Did Vodafone forget to mention that in order to operate their WIFI calling service, your cell phone must have been purchased through them?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Did Vodafone forget to mention that in order to operate their WIFI calling service, your cell phone must have been purchased through them?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#2842771 4-Jan-2022 08:13

bramwell:

... and our WIFI was off more than it was on.

I assume you have broadband with Vodafone then?

Is it fibre, rural wireless, DSL?

Vodafone (or any ISP) don't exactly control WiFi settings on your router so I will assume "WiFi was off" actually means the broadband service wasn't working - this is actually a different discussion.

bramwell

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#2842772 4-Jan-2022 08:21

freitasm:

Here is the list of phones that work and you could buy from anywhere in New Zealand (I do not recommend importing).

Thanks for this link. I see looking through the more detailed list, our iPhone 8s are on there.

We're really annoyed that Vodafone didn't prepare their customers for the new WIFI calling and loss of Sure Signal. Had they told their customers what to expect well prior to the change-over, we would have had time to arrange another service provider prior to this new system.

As it is now, we can't get cellphone reception at all because we had relied on Sure Signal. We're on a wait-list with another provider but they can't even look at us for another couple of weeks.

freitasm

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#2842773 4-Jan-2022 08:25

Disagree. August 2021 Vodafone announced WiFi calling replacing Sure Signal. Vodafone warned customers for a second time October 2021.

Kraven

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#2842774 4-Jan-2022 08:27

iPhone 7 user here and Wi-Fi calling is working on Vodafone.

Are you running iOS 15? Go to Settings / General / About and verify the version under "Software Version".

Have you enabled Wi-Fi calling? Settings / Mobile Data / Wi-Fi Calling -> On.

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#2842777 4-Jan-2022 08:34

Test a $1 2degrees SIM card in your iPhone8 and I bet WiFi calling will work

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#2842778 4-Jan-2022 08:42

bramwell:

freitasm:

Here is the list of phones that work and you could buy from anywhere in New Zealand (I do not recommend importing).

Thanks for this link. Our iPhone 8s don't feature on that list :-(

We're really annoyed that Vodafone didn't prepare their customers for the new WIFI calling and loss of Sure Signal. Had they told their customers what to expect well prior to the change-over, we would have had time to arrange another service provider prior to this new system.

As it is now, we can't get cellphone reception at all because we had relied on Sure Signal. We're on a wait-list with another provider but they can't even look at us for another couple of weeks.

That is a list of *new* phones that support VoLTE and WiFi calling.

You have an older handset and WiFi calling does work on your iPhone 8 when running the latest iOS and carrier pack. If you don't have it working the issue is somewhere with your setup.

You are lucky you have an Apple device where WiFi calling and VoLTE support is so good. In the Android world it's just a disaster, and an Android phone as old as your iPhone would almost certainly not have working WiFi calling at all.

bramwell

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#2842782 4-Jan-2022 08:47

freitasm:

Disagree. August 2021 Vodafone announced WiFi calling replacing Sure Signal. Vodafone warned customers for a second time October 2021.

Thanks, you're correct in regard to the media releases however I really believe Vodafone should have contacted their customers directly with this information.

The move to discontinue Sure Signal was advised to us but the WIFI calling compatibility wasn't highlighted. Many of us misunderstood WIFI capability - we thought if our late-model phones had been capable of WIFI calling in general, then they would be compatible. It didn't occur to us to check whether our phones were on Vodafone's compatibility list because as far as we were concerned, our phones we WIFI capable.

Surely a better approach on Vodafone's behalf would have been to contact customers directly (via email or text) with a 'how to guide' of sorts, including that whilst we may have phones that had been previously capable of WIFI calling, those phones wouldn't necessarily be compatible with Vodafone's new WIFI calling system.

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liquidcore

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#2842783 4-Jan-2022 08:50

I’m sorry if I’ve missed it but could you please confirm you are running iOS 15?

freitasm

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#2842785 4-Jan-2022 08:54

It comes down to understanding the difference between the Sure Signal and WiFi calling.

The Sure Signal was connected to a home network only to access the Internet and connect back to Vodafone.

The Sure Signal acted as a mini cell tower with a small area coverage. Phones connected to it like they would connect to a normal cell tower. They were not connecting over WiFi.

Because of this any phone could connect to the Sure Signal.

Voice of WiFi is very different as the phones connect to a WiFi network (at home, hotel or work for example) and register with Vodafone directly over the Internet, giving that link priority over a cell tower connection.

It's also very different from calling friends over Skype, Messenger or WhatsApp. The phone is also connected to WiFi but in this case those apps manage the calls, not the operator. They aren't "Voice over WiFi" applications in the telco sense but an "over the top" application.

Yes, not easy and telcos aren't great at explaining things.

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#2842787 4-Jan-2022 08:58

Wife and I both have iPhone 12 pros and both on Vodafone both on the latest IOS

She got her wifi calling carrier update in late November, I got mine in mid December

I was complaining on the main wifi calling thread but it just took time to roll out the carrier update to everyone

I expect with sure signal now shut down its rolled out to everyone

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

bramwell

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#2842789 4-Jan-2022 08:59

liquidcore: I’m sorry if I’ve missed it but could you please confirm you are running iOS 15?

Thanks, my iOS 15 update is just finalising now. Once it's up and running I'll give it another crack.

😃

bramwell

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#2842790 4-Jan-2022 09:05

freitasm:

It comes down to understanding the difference between the Sure Signal and WiFi calling.

The Sure Signal was connected to a home network only to access the Internet and connect back to Vodafone.

The Sure Signal acted as a mini cell tower with a small area coverage. Phones connected to it like they would connect to a normal cell tower. They were not connecting over WiFi.

Because of this any phone could connect to the Sure Signal.

Voice of WiFi is very different as the phones connect to a WiFi network (at home, hotel or work for example) and register with Vodafone directly over the Internet, giving that link priority over a cell tower connection.

It's also very different from calling friends over Skype, Messenger or WhatsApp. The phone is also connected to WiFi but in this case those apps manage the calls, not the operator. They aren't "Voice over WiFi" applications in the telco sense but an "over the top" application.

Yes, not easy and telcos aren't great at explaining things.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. We understand the difference between the cell tower and WIFI, but many don't so for those people this must be even more frustrating.

Haha, you're right about Telcos not explaining things - rather ironic given they are communications companies! 😆

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#2842894 4-Jan-2022 09:23

bramwell:
liquidcore: I’m sorry if I’ve missed it but could you please confirm you are running iOS 15?

Thanks, my iOS 15 update is just finalising now. Once it's up and running I'll give it another crack.

😃

@Bramwell Now we know why WiFi calling was not working if you were not on iOS 15.x

VodafoneNZ should of advised this first off get onto iOS 15

Poor poor customer service

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#2842950 4-Jan-2022 09:44

Linux:

@Bramwell Now we know why WiFi calling was not working if you were not on iOS 15.x

VodafoneNZ should of advised this first off get onto iOS 15

Poor poor customer service

They do advise you.

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/our-networks/wifi-calling/

Check the iPhone section.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

bramwell

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#2842951 4-Jan-2022 09:46

@Bramwell Now we know why WiFi calling was not working if you were not on iOS 15.x

VodafoneNZ should of advised this first off get onto iOS 15

Poor poor customer service

Thanks, my phone is updated to iOS 15 now and WIFI calling is enabled but WIFI calling is still rubbish - no way can I have a conversation on it.

Another query - why is it that when our internet is down, that the landline still works, given that it is now running on WIFI?

Thanks again

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