APN: What is it, what is it for and how can I configure the access point on my mobile? step by step guide

APNs are those names that establish an access point. They are closely related to what we know as DNSthese two functions being very important to be able to establish a connection on a mobile phone.

Today, we will educate you with everything related to this topicwhere you will find out what the APN is, how it works and why it is necessary to establish Internet connections from mobile phones.

In the last section of this post, you will see a list of the different providers in Spain that provides this service, detailing information on each one, such as password, users and APN names.

What is the APN and why is it needed to connect to the Internet from the mobile in each operator?

APN comes from the acronym in English Access Point Name, whose translation is Access Point Name. Thus determining all conventions established with domain name systems (DNS). This same assigns the respective IP addressthe process of which is referred to as APN resolution.

It is used to provide the network access service of external wireless communication data, so each of the mobile devices, such as telephones or a USB modem, have the APN to be used defined so that this can access a network which is based on GRPS or later standards like 3G and 4G.

There are two types of external networks: public and private. Where the private ones restrict the way in which their resources are shared, only allowing this action to those connected to the same network. Instead, the public ones allow the sharing of all your data to any mobile phone provider.

For APNs the privacy it maintains are simply the result of not sharing resources with other users, this can be considered as an advantage, because it allows addressing are not accessible from the Internet and automatically prevents denial attacks.

APN Structure

APNs have a simple structure that is divided into two parts:

The most important part is the Network Identifier, known in English as Network Identifier, where it is responsible for defining the external network, so it is always connected to the SGSN.

The Operator Identifier is the simplest partconsidering it not mandatory, but despite this, it is in charge of defining the domain packets of the specific network of some operator, active in the GGSN.

Steps to configure the APN on your mobile phone after porting

Now that you understand all of the above, we proceed to configure the APN. Although before continuing you need to know that this method in android onlyand that the process is manual, but even so it is not complex at all.

• We first access the “Settings” of our device. Already being in the “Settings” we will need to access the section of “Mobile networks”.

• After we’re inside “Mobile networks” we look for the section of “APN” and we tap on it. We can find it mostly in the category of “Card network”.
• We will see several options and press the button that has a plus sign (+), although on some devices you may have a menu, and we add the configuration of said APN to the phone.
• Now we have to set all the settings, where we will be required first place the namewhich can be totally random, and then enter the APN.
• In some cases, it will be necessary for us to enter the username and password. After filling in all the data, click on “Save”.

• We continue in the APN section and select the one we just created. Automatically, as soon as the device does this find mobile data connection.

In this way we will be able to navigate normally on the device.

List of the APNs of the main mobile Internet providers in Spain

In this last section We will show you a list of the APNs of the different providers in Spain, showing their specifications in terms of Username and Password: