What are APN (Access Point Name) settings?
Access point name (APN) identifies an IP packet data network (PDN), that a mobile data user wants to communicate with. In addition to identifying a PDN, an APN may also be used to define the type of service, (eg connection to wireless application protocol (WAP) server, multimedia messaging service (MMS)), that is provided by the PDN. APN is used in 3GPP data access networks, eg general packet radio service (GPRS), evolved packet core (EPC).
Structure of an APN
An APN consists of two parts[2] as shown in the accompanying figure.
* Network Identifier: Defines the external network to which the GGSN is connected. Optionally, it may also include the service requested by the user. This part of the APN is mandatory
* Operator Identifier: Defines the specific operator’s packet domain network in which the GGSN is located. This part of the APN is optional. The MCC is the Mobile Country Code and the MNC is the Mobile Network Code which together uniquely identify a mobile network operator.
Examples of APN are:
Example: internet.mnc012.mcc345.gprs
Example: internet (NOTE: This APN example does not contain an operator identifier part)
-source: Wikipedia