[Q] wifi calling from overseas - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

Hi,
I want to confirm if I'm overseas can I use the wifi calling feature to call back to the states and not incur roaming charges? I believe I'll still be charge minutes but not sure if they will be consider roaming.
Currently on Tmobile FrostyJB v4.
Thanks

According to the T-Mobile website:
support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1680
Billing
There is no additional monthly charge to use the Wi-Fi Calling feature on your handset. Wi-Fi Calling uses monthly plan minutes for the following:
Calls made from the US to US numbers
Calls made from the US to international numbers (subject to international rates)
Calls made from outside the US to US numbers (not charged roaming)
Calls made from outside the US to international numbers (subject to international rates, but not charged roaming)
Note: You must disable Data Roaming when traveling internationally to avoid incurring data roaming charges.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should take from your bucket of minutes. To play it safe when abroad, I would go into the band menu and change it to a band that the country you're in doesn't use. To do this, just go to your Phone app, type *#197328640# and a secret menu will pop up, then hit [1]UTMS > [1]DEBUG SCREEN > [8]PHONE CONTROL > [7]NETWORK CONTROL > [2]BAND SELECTION. You should be able to select a band right there.
When coming back to the states, don't forget to go back to [2]BAND SELECTION and hit [1]Automatic to resume normal operation.

Another option would be to pop in a local SIM and call the States. It should be, depending on country, ridiculously cheaper.
What country are you going to?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium

You should be safe with wifi calling
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Just use the wifi calling feature. You don't need to buy a local SIM to call the States. Why not use the included minutes that you've already paid for? The thing is, you can't turn on wifi calling when you have Airplane mode on. So naturally it'll find a local network so the potential concern is your phone using the cell tower rather than wifi, which could happen on accident. That's why I provided steps on how to restrict the phone's modem to a band that isn't used overseas to remove that possibility. Better safe than sorry, or broke with overages.

Don_Perrignon said:
Another option would be to pop in a local SIM and call the States. It should be, depending on country, ridiculously cheaper.
What country are you going to?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hong kong
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

You should be able to make WiFi calls to US as long as you make sure that your T-mobile Sim card is inserted and connected to a high speed internet service through wifi that is and WiFi calling is active. I have made call from Singapore, U.A.E and India back to US with no extra charges. Now that T-mobile offers unlimited UMA calls, I would add that to your account through customer service (ask them to add unlimited wifi calling). This way WiFi calls doesn't get counted towards your minutes. Have a safe trip.

Just buy a data-only sim card for your trip and make anything you want using internet!
There are some options I tried: local sim cards, MXTConnect sim card (for Europe).

Related

Can anybody extract an installable wifi calling apk file on G2 (if any)?

