AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

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Topic Author
jriding
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Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 1:06 pm
Location: CO

AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

Post by jriding »

This is a cautionary tale regarding 3rd party providers of AT&T's cell phone network.

I recently switched DW and son's iPhones from AT&T to a much less expensive AT&T Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) called Redpocket. Everything about the network was good until we discovered that Redpocket doesn't support group texting on iPhones. There's some weird restrictions that AT&T (or maybe it's Apple?) puts on iPhones running on certain AT&T MVNOs. Without going into the sordid details, group texting only works properly if everyone on the group text is on an iPhone. If someone on the group text is on an Android, DW wouldn't receive the text. The matter is further complicated by the fact that some AT&T MVNO's do support group texting and some, like Redpocket, don't.

I looked into the AT&T MVNO's that supposedly do support group texting (including Cricket and Consumer Cellular) and their prices weren't much different then AT&T.

So now I'm looking at switching their unlocked phones to a non-AT&T MVNO like Tello, which uses the Sprint network.

Has anyone else had this experience and did switching their unlocked iPhone to a non-AT&T MVNO solve the group texting problem?
Chip
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Re: AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

Post by Chip »

jriding wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:40 am Has anyone else had this experience and did switching their unlocked iPhone to a non-AT&T MVNO solve the group texting problem?
Not an iPhone, but my wife's unlocked Android phone is on H20 Wireless (AT&T MVNO) and group texting works fine.
Topic Author
jriding
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Location: CO

Re: AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

Post by jriding »

Chip wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:51 am
jriding wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:40 am Has anyone else had this experience and did switching their unlocked iPhone to a non-AT&T MVNO solve the group texting problem?
Not an iPhone, but my wife's unlocked Android phone is on H20 Wireless (AT&T MVNO) and group texting works fine.
Thanks Chip. Turns out this is uniquely an iPhone issue. One of many reasons some folks prefer Android to iOS.
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pondering
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Re: AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

Post by pondering »

Group texting or iMessage? iMessage is a fairly sticky feature of iOS. It isn’t the same as group texting, but is often used for the same purpose.
--Robert Sterbal | robert@sterbal.com | 412-977-3526
Topic Author
jriding
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Location: CO

Re: AT&T MVNOs and Group Texting

Post by jriding »

pondering wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 9:36 am Group texting or iMessage? iMessage is a fairly sticky feature of iOS. It isn’t the same as group texting, but is often used for the same purpose.
That's a good point. It's only an issue when using the iOS messaging app. Group messaging would presumably work fine through a third party app. It's ultimately an issue with the way MMS group texts are received/sent by iPhones with certain AT&T MVNO networks.
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