New phone and Fido sim card - now can't send photos via SMS/MMS, only via RCS.

[airpay_og]

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and has a solution to the problem of being unable to send images via sms/mms but its ok with rcs.

Travelling from Ontario to BC, I forgot regular Samsung phone at home - thought it was packed, wrong phone.

So I went to the local Fido/Rogers store and got my number to a new sim and put it into a Motorola e13 dual sim phone I got last year when I was in India.   When I was there I was able to send and receive SMS not problem, though I never tried MMS.  I have a really basic fido plan with phone + 2gb data, of which I rarely go over 100mb.  (between work, school, home I always have wifi)

The e13 works fine for calls but this phone runs Android 13 and has something called RCS for messaging, which I understand is Google's version of iMessage for the iphone.  Its set to revert to SMS if RCS isn't available.

In my contacts list, I see that some people can be accessed by RCS and some not.  When RCS is available, the text box says 'RCS Message" and its brown color, but for other people the box is beige and the box just says "text message."

When I try to send a photo with a message, it sends ok via RCS, but always fails via SMS.   I took the SIM out and put it in my dads an old Moto G5 (Android 8.1) and it sends a photo via SMS no problem.  I took the other inactive Airtel SIM out of the e13 and the problem is the same.

Wondering if this is a phone, access point/network or sim card issue - anyone had any similar experience?

In sim card network settings I noticed the G5 uses a fido accesspoint called ltemobile but the e13 is using an access point called fido-cre-appl1.apn and there is no choice like ltemobile.  There is also one called mms.fido.ca but its greyed out.

Thanks.

R

[Cawtau · Accepted solution]

Hello Airpay_og,

  Welcome to the community!

  Firstly, you should note that device would have limited compatibilty with the networks. As far as I can tell, these are the bands/frequencies for that device:

2G bands	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G bands	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 2100
4G bands	1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 28, 38, 40, 41
	1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41

~taken from here.

  According to those specifications, the device would only have two compatible LTE bands/frequencies. You can view the compatible bands/frequencies here. I understand you are currently able to use that device to make/receive calls. However, you should note that Fido/Rogers intends on decommissioning their '3G' network in the near future (see here and here). When that network has been fully retired, it's unlikely you will be able to continue to use that device for calls. Since that device was not available from Fido (nor Canada), it's possible certain features (ie voLTE and/or Wifi-calling) will not be supported. If that is the case, the device will no longer be able to make and/or receive calls after the sunset.

  With regards to your current issue, it's likely the device is not using the correct settings for MMS. As you note, most LTE-capable devices on the Fido network should be using an APN called ltemobile.apn. While it could still be possible to use a different APN, it would need to have the proper MMS settings. You can verify the correct MMS settings here. If the current APN the E13 device is using does not have the proper MMS information, that would likely be the reason for your issue. Is there an option to edit the APNs?

  Unfortunately, some device manufacturers have blocked the ability to add or edit APN settings. You may need to search device specific forums to see if anyone has been able to add or alter their APN settings.

**edit** You might also consider verifying the device has the proper Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) number. You can view the correct number here. **

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers