Question

Disable MMS/Texting over WiFi

S
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So I have the dreaded sporadic issues sending an receiving text message while connected to WiFi. Since there seems to be no solution, T-Mobile sent me a 4G hotspot for my house. While in theory that’s fine, I have better cell service in the house, I still want to use WiFi for my data. I have high speed internet for a reason. 

OK. To the point. I don’t want to turn WiFi off. That seems pointless. What I want to do is to Only Use Cellular Network for Texting, but I can’t find any way to do so. I turned off WiFi calling, but that was never an issue. It actually worked fine. What I want may not be possible. Just curious if there is perhaps a Setting I’m not aware of.

 

I have a Samsung Galaxy 21 Ultra. Latest version of Android. I use the stock Samsung texting app (which could be the issue).

 

TIA

49 replies

J

No response to this yet and I’m having the same problem.  MMS while at home on WiFi either takes 3 - 5 minutes to seen a screenshot OR I get a “failed” message.  If I turn off the WiFi it goes immediately thru data.  This is on a Samsung Galaxy 20SE but I’ve seen comments on the internet that it happens on multiple brands of phones.

syaoran
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Turn off WiFi Calling on your device.

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
J

OK - thank you - I will try that. Considering my signal is very weak inside the house it may not be a long term solution if I start missing regular calls.  It seems to be a fairly common problem with no real fix?

I texted a pic after turning wifi calling off and it did go quicker.

syaoran
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LG radios are known for being on the weak side.  If you are experiencing just one to two bars.  You might want to consider a device from OnePlus.  The usable signal due to a specifically tuned T-Mobile modem firmware makes a difference, at least where I am.  

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
L
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I’m late to this discussion but I just wanted to add that I just “discovered” this problem, i.e., sporadically cannot send or receive MMS with wifi calling active.  I have a OnePlus 10 Pro 5G that I purchased from T-Mobile.

I send and receive a lot of MMS messages, and I’m understanding the only “fix” for this issue is to disable wifi calling in the phone’s settings.  That’s a shame.

Is there any real fix for this issue?

Thanks.

J

I have never received a “fix” for this.  On my Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, I finally found under settings, connections, data usage, a place to choose certain apps to always use “mobile data only” even when connected to Wi-Fi.  It works much better and I’ve tested it in airplane mode with wifi turned back on.  We’ll see what happens over Christmas when I’m out of mobile range and only have wifi.

L
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Well, I thought if I disabled wifi calling, the problem would be solved, but it’s not, at least for me.  I disabled wifi calling about an hour ago and just discovered I wasn’t receiving or sending MMS messages.  I guess I’ll go back to the messaging app and disable wifi and see what happens.

The fun part is I’ve rarely had problems with MMS on T-Mobile with this phone.  It’s just started a couple weeks ago (I’ve had the phone for more than 6 months).  The only way I’ve found to restore MMS functionality is to reboot the phone.  I’ve already done that 3 times today.

F
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is it both regular texts and mms having issues or just regular texts?

 

keep in mind that mms messages (group texts, pic texts and or super long winded texts) need a data connection to be sent/received. regular texts just the voice side

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
L
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is it both regular texts and mms having issues or just regular texts?

 

keep in mind that mms messages (group texts, pic texts and or super long winded texts) need a data connection to be sent/received. regular texts just the voice side

It’s just MMS for me.  If an MMS fails, I can send a regular text to one of the intended recipients without difficulty.  I will key an eye open for possible regular SMS issues now.

I understand the need for data to support MMS.  I’ve disabled wifi only for the messaging apps just now but left mobile data enabled.  In this thread, and others around the net, I’ve noticed that MMS failures are common when wifi calling is enabled.  It’s been that way for at least 5 years if I’m reading things correctly.

Edited to add:  This problem started occurring on Thanksgiving Day, and I attributed it to high volumes, but it has been happening intermittently since then.

Thanks for helping.

F
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i use wifi calling quite a bit..only time i tend to see issues with texts and WFC is when the network im connecting to is a bit more miss than hit...like my work wifi..soon as i disconnect from it i’ll end up with a handful of texts kicking through..

 

another question..is this only happening with one locations wifi?

 

 

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
J

Same with me; just MMS failures when on WiFi only.  Regular texts work fine.  Enabling and disabling WiFi calling had no effect with me.  It wasn’t until I forced the text app to always use mobile data that the delay sending and failures stopped.  

L
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i use wifi calling quite a bit..only time i tend to see issues with texts and WFC is when the network im connecting to is a bit more miss than hit...like my work wifi..soon as i disconnect from it i’ll end up with a handful of texts kicking through..

 

another question..is this only happening with one locations wifi?

 

 

So far, I’ve only noticed it happening with my home wifi; I seldom connect to wifi at other locations, but I’ll keep my eyes open.  To reiterate, this problem has been rare for quite a long time on the same home wifi and router.  It’s gotten much worse since Thanksgiving.

Since I disabled wifi on the messaging app, I get a nag about it every time I open the messaging application.  That’s annoying!  But, so far, MMS is working with hit disabled.