I'd like to see whether it exists and can anybody extract it out and I'll try to install on nexus one to see how it works.
mingkee said:
I'd like to see whether it exists and can anybody extract it out and I'll try to install on nexus one to see how it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not on the shipping rom...
You should be able to pull it from the dumped euro rom if I'm not mistaken.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
rUsTyRuSs said:
You should be able to pull it from the dumped euro rom if I'm not mistaken.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol what.no
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
http://www.androidcentral.com/t-mobile-g2-wont-have-free-tethering-may-have-wifi-calling
doesn't come installed yet- from what I've read, it will be included in an OTA
It is not installed got mine this weekend in austin at the android bbq from the tmobile pr rep
Wonder if G2 will be support for the wifi application and service ?
Sounds awesome, but no body is discussing price. Do WiFi minutes use your normal minutes, or is there a separate cost (has to be for international), or is (National) WiFi calling completely FREE?
If I can save minutes using WiFi at home and have no additional costs, that would be awesome.
...also, I assume the phone cannot receive calls (from your normal number) over WiFi, can it? It would be even nicer to be able to make and receive calls with the cellular network completely turned off. Imagine the battery life!
rpmccormick said:
Sounds awesome, but no body is discussing price. Do WiFi minutes use your normal minutes, or is there a separate cost (has to be for international), or is (National) WiFi calling completely FREE?
If I can save minutes using WiFi at home and have no additional costs, that would be awesome.
...also, I assume the phone cannot receive calls (from your normal number) over WiFi, can it? It would be even nicer to be able to make and receive calls with the cellular network completely turned off. Imagine the battery life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Price will most likely be free like uma. On my wife's bold, wifi calls are free. The cellular radio will not need to be active as that would defeat the purpose. However, the new system doesn't do wifi to cellular hand-off. So if you leave the range of your wifi network, the call is dropped. also, I'm not sure how this is going to pan out, but the system apparently connects to the towers via the internet and the towers connect the call. I'm not sure if this means you need to be in a serviceable area or not, but it seemed rather odd to me.
In regards to the wifi calling app. The service (ability to make calls over wifi) will be free, making phone calls will deduct from normal minute buckets. T-Mobile states that they have it use your minutes because while it doesn't use a local tower it still goes through their system (ie call gets routed through web to tmobile switch and then is sent through a landline, which of course tmobile still pays the owner for, using @home only cuts the use of the one tower and base station, you still register on the network so you can use your normal # and receive calls. Which brings me to my last point...) you should be able to receive calls just fine.
One thing to keep in mind, wifi signal is degraded more heavily by the way you hold the phone than cell signal, if you download an app that monitors cell and wifi signal, you can see this for yourself. Something to keep in mind if you notice your calls are dropping a lot on wifi or you are missing calls.
In regards to needing to be in a servicable area, the service will work as long as there is wifi. Even in other countries.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2
But no free min via wifi, even for incoming? Lame and usless unless you have poor voice signal where you are.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
rpmccormick said:
But no free min via wifi, even for incoming? Lame and usless unless you have poor voice signal where you are.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True enough. In the past you could add unlimited calling over wifi for $10 per line or $20 for up to five. This feature was discountinued in 2008, with tmobile claiming only a tiny percentage of consumers used the service and that it would remain fir business customers (albeit at a higher price.)
If enough people request it, maybe tmobile will come out with the feature sooner. If you really want something like that, request it at @tmobile on twitter, ask on facebook, post on the support forums or call customer care. If enough people want it, it will happen.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2
Skype????????
I wonder how this will work on corporate plans.
we have about 150 blackberrys with wifi calling and we have a deal where it does not deduct from our minute pool
I really hope it comes out as an OTA.
Not because I'm concerned with wifi calling, I'm concerned with an OTA coming out... one that can help those many times smarter than I get root.
..That said bring it up to tmo at any chance!
so let me get this straight, so if i have the unlimited wifi (which i do) then when the wi-fi calling gets here (hopefully soon) then it will NOT be deducted from my minutes bucket right ?
Use skype........
-FuRBz- said:
so let me get this straight, so if i have the unlimited wifi (which i do) then when the wi-fi calling gets here (hopefully soon) then it will NOT be deducted from my minutes bucket right ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will still use your minutes.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
jasonvieira said:
I wonder how this will work on corporate plans.
we have about 150 blackberrys with wifi calling and we have a deal where it does not deduct from our minute pool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tl;dr
In short, no idea yet
In the billing system your calls from uma phones (and @home phones) get tagged as being a hotspot call (you see this on your paper or net bill with a letter designation.) The free uma calling service relies on the tag to make the calls free. If calls from the wifi calling app get this tag (it should show even without the free calling feature) the the calls will be free from the wifi calling app through the unlimited uma calling feature, otherwise no.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2
-FuRBz- said:
so let me get this straight, so if i have the unlimited wifi (which i do) then when the wi-fi calling gets here (hopefully soon) then it will NOT be deducted from my minutes bucket right ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, it won't be deducted from your minutes if you're already grandfathered & paying the monthly fee for unlimited uma/hotspot minutes (that's directly from the tmo techs' wifi calling training doc)

