Wi-Fi Calling shows that it's turned ON however, calls being placed and received continue to rely on tower signal

My wife and I have been experiencing this issue for quite some time now and it's quite frustrating. Here are all the steps I've taken to solve the issue (assume I've done the same with her phone):

Restarted my phone
Gone to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings
Updated and Re-updated my Emergency Address
Verified that the Wi-Fi Calling option is set to On
- Under Cellular and Phone
Consulted other forums for advice

Still, when calls are placed or received inside of my house (which gets terrible cell signal, but strong Wi-Fi signal), the calls seem to prefer or rather, prioritize the weak cell signal over the stronger Wi-Fi signal. Is there an option I'm missing for calls and data to prefer Wi-Fi over cell signal? Is this an ongoing issue for anyone else? Please advise.

Responses

DaveO3

Problem Solver

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772 Messages

4 years ago

As I understand it, calls will be initiated using cellular if available. Once connected, if you walk and talk and move around your house and lose the cellular signal the call may or may not handoff to WiFi Calling, depending on whether your call was initiated on 3G or on LTE, or whatever. Domestically (in the US) you cannot prefer WiFi Calling, but internationally while roaming you can prefer WiFi Calling.

The only sure way to use WiFi calling is to turn on airplane mode.

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CapRavOr

Visitor

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2 Messages

@DaveO3 After going over this thread, I've seen your proposed solution and tried it. Still, my phone indicates that WiFi Calling is turned on, but it doesn't behave as such. This is all occurring in tandem with my wife's iPhone. I've implemented all the suggestions in this thread and still it doesn't seem that WiFi is being used to make or receive calls. For example:

My wife is in the basement. She's alive and well, just thought I should mention that. Her iPhone has zero "cell service". No bars, no LTE sign, nothin. The WiFi signal however, is strong. I know that because she can load and reload online applications very quickly and she has no cell service. If she attempts to make a call, immediately it says "Call Failed". If I make an outbound call to her, I get sent straight to voicemail.

And theoretically, this shouldn't be the case, right? If I'm in our house, using my WiFi and she's in our house using WiFi, as long as the WiFi signal is strong enough, whether or not we have actual cell service shouldn't matter... right? Am I understanding this wrong? It worked just peachy with Verizon.

Honestly, I think the problem may lie within the Phone application for iPhone, itself. Couldn't it be plausible that making/receiving calls and which network to prioritize is ultimately decided (or executed) by the Carrier's service interacting with the Phone application? Or am I just offering gibberish lol

3 years ago

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DaveO3

Problem Solver

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772 Messages

3 years ago

WiFi Calling Possible Problem

If you move around your house or away from you house and your phone hands off from one WiFi network name (SSID) to another WiFi network name (SSID), could be a neighbor’s SSID, it may drop a call. If you have a newer router with both 2.4 and 5 GHz activated on the same SSID, not necessarily a good idea for a phone, your call may drop if your phone is handed off from one to the other as you get further or closer to your router.

Probable Fix

1.) Make sure that your phone is not handing off from one SSID to another SSID by turning off all automatic connections to any other nearby WiFi networks. You may have to “forget” some networks that you connected to previously.

2.) Reconfigure your router SSID to only use either 2.4 or 5 GHz, not both. Newer routers may have automatically been set to use both which is great for desktops and laptops, but not for WiFi Calling on phones. If you need the extra range use 2.4 GHz.

WiFi Calling requires a strong and consistent signal!

Good Luck.

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Plan

CapRavOr

Wi-Fi Calling shows that it's turned ON however, calls being placed and received continue to rely on tower signal

DaveO3

CapRavOr

DaveO3

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