Wifi Calling on Tracfone

[Bitzer18]

I have two Tracfone (Verizon) phones. Both numbers were ported into Tracfone, one from a landline and the other from Verizon postpaid. One phone is a Galaxy A10e which is a "rebranded" Straight Talk phone. The other phone is a Pixel 3a which is BYOP factory unlocked.

I called corporate to have both lines provisioned for wifi calling. I was successful with the rebranded Straight Talk phone, but not with the BYOP unlocked Pixel 3a.

The agent told me that it is not possible to provision the Pixel line for wifi calling because the phone itself will not allow for this. From what I've read above, it sounds possible that some phones cannot be used for Tracfone wifi calling. Before I invest in a Pixel 6a, I wish there would some way to determine if Tracfone wifi calling is possible on it.

[hpham]

The agent told me that it is not possible to provision the Pixel line for wifi calling because the phone itself will not allow for this. From what I've read above, it sounds possible that some phones cannot be used for Tracfone wifi calling.

I have an unlocked Pixel 4a 4G with a TF/VZ BYOP SIM. Although the phone has settings for WiFi Calling, I couldn't activate it with TF. It would spin for a while then failed.

[Bitzer18]

Thanks @hpham That's what I get with my Pixel 3a. It seems like wifi calling with Tracfone is hit or miss. The best bet may be to use a Tracfone branded phone, but t
hose seem to show up later in the product cycle (if at all) and seem to be more expensive.

[hpham]

It seems like wifi calling with Tracfone is hit or miss. The best bet may be to use a Tracfone branded phone, but those seem to show up later in the product cycle (if at all) and seem to be more expensive.

I have several TF-branded phones with working WiFi Calling (Moto G Power 2020, Moto G Stylus 2021, Moto E 2020, Samsung A51). The refurb A51 shows up now and then (most recently was last week) on TF web site for $69.99 with a required air time purchase ($15 is the cheapest). It's a good deal at that price, especially after getting it unlocked, it can work with many providers.

[Dart67]

Update

I would like to thank everyone here for their help.

Using the 4883 number and armed with the SIM provisioning information, I now have working Wi Fi Calling on my Moto e XT2052DL.

After another hour and half this morning Manager Antonio at Corporate Support went through the SIM provisioning and did a complete system update which fixed the problem.

Again, Thank You all.

Herb aka Dart67

[tomseys]

Wow congrats. I think you are probably the first person to accomplish that with a Moto in terms of getting the Wi-Fi calling on the account/line fixed with TF corporate office help. And maybe the first with Android. I recall someone fixed a Samsung phone a while ago but I'm not really sure if it had the same problem or if it fixed the same problem. I don't remember. There was something about it.

Anyway, good data point knowing that it is possible wtih Moto/Android.

Sounds like there may have been more to it than just disabling and re-enabling the WF calling setting with the tools in this case.

Though with WF calling completely turned off on phone (can't toggle on), maybe it required more or just this phone required more/something else.

But anyway, glad to hear you got it fixed.

[sillyette]

Using the 4883 number and armed with the SIM provisioning information, I now have working Wi Fi Calling on my Moto e XT2052DL.
Herb aka Dart67

Yay! Glad it worked out!

And, I'm so happy that it all worked out because of the "800-626-4883 ext 3324 for Tracfone wi-fi calling problems" copy+paste tip in that ever-growing text file of mine!
(I sometimes feel I'm being OCD by copy-pasting things into that text file - at least now I can feel that it's a worthwhile undertaking!)

[Dart67]

Update

I would like to thank everyone here for their help.

Using the 4883 number and armed with the SIM provisioning information, I now have working Wi Fi Calling on my Moto e XT2052DL.

After another hour and half this morning Manager Antonio at Corporate Support went through the SIM provisioning and did a complete system update which fixed the problem.

Again, Thank You all.

Herb aka Dart67

More Update


After the manager last night (5/11/22) somehow managed to turn of or disable the wifi calling option on my phone, I just put it to the side.

This morning I went to my weekly Ham Radio club breakfast. This is in an area that has good Verizon cellular service.

When I got to Breakfast this morning, the wifi calling option on the phone would not function.

I power cycled the phone. After the power cycle, the option to turn wifi calling was again functional.

