Android/IPhone issue

[lilstone87]

I think this could be possibly related to an issue with the router, maybe a setting issue? Here's the issue when my brother(Android), or niece(IPhone) are connected to the router(AX6000) via 5ghz wifi. If they send each other a text that includes a picture, or video. The person who's receiving the text, it will just keep showing as if it's trying to load. As soon as they disconnect from wifi, the picture/videos load. So obviously this seems like an issue related to the router.

Is anyone aware of a possible setting within the router that might be causing this issue? Only seems to affect between Android, and iPhone device. If me, and my brother both Android phones, send images/videos, they load okay while connected to the wifi.

 

[sfx2000]

Does one or both of the phones have WiFi calling enabled?

Android to iPhone default to MMS for picture messaging, which normally would use the LTE/5GNR connection, rather than WiFi directly (WiFi calling uses a version of L2TP-IPsec to secure the connection)

Check and see if you have IPSec VPN tunneling allowed.

 

[lilstone87]

Does one or both of the phones have WiFi calling enabled?

Android to iPhone default to MMS for picture messaging, which normally would use the LTE/5GNR connection, rather than WiFi directly (WiFi calling uses a version of L2TP-IPsec to secure the connection)

Check and see if you have IPSec VPN tunneling allowed.

Definitely possible they have wifi calling enabled. Under WAN-NAT passthough tab, both L2TP, and IPsec are enabled. I don't currently use anything VPN related router side.

If they're using WiFi calling, I'm guessing disabling it might help? However is there a setting router side that could possibly resolve this issue? I know it has been annoying my brother lately, as he has to turn WiFi off whenever he receives images/videos from my niece while connected to the router's wifi.

 

[Tech Junky]

First thing that comes to mind if is you're running any adlists to block ads. I run Pihole with 2M+ hosts in the lists and sometimes inadvertently block simple things and spot them in the logs if there's an issue to whitelist them to make things work again. As for MMS it's a simple APN / IP connection back to their provider. If they're both on the same provider it would explain them not working over WIFI if there's a blocklist hitting their traffic.

There have been some interesting things though with mobile browsers lately but, that wouldn't be the source of pain with MMS. Though there could be a secureDNS update that was applied in a phone update that could potentially be the issue. When it comes down to it though it sounds most likely to be a blocked destination on your WIFI network causing the delay on sending/receiving.

 

[lilstone87]

Appreciate the reply Tech Junky, to be honest my router is setup pretty much standard factor settings, with wifi enabled, and like two port forwarding rules. Whatever is going on, has to be related to "default" settings on the router, you would get after a factory reset. I'm not using any added filters, or adblock type stuff.

Trust me I find this issue odd. I know my brother has a S22 Ultra, niece has an iPhone 13. Just causes images/videos to hang when connected to the wifi. Like it will show like someone is sending a MMS, but just like circle loads. As soon as my brother click the wifi button to turn off wifi, it loads right up.

 

[Tech Junky]

Well, the next thing would be the ISP blocking it somehow whether they're blocking the mms port or the traffic for the phone provider. Seems more likely it's the port being blocked as everything else seems to work fine. Having worked for a couple of phone providers one trick is to put the phones into airplane mode for 10-15 seconds and have them reregister with the network and it cures quite a bit of issues. These days we tend to not power cycle our phones as often and just sleep them topped off unless there's a system update.

 

[sfx2000]

First thing that comes to mind if is you're running any adlists to block ads. I run Pihole with 2M+ hosts in the lists and sometimes inadvertently block simple things and spot them in the logs if there's an issue to whitelist them to make things work again. As for MMS it's a simple APN / IP connection back to their provider. If they're both on the same provider it would explain them not working over WIFI if there's a blocklist hitting their traffic.

If it were a blocklist issue with the MMSC, it would never work with MMS - that's why I am suspecting WiFi calling...

I actually turn it off, as it does suck up some battery compared to LTE/5G only (as it needs to keep checking if WiFi is present when not on the AP that a phone is associated with, and also it still keeps both the WLAN and WWAN radios active) - that being said, WiFi calling is great if one isn't in good coverage from the wireless provider.

True VoWiFI uses the same platform as VoLTE - so the IPSec tunnel provided is the same, so it should bypass most features.

Do note that VoWiFI is IPv6 first, just like VoLTE, so if blocking IPv6 on the LAN side of the router, that can cause some issues over IPv4, esp with carriers that do CGNAT or other dual-stack migration methods.

Hence the suggestion to check for WiFi calling, as many forum members here don't enable IPv6...

 

[Tech Junky]

don't enable IPv6

As do I. I have no issues with MMS though and no LTE/5G enabled or in-service. Then again I use Google Voice and not a traditional carrier. All of my traffic is routed over VPN as well. Wan is v6 and lan is all v4. With everything tunneled though it's all v4 in the end.

Knowing how calls and MMS are routed on the provider side though there are some things that require resetting the connection with the provider to get them working again. Working with the engineers responsible for those systems gives a bit more insight as to what happens behind the curtain.

Not knowing which provider they're using makes things harder to pinpoint the issue though. Most providers use the same equipment on the backend though to provide MMS. Some though use different methods of doing so. Mvno options get routed differently through the systems using the partner network but use a different URL to direct traffic. Looking at the apn settings to dig deeper could help find the issue.

 

[sfx2000]

Knowing how calls and MMS are routed on the provider side though there are some things that require resetting the connection with the provider to get them working again. Working with the engineers responsible for those systems gives a bit more insight as to what happens behind the curtain.

You mean not knowing, right?

In a previous life - I managed an MMSC for a telco as the platform owner - Commverse MMSC to be more exact.

 

[Tech Junky]

You mean not knowing, right?

Sure, that was just a part of the puzzle to deal with from an IP perspective. Knowing the system inside and out wasn't a specialty but, from a high level perspective it tied into the checks being performed during maintenance windows. When being responsible for tracking down network issues on a nationwide network it factors into some troubleshooting abilities along with all of the other systems in play.