Digital Matter Cellular Devices have a number of ways to allow you to work with APNs.

While the Auto-APN feature can be thought of as a way to get up and running quickly (plug and play), Multi-APN is a way to fix your APN settings and work with multiple roaming networks.

Auto-APN is the default setup for the devices. Multi-APN must be configured in the Admin Parameters.

How does Multi-APN work?

The devices will roam across multiple networks and can be configured to use different APN details for various roaming networks.

Auto-APN uses the SIM’s IMSI, which is fixed, even when roaming. 

The Multi-APN feature checks which network the SIM has registered on, and gets the Mobile Country Code (MCC) and Mobile Network Code (MNC) for that network. It then checks the Admin Parameter list for a matching MCC MNC value.

The multi-APN feature is used if the admin parameter APN list contains at least one entry. In this case, the following process is followed:

1. The APN list in admin parameters is not blank, so the device knows not to use the Auto-APN feature.
2. On each connection, the modem is allowed to register on an automatically selected (SIM appropriate) network. Network selection is done by the modem in automatic mode.
3. The MCC and MNC of the network that is registered on is queried.
4. The APN list in admin parameters is scanned for the first matching MCC MNC entry, or the wildcard character (‘*’).
5. If there is a match, it provides the APN Name, Username and Password to be used. Username and Password can be blank. Only the first match is used, meaning only one entry per MCC MNC is valid.
6. If there is no match, it looks for the wildcard '*' and uses those details.
7. If there is no match and no wildcard, "internet" will be used.

An example of an entry targeting the South Africa (655) Vodacom (01) network. These are just example APN details:

Remember:

• The MCC and MNC are used to look up the details in the Admin Parameters. The MCC and MNC of the SIM is not used in the Multi-APN. It is the MCC and MNC of the network that the modem is registered on.
• Most device types allow 6 Multi-APN entries in their Admin Parameters.