Re: [tlug] [OT] Phones in Japan again

[Jim Breen <jimbreen@example.com>]

On 4 August 2014 11:24, Nikolay Elenkov <nick@example.com> wrote:

> To get data you need to configure an APN. Phones have a built-in
> APN list for major MNOs, but Japanese phones probably only have
> the Japanese APNs. It might be slightly different on your phone
> (depending on version/vendor customization), butgo to
>
> Settings-> Wireless & networks -> Mobile networks ->
> Access Point Names.

APNs can be a huge pain in the arse. I organized an Orange
prepaid SIM in France in 2012, and found that the data part didn't
work. It took tech. staff at Orange about 30 min to sort out how to get
their slightly odd APN working in my phone. (And then when I went to
renew it their on-line system wouldn't take foreign credit cards, and their
offices out of Paris didn't understand pre-paid data packs, so it was all rather
useless.)

Last month in Indonesia my daughter-in-law got us all local SIMS. My
kids' iPhones worked fine, but my HTC couldn't get data working. I
suspected it was APN problems, but I never was able to find out what
it should be.

It's an area where telcos across the world need to coordinate things
a lot better. The problem is that the interface between mobile networks
and the Internet is in the rather fuzzy margin between the ITU and the
IETF/ICANN/etc.

Jim

-- 
Jim Breen
Adjunct Snr Research Fellow, Japanese Studies Centre, Monash University