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

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.

Text messages use cell voice and would not be affected (these are messages with green bubbles). iMessage and MMS on the iPhone use cell data (or WiFi) and will be blocked when you turn off cell data.

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.

Thank you Phil for your help. I will indeed dismiss his advice. My bad.. happy holidays. Cheers

I'm pretty sure you are misremembering. For any carrier, anywhere in the world, you must have cellular data on to send MMS. You can send iMessages to other iOS device users over WiFi, but not MMS.

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What on earth does MS Outlook have to do with anything at all related to MMS or SMS text messaging?