Questions about wi-fi calling

[rpz1]

I was talking to the repairman for Centurylink over a year ago and he said due to our location and only 13 customers on our line, we will probably never see faster internet with them.

That sounds like Centurylink for me too. I had dsl with them at only 1.5 mbps, then they pulled the rug out and discontinued any dsl service if the area isn't served by fiber. And there's allot more then 13 families. They refused to upgrade to fiber even though they got money to do it from the first Infrastructure Bill passed in 2008. (No government oversight on if companies use the money as promised). My landline with them goes out at least every month. I'm ready to ditch them too. Thanks for the StarLink info.

[whacker]

The more I think about your situation, haymeadowfield, the more I'd be inclined to recommend finding service with both your cell phones that would have carrier Wi-Fi calling, which may mean you and husband both needing to assess changes in service, if you both want your individual phones to have that capability.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it's highly likely either of you won't be able to keep your TF and ST service as is, due to VZW's push to move their customers to use a VZW-based SIM (if no other extenuating circumstances exist). This would affect the possibility of carrier Wi-Fi calling. I don't know about Straight Talk currently. I'd want to know if their VZW-based service supports it. If they do, is your husband's phone capable of operating on it (accepting the SIM) and providing Wi-Fi calling. Just thinking of him since he already has ST.

Straight Talk is (except for their most Basic $30/mo plan) an Unlimited Talk & Text with 10 GB data (for their $35 plan) kind of thing, which is more than I'd want to pay. But unlimited talk with Wi-Fi calling (if available) would provide the Wi-Fi calling for no extra charge. Wi-Fi calling for a PAYGO-type setup like TracFone (if available) would deduct from your talk minutes bucket (in most cases - don't know about AT&T, but that may not continue to be an option).

So I'd angle towards looking for a cheaper unlimited talk & text plan (with your choice of mobile data amount) from another provider, where you can definitely have Wi-Fi Calling. There are MVNOs that do that now with 1 - 3 GB of data in their monthly plans for as low as $15/mo (maybe even slightly even less), with a selection of underlying carriers.

You'd be paying more than you are now, but not as much as your husband's line of service is currently. If you found something that provided all the needed things, maybe you both could switch and save even more. But the carrier Wi-Fi Calling thing makes a set monthly plan a bit more practical (assuming a low monthly rate) than a PAYGO service like TF. Otherwise you would just use your phone via cellular since there's no cost savings.

Carrier Wi-Fi Calling is most beneficial, like hpham mentioned, where cellular reception is marginal or worse. Third party VoIP solutions like Google Voice get you potentially off the carrier networks completely, with no cost for the service (currently and for the foreseeable future). But you have to adjust your methods, expectations, tolerances, willingness to learn, and sometimes even equipment, to make it work best and be a good experience for you.

[hpham]

I'd want to know if their VZW-based service supports it.

I have several TF-branded Moto's (G Stylus 2021, G Power 2020, E 2020) on TF/Verizon with WiFi Calling working. My wife's TF-branded A50 on TF/Verizon has WiFi Calling. I couldn't activate WiFi Calling on my unlocked Pixel 4a 4G with a BYOP TF/Verizon SIM, although the phone has a setting for WiFi Calling.

[Mr. D.]

I'm not sure if you're thinking about WiFi Calling or Voice-over-Internet (VoIP).

* WiFi Calling is a fallback means for when you have no or weak cell signal but good WiFi signal. The call is made/received using your cell phone number and will use the cell service and/or WiFi. On TF/Verizon, minutes are still deducted for WiFi calls. From what forum members posted, TF/AT&T doesn't deduct minutes for WiFi Call.

* VoIP places/receives the call through Internet, using an app like (Google) Voice app. It uses a different "phone icon" from the one that the cell calls use. Typically, the caller will see your Google Voice number as the caller, although there are ways around it.

We can discuss in further details once you've clarified which calling method you're asking about.

