WiFi calling on Lebara?

TravellingHopefully

I switched to Lebara (from GiffGaff) because I have moved house and there is no coverage where I am now.  Lebara advertises support for WiFi calling on my Iphone 8 which fixes that, or should do.  GifgGaff do now support WiFi calling apparently but not on my phone.  New Sim £1.20, new phone £500 - not a difficult choice.

Apparently it takes Lebara a while after you first connect to enable WiFi calling.  I can live with that, but they have texted me to say it is enabled now and it doesn't work (can't be switched on - I get an error message saying call Vodafone..) 

I have had a disappointing chat exchange with Lebara which I will post in a moment.

oldernonethewiser

Have you called Vodafone to see what they say?

I had issues when I switched to Lebara with an iPhone.  Spoke to the people at Apple who gave me the info I then needed to use to tell Lebara how to make Wifi calling work.

TravellingHopefully

Lebara UK — Let's Chat!

 

Hi, I'm Blue, your Lebara digital assistant!
How can I help you today? Please choose from one of the following options:

11:54 am

Chat with an agent (8am-9pm)

done_all11:54 am

 

Before we connect you to an agent, do you have a MyLebara account?

11:54 am

Yes

done_all11:54 am

Please log in to your account so we can verify your details. You'll then be transferred to an agent.

11:54 am

 

One moment please. We are connecting you with a member of staff

11:55 am

 

<Name removed>
Hi, Welcome to Lebara. My name is <Name removed>. How can I help you today?

11:55 am

Hi <Name removed>. I have had a SMS from you saying VoLTE and WiFi calling are now enabled, but if I try to switch them on on my phone I get a message saying I need to talk to Vodafone to use the feature.

done_all11:56 am

 

<Name removed>
<Name removed>, our network partner is Vodafone so that is the reason it is giving you that message.

11:58 am

So you actually want me to call Vodafone to make WiFi calling work?

done_all11:58 am

 

<Name removed>
I will check the settings for you. May I know which handset you are using?

12:00 pm

(I know Lebara is a 'piggyback' network on top of Vodafone, but that isn't helping me get WiFi calling to work.)

done_all12:00 pm

Iphone 8

done_all12:00 pm

 

<Name removed>
Kindly give me two minutes, while I check the details for you.

12:02 pm

 

<Name removed>
Thank you for staying connected.

12:04 pm

<Name removed>
As I have checked with the team, your number has just been ported in to Lebara, Wifi calling will automatically get activated. Please wait for 48 working hours.

12:05 pm

That would explain it not working straight away, but you have sent me a text message "Hello, WiFi calling and 4G calling (VoLTE calling) is now available on your Lebara mobile number. To set it up on your device visit <link removed>"

done_all12:07 pm

Do you really send that message out *before* it has been activated?

done_all12:07 pm

<Name removed>
That is an automated notification sent to all customers. Kindly wait for 48 working hours for the service to work.

12:08 pm

I'm quite annoyed about that - it does seem designed to waste my time. Also, could you explain what you mean by 48 *working* hours please?

done_all12:09 pm

<Name removed>
Please wait till Monday for the service to work. Weekends are non- working day.

12:10 pm

Bizarre.

done_all12:10 pm

<Name removed>
<Name removed>, let me raise a complaint and someone from the team will contact you.

12:11 pm

Could you feed back to your management that messaging to say something works when it won't work for another several days is a sure way to irritate customers please.

done_all12:11 pm

I don't really need them to contact me - I'd like them, to (a) enable WiFi calling and (b) for the benefit for future customers stop sending messages out that are untrue!

done_all12:12 pm

Thanks.

done_all12:12 pm

<Name removed>
I understand your concern, as I have informed since you have just ported your number to Lebara, you have to wait for 48 working hours for wifi to get activated. Also, regarding the message, I will take that as a feedback and share the same with the team

12:14 pm

Thanks <Name removed>, have a good day.

done_all12:14 pm

 

oldernonethewiser

You would never guess they work from a script

TravellingHopefully

oldernonethewiser said:

Have you called Vodafone to see what they say?

I had issues when I switched to Lebara with an iPhone.  Spoke to the people at Apple who gave me the info I then needed to use to tell Lebara how to make Wifi calling work.

No - I'm pretty sure Vodafone would tell me to go away!  They sell capacity to Lebara on the understanding that Lebara front it and provide support.  Thanks for the comment though.

Assuming the lebara chat agent had some clue what is going on it looks like it might work next week, which is OK - I'm just irritated that I wasted my time checking settings, restarting, swapping SIM in and out etc to try to get it working today based on the  false promise of the message.

reddwarf2002

The agent may not be telling porkies...It might be that had you not ported your number over it would have activated when the message arrived. Since you ported your number over, the system may need to update some systems with the new number. Just my guess.

jimjames

WiFi calling definitely works on Lebara but if it is phone dependent then that's not really their fault. It works on a Google Pixel but no idea on iPhone support.

d123

TravellingHopefully said:

I switched to Lebara (from GiffGaff) because I have moved house and there is no coverage where I am now.  Lebara advertises support for WiFi calling on my Iphone 8 which fixes that, or should do.  GifgGaff do now support WiFi calling apparently but not on my phone.  New Sim £1.20, new phone £500 - not a difficult choice.

Apparently it takes Lebara a while after you first connect to enable WiFi calling.  I can live with that, but they have texted me to say it is enabled now and it doesn't work (can't be switched on - I get an error message saying call Vodafone..) 

I have had a disappointing chat exchange with Lebara which I will post in a moment.

I’ve had an issue with porting in and then having a problem with WiFiCalling on iPhone in the past.

Try this:

iMessage and FaceTime can prevent WiFiCalling from activating, go into settings and switch them off and then go delete and re-add/save your phone number (also in settings). Go back and switch iMessage and FaceTime back on. 

Restart your phone (iPhone 8 will be press and hold the home button and power button until the Apple logo appears).

Go back into the settings and see if you can now activate WiFiCalling.

This worked for me when I got the same message as you when trying to switch WiFiCalling on using TalkMobile (also a Vodafone MVNO).

flaneurs_lobster

FWIW I've never heard of an iPhone (from 7 onwards) that wasn't able to use wi-fi calling when it was available at the network.

Apple don't allow their soft/firmware to be meddled with, unlike phone manufacturers who use Android.

oldernonethewiser

jimjames said:

WiFi calling definitely works on Lebara but if it is phone dependent then that's not really their fault. It works on a Google Pixel but no idea on iPhone support.

Fortunately the OP clarified that Wifi calling works on their phone before moving to Lebara

tinker411

flaneurs_lobster said:

FWIW I've never heard of an iPhone (from 7 onwards) that wasn't able to use wi-fi calling when it was available at the network.

Apple don't allow their soft/firmware to be meddled with, unlike phone manufacturers who use Android.

There's giffgaff (as OP and their iPhone 8 discovered) - circa iPhone 10/X series and up for WiFi calling there, according to their own list anyway:

https://www.giffgaff.com/help/articles/wifi-calling