Recently we’ve been having some issues with our Straight Talk service. As small business owners, it’s important that we receive our phone calls and voicemails in a timely manner.
After some investigation, we discovered that our data wasn’t working as it should have been. It was then that we decided to do some troubleshooting to see if we could fix this error quickly.
Fortunately for us, it was a simple networking issue due to a recent update with our cell phones, but it may not be that simple for other users.
You can begin the process by first checking for service outages on their website and ensuring your plan is active. If this isn’t the case, you can begin the repair simply by resetting your network settings on your mobile device so your phone can re-recognize Straight Talk as its primary network for phone calls and text messages.
If you’re having trouble with your Straight Talk data, there are several more methods you can try if the simple methods fail. We’ve personally tested these methods to ensure they work so you can spend less time troubleshooting and more time making and receiving those important phone calls.
How To Troubleshoot Straight Talk Data Not Working
1. Check for System Outage
One of the most common reasons your Straight Talk data isn’t working is due to a system outage. System outages may happen from time to time. Straight Talk is partnered with various telecom operators to offer the best network coverage to its users.
If you’re having trouble with your data, there may be a technical issue or an outage at one of the telecom partner companies.
To check whether Straight Talk is down or not, you can visit their website or social media page to check for announcements. You may also be able to check if the issue is within your immediate area or for other areas as well.
If this is the case, you can rest assured nothing is happening with your phone or subscription. It’s simply an issue on their side.
2. Check That You Paid Your Bill
If there’s no outage, you should check to ensure your balance is up to date on your Straight Talk subscription. If you’re using a prepaid plan, your account needs to have a sufficient balance to make calls or use data.
Similarly, if you’re on a postpaid plan, you need to check your subscribed data and allowance. If you don’t have enough data or time allowance, your provider may have temporarily suspended your mobile account.
You can check your balance by texting “balance” to 611611. You can also download the Straight Talk app to easily manage your plan from there.
If you can still make phone calls, this means your billing status is fine and you should move on to the next method.
3. Restart The Phone
Restarting your cell phone can fix a lot of issues, like the swipe up feature not working or when you can’t hear people on the call unless it’s on speaker. Occasionally, you may run into an issue where there was an update and it didn’t quite take effect. If this is the issue, simply resetting your phone can solve the problem.
We don’t mean factory resetting it, we simply mean turning it off and turning it back on again. Some phones quill require you to simply hold the power button down until it turns off. Other phones, such as iPhones, will give you an option to power off or reset. You can choose either one, but resetting will automatically turn the phone back on.
Once you reset your phone, check to see if your cellular data is working by attempting to make a phone call. If it works, the phone reset was successful. If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to take a look at your VPN settings.
4. Verify Your APN Settings Are Correct
The name may sound intimidating, but it’s really not. An APN, which stands for Access Point Name, is simply something that contains information needed to make data connections through your phone from the carrier’s cellular network and the public internet.
These settings are read by the carrier to generate an IP address, connect to the proper secure gateway, and recognize the carrier needs to connect you to a private network. Everything is done on your carrier’s side, but we have to make sure the settings are correct on our phones to get on the right network.
Your phone should have several APN settings already programmed in and the one for phone calls should be automatic. If for some reason the APN settings have been changed, which is common for unlocked phones, you will need to change them back to reflect the proper network.
You can find them by performing these steps:
- Go to the Settings menu of your phone.
- Click on Mobile Networks under the Connections menu.
- locate Access Point Names.
How To Change APN Settings
Changing your APN settings will differ from service to service. Getting to the settings will be similar between iPhone and Android, though. After you’ve obtained the proper APN settings for your phone, which you can find below. Here’s how to find and change them if needed:
Android
- Go to the Settings menu of your phone.
- Click on Mobile Networks under the Connections menu.
- locate Access Point Names and click on it.
- Select Reset Defaults
- Reset your phone
iOS
- Locate Settings.
- Click on Cellular.
- Choose Cellular Data Network.
- Tap on Reset Settings.
- Reset your phone.
APN Settings for T-Mobile
- Name: T-Mobile
- APN: fast.t-mobile.com (for most modern devices with 4G LTE) or epc.tmobile.com (older devices)
- Proxy: Leave blank
- Port: Leave blank
- Username: Leave blank
- Password: Leave blank
- Server: Leave blank
- MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
- MMS proxy: Leave blank
- MMS port: Leave blank
- MMS Protocol: WAP 2.0
- MCC: 310
- MNC: 260
- Authentication type: Leave blank
- APN type: default,supl,mms (most Androids) Internet+MMS (Samsung)
- APN Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
- APN roaming protocol: IPv4/IPv6 or IPv4 only (When roaming internationally
- APN enable/disable: Leave blank
Note: iOS network settings are locked to the T-Mobile SIM card and cannot be changed.