[Q] Tmo claims foreign wifi calling incurs foreign data chargesi

I just got off the phone with what seemed like a pretty knowledgeable rep and she said that tmobile will charge foreign data fees if you use wifi calling from another country. I asked how this was possible given that I would be connected to my hotel's wifi. She claims they look to see where the ip address is coming from. That sounds petty involved if you ask me, but not impossible. Does anyone know if this is true?
Thats odd, because I talked to a T-Mobile rep yesterday, and he said the exact opposite!
They really need to get this straight...
This stems from a misunderstanding a lot of reps(and even some supervisors) had from an internal communication earlier this year. Some customers had been able to make free international calls(dialing out TO a country besides the US) using UMA while roaming internationally. T-Mobile fixed the bug and sent out a communication that people could no longer make free INTERNATIONAL calls while connected to UMA while roaming internationally. Reps misread this as meaning that we would now be charging roaming even while on UMA/wifi calling and T-Mobile had devised some means for doing so. Not true- all it means is that while connected to UMA/wifi calling it's the same as if you're connected to the regular GSM network in the US. Regular calls to the US will be regular minutes and calls to any other country(even the one you're roaming in) results in international long distance charges. If baffles me that some reps still have this misunderstanding, because there's even a chart dealing with this issue on the internal website.
TL;DR: The rep you spoke to was confused. Don't worry, you can't be charged roaming while connected to UMA/wifi calling. Just remember it will be charged just like making a call from the US.
No data charges for WiFi calls, but does go against minutes...
shinkinrui said:
This stems from a misunderstanding a lot of reps(and even some supervisors) had from an internal communication earlier this year. Some customers had been able to make free international calls(dialing out TO a country besides the US) using UMA while roaming internationally. T-Mobile fixed the bug and sent out a communication that people could no longer make free INTERNATIONAL calls while connected to UMA while roaming internationally. Reps misread this as meaning that we would now be charging roaming even while on UMA/wifi calling and T-Mobile had devised some means for doing so. Not true- all it means is that while connected to UMA/wifi calling it's the same as if you're connected to the regular GSM network in the US. Regular calls to the US will be regular minutes and calls to any other country(even the one you're roaming in) results in international long distance charges. If baffles me that some reps still have this misunderstanding, because there's even a chart dealing with this issue on the internal website.
TL;DR: The rep you spoke to was confused. Don't worry, you can't be charged roaming while connected to UMA/wifi calling. Just remember it will be charged just like making a call from the US.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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I talked with a T-Mo G2 specialist and she basically said the same thing...While calling on WiFi, you will NOT incur ANY charges - however, she did say that the minutes you do use while calling on WiFi will be charged against your minutes. She also made it very clear that if the phone connects to the cellular system, then you will get charged for international roaming...
To prevent that, she even emailed me the sequence for making sure your phone does NOT connect to the foreign cellular provider...
Here it is...
1. From any Home screen, tap the Application Tray.
2. Scroll to and tap Wi-Fi Calling.
3. Tap the Menu key.
4. Tap Settings.
5. Tap Connection preferences.
6. Tap one of the following options:
o Wi-Fi Preferred: All calls go through Wi-Fi when connected to a Wi-Fi network. Calls drop as you leave the Wi-Fi range.
o Cellular Preferred: Calls go over the cellular network, and Wi-Fi Calling is a backup if the cellular network is not available.
o Wi-Fi Only: Calls can be made when connected to a Wi-Fi network. If there is no Wi-Fi network, then your calls cannot connect.
7. Tap OK.
Hope this helps...
laff4fun said:
------------------------------
I talked with a T-Mo G2 specialist and she basically said the same thing...While calling on WiFi, you will NOT incur ANY charges - however, she did say that the minutes you do use while calling on WiFi will be charged against your minutes. She also made it very clear that if the phone connects to the cellular system, then you will get charged for international roaming...
To prevent that, she even emailed me the sequence for making sure your phone does NOT connect to the foreign cellular provider...
Here it is...
1. From any Home screen, tap the Application Tray.
2. Scroll to and tap Wi-Fi Calling.
3. Tap the Menu key.
4. Tap Settings.
5. Tap Connection preferences.
6. Tap one of the following options:
o Wi-Fi Preferred: All calls go through Wi-Fi when connected to a Wi-Fi network. Calls drop as you leave the Wi-Fi range.
o Cellular Preferred: Calls go over the cellular network, and Wi-Fi Calling is a backup if the cellular network is not available.
o Wi-Fi Only: Calls can be made when connected to a Wi-Fi network. If there is no Wi-Fi network, then your calls cannot connect.
7. Tap OK.
Hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's odd because I just got off the phone with customer service too and the guy was looking stuff up when I asked him about international wifi calling then told me that they would charge international rates if the IP address of the wifi was outside the US. I hope he's wrong but would still use caution until we have stuff in writing.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
dystorteddream said:
So unless their billing system has come along by leaps and bounds in the past two years (Which I doubt SAMSON has) then I find it highly unbelievable that they're going to be tracking IP addresses for proper billing. Not to mention the fact that you can use Tor and other apps in order to have your IP change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's quickview now ; )
if your on wifi often enough to use wifi calling why not get magicjack, can use it with csip now.
davebu said:
if your on wifi often enough to use wifi calling why not get magicjack, can use it with csip now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya my sister-in-law uses it to call us while she is stationed in Italy. It works really well.
Two years ago I was told by TMo customer service that I would not be charged overseas calling if I used WiFi over there (Germany). I would be charged minutes, except I was calling M2M, so that was not to be a problem for those calls.
Got my bill. and there was $200 for overseas calls while I was on WiFI. I got most of it removed ONLY because I had been told it would not happen.
If they are ONLY charging minutes at US rates - that will be an improvement - but be careful. The posts on using magicjack may be the way to go.
Just out of curiosity, which phone did you use when the charges happened? It seems to me that the likely culprit is the phone not actually using UMA for the call. On Blackberry phones, you can tell when UMA is being used because the signal indicator will say "UMA" instead of EDGE or 3G. The post someone made about making sure the wifi calling app is set to ONLY route calls through wifi is a very good idea. It's all about making sure there's no connection happening through the roaming carrier's towers.
I think disabling worldclass (international roaming) can avoid such problem.
That is if you want to completely disable international roaming... When I go overseas, I usually prefer to have an option of making/receiving important calls (and/or communicate through texts) even at worldclass rates, but to avoid leisure calls. If I could use Wi-Fi for those - great.
But if not - those who are not aware, Skype is now available from the market with ability to make skype to skype calls for free over Wi-Fi (but not over mobile network) as well as very cheap skype to phone calls (again over Wi-Fi). Just add a few dollars of credit to your skype account before you go and call anywhere in the US for a couple of cents per minute as opposed to gambling with being hit by a few dollars/minute roaming bill. Putting $5 into your Skype account will give you about 200 minutes of talking vs risk of being billed that much for as little as 1 minute in some countries, or at most 5 minutes in others... Oh, and calling numbers in the country you travel to may be quite cheaper as well.
I'm currently in Japan and have been using the wi-fi calling through my hotel's wifi network. Having checked my bill online I see my minutes being used like I would see it if I were using a standard connection if I was in the states. I am not getting charged anything for data according to their website.
You can definitely set your phone to not connect to any foreign provider and send/receive calls only through wifi. This is obvious on my phone based on it having the normal signal bars grayed out and the wifi calling icon in the corner. Basically, I leave my phone on all the time and then I only get calls and texts when I re-enter my hotel's wifi area.
I don't know for sure, but this method appears like it might keep you from incurring foreign text messaging costs. That last statement is only a guess, I just don't see any charges yet on my phone bill.
Infinitron: Are you using the G2 or a Blackberry? I'm going to Europe this Friday and this would be really helpful.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
This information is posted on t-mobile.com in plain writing.
http://www.t-mobile.com/business/Information.aspx?tp=international_calling
When making a call over a Wi-Fi network while abroad, the call appears to be originating in the US—so calls made to the US are considered domestic calls. Similarly, calls made over Wi-Fi between two countries outside the US are rated as calls from the US, significantly reducing international calling costs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gaww said:
Two years ago I was told by TMo customer service that I would not be charged overseas calling if I used WiFi over there (Germany). I would be charged minutes, except I was calling M2M, so that was not to be a problem for those calls.
Got my bill. and there was $200 for overseas calls while I was on WiFI. I got most of it removed ONLY because I had been told it would not happen.
If they are ONLY charging minutes at US rates - that will be an improvement - but be careful. The posts on using magicjack may be the way to go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you call a non-domestic number, while using wifi calling (UMA) anywhere in the world, you will be charged extra.
If you think you are using UMA (WiFi) but actually connect using an overseas mobile carrier, then you will be charged extra. If your call drops from Wifi and connects to local overseas mobile carrier, then you will be charged extra.
Well i think the rep is correct and if you are flying international they will charge you for the roaming calls because you are using phone minutes. Make sure that you use the service at your own risk because it might get you a big bill from T Mobile