Once the option was again working. I went completely through the e911 registration from the start. Just to be "safe".

Since I was in an area of good cell service, I waited until I got home to try a wifi call.

It did not work.

I called the corporate 4883 number. Thank goodness, a very Well Spoken young man (Antonio) answered.

I explained the problem and all the previous attempts and excuses to him.

His comment was "Lets start from the beginning"

He first verified the SIM and IMEI numbers. He said They were both good for wifi calling.

We went through all of the wifi settings on the phone. Still no wifi calling.

All along I had been telling him that I thought the problem may be the way the SIM or System was setup due to the fact that this account was started back about 2008.

After a while he had me remove the new SIM from the phone and make a call. Did not work.

Then he had me pull the SIM from my old Samsung J3 Orbit and put it in the Moto e.

He activated the Old SIM. It would not even show an option for wifi calling.

He had me put the new SIM back in the phone and said "Give me a few minutes".

In a little while he came back and said "Try it now".

IT worked, I was able to call my buddy.

He then called me from overseas to make sure it would receive calls as well. It worked.

I am not sure exactly what he did. He would not say. He eluded to doing a complete reprograming of the SIM and an account reboot.


I hope this info may help someone else.

Thanks again everyone here for your help and guidance.

Herb aka Dart67

[cparke]

Hi everyone - it's about another year since this thread was last updated. I've come here because I too am having the same problems.

In my case, I have two Tracfone-brand Verizon SIM's - one a PagePlus line from 2017 and the other a Safelink line that was migrated by TF last year from a T-Mobile line on Safelink. Separately, I also have a Verizon post-paid SIM that has WiFi-Calling working just fine of course. The corresponding phones are: 1) factory unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note, 2) AT&T carrier-unlocked iPhone 6, and 3) Verizon-sold iPhone 11 (the post-paid SIM's line).

I had WiFi Calling working fine on the Galaxy Note 9 with the T-Mobile SIM until TF forced me to migrate to the new free Verizon SIM last August. When that happened, the WiFi Calling option simply disappeared on this phone once the Tracfone Verizon SIM was inserted. This thread encourages me that there is hope to get it back. Using the Verizon post-paid SIM, I've proved that the issue is *not* what TF says that all these phones don't support Wifi Calling, as the menu option appears and works just fine when the postpaid SIM is inserted, but it also totally disappears (or, on other models, it may simply gray out) when the TF Verizon SIM's are inserted.

The consensus here is this is an account settings or billing issue, which I tend to agree. TF representatives at the Corporate office line apparently without access to the "account tools" seem to be just punting, and upon hearing my story, just blamed the TF SIM's for being too old and told me to buy a new SIM (anywhere it is sold) to fix the problem, but that did *not* work either. After that, upon calling back to a different representative, they resorted to the scripted fallback routine, "Your phone is not Wi-Fi capable. If you would like this feature, purchase a phone directly from us that is Wi-Fi Calling Capable." Bogus nonsense - and from what I read here, even buying a new phone from them not resolve the issue.

It is primarily the Galaxy Note 9 which was migrated that I want the Wifi Calling feature enabled on. The migration SIM (Safelink-branded) that they sent me, which initially put me onto the Verizon network, was part number TF256PSIMV97TD, dated May 2022, and activated in August 2022. The replacement SIM that I tried yesterday (bought at CVS for $1) is "Total by Verizon" branded, part number TF512PSIMV9TD, dated July 2022, and was activated yesterday, however after the transfer of service to the new SIM, nothing changed except the ICCID of course. I have been wondering if maybe that still was an old-style SIM that I got, and if I obtained an official new Tracfone SIM kit directly from TF, or maybe one of the newest Verizon-based SIMPLE-branded SIM's, those would be more likely to fix the problem, but this is all based on the assumption the SIM itself is not a so-called "Wi-Fi calling SIM card" as mentioned on the TF Wifi-Calling web page. Re-reading this whole thread more closely, and learning that only newly activated lines are getting the issue fixed (even though my line was a new Verizon activation), it seems like pursuing any such further efforts with the SIM could just be more waste of time.