J

Same here; I notice it on my home WiFi and seldom connect at other locations.  Again, going to be out of cell service area over Christmas week and mostly hooked to WiFi.  I’ll know more after that.  

F
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both Samsung devices? for what its worth also (cant exactly hurt anything) Samsung uses their own texting app...so not to far fetched for it to have its own issues...throwing that out there just in case.

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
L
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both Samsung devices? for what its worth also (cant exactly hurt anything) Samsung uses their own texting app...so not to far fetched for it to have its own issues...throwing that out there just in case.

Nope.  I’m using a OnePlus 10 Pro 5G

L
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Here is another data point.  Since disabling wifi on the Android messaging app, I can no longer pair with the messages.google.com site.  I use that site all the time to send and receive MMS and SMS messages.  That’s a big disadvantage, to me, of disabling wifi on the messaging app.

L
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I’ve discovered that my difficulties with MMS seem to have nothing to do with wifi calling. 

Disabling wifi calling in settings had no impact.  I still had the problem after I disabled wifi on the messaging app, plus I could not use the messaging.google.com site with wifi disabled on the messaging app. 

Moreover, when I enabled wifi calling in the settings and in the messaging app, I went for two days with no disruptions to MMS.

The only thing that seems to work for me is rebooting the phone when MMS messaging fails.  When that occurs, I get a “failed to send message” notification for a MMS message I tried to send or a “couldn’t download message” for an MMS message I’m supposed to receive.  Those are my triggers to reboot my phone.

Does anyone have other ideas about what’s causing what seems to be an intermittent MMS problem and how to fix it?

F
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is your regular mobile data still turned on?

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
L
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is your regular mobile data still turned on?

Yes.  Both regular and wifi turned on.  Problem occurs when the phone is in “wifi mode” or “mobile data mode”.  And, as I said, problem also occurs when wifi mode is “off”.

I’ve had to reboot my phone 5 times already today, and it’s just now 11 am.

L
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I’m starting to think this problem is congestion-related.  I saw it on Thanksgiving.  I saw it again when we had severe thunderstorms rolling through our area, and again today as this “monster storm” begins to arrive.  My guess is that everyone and their dog is texting their friends and family in these cases.

Of course, I could be wrong.  But, as I tried to say earlier (post is being “moderated), my problem is not wifi calling related.

syaoran
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I’m starting to think this problem is congestion-related.  I saw it on Thanksgiving.  I saw it again when we had severe thunderstorms rolling through our area, and again today as this “monster storm” begins to arrive.  My guess is that everyone and their dog is texting their friends and family in these cases.

Of course, I could be wrong.  But, as I tried to say earlier (post is being “moderated), my problem is not wifi calling related.

Holiday network congestion across all networks, even international ones is very common for this time of the year.  Hopefully that's all it is and isn't a bigger issue.  I haven't personally had any issues with texts with my OnePlus 8T+ 5G.

Syaoran - I am not a T-Mobile Employee but I could use a new job!
H
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Hey @LawnMower, Intermittent issues are the pits because temporary fixes make things seem fine and then they break again. One thing that I have seen with intermittent messaging issues for SMS or MMS is congestion in the “mailbox” rather than the network side. If the messaging app that you are using (messages on your phone or messages.google.com) has too many messages saved, new ones have a hard time finding a “place to sit.” Restarting the phone will usually free up enough temporary memory to allow the messages that are pending to come in, but new ones are stopped at the door. MMS are larger files by nature and are usually the first to be affected. Have you had a chance to go through your messaging apps and delete as many messages as possible?

L
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Hey @LawnMower, Intermittent issues are the pits because temporary fixes make things seem fine and then they break again. One thing that I have seen with intermittent messaging issues for SMS or MMS is congestion in the “mailbox” rather than the network side. If the messaging app that you are using (messages on your phone or messages.google.com) has too many messages saved, new ones have a hard time finding a “place to sit.” Restarting the phone will usually free up enough temporary memory to allow the messages that are pending to come in, but new ones are stopped at the door. MMS are larger files by nature and are usually the first to be affected. Have you had a chance to go through your messaging apps and delete as many messages as possible?

Thanks for that suggestion, @HeavenM !  I used to have an app on my old phone to periodically delete messages but I no longer have it.  I’ll see if I can get one installed and delete some messages.  I have a lot of them

F
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you cant just hold the text you want to delete to mark it then keep clicking your way down the list  to mark the next ones you want included to be deleted?

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
L
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you cant just hold the text you want to delete to mark it then keep clicking your way down the list  to mark the next ones you want included to be deleted?

I suppose I could do that, but I’ve got a lot of text messages, and it would take a lot of time.  I will do that if I have to.  Some of my mms messages have pictures attached that I want to save.

Years ago, I had an app that I could configure to backup messages that were older than some specified age and it would back messages up to gmail and delete them from the phone.  I’ve lost track of that app and I’m trying to find it again.  The apps that I see popping up on the Play Store seem to have backup and restore capability but it doesn’t seem like they delete messages once they’ve been backed up.

Is there an app like that out there somewhere that I’m missing?

 

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