connecting a non ATT device t to network should be easy

If you had come here first we would have told you anytime you buy a non ATT device you have to program APN settings.  

Ive used an international GS6, added 2 nexus 6p and Moto pure edition.   All required APN settings.  

If you bring in a Non ATT device you have to accept some responsibility for learning how to make it work on the network. All carriers, expecially Verizon and ATT don't really gear themselves for the non carrier phones.  In all my trips to an ATT store, only one guy knew a non ATT phone need APN settings and spent several minutes looking for it.  

 

 

 

@lizdance40 It's interesting, I think the way the provisioning works, if some values/tables are present, then the provision is done automatically for BYOD.  

My 6P did it 100%, even got NXTGENPHONE, as default, that really surprised me.

My Win Phones have usually provisioned as well, but usually to the old "PHONE" APN, I had to manually add NXTGENPHONE (not that it matters much, for a non-branded phone anyway).

 

I bet the tablets are largely a deal-breaker though, unless the firmware devs set them up "just so", AT&T probably sees them as an "other device", by default, requiring the full manual provision.

 

I think this comes down to some of the 3GPP handshake, which is really heavy reading, there aren't too many "3GPP for dummies" types of deals out there.  Here's a 3GPP APN LTE handshake spec, for anyone really struggling to fall asleep tonight: 

http://www.etsi.org/deliver/etsi_ts/129300_129399/129303/13.04.00_60/ts_129303v130400p.pdf#page=49

 

How's that for an overly complicated answer ;-]

@pgrey. I'm going to play the "blond chic" card.  LOL

 

Of the above mentioned devices, the international Samsung had to be programmed, the 6p had most fields correct.  Odd, mine had nxtgenphone, my sons did not.  The Moto is a completely different story.   I know Went to program APN, but most were already correct.   

Here is how the computer sees things.

The 6p is listed as known, the Moto shows in the system.  ???   

 

 

Respectfully, don't agree. I shouldn't have to find this forum, sign up
and ask questions. The AT&T staff in the store and on the phone help
should have a clue.

@wheyward Yeah, it would be nice, if the store personnel were more equally educated, but that's true of most support systems, be it as it may.  They should've been able to help you, or maybe at least known to check the APN, that part's a little weird.

I had a cousin that worked as a sales guy and then a mid-level at AT&T, while going through college.  He would've fixed your issue in about 5 seconds, and sent you whistling out the door, I'm 110% certain.  Kind of like when you contact support, you never quite know. 

Years ago, I worked on a kind of support, helping IHVs and some OEMs, writing drivers and similar core apps for Windows.  Since it was developer support, we specialized, a lot, and passed clients around, depending on the issue, we had that luxury, and we had really forward-thinking managers who architected the whole thing (I later used similar stuff when I was managing dev. teams).  Maybe it'll change, I really think this stuff is often top-down, at least at the store-level.

 

@lizdance40 Yeah, I bet AT&T sold the Moto X, of some variant(s), so it recognizes a series of IMEIs, they're probably one big range.  

The 6P, mine's the same, wish I could get it fixed, it's a bit annoying.

I tried on my 950XL, but got nowhere with CSRs, gave up after a couple.  I did manage to get an older Win Phone in, for whatever reason, maybe 3-4 years ago.

During my brief stint with TMo, at even a month, they fully recognized it, and catalogued it, even though they never even sold the 950 (AT&T does), go figure.

@wheyward What would be really cool, is if the guys who did the firmware for the tablet had built it all out, so it auto-populated, based on the 3GPP standards.

 

I like standards, that's a lot of what I've done in s/w and h/w, drive standards, figure out ways to make the h/w and drivers better, more stable, and how to test for it, in all kinds of obscure ways. We often "forced" standards, because it made it easier, in cases such as this, so things "just worked" for the end-user. 

In theory, my customers were the IHVs and OEMs, but I always said the end-users were really who I considered my customers.  Maybe not the best business viewpoint, but who's to say, I know I stabilized tens of thousands of drivers, and h/w (along with a great team), so something worked, I guess.

 

If someone was enforcing standards for the LTE tablets, or even if enough customers were driving standards through obscure means, things would work "better".

 

Until then, keep us in mind, when odd things happen, there are quite a few of us up here (I help on some Windows forums too) that enjoy helping when we can, or need to.

I hope you can return the 2nd tablet, assuming you didn't want two...

@wheyward

@pgrey

Apple auto programs, the SIM card Should be provisioned going into the device it shouldn't be that difficult.  

But my personal experience says you got a 1 in 20 shot of getting a newb.  Call centers have high turnover because the job can be stressful.  Store employees don't get paid that well, and also can be stressful.  

 

I called to activate a new SIM card in an old phone to move my mom from a 4S to a 5s.  I knew what he needed to process this, the iccid number on the SIM  card, the IMEI and phone number.  He put me on hold for 5 minutes.  I know darn well we had to ask someone how to do this as he had no idea.  

While I thought he should know this, it was probably the first time it had come up.  As more and more non ATT devices are brought in, more employees will know about APN settings.  Until then we have to be more self supporting.