China Cell Phone Mysteries Solved, What Is MMS And How Do I Set It Up

By Michael Wong

Many customers email us for help with MMS. They have heard about the potential for sending sound, video and picture files with their cell phone and want to do it, either that or they want to surf the internet using the WAP service.

It doesn’t matter if it is a WiFi phone like the odyssey WiFi phone, or one of our non-China cell phone models, The main question is “what are my settings for MMS?” Our answer is always the same. “You need to get that information from your cellular network service provider.”

cellular network service provider = the company or place you got your SIM card from.

We generally recommend that the customer gets the following information:

• Profile Name (The name of the provider)
• MMSC address (The website where all of the information is stored)
• Data account (The provider and the system they are using, eg GPRS/EDGE)
• Connection type (The way your phone will connect to the server)
• User name (the individual name that they will give to you to access their network)
• Password (The password for your username)

Then our customers go to their cellular network service provider and ask for this information. The nice providers will help out these customers even though the mobile phone wasn’t purchased through them. The not nice ones will tell them that they have to get the settings from Chinavasion.

That is not true. Here’s why.

MMS is short for multimedia messaging service. It’s like SMS but instead of sending text messages, you can send photos, audio, or videos. All our mobile phones allow you to use mms, but you have to use your network providers computer servers to help you send and receive multimedia files. For that, you must get permission from them.

Why permission?

Anytime you use someone’s computer, you have to get their permission. It’s the same with using your network provider’s computers.

So anyway, back to MMS. Go to your MMS settings, this should be in the MMS menu, or if there is no individual MMS menu, in the message menu.

Then click MMS setting.

Then click SERVER PROFILE.

Choose either SIM 1 or SIM 2 depending upon which SIM card you want to set up MMS for. Or do one then come back and follow these instructions to do the other.

…we continue.

Depending upon your service provider, two things may happen.

When you click on SERVER PROFILE you may see your service provider’s name in which case, click it and you’ll be prompted to activate it and once you do, you can use MMS.

Alternatively, if you don’t see your service provider’s name, click on ADD NEW and fill in all the details asked for, you know the ones that you got from your cell phone service provider.

• Profile Name (The name of the provider)
• MMSC address (The website where all of the information is stored)
• Data account (The provider and the system they are using, eg GPRS/EDGE)
• Connection type (The way your phone will connect to the server)
• User name (the individual name that they will give to you to access their network)
• Password (The password for your username)

We have no way to know this information. Once again, it is information about the computer server by which your service provider sends and retrieves your MMS messages. Once you input it, the cellphone will be able to connect to your network provider’s computer server, log in, and instruct it to send your MMS message and files.

I’m currently using our CVDQ-M56 Odyssey phone. When I go to MMS settings and SERVER profile, I see “China Mobile MMS” and a host of other mobile network providers like:

• China Mobile MMS
• China Unicom MMS
• FET MMS
• CHT MMS
• Taiwan Mobile MMS
• Airtel MMS
• Hutch MMS

These are other network provider settings that come preset and if I were using their SIM cards, I would be activating those profiles. But I’m not, I’m using China Mobile, so I need to put in some new information.

Generally, this is the information you will be asked for by the phone:

• Profile Name
• MMSC address
• Data account
• Connection type
• User name
• Password

Thankfully not all of it is necessary but it often leaves you asking yourself what you need to fill in and what you do not

It depends on your provider. Sometimes they don’t require you to input a user ID and password to use their server.

I took a look at my own China Mobile MMS settings are here they are:

• Profile Name: China Mobile MMS
• Homepage: http://mmsc.monternet.com
• Data account:
• Connection type:
• User name:
• Password:

Yes the user name and password fields were left blank. That’s how China Mobile likes to roll.

Once you fill in the server profile, you’re good to go. You can create and send MMS messages like a pro.

But, doesn’t Chinavasion have server profile for my network provider????!!!!

Given that there are roughly 200 countries in the world, and that each country may have a dozen or more cellular network providers, and we sell phones to every country in the world that would be close to impossible!

But as I said earlier that information needs to come from the cellular phone providers because you are asking to be plugged into their network.

They might feel a little reluctant to give those details to you because you’ve been smart and bought a wholesale phone with the same features as the ones they offer for a lot less money. But there are many nice providers out there that understand that they will be getting your custom anyway, whether its through hardware or phone bills.

So get out there, get your new Chinavasion China cell phone set up and start MMS-ing about.

PS – if you’re wondering what thing is, you know, the device propping up my M56 Odyssey phone. It’s nothing. Just our new SEVEN INCH GPS NAVIGATION DEVICE!!!!!!