:

Name: straight talk
APN: wap.tracfone
Proxy: Leave blank
Port: 8080
Username: Not Set
Password: Not Set
Server: Not Set
MMSC: http://mms.tracfone.com
MMS Proxy: Leave blank
MMS Port: Leave blank

Other than the name also being TFDATA (which I don't think matters, but I will change anyway) everything is exactly as you say. I will say that there are two entries for tfdata, but currently using the one I renamed.

The specific error is 'failed to download attachment from multimedia message. Try again later' If I try again later it says the same thing.

 

[lunatic59]

Was it sent from an iPhone using iMessage? that could be a problem.

 

[boko346]

Was it sent from an iPhone using iMessage? that could be a problem.

No. It's being sent from a Samsung Galaxy S5. I can see SMS fine, but not MMS

 

[lunatic59]

Ask them to send a very small file and see if that goes through.

 

[boko346]

The thing that spawned this message was a 1kb file. My phone and hers automatically translate texts longer than a certain amount from sms to mms.

 

[lunatic59]

In almost every case where SMS messages are received and MMS messages aren't there's something glitchy with one or both data connections.

Let's get a little granular with the trouble shooting.

Can you receive MMS messages from anybody else or is it just "her" phone? (Mother? Sister? Girlfriend? Wife? Daughter? Third Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader on the left?)

Are you able to send MMS messages to this person ... and/or anyone else?

Does the sender have any MMS problems with anyone else, or is it just you?

Try turning off mobile data and using wifi only ... and then try turning off wifi and using mobile data only. Do it once for your phone and once for hers. Not the results. Do any messages go through or do they all still fail?

Try sending from different locations to assure you're not using the same cell towers.

I have a buddy who tries to send me MMS messages from one particular location which always fail if i am at work. If I am anywhere else, they go through, and if he is anywhere else they go through. It's just this one location to location problem. Now, at work my cell signal is awful and I frequently lose connection altogether, so I'm sure that has something to do with it, but still it's very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause.

 

[boko346]

In almost every case where SMS messages are received and MMS messages aren't there's something glitchy with one or both data connections.

Let's get a little granular with the trouble shooting.

Can you receive MMS messages from anybody else or is it just "her" phone? (Mother? Sister? Girlfriend? Wife? Daughter? Third Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader on the left?)

Are you able to send MMS messages to this person ... and/or anyone else?

Does the sender have any MMS problems with anyone else, or is it just you?

Try turning off mobile data and using wifi only ... and then try turning off wifi and using mobile data only. Do it once for your phone and once for hers. Not the results. Do any messages go through or do they all still fail?

Try sending from different locations to assure you're not using the same cell towers.

I have a buddy who tries to send me MMS messages from one particular location which always fail if i am at work. If I am anywhere else, they go through, and if he is anywhere else they go through. It's just this one location to location problem. Now, at work my cell signal is awful and I frequently lose connection altogether, so I'm sure that has something to do with it, but still it's very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause.

I've only ever gotten an MMS from one other person, which similarly failed to download. I am the only one with this problem. They can send and receive MMS to each other. I just tried turning off data and got the same error, except immediate without any initial try by the phone. Could no download the message. Try again later. The phone gets turned off and on regularly and it persists through reboots. I cannot pull out the battery because it’s integrated into the S6.

 

[lunatic59]

The only other thing I'd suggest is to swap sims with somebody who is able to receive MMS messages and then send one to your phone. If it still fails, then there's something wrong with your APN settings and you might have to go to Straight Talk to get it figured out. IF, on the other hand, the message does go through, then it's something with your account and again, you'll have to get that resolve with ST. Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.

 

[boko346]

The only other thing I'd suggest is to swap sims with somebody who is able to receive MMS messages and then send one to your phone. If it still fails, then there's something wrong with your APN settings and you might have to go to Straight Talk to get it figured out. IF, on the other hand, the message does go through, then it's something with your account and again, you'll have to get that resolve with ST. Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.

Actually you have been quite helpful. Thank you. At least now I know where to start.

 

[beast493]

I don't know if the issue I had is relevant but I have a Verizon GS6 Edge, times got tough and I could afford to pay the bill anymore and switched to Walmart family mobile which runs off of Tmobiles network. I too was having issues sending and receiving MMS. Text was working fine, calling was fine and data was fine. I googled the issue and I saw someone say they fixed it by putting APN type as : default,mms,supl,hipri just like that...I entered it and BOOM mms works ...don't know if it will help you but its worth a try.