Why do I need Cellular Data turned on to send/receive MMS?

Crackbot wrote:

"It is what it is".. you see this kind of response is one the reasons why for some people, anything having to do with apple products leaves a bad taste in their mouth. "You want to use MMS? Then you need cellular data turned on. Turn it off...no MMS." Whether or not your statement is correct is not the point. The point is that I would have thought being such a helpful little Level 10 on the apple community forums, in which apple themselves do not contribute any content, that you might have at least tried to answer someones question without the condescension inherent in telling a grown man "it is what it is" and then following that with "you want MMS?" as if you might take it away for misbehaving. Maybe you didn't mean it like that but when I glance up at your current picture and look at the guy showing the world how cool he is smoking a cigarette with shirt open... I think that alone sums it up better than words ever could. The man asked a valid question to which you responded is as dismissive a way possible.

You're responding to posts made almost three years ago in a thread that had been dormant for six months. While you may not like the way wjosten answered the question, he answered it correctly and concisely. The reason he has as many points as he does is because fellow users have awarded them those points for his helpful responses.

I'm a strong believer in leading by example. If you don't like the way questions are being answered here, set an example. Answer technical questions they way you believe they should be rather than taking people to task for something you have yet to show you can do any better.

Best of luck.

Meg you are absolutely correct. I admit that i was taking out some frustrations stemming from other areas of my life on someone else who had done nothing wrong. Thank you for calling me out on my BS. I would like to offer an apology to wjosten. Sir, if and when you read this, i would like you to know I am embarrassed by my childish behavior and I hope you will accept my apology and not hold it against me too much. You will hear no excuses from me. I was a jerk. And I am sorry I was a jerk to you. And Meg, I would also like to apologize to you as well for simply having to read and respond to it. And thank you again for calling me out. Lead by example. Thank you.

<Edited by Host>

Crackbot wrote:

Meg you are absolutely correct. I admit that i was taking out some frustrations stemming from other areas of my life on someone else who had done nothing wrong. Thank you for calling me out on my BS. I would like to offer an apology to wjosten. Sir, if and when you read this, i would like you to know I am embarrassed by my childish behavior and I hope you will accept my apology and not hold it against me too much. You will hear no excuses from me. I was a jerk. And I am sorry I was a jerk to you. And Meg, I would also like to apologize to you as well for simply having to read and respond to it. And thank you again for calling me out. Lead by example. Thank you.

I'm not sure I would have been able to make such a public apology. We all have our off days. Most of us just try to forget them and hope others will, too. Thanks for your fine example.

Best of luck.

<Edited By Host>

Internet is needed for mms and group messaging. The problem I was having was that group messaging and mms was not working over wifi. I had to turn on cellular data for mms and group messaging to work. I just fixed it though. Settings>Messaging>Send as SMS> Turn it off.🙂

lashedpig wrote:

Internet is needed for mms and group messaging. The problem I was having was that group messaging and mms was not working over wifi. I had to turn on cellular data for mms and group messaging to work. I just fixed it though. Settings>Messaging>Send as SMS> Turn it off.🙂

All that setting does is, in the event an iMessage fails, it will be sent as SMS instead. It has no effect on MMS or group messaging with non-iPhone users.

I have family base set up on iphone 6 and limit my son's data, it gets turned off when he reaches 2. The other day he was complaining that a text message he sent to a friend of his would not be delivered. No usage alert came up to show him that he had used all his data, just it wouldn't go through. Any help on this? I thougt since I had unlimited texting that data usage was just for the web and videos and the like.? Thank you.

rmbt wrote:

I have family base set up on iphone 6 and limit my son's data, it gets turned off when he reaches 2. The other day he was complaining that a text message he sent to a friend of his would not be delivered. No usage alert came up to show him that he had used all his data, just it wouldn't go through. Any help on this? I thougt since I had unlimited texting that data usage was just for the web and videos and the like.? Thank you.

SMS text messages can be sent without any cellular or data connection at all as they use bandwidth in the cellular voice channel. MMS texts through your carrier use an Internet data connection. And all iMessages uses an Internet data connection, wifi or cellular, as available. So your unlimited SMS text messages is just that, text only, unless you are willing to use data.

Hello, I found out from the Apple rep also (after 3 hrs of online help). That in order to conserve data and battery coincidentally u must have, Cell data must turned off. It is not "just" a thing of turning " data Assist"off. If the phone has a marginal wifi signal, it will still look for a cellular signal, to supplement the wifi... it was very frustrating to learn where my data was going.