APN Settings For AT&T SIM Cards
4G and Lower:
- Name: NXTGENPHONE
- APN: NXTGENPHONE
- Proxy: not set
- Port: not set
- Username: not set
- Password: not set
- Server: not set
- MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
- MMS proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
- MMS port: 80
- MCC: 310
- MNC: 410
- Authentication type: None
- APN type: default,mms,supl,hipri
- APN Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
- Bearer: Unspecified
5G Settings:
- Name: ATT 5G
- APN: ENHANCEDPHONE
- Username: (Not set – Leave it blank)
- Password: (Not set – Leave it blank)
- Proxy: (leave it blank – not set )
- Port: (Leave it blank – not set)
- Server: (leave it blank )
- MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
- MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
- MMS Port: 80
- MCC: 310
- MNC: 410
- Authentication type: (none)
- APN type: default,hipri,supl,fota,mms
- APN protocol: IPv4/IPv4
- APN roaming protocol: IPv4
- APN enable/disable: enabled
- Bearer: (Unspecified)
- Mobile virtual network operator: (none )
Save then select ATT 5G as the active APN then restart your device.
APN Settings For Verizon SIM Cards
4G/5G LTE for iOS
- APN: vzwinternet
- Username: (none)
- Password: (none)
- MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
- MMS Proxy: N/A
- MMS Max Message Size: 1048576
- MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf
Android
- Name: Internet/MMS2
- APN: vzwinternet
- Proxy: (none)
- Port: (none)
- Username: (none)
- Password: (none)
- Server: (none)
- MMSC: http://mms.vtext.com/servlets/mms
- Multimedia Message Proxy: (none)
- Multimedia Message Port: 80
- MCC: (none)
- MNC: (none)
- AUthentication Type (none)
- APN Type: default,supl,mms
- APN Protocol: IPv4/IPv6
- APN Roaming Protocol: IPv4
- Bearer: Unspecified
- MVNO Type: N/A
- MVNO Value: N/A
APN Settings For Tracfone Network SIM Cards
Main APN Settings:
- APN Name: Tracfone
- APN: TFDATA
- Proxy: proxy.mvno.tracfone.com
- Port: 80
- Username: (none)
- Password: (none)
- Server: (none)
- MMSC: http://mms-tf.net
- MMS Port: 80
- MCC: 310
- MNC: 410
- Authentication Type: PAP
- APN Type: default,mms,supl
- APN Protocol: IPv4
- APN Roaming Protocol: IPv4
- Bearer: (none)
- MVNO Type: (none)
- MVNO Type: (none)
Alternate APN Settings:
- APN Name: Tracfone
- APN: Reseller
- Proxy: (none)
- Port: 80
- Username: (none)
- Password: (none)
- Server: (none)
- MMSC: (none)
- MMS Port: (none)
- MCC: 310
- MNC: 410
- Authentication Type: PAP
- APN Type: default
- APN Protocol: (none)
- APN Roaming Protocol: (none)
- Bearer: (none)
- MVNO Type: (none)
- MVNO Type: (none)
Text Straight Talk For Your APN Settings
If you don’t want to search through your phone for its settings, you perform this one simple action:
You can find your APN setting easily by texting “APN” (without quotations) to 611611 or entering your phone number and SIM on the Straight Talk website.
It’s as simple as that. Once you text that to Straight Talk, they will send you the APN settings that should be on your phone. Once you have this information, you can go into your APN settings like this:
- Go to the Settings menu of your phone.
- Click on Mobile Networks under the Connections menu.
- locate Access Point Names.
Once you’ve gotten to this point, compare the information Straight Talk sent you to what you see in the Access Point Names settings. If anything’s different, change it. Once the changes are made, restart your device for these changes to take effect. This should solve your cellular data issue if it was a simple APN mixup.
5. Reset Your Phone’s Network Settings
Some cell phone carriers won’t let you change your APN settings manually, such as T-Mobile for iPhones. If this is the case, you can go into your phone’s settings and simply reset your APN in a few easy steps:
iPhone iOS 15 or later
- Tap on Settings>General>Tranfter or Reset [Device]
- Click on Reset>Reset Network Settings
- Restart your phone
iPhone iOS 14 or earlier
- Tap on Settings>Genera>
- Click on Reset>Reset Network Settings
- Restart your phone
Android
- Go to your Settings
- Find General Management or System
- Click on Advanced>Reset or Reset Options
- Tap Reset Network Settings
- Restart your phone
It’s important to always reset your phone after you perform a network reset so the changes can take effect.
6. Contact Support
If all else fails, your best bet is to contact customer support. You can do this by sending a text message to their helpline, which is 611611. You can also contact them through the online chat option available on their website.
Alternatively, you can try to reach out to them through their social media page. You can also check these pages for the latest updates regarding outages and maintenance.
