Why can my Galaxy S4 not receive MMS while on foreign networks?

[WanderingKetch]

I am a US citizen living in Australia. I'm using an unlocked Verizon Galaxy S4 with an Aussie service provider. I have no issues sending or receiving texts, calls or using data. However, I cannot send or receive pictures, files or participate in group messaging via SMS. If someone sends me a pic, I just see a blue bar with the word "downloading" but no progress is made.

My wireless settings are as follows:
Mobile Data--access turned on over network
Global data roaming access--connect to data services while roaming
network mode--global
access point names--Telstra (which is my provider here)

I had this same issue in the US while I was living there. I seem to remember being able to download MMS if I turned off wifi for a hot second so the download would go onto mobile data. I've tried doing the same here with no luck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks folks!

 

[Thomas5020]

The US version of the phone may not be able to connect to a certain band or frequency or something. I do know someone with a US phone in the UK and they get band internet everywhere on every network

 

[Rukbat]

Check with your carrier and see if they use any of the following for pictures and group SMS:

HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
CDMA2000 1xEV-DO
4G LTE band 4(1700/2100), 13(700)

Those are the only bands your phone has for data.