Strange MTN Data charges when on Afrihost APN

[StNick]

At the beginning of the year, I downgraded to a Anytime 50 MTN contract, as I make very few calls, and I use Afrihost's APN.

This month, I received a R500+ bill from MTN, including R311 worth of data (actually only 191MB - what a rip-off).

The strange thing is, they claim that I was on the "mymtn" APN on April 1, 2, 3 and 4. However, my Afrihost logs prove that I was on the Afrihost APN on those days, and I never "chop and change". In fact, I edited the standard MTN APN on my phone so that it would not switch back without me knowing. So basically, it is impossible for me to be on the mymtn APN without explicitly setting it myself.

Checking my online statement, I see that I have again incurred some "mymtn" charges on April 10th. Does anyone have any idea what's going on here? It looks like MTN is billing me for at least a portion of my Afrihost data.

 

[Venomous]

Some phone have 2 places where the AH settings must be entered. Perhaps yours is one?

 

[StNick]

Nope. (Nexus 5).

 

[Venomous]

see this link:
http://cmsreport.com/articles/off-topic-google-nexus-5-apn-settings-for-consumer-cellular-5855

Settings in your Nexus 5 for Consumer Cellular

The first thing you will need to do is to configure your settings for Consumer Cellular's APN. An Access Point Name (APN) is the name of a gateway between a GPRS, 3G or 4G mobile network and your cell phone. Without these settings, you won't have an Internet connection. While Consumer Cellular should be able to give you these settings, it will save some time if you've already have these settings entered into your phone.

1) On your Nexus 5, go to Settings > More... > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names.

2) Add a new APN by selecting the + button. You should have a screen available to "Edit access point".

3) Enter the appropriate information. The following is what Consumer Cellular provided me:

Name: ConsumerCellular
APN: att.mvno
Proxy : 66.209.11.32
Port: 80
Username: <Not set>
Password: <Not set>
Server: <Not set>
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS proxy: 66.209.11.32
MMS port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: PAP
APN type: default
APN protocol: IPv4
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
Bearer: Unspecified
MVNO type: None

With the above settings given by Consumer Cellular in November 2013, some people have had issues with getting MMS messages (such as photos and videos to and from your phone). The following is the latest APN configuration I've set on my phone which seems to fix this issue but differs from Consumer Cellular's suggested configuration:

Name: ConsumerCellular
APN: att.mvno
Proxy : <Not set>
Port: <Not set>
Username: <Not set>
Password: <Not set>
Server: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com

MMS proxy: proxy.mvno.ccmobileweb.com
MMS port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: PAP or CHAP
APN type: default,mms,supl,agps,fota
APN protocol: IPv4
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
Bearer: Unspecified
MVNO type: None

Obviously do not change any port numbers and such, but make sure that the AH settings replace the company name/settings above.

 

[StNick]

see this link:
http://cmsreport.com/articles/off-topic-google-nexus-5-apn-settings-for-consumer-cellular-5855



Obviously do not change any port numbers and such, but make sure that the AH settings replace the company name/settings above.

Thanks for the info, Venomous, but I don't believe that there is anything wrong with my APN settings as they stand right now. I've been using them this way since the "afrihost" APN went live and have consumed a LOT of data without issues until now.

I also think that the fact that the "mymtn" APN doesn't even exist in any shape or form on my device should be enough proof that there is something dodgy going on here. I can't believe that it is MMS related either, since the last time I received or sent an MMS must have been months ago, and the amount of data is too large to be purely MMS.

 

[envo]

When I downgraded my contract my phone couldn't connect to the Afrihost APN, they had to "reprovision" me, during which I was on mymtn. It could be that this is what happened to you as well? However, mine did show I wasn't connected to Afrihost at the time.

 

[StNick]

When I downgraded my contract my phone couldn't connect to the Afrihost APN, they had to "reprovision" me, during which I was on mymtn. It could be that this is what happened to you as well? However, mine did show I wasn't connected to Afrihost at the time.

I had exactly the same issue when I downgraded in January. Since then, it has been working just fine, and still is to this day. Trust me, if I was eating up 5GB of MTN data a month since then, I'd know about it.

No, what's happening here is something more complicated / sinister. I simply cannot be on the mymtn APN, so for whatever reason, MTN are billing me a portion of my "afrihost" data (like VOIP perhaps?)

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Got an iPad2 here.

For some funky reason the APN keeps on reverting to myMTN, and does not remain on the Afrihost APN...

But I'm good... since it's data-only, the nasty OOB shark won't visit me.

 

[Farmboy]

THIS is the reason why I got a sim from afrihost.

 

[sajunky]

For some funky reason the APN keeps on reverting to myMTN, and does not remain on the Afrihost APN...

It is possible. On iPhone 4 (iOS6) I never received SMS notification for OTA configuration settings. However when I change SIM TM to Cell C (and in reverse) configuration details are updated automatically. It means phone is doing silent OTA configuration.

 

[GreGorGy]

Is it not possible that an OTA software update uses the default APN for the SIM?

 

[groblerpaul]

Hi StNick,

I am very sorry to say, but I am glad that you seem to have exactly the same problem that we have. Ours incurred from 21 April to beginning of May. I have posted more specifics at http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/595759-Warning-Ripped-off-by-Afrihost-and-MTN?p=13204832&viewfull=1#post13204832.

Edit: I would really want to get your input on this.

 

[yebocan]

Did my upgrade on Friday, and kind lady wanted me to move from a TopUp to some other, open end contract...-Hell no!!, least on Topup, if a stuff up happens...