My wife and I both have a sprint / now tmobile s20 with the same issue. At home I have poor cell signal, 1-2 bars. When I'm on a call using WiFi calling, as soon as I get 2 bars of signal it switch's to volte, and almost always drops the call. The only "fix" I've found is switching the network mode to 2g only, then it will always use wifi calling. Sprint has been no help, and they no longer offer a signal booster. Anyone have any ideas what I can do to stop dropping calls at home?
tjmortenson said:
My wife and I both have a sprint / now tmobile s20 with the same issue. At home I have poor cell signal, 1-2 bars. When I'm on a call using WiFi calling, as soon as I get 2 bars of signal it switch's to volte, and almost always drops the call. The only "fix" I've found is switching the network mode to 2g only, then it will always use wifi calling. Sprint has been no help, and they no longer offer a signal booster. Anyone have any ideas what I can do to stop dropping calls at home?
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Since both you and your wife are experiencing the same problem it's likely you're in a dead zone where a decent signal isn't possible due to poor network capabilities. I doubt it's a defect in your devices and T-mobile isn't going to invest in additional equipment for a handful of customers. Your best and realistically only option is switching service providers. If you entered into a fixed term agreement you can terminate it for cause however if your devices are included in a promotion you may have to return them to cancel the agreement. If T-mobile refuses contact your local BBB, that will get their attention.
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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.
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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:
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
Hi Guys,
I have a brand new GSIII 32 gig. I live in Chicago (No LTE). I'm on the Sprint CDMA network. I have 3g Data.
My connection bars will fluctuate constantly from near full signal, to 1 bar, to no bars, to near full signal, to Roaming, out roaming, full signal, etc. I cannot make a phone call or send a text. But, I have successfully placed a call when the phone happens to be in its "roaming phase".
Note that this has happened to me on another device: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1025108
I've updated the PRL and the profile several times. I've done a hard reset of the phone...
What is happening? Tech support has been completely unhelpful. They claim that there are some open tickets in my area for towers blocking voice (and text). But, my wife and brother have the same phones (though my wife's is 16gig) and theirs work fine (same carrier, same family plan)...
Any thoughts, suggestions, things to try?
Best,
Eamon
I've been in and out as well and I'm in Colorado so it might just be tower upgrades going on or something . No clue though lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
What I don't understand is why my wife and brother have working phones on the same tower. This is obviously a problem with provisioning my # but who can I talk to about this?? Customer support simply tries phone resets and prl updates.
Thinking about switching to T-mobile in the SW Suburbs of Chicago; I'm on wifi most of the time, so data speed isnt important to me, but, we MUST have good phone call quality in our house.
Is this an issue for anyone in chicago land, or, if we get a phone that is "wifi capable", and we have a fast,strong, wifi network in our house, does this become a non issue?
We had ATT, which was no problem in the house, and recently switched to Sprint, with the hopes of a stong "Spark Network" here; well, one of our phones in Spark compatible, and works fine, but the other 2 phones are HTC One's, not spark "compatible", and have poor phone call quality and reception in the house. We are waiting on an AirRave front Sprint, but, if that doesnt work, we're ready to go to T-Mobile..
Sorry for this weird question here, but, I trust my buds on XDA to give a real report on stuff like this, NOT the people from T-Mobile
Thanks! :good:
What town are you in? I have excellent call quality in Posen/Oak Forest/Orland Park/Crestwood area. And LTE when available is super solid. Seen a best of 39MBPS in Ookla App. I also had ATT until recently. I really can say, that I'm happy I made the switch. I also know many ppl who are on sprint and constantly suffer from dropped calls and data connection issues, my house is a sprint problem area as well btw.
Sent from my SM-N900T using XDA Premium HD app
I'm next to burr ridge/willowbrook, in an area called Timberlake.
My Sprint Airrave is supposed to be here tomorrow, and if it doesnt fix the problem, its tmobile and wifi calling for us!
We had Sprint for many years here, using an AirRave, and it was fine, but, a couple of years ago, their network went completely to hell, so we switched to ATT; after awhile, they were just bad to deal with, and Sprint announced this new Spark Network, in Chicago, so we thought, why not, its cheaper than ATT, and with this new network, it will be fine.
Problem is, if you dont have one of their 3 tri band phones,(which I have, but my wife/son do NOT), then making calls in some areas is horrible.
My wife works from home alot, and making calls for her is bad news, especially conference calls on Global Crossing, so if the Airrave, which uses wifi/internet to make calls, doesnt work, its t-mobile for us.
I understand that using wifi to make calls from you house with Tmobile is fantastic, and I have a great, Asus ac1900 wifi router in the house, which gives super fast and strong wifi, so I am sure that t-mobile wifi calls would be clear as a bell here!
thanks for the info :good:
wase4711 said:
I'm next to burr ridge/willowbrook, in an area called Timberlake.
My Sprint Airrave is supposed to be here tomorrow, and if it doesnt fix the problem, its tmobile and wifi calling for us!
