ThreeInTouch WIFI calling alternative?

userdefinable

I'm a Three customer and have no reception in my home or garden. Three have acknowledged "limited connectivity" in my area in multiple conversations I've had with them in the 1.5 years I've been at the property. Despite this, they still show great coverage for this post code on their website!

I know that all mobile phone operators have poor coverage here, as all our visitors struggle with connectivity, no matter their network. It's frustrating as we live in the suburbs of London, not in the middle of nowhere.

I have been using the ThreeInTouch WIFI calling app, but they have just announced that on 15th May the app will be removed, and no one will be able to use it anymore. I'm now in a bit of a panic because my phone (pixel v1) does not support WIFI calling (toggle greyed out in hidden phone settings) and no mobile phone networks list it as a compatible device for their WIFI calling.

I work from home and need to be able to make and receive calls as I'm also the primary support for my elderly mum who has dementia!

Does anyone know of any app I can use for WIFI calling, that will work with my existing Three phone number? There seems to be other apps but they all provide you with a new number, especially for the WIFI calling.

My only current options seem to be to shell out £400+ for a newer phone, or try my luck with another network.

glennevis

You could ask Three whether you are eligible for a Three Home Signal box. This is not an app, it is hardware (probably a femtocell).
They may provide one for you to install in your home.

Go to the support site

http://support.three.co.uk/
and search for the phrase 'Home Signal' to read up about it.

According to the info:

"Only eligible people will be sent Home Signal. To find out whether you might be eligible, call us on 333 and select option 3."

glennevis

Quick update.
As I have the same issues as the OP I phoned Three this morning and they are sending me a Home Signal Box for free.


Main criteria for eligibility (obviously as well as a poor signal and having a home broadband router with a spare ethernet port to connect the Box to) is that you have to be in contract. I checked with them and if eligible you can continue to use it after your contract goes onto a rolling one month contract.

20aday

It sounds as if you might be better off with a Home Signal Box; I would've suggested ordering a free SIM from another provider however as far as I'm aware none of them offer WiFi Calling on Pay as You Go.

Worst case scenario and you won't need to shell out £400+ for a phone that supports WiFi Calling; I have a Nokia 5 (cost £100 from Tesco Mobile) and tried my EE SIM in it; it works.

greyteam1959

I moved from Three for this very reason.
Went to BT ( as I already had BB with them ) they use EE.
The BT wifi calling app works extremely well for me.
Maybe time the OP bit the bullet & bought a newer phone ??

userdefinable

Thank you for the suggestions, I'm going through a complaints process at the moment with three. I am going to try and get a Home Signal Box as people have suggested. I will update when I hear back.

J_B

Someone on another thread suggested buying on of these boxes off eBay, but there are some comments on there suggesting that they may be account specific - can anyone confirm this?

glennevis

Why would you buy one on eBay when Three will send you one for free if you need it?

Neil_Jones

Three won't send you one if you're PAYG, I said as much in my thread further down the forum. You have to be contract or they'll basically tell you to either do one or go contract.

However I have now discovered, thanks to free PAYG sims, I can get an o2 signal all over my flat where I cannot get a Three signal (which was pretty much everywhere really so I was well dependent on the Wifi Calling app ), so for my purposes a spot of tethering to use up the credit and a switch will solve my issue.

J_B

J_B wrote: »

Someone on another thread suggested buying on of these boxes off eBay, but there are some comments on there suggesting that they may be account specific - can anyone confirm this?

glennevis wrote: »

Why would you buy one on eBay when Three will send you one for free if you need it?

Many thanks - box ordered today ... only took half an hour on the phone!

Boringfrog

Have you tried enabling Advanced Calling before trying to turn on WiFi calling?