Wifi Calling not working

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Wifi Calling not working

juliant

96 posts

Master Geek

#319719 26-May-2025 10:13

We live slightly rural and have Starlink. We also have very patchy cellphone reception. We are with Spark - apparently vodafone reception is even worse

My partners Samsung A24? phone has the wifi calling feature. She has enabled this but it does not seem to work.

Often cellphone calls drop out or dont work because she has no bars....sometimes a spot int he house works but more often she has to go outside. Should wifi calling not take over at this point?

Starlink wifi strength is good - I've seen download speeds hitting 400 mbs on PC. Whatsapp works well

What can I do to troubleshoot - I dont think it has ever worked - not with the Gen2 starlink or the Gen3 that we have now. Is it worth calling Spark

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#3376705 26-May-2025 10:27

@juliant Under Wi-Fi calling is it set to Wi-Fi preferred or mobile network? If set to mobile network then just a weak signal of mobile coverage will not let Wi-Fi calling kick in

gzt

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#3376706 26-May-2025 10:40

My Pixel 8 Pro WiFi calling works in flight mode with no cell network running.

I seem to recall I needed to enable WiFi calling when I was in good reception to allow that fact to be recognized by the cell network and update correctly.

You're on Samsung and a different internet provider. My experience may or may not be relevant. Good luck!

juliant

96 posts

Master Geek

#3376718 26-May-2025 11:01

Not sure will check when she is home but I think it probably is set to prefer cell network so will change that and see if that works.

We assumed it would dynamically switch over to wifi when cell signal was lost....

Thanks

Oblivian

7297 posts

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#3376725 26-May-2025 12:09

If you've turned on WiFi Calling on your device, your phone will try to use mobile network coverage first, even if you have WiFi Calling available.

If the network detects poor or no mobile coverage and there is a WiFi connection available, the call will transmit by WiFi Calling. Some devices will give you the option to select a preferred option.

When WiFi calling is enabled on your device, the device will be set to preferred cellular as the default option.

juliant

96 posts

Master Geek

#3376727 26-May-2025 12:20

Thanks but the thing is it wasnt switching over to wifi even when the cellular signal got so low that the call disconnected - anyway no reason not to have it set to prefer wifi when at home as we have unlimited internet plan

Klathman

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3376728 26-May-2025 12:30

We've had all sorts of issues with Spark Wifi calling. Even when it's on prefer Wifi, we've had phantom outgoing calls where it just rings and never connects to anything, or the audio will drop out for a while. I've logged a call with Spark, who reset the network settings on the phone and then shrugged when it did the same thing.

I use Teams and have a SIP phone line, so it's not an Internet issue. I'm not seeing anything getting dropped on the firewall, but I haven't had the time to investigate further.

It's painful though since we're in the same boat as you, where the mobile coverage is rubbish for all providers. Wifi calling would be great, but we just can't rely on it.

Linux

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#3376729 26-May-2025 12:32

Wi-Fi calling calls can only hand over to 4G / VoLTE if you are in a poor coverage area and you have better 3G coverage then these calls will drop

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nztim

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#3376839 26-May-2025 13:27

Just a side note, with Starlink you don't always have an NZ IP address, you may get Australia or somewhere in the pacific

If you don't have an NZ IP address at a point time, then you will lose the ability for Wi-Fi Calling to work (this is because Spark doesn't allow Wi-Fi calling from "outside New Zealand")

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

nztim

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#3376841 26-May-2025 13:28

Linux:

Wi-Fi calling calls can only hand over to 4G / VoLTE if you are in a poor coverage area and you have better 3G coverage then these calls will drop

Correct, SS7 and VoWiFI/LTE are two different protocols for carrying voice and the entire call needs to be re-established

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

juliant

96 posts

Master Geek

#3376922 26-May-2025 15:13

And wifi calling doesnt work with a VPN? ie as in choosing a NZ server for the VPN to avoid overseas IP address

Linux

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#3376924 26-May-2025 15:18

Other NZ carriers do not restrict WiFi calling I have used it around the world with 2degrees

Asteros

254 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3376938 26-May-2025 15:35

Another thing to troubleshoot - Where was the phone purchased? Phones bought from overseas, or even parallel imported into NZ, may not have the Wifi Calling profile for Spark loaded. Do you have an Iphone newer than a 8 or an NZ purchased Android on the Spark wifi calling compatibility list to test?

gzt

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#3376942 26-May-2025 15:39

I would take the phone into good reception and make a call from it so you know it has latest network settings. Mine did not work until after the first network connect after enable

coffeebaron

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#3377115 26-May-2025 22:53

Can you visit a friend on fibre, connect to their Wi-Fi, turn on aeroplane mode with Wi-Fi enabled and see if Wi-Fi calling kicks in?

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juliant

96 posts

Master Geek

#3377200 27-May-2025 13:14

She has had the phone for a couple of years so I imagine it has got the network updates

She did try putting her phone in aeroplane mode at her work and yes she did a test and the phone did switch to wifi calling

When she is home will test that again and also with aeroplane off and prefence sent to wifi over cellular.

If that doesnt work here it could be the issue suggested that we are dropping down to 3G...is there a way of knowing that? I am not very up on cellphone stuff - my phone doesnt even have 5G so will have to replace at the end of the year as I understand it

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