Using my Evo in the Caribbean

I will be in the Dominican Republic next week, and was wondering if using the "Roam Control" app will allow me to use my phone. I know that their national provider is Verizon, so I was thinking that Roam Control will hopefully allow me to use my phone.
Thanks!
Rob the plumber said:
I will be in the Dominican Republic next week, and was wondering if using the "Roam Control" app will allow me to use my phone. I know that their national provider is Verizon, so I was thinking that Roam Control will hopefully allow me to use my phone.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but Sprint international roaming will probably apply. I copy and pasted the pricing from sprint.com.
Voice Pricing: $1.99/minute
Special Voice Pricing: $1.69/min. with plan
Data Pricing: $0.006/KB
Text Pricing: Send: $0.50/recipient; Received: $0.05/msg
Access Code (CDMA): "011"
Country Code: "1"
Dialing Information
roam control only tells your phone to use home, roaming, or auto connections, doesn't enable your phone to do anything it won't do on it's own
ur going to DR for vacation i assume...WHAT THE HELL DO YOU NEED A CELL PHONE FOR? LOL sorry, im half dominican and ive been dying to go. so when i finallydo, i will not be taking any electronics with me or atleast turning them on lol
Thanks for the info. I was told that roam control would allow you to use other carriers towers, but did not think about roaming charges. I've played around with it quite a bit and don't remember seeing roaming charges on my bill.
you dont have the roaming charges in the us unless over half your calls are on another network(well thats how it use to be) but if u are out of country you will have roaming charges
Have you tried calling Sprint to see what they say or recommend?
Personally if I knew I would have access to WiFi I would use cm7 or fring and use SIP for free. It's actually quite a spiffy setup... I recently tried it out on cm7 and I am impressed. More info here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=921946

