After over a week of frustration the new sim fixed the problem
Patients people; jmiesse134 is correct here, I went through 3 sims total but, the 3rd one was the charm. With the first one my phone worked and I could access the internet via chrome & I could send / receive MMS (text) but, no attachments. The second sim worked exactly the same. I was about to give up but, I read another thread (somewhere) to stick to it and keep changing sims till you get a proper one and that was finally the fix. -End of statement
-Details if interested !?!
I've had my (teen) daughter on ST for about two years now so, that's about 2 phones per year plus a new HTC One M8 for Christmas this year (five total) and never had a single problem (mms wise). I'd been w/ VZW "prepaid" for about two years as well and no problems there but, I wanted to try a different phone. Being tired of my Motorola moto G; and after hours of phone reviews I wanted to go w/ a Sony Xperia Z3 "unlocked", that plus switching from VZW to ST will save me about $180 per year ($60 VZW "pre-paid" vs $45 ST) I decided to make the switch to a ST w/ my Z3. I switched my daughters HTC 4G LTE to the M8 and the phone ported in about 20Min. but, it didn't have MMS till the next day (which ST tells you could/should happen). My Z3 took about 3 days to port from VZW to ST; the phone worked but, only w/ basic call service and text (no attachments). I waited for a few more days then fired up google: "ST won't work w/ MMS" and found the update for the VPN settings > still no joy. I found this thread and tried a 2nd SIM > still no joy. I was frustrated and ready to just go to AT&T get a sim from them but, after wasting an hour w/ ST support they said they'd replace my $3 sim and send it out overnight "no charge". I got the 3rd sim sunday (two days ago); called ST, had it switched again it took a day to port (basic phone+text) yesterday then today everything started working.
Contrary to what Einstein says: "doing the exact same thing and expecting a different outcome is madness" seems not to be the case w/ ST. All ST sim's must not be created equal or Einstein is rolling over in his (Hebrew University grave).
A brief review of the two different phones: HTC One M8 vs Sony Xperia Z3:
HTC One M8 Camera works great; if you have perfect conditions. Sony Z3 Camera works great; period! Sony's twin stereo speakers at each of the phone are a great concept, the HTC One M8 speakers are the best on any phone period. The Sony gets a slight edge in battery life but, every user's experience will be different depending on use. All other things considered (display, call quality, responsiveness, boot times, iterations of KitKat: both phones are about equal and in my opinion both way surpass the craftsmanship of the Sam-thingy phone.
**Please have the forum Mod re-name this thread to "Straight Talk can't receive MMS Solved"! -Davis