In addition my iPhone rep told me to keep the phone above 50% charge, otherwise the wifi will appear week, and will try using cell data again. God I am beginning to hate apple... arg...

heliwolf65 wrote:

That in order to conserve data and battery coincidentally u must have, Cell data must turned off. It is not "just" a thing of turning " data Assist"off. If the phone has a marginal wifi signal, it will still look for a cellular signal, to supplement the wifi... it was very frustrating to learn where my data was going.

I'm sorry but your post doesn't make much sense. The phone can send MMS over cellular data or WiFi. So, even if the phone switches to cellular data, MMS will still work. I don't understand why the word just is in quotations.

In addition my iPhone rep told me to keep the phone above 50% charge, otherwise the wifi will appear week, and will try using cell data again.

I don't believe this is correct. The WiFi signal is not dependent on the battery level of the phone. And, once again, MMS will still work even if the phone switches to cellular data.

IdrisSeabright wrote:

I'm sorry but your post doesn't make much sense. The phone can send MMS over cellular data or WiFi. So, even if the phone switches to cellular data, MMS will still work. I don't understand why the word just is in quotations.

Actually, while iMessage can use WiFi, MMS can only use cellular data. As its a service of the carrier, the carrier's network doesn't know about your WiFi connection.

I don't believe this is correct. The WiFi signal is not dependent on the battery level of the phone. And, once again, MMS will still work even if the phone switches to cellular data.

This is correct. WiFi is not dependent on battery level. But see my first comment on MMS requiring cellular data.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

IdrisSeabright wrote:

I'm sorry but your post doesn't make much sense. The phone can send MMS over cellular data or WiFi. So, even if the phone switches to cellular data, MMS will still work. I don't understand why the word just is in quotations.

Actually, while iMessage can use WiFi, MMS can only use cellular data. As its a service of the carrier, the carrier's network doesn't know about your WiFi connection.

Doh! I knew that. Funny how quickly all that work knowledge drains away!

heliwolf65 wrote:

Hello, I found out from the Apple rep also (after 3 hrs of online help). That in order to conserve data and battery coincidentally u must have, Cell data must turned off. It is not "just" a thing of turning " data Assist"off. If the phone has a marginal wifi signal, it will still look for a cellular signal, to supplement the wifi... it was very frustrating to learn where my data was going.

In addition my iPhone rep told me to keep the phone above 50% charge, otherwise the wifi will appear week, and will try using cell data again. God I am beginning to hate apple... arg...

In my experience this is not true at all.

I never turn off cellular data. Turning it off means you have no access to the internet while away from wifi.

If you are on Wifi, then that takes precedence over Cell Data, and the only time Cellular data would be used is if Wifi Assist is turned on, and the Wifi signal is weak. If its strong it does not matter if the wifi network does not even have an internet connection, Cell Data will not be used.

I've been on Wifi with around 10% battery, and wifi is just as strong as when the iPhone is fully charged. I've never had to turn off Cellular Data on any of the iPhones I've owned to preserve battery.

Unless you are in an area where Cell coverage is weak, and the iPhone has to search out towers or change networks very frequently (from LTE down to 3G down to Edge) the yes that will use up battery. But turning off Cellular Data will likely not help much since its the cellular signal that's weak, and the Phone would still try to latch on to the strongest one.

Not sure who your "iPhone Rep" is but i strongly suggest you disregard his very very faulty information.

I had iPhone 6s Plus through at&t never had that problem but then I switched to verizon got the iPhone 7 plus and now I can only send pictures when data is on so I'm pretty sure it's verizon bc at&t doesn't have that problem I wish I never switched to verizon I only did bc they have better signal

Apple user Nikari wrote:

I am having the exact same problem with my 6s and thinking mobile data wasn't always a thing and everything was fine but now we NEED IT all of a sudden so sorry this probably doesn't help but just so You know your not the only one

There's nothing "all of a sudden" about it. MMS has always used cellular data, from the day it was invented. On dumb phones you paid for the message, rather than the data, but the phone still had a data connection. And, with some carriers, you still do; they will charge for the message (or include it in your message plan and not charge for the data), but cellular data still must be on for MMS to work.

Apple user Nikari wrote:

I am having the exact same problem with my 6s and thinking mobile data wasn't always a thing and everything was fine but now we NEED IT all of a sudden so sorry this probably doesn't help but just so You know your not the only one

Mobile or cellular data connections have indeed been a thing, ever since MMS was first offered (beginning about 2002/2003). It was the advent of cellular data transmissions that allowed the SMS text service to be expanded to include attachments that were not strictly ASCII text strings of 160 characters.