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By Ex on June 24th, 2009 178

***UPDATE – HOW TO FIX THIS***

I have located THE fix!

If you are experiencing the problems in this post, follow the fix-guide below:

1. Make sure you have the iPhone 3.0 Software on your iPhone 3G/3GS
2. Make sure you have a Data Plan (which starts at $25/month)
3. Make sure you have NO Data blocks whatsoever, at all.
4. Make sure you have MMS capabilities (Starting at $5/month for just a Messages Bundle or $0.50/MMS on a pay per use basis) (every iPhone has this after the 3.0 software)
5. Do a Hard Reset on your iPhone (hold sleep/wake and home button until you see the Apple logo, then let go).
6. After the Hard Reset, send a test MMS. Make SURE the MMS sends successfully (no errors) and is received successfully. If that does not work….
7. Call Rogers Data Tech Support @ 1-800-931-3282 and navigate to iPhone Support. Tell them the problem and ask them to “Refresh the network connection to your account/iPhone“. Your iPhone 3G/3GS will lose its network connection briefly.
8. After the refresh, send a MMS and you may get a “welcome to…” message. If you do not get the “welcome to…” message, that’s okay. Just make SURE the MMS sends successfully (no errors) and is received successfully.
9. DONE! WORKING! WIN.

———-

Ever since the release of iPhone software 3.0, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS users (as of June 19, 2009) have had the new ability to send/receive MMS or picture/video messages using their iPhone 3G/3GS.

However, hundreds of Rogers Wireless customers have been plagued by NOT being able to send/receive MMS. Many Rogers customers receive the red colored exclamation error when attempting to send a MMS or the MMS sends but is not received.

So, I decided to do some internal digging into this issue and the findings are going to make you cry.

According to numerous Rogers Technical Support employees, Supervisors, and Level-2 Escalation Network Mangers, the only way that the iPhone 3G/3GS can send MMS is if the account that the iPhone 3G/3GS is on has a Data Plan and has no Data blocks whatsoever. You do not necessarily need a MMS package, but if you do not have one, you will be charged at $0.50/MMS.

Let me just make this a little more clear.

To get MMS officially working on a Rogers Wireless iPhone 3G/3GS, you need the following:

• iPhone 3.0 Software on your iPhone 3G/3GS
• A Data Plan (which starts at $25/month)
• No Data blocks whatsoever, at all.
• MMS capabilities (Starting at $5/month for just a Messages Bundle or $0.50/MMS on a pay per use basis) (every iPhone has this after the 3.0 software)

Additionally, it was said that this is specific to the iPhone 3G/3GS. Unlike a basic dumbphone that can send MMS without a data plan, the iPhone 3G/3GS apparently uses some kind of “Data specific string” to send MMS. To me, this does not make sense at all. MMS and Data are separate services that should work so long as each individual service is added/enabled, but apparently, the iPhone 3G/3GS is the exception.

So MMS is not covered by the Data Plan yet you need a Data Plan to even send MMS. Also, if you do not have a MMS package, you incur additional MMS charges at $0.50/MMS, even though you have a Data Plan. It is as if the Data Plan “enables” the MMS and the MMS package simply “saves” you money on MMS by giving you 1000 messages or in some cases unlimited. What a scam!

Moreover, if you have a Data plan, have no Data blocks whatsoever, and have MMS capabilities (pay per use or a MMS package), guess what, MMS still will not work because apparently this is a “national problem affecting all Rogers iPhone 3G/3GS accounts”. The issue is being worked on at this time by “updating” each customer account.

Here are a few scenarios regarding this issue:

———-

If you have a Data Plan

1. If you have no Data blocks and you have MMS capabilities: MMS will not work until the “national problem” is resolved.
2. If you have Data blocks and you have MMS capabilities: MMS will not work because you have Data blocks
3. If you have no Data blocks and you have no MMS package: MMS will not work until the “national problem” is resolved and when it is resolved, you will be charged at $0.50/MMS.
4. If you have Data blocks and you have no MMS package: MMS will not work because you have Data blocks.

———-

If you have no Data Plan

1. If you have no Data blocks and you have no MMS package: MMS will not work because you do not have a Data Plan. When the “national problem” is resolved, you will be charged at $0.50/MMS and charged for any Data usage.
2. If you have Data blocks and you have no MMS package: MMS will not work because you do not have a Data Plan and you have Data blocks.
3. If you have Data blocks and you have MMS capabilities: MMS will not work because you do not have a Data plan and you have Data blocks
4. If you have no Data blocks and you have MMS capabilities: MMS will not work because you do not have a Data Plan.

———-

In summary, it seems that you must have a Data Plan and you must not have any Data blocks of any kind. Whether or not you have a MMS package does not seem to matter because you can still successfully use MMS on a pay per use basis, assuming you have a Data Plan.

At this time, it is unknown if Fido customers are affected, but overall, this is simply said, ridiculous. If a dumbphone can send MMS without a Data Plan, why can’t an iPhone 3G/3GS.

In attempt to gather information and find some kind of fix, please post below the following information:

1. What Carrier version you are running? (Go to Settings > General > About and what does it say beside “Carrier”)
2. Which scenario are you that is posted above? (You can just copy/paste it into the comments)
3. Does MMS sending/receiving work for you?