Lebara - no SMS using WiFi Calling

ecd2

Hello everyone, wondering if anyone has some experience that might help me.
We live in a valley which is a mobile desert - no signal from any mobile provider, so we rely on WiFi calling when at home.
Just switched SIMs from BT/EE to Lebara to save a few pounds a month.  WiFi calling worked for both voice and SMS on my cheap Xiaomi/Redmi phone, so I took the plunge and switched my wife's SIM over too.  She has a Samsung Galaxy S8, which counts as elderly by modern standards, but is perfectly functional.  WiFi voice calling works on that with the Lebara SIM, but SMS send/receive does not.  This is a showstopper when waiting for verification codes from banks etc  - or ironically the My Lebara app
Lebara's response to similar problems reported by others on this forum does not inspire confidence that they will be able to fix this.
Does anyone know of a SIM-only provider whose WiFi calling works properly on a similarly "vintage" Android 9 phone?

ProDave

The mobile industry does indeed seem a bit mixed up with the technology it uses.  the "problem" you have is the Vodafone network implements SMS slightly different to others.  We have the same issue with my wifes Galaxy A12.

It is even more complicated that there is more than one sort of SMS message.  In our case my wifes phone will receive an SMS from a private individual by wifi, but the way commercial SMS are sent for verification codes is different and that does not work by wifi, she has to wander around the house and find a real signal to receive those.

To get a reliable signal that works on old phones, you need to stick to the EE network, which for wifi calling either means direct with EE, or currently 1Pmobile are the only other provider using the EE network that offer wifi calling.  RWG who also use the EE network have been saying for some time they plan to include wifi calling at some point, but don't yet.

My even more ancient Galaxy A3 works fine for SMS via wifi calling with 1P Mobile.