SMS over WiFi and WiFi calling on phone not bought from network provider?

jon81uk

dave_dph said:

jon81uk said:

Normally at home the WiFi calling doesn't "switch on" because the phone/network sees good enough phone signal, but if I am somewhere with poor signal then WiFi calling works fine.

You can lock Wifi calling on when at home by putting the phone into airplane mode and then switching Wifi back on (on the phone).

Yes sorry should have said that too. I've done it to test it, but as the Three signal is fine there is no need to constantly do it.

victor2

dave_dph said:

jon81uk said:

Normally at home the WiFi calling doesn't "switch on" because the phone/network sees good enough phone signal, but if I am somewhere with poor signal then WiFi calling works fine.

You can lock Wifi calling on when at home by putting the phone into airplane mode and then switching Wifi back on (on the phone).

Handy little tip. My signal is non-existent in the house, but useful to remember if you've got a weak signal.

alanjones60

sandspider2000 said:

Thanks folks.

I'm Android, and wouldn't go iPhone ever!

Will look at 3, as they seem to be most flebile in terms of supported phones. They do have the worst signal round me though. I have heard good things about smarty...

Smarty runs on,and is owned by 3. I used to have a s7 till recently,and wifi calling and volte always worked on my 3 sim even though the s7 was unlocked from 02

dave_dph

Further to my previous post, I can now confirm that Wifi calling and 4G calling do not work with Smarty on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 9. I was expecting it to, seen as it works perfectly on 3. Ah well!

jnm21

To get WiFi calling to work on a Poco F3 I had to google a USSD code - think it was:

*#*#869434#*#*

The option was not visible until I ran that code (just dial it as if it was a phone number & press call).

oldagetraveller1

jnm21 said:

To get WiFi calling to work on a Poco F3 I had to google a USSD code - think it was:

*#*#869434#*#*

The option was not visible until I ran that code (just dial it as if it was a phone number & press call).

Strange. I have a F3 with a SMARTY sim. Wifi calling works fine.

Only needed Settings - SIM cards and mobile networks - select SMARTY sim - scroll down - toggle on "Make calls using Wi-Fi".

Tokmon

sandspider2000 said:

Hi folks

We're with Vodafone, and live in a no signal (from anyone) area. We've used a Vodafone sure signal device for years quite happily, but apparently they're shutting them down in the next month or so. (Got a new phone and new contract a month or two ago, timing - would have been nice to have some notice, Vodafone).

My phone does support Wifi calling on Vodafone (even though Voda say it's not supported) but it won't accept or send texts (basic SMS) via WiFi. And they won't allow my phone to do SMS over WiFi as I didn't buy it from them. Seems unfair!

Anyway, I'm looking at moving to other providers, but most don't seem to offer signal boosters any more, and won't offer (or at least, won't guarantee) WiFi calling & SMS unless the phone was bought from them direct. I hear a rumour that this will change, and mobile providers won't be able to only offer WiFi calling and SMS on phones bought from them directly. Does anyone know more about this, and when it might happen? Or does anyone know of a mobile provider that does still offer signal boosters (to non business customers) or supports WiFi calling and SMS on phones not bought from the provider?

Thank you.

I've previously had a phone from a different network and to get the Wi-Fi calling working properly I had to re-flash the firmware with the networks version they supply with the phone. It was a Samsung and easy to do and find the firmware online so depends on what phone you have you might be able to do this.

Also they aren't "signal boosters" as those are illegal in the UK. They are femtocells because they generate their own signal and don't receive a weak signal and boost it.

sandspider2000

Thanks. My phone is a Xiaomi Poco, so possibly not as easy to find Vodafone firmware for it - not as common or popular as Samsungs I think. Worth a look though, maybe it'll become more common. Or maybe network operators restricting WiFi calling to phones they've sold will be clamped down on - fingers crossed.  

nick74

Tokmon said:

sandspider2000 said:

Hi folks

We're with Vodafone, and live in a no signal (from anyone) area. We've used a Vodafone sure signal device for years quite happily, but apparently they're shutting them down in the next month or so. (Got a new phone and new contract a month or two ago, timing - would have been nice to have some notice, Vodafone).

My phone does support Wifi calling on Vodafone (even though Voda say it's not supported) but it won't accept or send texts (basic SMS) via WiFi. And they won't allow my phone to do SMS over WiFi as I didn't buy it from them. Seems unfair!

Anyway, I'm looking at moving to other providers, but most don't seem to offer signal boosters any more, and won't offer (or at least, won't guarantee) WiFi calling & SMS unless the phone was bought from them direct. I hear a rumour that this will change, and mobile providers won't be able to only offer WiFi calling and SMS on phones bought from them directly. Does anyone know more about this, and when it might happen? Or does anyone know of a mobile provider that does still offer signal boosters (to non business customers) or supports WiFi calling and SMS on phones not bought from the provider?

Thank you.

I've previously had a phone from a different network and to get the Wi-Fi calling working properly I had to re-flash the firmware with the networks version they supply with the phone. It was a Samsung and easy to do and find the firmware online so depends on what phone you have you might be able to do this.

Also they aren't "signal boosters" as those are illegal in the UK. They are femtocells because they generate their own signal and don't receive a weak signal and boost it.

They used to be illegal, however the law was changed in 2018 to allow them in certain situations:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/features-and-news/mobile-phone-repeaters