How can I fix my iPhone MMS send failed error on AT&T?

How can I fix my iPhone MMS send failed error on AT&T?

You are getting the notorious exclamation point when you try to send an MMS on your iPhone 3G or 3GS. There are a few steps you can try to fix the problem before you contact Apple or AT&T and they give you the same advice.

iphone att mms failure

First check your AT&T Wireless account and make sure you have an active iPhone text plan. You can check this online and you should see a 200, 1500 or unlimited messaging plan on your account.

Assuming you are running firmware 3.0 or later, verify that your carrier file is updated. To check that the correct AT&T carrier file was installed, touch Settings -> General -> About. Next to Carrier your iPhone should say AT&T 5.5.

If this is not the case, follow these instructions to update your carrier file. Remember, after updating the carrier file with iTunes you must turn your iPhone off and reboot.

You have the correct carrier file but there are no MMS options available. Touch Settings -> Messages -> MMS Messaging and make sure MMS Messaging is ON.

Resending an MMS several times still fails. Try a hard reboot. Hold down the home and sleep buttons until the iPhone turns itself off. Turn the iPhone back on and try sending MMS messages now.

Still having problems? Navigate to your Settings. Touch Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. After you reset your network settings the iPhone will reboot.

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Some users have reported problems with the AT&T database, which required a call to the company or a visit to the store. It's possible your iPhone is listed as a first-generation iPhone if you owned one in the past. In this case, your device will not send MMS unless they update the database.

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Comments

NJ Engineer replied on

For those of you pullling your hair out with Iphone MMS and have tried all the remedies but it still oges to 90% then gives an error go to your local AT&T store and get a new SIM card. I tried in vain to get mine to work then put a SIM card from another phone in it and it worked. Put the old one back and it didnt. Went to AT&T Store an got a new SM card and it works fine now.

babydevil808 replied on

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!!!

Rudax replied on

Clearing the network settings, having it reset, than turning off for 30 seconds, on again, make a call. Worked for me on my iphone 4! Thank you for the post!!!

MarknArk replied on

For more than a week I have been experiencing the dreaded red exclamation point. I restored my phone twice, reset all settings, reset the network settings and rebooted my phone several dozen times. I finally broke down and called AT&T. Got through and was told the problem was that I had the wrong Texting feature on my Iphone. My phone was set up for only Texting and not with the Messaging plan. Operator was surprised that I could send any type of text messages at all. I assured him that I have been sending regular text messages for several months. After a few updates on their end, booyah! My advice is to break down and call the support line. As much as I love to solve my own tech issues sometimes you just can't do it without their support.

Anonymous replied on

THANKS FOR THE INFO, RESETTING THE NETWORK SETTINGS WORKED FOR ME!

PERFECT FIX replied on

After searching for hours for a MMS fix that works on an AT&T iphone and getting no where or being told to do all sorts of potentialy damaging stuff...or to rest the phone on itunes....

THIS IS THE FIX THAT WORKS:

Still having problems? Navigate to your Settings. Touch Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings. After you reset your network settings the iPhone will reboot.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Anonymous replied on

If you've exhausted all your options & searched high & low all over the net, google, ect ect...tried every fix out there to fix this mms msg failure problem and still failed to fix this. Here's the latest update.. Call ATT at the tech support direct line 18667002105. These guys have finally gotten around to pin pointing the problem. The ATT told me it was probably because I had inserted my 3gs sim card into an 2g iphone(1st gen) which caused the sim to somewhat think like a 2g sim which doesnt support mms. And I did do that. In fact I'd like to consider myself an iphone guru, I usually fix everything on my own. But this time i had to give in & call ATT. The Problem was fixed! yeahhhh!

Anonymous replied on

I want to second this. I called Apple tech support from a different phone so they could remote troubleshoot mine, and they fixed it. Be VERY SPECIFIC about your ingoing and outgoing capabilities.

Anonymous replied on

latest update! problem fixed!! if you're like me, a self proclaim iphone guru that knows how to fix, mod, jailbreak , and just about every hacking aspect of the iphone but you've exhausted your options from hours & hours of searching the net to find & try fixes of all sorts to fix this mms faiure problem. Look no more, it's not fixable with out ATT's help. The problem with mines was that I had inserted my 3gs sim card into an 2g(1st gen) iphone which caused the 3gs sim to somewhat thhink like a 2g iphone which doesnt feature mms. My advice is to call directly to the ATT tech support line at 1866 700 2105. These guys told me they've gotten to the point where they've almost pinpointed the problem because of many calls from customers with trail & error of solving this problem. The tech told me most people that had this same problem did what did what i did by switching out sims into an 2g phone. Anyways they do their thing with their ATT access & reset your phone back to normal. My mms works now! yeahhh!

Anonymous replied on

Just encountered MMS Photo messaging with a Red Explaination mark
This worked for my 3G Ver 4.0.
I turned OFF all settings for Messaging within >Settings>Messages, then I rebooted. Turned everything back ON, that I needed and it worked. Good luck

Anonymous replied on

I wish this worked for my iphone 4. I've been struggling with this off and on for 6 months.

I've reset, rebooted, taken out the sim card, asked them to reset my messaging settings.

No luck.

Dragonlady575 replied on

I'm still having this problem, even with AT&T tech support fixing their database. Something I just thought about today was the fact that my number used to be a pre-paid account. I'm going to contact them and ask them about that.

Anonymous replied on

Thank you!! I did this in addition to resetting my network settings and it worked for my iphone 5C. Was driving me crazy!

Anonymous replied on

Fixed it! Thanks.