We had Sprint for many years here, using an AirRave, and it was fine, but, a couple of years ago, their network went completely to hell, so we switched to ATT; after awhile, they were just bad to deal with, and Sprint announced this new Spark Network, in Chicago, so we thought, why not, its cheaper than ATT, and with this new network, it will be fine.
Problem is, if you dont have one of their 3 tri band phones,(which I have, but my wife/son do NOT), then making calls in some areas is horrible.
My wife works from home alot, and making calls for her is bad news, especially conference calls on Global Crossing, so if the Airrave, which uses wifi/internet to make calls, doesnt work, its t-mobile for us.
I understand that using wifi to make calls from you house with Tmobile is fantastic, and I have a great, Asus ac1900 wifi router in the house, which gives super fast and strong wifi, so I am sure that t-mobile wifi calls would be clear as a bell here!
thanks for the info :good:
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I live in Joliet, and I get great service. Always connected to LTE, and never lose signal. I get spotty service in my apartment, but that may be because I'm on the bottom floor of a 3 story building. It doesn't bother me though because wifi calling works like a charm!
Just switched over to Ting from Sprint using same cellular network. We didn't have any trouble on Sprint. Now however both me and my wife's Nexus 5x get signal drops and when we go to make a call see "Cellular Network is Unavailable" messages. Anyone else see something similar?
I've been having no service issues in and around my apartment complex since Tuesday. T-Mobile. I've tried switching sim cards.
I can drive 100 feet in either direction and pickup signal, but as soon as I get to my home area, I lose it. I also lost signal at a friends apartment complex half way across town, but had signal along the way. Not sure if it's my device or T-mobile....
Try updating the PRL and Carrier Settings. That usually fixes it for me.
I've used pixel phones for the past 4 years and both my Pixel 1XL and 3XL both do not kick over to Wifi calling until the signal was horrid (-120db +) on standby. I frequent lots of areas where the signal is sub par, but usable (-110 to -120db). The major issue with this logic is that you start a call on the network (in my case VZW) and shortly after the call connects to the person on the other end it kicks onto Wifi Calling. This is NOT a smooth transition. There is a 1-2 second 'blip' that causes the audio to cut out and I have to repeat myself... which is incredibility frustrating. I could turn off wifi calling, but then go into places like a basement and loose the call every time. The iPhone on the other hand if it has 1-3 bars and good wifi it switches to wifi and stays parked on wifi until you leave the wifi coverage area or the wireless coverage improves. What determines the signal level that the phones switch to wifi calling? Is it Android or the carrier? Does this differ my phone manufacturer? I'm looking to switch from Verizon to ATT, and ATT doesn't offer an updated LTE Microcell which means I would rely on wifi calling in my basement. I don't want to have the same wifi calling experience I have seen on VZW with a Pixel. Does Oneplus, LG, or Samsung do this better? Is there a root hack I could use to fix the problem?
I've only used it a couple of times as T-Mo isn't good where I'm at. I mean exactly where I'm at. I'm like in a dead zone in my apartment/complex. I get 1-2 bars max, but I can go about 20 yards, and get full bars. Wi-Fi was hit and miss as much as a bad cell signal for me. I tried to use it as "always on", but it didn't matter. I gave up, and ended up getting one of T-Mo's personal CellSpots, so now I get full bars in my place, and never have to use Wi-Fi calling. But to answer your question for me, yes, it sucks to use Wi-Fi calling.
WiFi calling is highly sensitive to your internet connection quality and jitter and also your router. I have had multiple configurations since WiFi calling has come into play. Your wireless router plays the biggest part from what I've noticed and their is so many different ones out there now. Best thing to do first is if you have a computer with a lan cable. Plug it directly into your modem and do a jitter test like this one https://www.fusionconnect.com/speed-test-plus/
Then make a note of what your results are. Now plug everything else back and set it up like your normally would have it and then do the same test over wireless through your router and compare the results to the first test. If they are quite a bit worst than the first results then your router is screwing it up. Most likely it's a premium feature (gimmick) that the router has that is screwing up stuff. I've only had TMobile with WiFi calling but my brother was on Verizon WiFi calling for a bit before switching over to TMobile and once I had a good configuration dialed in with a good internet connection and a good router set up he had no problems except for if he walked out of WiFi range sometimes. We don't have the best LTE signal at the house so the switchover wouldn't always be the smoothest.
Best combo I've tried so far is an Ubiquiti Edgerouter X and then using an Ubiquiti Unifi WiFi access point to give out WiFi. The Edgerouter X has a better type of QoS than most home routers nowadays and it can help WiFi calling issues a lot.
Now I have never experienced this issue you describe with it cutting out upon connection but it does sound like a typical switchover issue where it is switching from wifi calling to LTE or vice versa. Unfortunately that depends on the carrier and how they implement it on their network but I would definitely advise experimenting with your home internet set up if you ever have enough time as that could definitely be a factor as well
I have yet to see WI-FI calling work reliably - ( Engineer w/ 20+ yrs) Another technology pushed to production way too early.