"Roaming"?

I got my Sprint GS3 a few days ago, and noticed even before I rooted and flashed FreeGS3 that my phone occasionally warns me that I'm roaming (and displays a small triangle by its signal bars) when I'm in certain parts of my house that have bad cell service. Is this some kind of bug or am I going to be charged for roaming?? If it's the latter can someone confirm exactly which boxes to check under Roaming to simply deny me cell service rather than have me get charged extra for accessing a separate network?
Thanks!
EDIT: I guess if I change "Roaming network" to "Sprint only" it won't let the phone roam. The follow-up question is still then whether or not domestic roaming costs anything and if not whether or not there's a reason to keep it off.
Domestic roaming is included in your plan. They will not charge you for any data or voice you use during roaming. However, if you use excessive roaming data or minutes, sprint will boot you off their network. By the way, when you roam, you're connected to Verizon's network.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
As mentioned, you can roam at no extra cost... but the "roaming alert" does get really obnoxious. I have several dead zones inside my house and I hate when the notification pops up, particularly if I'm on wi-fi and not even doing anything on the phone that would use the cellular network.
Ascertion said:
Domestic roaming is included in your plan. They will not charge you for any data or voice you use during roaming. However, if you use excessive roaming data or minutes, sprint will boot you off their network. By the way, when you roam, you're connected to Verizon's network.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah alright. I was messing with the Roaming settings to try and get the roaming alert thing to stop bothering me but I couldn't figure it out. I had domestic roaming guard off, network set to automatic, and the domestic roaming boxes checked for voice and data. Anything else I should be doing?
advancedbasic said:
Ah alright. I was messing with the Roaming settings to try and get the roaming alert thing to stop bothering me but I couldn't figure it out. I had domestic roaming guard off, network set to automatic, and the domestic roaming boxes checked for voice and data. Anything else I should be doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bug the hell out of sprint... Why should any of us be "roaming" So much to begin with. Seriously, I would (and I personally have done this) call them and complain about how much roaming you "do"... That way you are on record whenever their roaming dept. calls you to bust your chops about roaming data usage. Just my 2 cents...
Sent from my SPH-L710

Data Settings

When you look under Data Networks, my Note 4 is set in Global...should I switch it to LTE?
Sent from a Constant State of Confusion
big70tom said:
When you look under Data Networks, my Note 4 is set in Global...should I switch it to LTE?
Sent from a Constant State of Confusion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're not traveling or planing to use differnet SIM cards then it's doesn't matter if you set to LTE or Global. The only thing you need to pay attention to is "no roaming", this prevent you to pay extra if you are outside of VZ network and using other cell sites from other network. By default it should already set to no roaming.
buhohitr said:
If you're not traveling or planing to use differnet SIM cards then it's doesn't matter if you set to LTE or Global. The only thing you need to pay attention to is "no roaming", this prevent you to pay extra if you are outside of VZ network and using other cell sites from other network. By default it should already set to no roaming.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm not mistaken LTE/CDMA mode only should save you on battery life, unless this has been a placebo effect, but in my experience it definitely saves battery. When I'm overseas, at least, I know that putting it in GSM only mode saves a ton of battery because it isn't always scanning for CDMA, but not sure if it works the same way here in the US, since LTE is technically a GSM standard anyways, so honestly not sure.
Mine was set to the same. Changed it to cdma/lte.
Sent from my Note 4.
If you look at your APN it default to version which is CDMA/LTE, in order for it to find other cell towel network when VZ lte is not available, you need to enable roaming, now global mode come into play when you add another APN let say from AT&T then it will search for AT&T network. If you're in US, it doesn't matter when settings and it has nothing to do with your battery usage. PPL that complained about battery drain is most likely they are not received good signal since then it will try to search for both network to find signal. If you want to have a peace of mind then set it to CDMA/LTE, you can't loose on this settings.

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