Your Access Point Name (APN) identifies the access point on your provider’s mobile broadband network your modem will use to connect to the internet. There may be some information provided with your USB modem by the mobile phone company specifying the APN you should use. You can also check the default settings on the software used to configure the USB modem on your computer.
The table below shows the APNs known to be used by the Irish operators and shows if the IP address provided by the APN is public or private.
| Operator | APN | IP address type |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3internet | Public |
| 3 | 3ireland.ie | Private |
| Eircom | broadband.eircombb.ie | Public (tbc) |
| Meteor | broadband.mymeteor.ie | Public (tbc) |
| O2 | open.internet | Private* |
| O2 | open.public.internet | Public* |
| Vodafone | hs.vodafone.ie | Public |
| Vodafone | internet | Private |
Note: private IP addresses provide a limited form of internet connection, intended for sharing among very large numbers of 3G phone users, whereas public IP addresses offer the full range of internet functionality, e.g. online gaming, voice over IP (VOIP), port forwarding, similar to what is provided on most DSL and Wireless broadband solutions.
*In April 2013, O2 Ireland downgraded their open.internet APN to private IP addressing to preserve IPv4 address space. Recognising there are customers, for whom a public IP address is essential, they introduced an alternative open.public.internet APN. Read the official customer support thread from O2 Ireland.
ANY idea what the message centre for the o2 broadband is so as to send and receive text messages from the UMR.