How To Activate Your Mobile Phone for Internet Browsing and MMS (Nigeria)

Ahmsta.com - An Internet-enabled mobile phone may come customized and locked to a GSM network. In such a case, the phone will have settings such as those of WAP or Internet related to the relevant network already pre-configured. All that you need to do is to insert the SIM card of the network and start using the WAP or Internet service right away without any additional settings or activation. When a phone is locked to a network, it cannot be used on other networks until it is unlocked using the right software. However, most phones come open, that is, uncustomized and useable on all networks. Such phones do not have Internet or WAP settings pre-installed on them. Therefore, you must activate the service on them if you must use the service. Generally, there are two methods of activation, namely, automatic and manual. If the network is CDMA, you need not worry about activating your mobile phone for Internet access. This is because most or all CDMA networks usually carry exclusive mobile phones, which are often preloaded with Internet settings.
In this article, we will throw light on how to activate your mobile phone for Internet browsing on the major networks in Nigeria – MTN, Glo, Airtel, Etisalat, and so forth. Like earlier pointed out, there are two means by which a phone could be activated for Internet browsing – automatic and manual. Note that you can call 111, 121, 180 or 200, respectively to speak with an Airtel, Glo, MTN or Etisalat customer care representative.
The automatic method involves sending an SMS command to a network-specified number. When the network receives the request, it will process it and, if successful, will relay the Internet settings to your phone. You will be prompted to save and activate the settings. Some networks will require you to save the settings with a password, which is usually 0 or 0000.
Nevertheless, not all mobile phones can accept the settings over-the-air. In such a situation, you will have to load your Internet settings manually.
Here are GPRS/3G/3.5G Internet Settings of MTN, Glo, Etisalat, Airtel, and so Forth:
MTN
Compose the word “Settings” (without the quotation marks) and text to 3888. Save the Internet settings when received. However, if your phone does not support over-the-air relaying of Internet settings, you will be informed via a text from the network to that effect. Therefore, you should resort to the manual means of Internet activation.
MTN Manual GPRS/3G/3.5G Settings for WAP/Mobile Internet
Account name: MTN WAP
IP Address/Proxy server address: 010.199.212.002
Port: 9201 or 8080
Access point name (APN): web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net
Username: web
Password: web
Homepage: http://wap.mtnonline.com or any site of your choice
MTN Manual 3G/3.5G/GPRS Settings for MMS
Account name: MTN MMS
IP Address/Proxy server address: 010.199.212.002
Port: 9201
Access point name (APN): web.gprs.mtnnigeria.net
Username: web
Password: web
Homepage: http://10.199.212.8/servlets/mms
Glo
To get Glo Internet settings, compose the word “Activate” (without the quotation marks) and text to 444. Save the Internet settings when received. However, if your phone does not support over-the-air relaying of Internet settings, you will be informed via a text from the network to that effect. To get Glo WAP settings, SMS your phone name and model to 927 in the following format: Activate WAP Phone Maker Phone Model. For example, to activate Nokia C6-00, compose “Activate WAP Nokia C6-00” (without the quotation marks) and send to 927. Save the 3G Internet settings in your mobile phone. However, if your phone does not support over-the-air relaying of Internet settings, you will be informed via a text from the network to that effect. Therefore, you should resort to the manual means of Internet activation.
Glo Manual 3.5G/3G GPRS Settings for WAP
Service name: Glo WAP
IP/Proxy server address: 010.100.098.022
Port Number: 9201
Access point name (APN): glogwap
Username: wap
Password: wap
Homepage: http://wap.gloworld.com or any site of your choice
GLO Manual 3G/3.5G/GPRS Settings for MMS
Account name: Glo MMS
IP/Proxy server address: 010.100.082.004
Port: 9201
Access point name (APN): glomms
Username: mms
Password: mms
Homepage: http://mms.gloworld.com/mmsc
Airtel
Send an SMS with the word “Internet phone brand model” (without the quotation marks) to 232, for example, “Internet Nokia C6-00” to receive your settings, assuming your phone is Nokia C6-00. Accept, install or save the settings that will be sent to your phone by SMS. If asked for a PIN, please use ‘0′ or ‘0000′. You can visit Airtel WAP push page and follow the instructions contained therein. However, if your phone does not support over-the-air relaying of Internet settings, you will be informed via a text from the network to that effect. Therefore, you should resort to the manual means of Internet activation.
Airtel Manual GPRS/3G/3.5G Settings for Mobile Internet
Account name: Airtel or Zain Internet
IP Address/Proxy Server Address: 172.018.254.005
Port: 8080
Access point name (APN): internet.ng.airtel.com or internet.ng.zain.com
Username: internet
Password: internet
Homepage: http://airtellive.com/ or any site of your choice
Airtel Manual GPRS/3G/3.5G Settings for MMS
Account name: Airtel MMS or Zain MMS
IP Address/Proxy Server Address: 172.018.254.005
Port: 9201
Access point name (APN): mms.ng.airtel.com or mms.ng.zain.com
Username: wap
Password: wap
Homepage: http://172.23.1.12/mms/wapenc
Etisalat
To the best of my knowledge, Etisalat has not yet revealed any procedure for getting their Internet settings over-the-air, even though there are situations where if you put a SIM card in a phone, Internet setings are automatically relayed. This also applies to other networks. We will give clues to Etisalat manual Internet settings.
Etisalat Manual GPRS/3G/3.5G Settings for WAP/Internet
Account name: Etisalat WAP
IP Address/Proxy Server Address: 010.071.170.005
Port: 8080
Access point name (APN): etisalat
Username: leave it blank
Password: leave it blank
Homepage: http://mobile.etisalat.com.ng or any site of your choice
Etisalat Manual GPRS/3G/3.5G Settings for MMS
Account name: Etisalat MMS
IP Address/Proxy Server Address: 010.071.170.005
Port: leave it blank
Access point name (APN): etisalat
Username: leave it blank
Password: leave it blank
Homapage: http://10.71.170.30:38090/was
Some CDMA networks such as Starcomms, Zoom, MultiLinks, Visafone, and so forth carry specific phones preloaded with network settings like Internet settings. Hence, if you bought your CDMA phone with Internet capability from an authorised outlet of CDMA networks like Starcomms, Visafone, Reltel, Zoom Mobile, or Multi- Links it is likely to be preloaded with Internet settings. However, conducting an enquiry wouldn’t harm.
To browse on your phone, locate the Internet icon or other related icon or name. You can also download a third-party browser application such as Opera Mini, Bolt, UC Web, etc. with your phone.
Visit Airtel, Glo, MTN and Etisalat websites for more information.