Not sure why you raised the VOIP question here. The OP states they want to _get rid of_ their landline and use wifi calling on their cell phones. Their questions are about wifi call quality on cell phones and confirming that wifi calling doesn't use cellular data.

The bigger question is if their phones support wifi calling on their current plans.

To the OP: we use wifi calling exclusively on our cell phones when in the house with our fiber optic connection. It simply provides a more stable signal that doesn't vary when we move around. You can test how well your phones work on wifi calling on your Starlink connection if your phone(s) currently support it, which varies by carrier rules and phones.

As to Tracfone and Straight Talk pushing people to Verizon service, according to https://prepaidcompare.net/profiles/ their VZW service supports wifi calling on iPhones and "some recent Android phones."

[hpham]

Not sure why you raised the VOIP question here.

Sometimes a person uses the term "WiFi Calling" when referring to any kind of calls that go through WiFi. So I just wanted to know for sure what the OP meant. What's the harm in that?

[haymeadowfield]

Hpham you raised a legitimate question and I appreciate it as I never thought of VoIP. It is certainly something I'm also going to look into. I'm open to all options.

[gmannix]

Lots of information here, maybe too much, but an in-depth article about GV.
I use the service for call screening, texting, and (long) calls that save my tracfone minutes.
There is a lot more information and uses described here, but take from it what you need.
I hope to have the ability to use GV long after Verizon rules this roost! Like any thing else, google giveth, hence google can taketh away.

[hpham]

Lots of information here, maybe too much, but an in-depth article about GV.
There is a lot more information and uses described here, but take from it what you need.

"here" as in this thread or where?

[hapollo8]

"here" as in this thread or where?

not sure if they're missing a link but I'm been a long time member on dslreports and this is a very active voip forum with a wealth of knowledge:

https://www.dslreports.com/forum/voip

(not sure if links to other forums are allowed... mods can delete if against rules)

[dfriz]

I have been using Google Voice for the last 5 years, 2 lines. The GV #'s are the ones given out to the public.
Incoming calls to the GV number rings the cell phones GV is forwarded to.
You can install the GV app on one or more smart phone(s) and place them around the house. A useful task for a 3G smartphone you can't use on a carrier.

Vonage is a VOIP system. They use an adapter box that plugs into your router, then your corded or cordless phone plugs into the adapter.
It costs $17/mo. (&up) for the service and the adapter box. You can call 911 on it.

The OBI box has been in use several years, but is about to be discontinued, with little or no support. $64 on Ebay for 2 line OBI. No 911 calls.
There are other ATA's (analog telephone adapter) out there but may require some technical knowledge to set up.

[gmannix]

"here" as in this thread or where?

Hell to get old...! Sorry I do this a lot, throw something out there and then forget to mention from where.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/google-...m_medium=title

[gmannix]

"here" as in this thread or where?

Hell to get old...! Sorry I do this a lot, throw something out there and then forget to mention from where.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/google-...m_medium=title

[hpham]

Hell to get old...! Sorry I do this a lot, throw something out there and then forget to mention from where.
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/google-...m_medium=title

Yeah, and old age makes you forget that you posted the same thing 2 1/2 hrs ago too.

[happygrrl1]

Is anyone using wifi calling with TF VZ? I had wifi calling on my phone with TF ATT, but with the new TF VZ sim wifi calling is greyed out. Is there some trick or setting that I’m missing?

I don’t need wifi calling often, but when I do need it, it is so handy. I know the issue is VZ and not the phone because wifi calling worked great with this phone. My phone is a Samsung s9.

[hpham]

Is anyone using wifi calling with TF VZ? I had has wifi calling on my phone with TF ATT, but with the new TF VZ sim wifi calling is greyed out. Is there some trick or setting that I’m missing?

I have WiFi Calling enabled and working (not used much) on several TF-branded Moto phones on TF/VZ. My Pixel 4a with a BYOP TF/VZ SIM has Wifi Calling setting but I could not activate it. It would spin for a while then failed. TF might not enable WiFi Calling for BYOP TF/VZ.