So, at this point, it seems like the only options that I have to get this working are:
1) Keep calling the TF Corporate support line until I luckily can get someone to do something to the account itself rather than just point fingers elsewhere and leave me stranded on the Wifi Calling issue.
2) Leave Tracfone/Safelink service for another carrier, maybe come back again another day hopefully when they've finally sorted this out, or at least upon return it will hopefully be fixed because I will be a pure new line activation at that point.

I'm leaning toward #2 as this is just a totally ridiculous situation with TF (especially as they are now owned by VZ and activating of the Wifi Calling should be in their parent company's best interest to reduce cellular network load). This issue, at its core, is TF simply cannot support my needs. However, I still would prefer to stay with TF if it is possible to resolve this, because the T-Mobile network network coverage at my home is awful, and also only TF offers the free international calling option using regular airtime minutes which has been helpful on some occasions.

So from those of you who have gone through this fiasco already, what do you suggest that I do before finally jumping off the TF ship? How many times do I keep re-calling the corporate line until this is a lost cause? What else should I try?

[rpz1]

Hi everyone - it's about another year since this thread was last updated. I've come here because I too am having the same problems.

My conclusions from my experiences and what I've read wifi calling on Verizon is phone model specific at least with regard to mvnos. Kind of like a whitelist for wifi calling.
Per an article I read a couple months ago (sorry don't recall where), Verizon was little by little adding more phones. I've had a factory unlocked Moto E6, no wifi calling on Verizon but works fine on TMO. A Verzion branded ancient LG K4 which it worked fine with Verizon.
Also Verizon always had features which worked directly from them but MVNOs aren't worthy to the same extent.

[advcomp2019]

The corresponding phones are: 1) factory unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note, 2) AT&T carrier-unlocked iPhone 6, and 3) Verizon-sold iPhone 11 (the post-paid SIM's line).

What is the exact model of the Note 9 that you are using?

[PaulCrawhorne]

WiFi calling working on TMO would have nothing to do with it working on another carrier.

The only (relative) certainty would be a Verizon branded phone on Verizon itself.

Same category feature as Visual Voicemail.

Unlocked devices often do not work.

And subsidiary / MVNOs often do not work

[cv91913]

I am assuming you are activating these sims with a transfer, keeping your existing phone number. Is that correct? If it is, was that phone number ever used with a Verizon/TF sim?

[cparke]

What is the exact model of the Note 9 that you are using?

The Galaxy Note 9 is the SM-N960U1 - the factory unlocked model for all carriers.

The situation became just too ridiculous. Verizon postpaid SIM, even US Mobile Verizon SIM, have Wifi Calling option present when inserted into this phone. I did even get the TF corporate office line to seriously activate the Wifi Calling feature itself in the billing system as has been described here, so that the feature actually works when put in the iPhone 7 and later where the option appears, but it still is missing on the iPhone 6 and Galaxy Note 9 so no way to turn it on. None of the Tracfone SIMs that I got made Wifi Calling option visible on these phones. TF simply considers these phones to be incompatible with Wifi Calling, for no apparent reason and despite their actual capability, but it doesn't matter and nobody there can fix the whitelist. As for the PagePlus SIM, there is no way to enable the Wifi Calling feature in their separate billing system, because TF never fully integrated that company and TF representatives cannot even find those active phone numbers in their system! (PagePlus representatives however do find the number, but they simply report that PagePlus itself does not support Wifi Calling on any line so they cannot help)

So that's the end of the line for me with TF/Safelink on this phone. Moved that service line to Life Wireless on the AT&T network and problem solved. I've lost just the free international calling feature of TF in exchange for getting Wifi Calling, but that was something I rarely used anyway and I have other options if/when needed. As for the PagePlus line, that is less important but still an ongoing disappointment. At some point, though, I will leave PagePlus for a non-TF carrier anyway.

[cparke]

I am assuming you are activating these sims with a transfer, keeping your existing phone number. Is that correct? If it is, was that phone number ever used with a Verizon/TF sim?

Just called in for a TF-Verizon to TF-Verizon SIM swap. As I just posted, I got them to fix the billing issue, and Wifi Calling now actually works on the newer phones where the option appears on the menu, but it still doesn't appear on the Note 9 or iPhone 6 so no way to use it there!