Short answerMost current routers detect EE’s settings from the SIM automatically. If yours does not, enter the APN, and any username and password, exactly as your SIM supplier gives them. EE consumer SIMs commonly use the APN everywhere. Business, IoT and fixed IP SIMs from resellers often use their own private APN.
EE was originally called Everything Everywhere, which is why its long-standing consumer APN is “everywhere”. This page used to list two EE APNs. Today the right answer depends on who supplied the SIM, so start with the details that came with it.
What an APN is
The Access Point Name tells the network which gateway to connect your router to. Different APNs lead to different services: ordinary internet access, a fixed public IP, or a private network. Enter the wrong one and the router either will not connect or will connect without the service you are paying for.
Entering the APN
- Log in to the router’s web interface.
- Find the mobile or WAN settings for the SIM slot you are using.
- Turn off automatic APN if you need to set it by hand.
- Enter the APN, then the username, password and authentication type if your supplier gave them. Leave them empty if not.
- Save, then reboot or reconnect the mobile interface.
On Teltonika routers this lives under Network > Mobile. Router Store has a fuller walkthrough of APN settings for routers.
If it will not connect
- Check the PIN. If the SIM has a PIN, enter it in the router or remove it in a phone first.
- Check the SIM is active. New business SIMs sometimes need activating by the supplier.
- Check the APN spelling. One wrong character is enough. APNs are not case sensitive, but spaces matter.
- Check the signal. A registered but weak connection may not pass data. See the signal guide.
- Check the IMEI lock. Some business SIMs are locked to one device.
Frequently asked questions
Do EE routers need a username and password?
It depends on the SIM. Some EE APNs use them, many business APNs do not. Use exactly what the supplier gives you.
Why does my fixed IP EE SIM get a private address?
The router is almost certainly using the default APN instead of the fixed IP APN. Set the APN by hand and reconnect.
Is there one APN for all EE SIMs?
No. Consumer, business, IoT and fixed IP SIMs can each use different APNs, and resellers often have their own.
NANick Appleby
Nick Appleby has worked in UK telecoms since 1998, starting at BT, and has spent most of that time on cellular routers, data SIMs and the antennas that connect them for business and industrial sites. He writes 4G SIM to explain how the networks and the kit actually behave, in plain English.