Does wifi calling need to be activated?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Does wifi calling need to be activated?

quickymart

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#315443 16-Jul-2024 18:57

Evening,

Weird one here, hoping some Vodafone/One person might be able to help as I'm wary of trying to use their chat for assistance (had a poor experience previously).

A friend is visiting from overseas with a Samsung Galaxy S20. He's travelling somewhere remote next week with little mobile coverage but good DSL.

However it doesn't seem that he can get wifi calling to work to use while he's away - he doesn't get the symbol for it on his notification thingo at the top, alongside the time, etc. This is using a new Vodafone/One SIM card.

If I try a 2degrees in his phone it shows the indicator. If he tries his new SIM in my phone it shows it there.

So, my query is (as I don't use it myself) does the wifi calling service need to be activated on the device with the carrier (in this case One), or is it SIM/number-dependent and we should be looking at some other setting?

Sorry for the dumb question, like I say I don't use this myself as I have no need but he would like to get it working before he heads off.

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Max
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#3260424 16-Jul-2024 19:04

Hi.

Few questions from what I know.

Where is the S20 Galaxy from? Officially only the G980F/DS is listed. Even then CSC can depend here.

WiFi Calling only activates under a certain RSRP value so if it's not meeting it, it won't activate, Airplane mode is required to force it.

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quickymart

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#3260491 16-Jul-2024 20:10

He says he got it in the US. Will try airplane mode and see what happens. Thanks for the tip.

MaxineN

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#3260495 16-Jul-2024 20:23

US Samsungs are not fun to deal with.

Either VoLTE/VoWiFi doesn't work, APNs cannot be changed, 5G doesn't work. All with my experience with these US handsets when I was in my space at One.

It's not officially supported. I would switch handsets if they are dead set on staying with One or go to 2degrees as you mentioned it works on 2degrees.

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nztim

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#3260498 16-Jul-2024 20:57

Won't work there are four sub models of Samsung, it won't have the NZ profiles in it.......

other than the Apple iPhone.... do NOT parallel import this includes buy from Dick Smith, PB Tech, and Parallel import stores

mentioned over and over again on here

EDIT: just read he is visiting, same deal use an iPhone

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quebec

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#3260503 16-Jul-2024 21:15

Try turning on Airplane mode, Wi-Fi On, then toggle Wi-Fi Calling

nztim

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#3260505 16-Jul-2024 21:15

quebec:

Try turning on Airplane mode, Wi-Fi On, then toggle Wi-Fi Calling

Not going to work if the carrier profile not there.

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quebec

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#3260508 16-Jul-2024 21:22

OP says 2Degrees SIM shows the indicator, @quickymart are you saying Wi-Fi calling works on his phone with 2Degrees SIM?
As per One NZ S20(SM-G980F/DS) is the only one supported. What if they put their US Sim & try if they have it?
https://one.nz/our-networks/wifi-calling/

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nztim

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#3260511 16-Jul-2024 21:33

quebec:

OP says 2Degrees SIM shows the indicator, @quickymart are you saying Wi-Fi calling works on his phone with 2Degrees SIM?
As per One NZ S20(SM-G980F/DS) is the only one supported. What if they put their US Sim & try if they have it?
https://one.nz/our-networks/wifi-calling/

2degess VoWifi profile will in the phone us carrier will depend what network it attaches to in NZ

EDIT: VoWifi will work with US SIM, it VoLTE will depend on what network it attaches to in NZ and if that profile is in the phone.

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quickymart

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#3260519 16-Jul-2024 22:36

quebec:

OP says 2Degrees SIM shows the indicator, @quickymart are you saying Wi-Fi calling works on his phone with 2Degrees SIM?
As per One NZ S20(SM-G980F/DS) is the only one supported. What if they put their US Sim & try if they have it?
https://one.nz/our-networks/wifi-calling/

Yes wifi calling (the icon shows up) seems to be available on this phone with a 2degrees SIM.

He also appears to have VoLTE available.

Not sure on the US SIM, will need to ask him.

Just seems weird on 2degrees it would work but not Vodafone/One...but then again if the carrier profile isn't there I guess it would make sense.

As an aside a Spark SIM only shows a signal, no wifi calling (but I don't think they support it anyway) or any indicator if it's getting 3G, 4G, or 5G.

Thanks for all the replies and information so far, will do some testing and see what happens.

nztim

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#3260729 17-Jul-2024 13:09

quickymart:

Just seems weird on 2degrees it would work but not Vodafone/One...but then again if the carrier profile isn't there I guess it would make sense.

Makes perfect sense if the profile is there or not

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quickymart

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#3374692 19-May-2025 18:59

Evening,

Here's a weird sequel. I have different friend visiting from overseas, also with an S20 (this one has an SM-G981B) and he's inserted a new Vodafone/One SIM card in it to use while he's here.

The problem he's having is it's struggling to get - and hold - a signal of any sort. I live in an area with reasonable 2G-5G coverage and it can flip between saying it has "no service", or "emergency calls only" or have a usable signal, there's no reason or rhyme to it; it works one minute and then not the next. (This time around though, Wifi calling does appear to work - although VoLTE is flaky, depending on signal - see above).

Looking at this page: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s20_5g-10044.php

Versions: SM-G981B, SM-G981F (International); SM-G981U (USA); SM-G981U1 (USA Unlocked); SM-G981W (Canada); SM-G9810 (China, Hong Kong); SM-G981N (Korea)

I get the impression that the B (his one) is an international one just like the F, but if it's not meant to work here, then why is it only working sometimes? He commented that it even dropped the signal from my wifi connection sometime overnight and he had to reconnect manually, although that may have been a handset setting.

Is this a case of the wrong profile/band? If so, the phone shouldn't work at all (if I read the comments above correctly) - is that right? But I would expect it to at least get a 2G or maybe 3G signal, at minimum.

MaxineN

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#3374763 19-May-2025 21:02

G900(2G)/U900(3G) could be completely locked off (due to this year's shutdown) thus barely hanging on 4G/LTE.

As for what the difference is between F and B. No clue... But again it's dependent on the CSC for at least the features you're after, which looks like it doesn't matter as VoLTE and VoWiFI work.

You could compare your device to his and use something like Netmonster to see what bands his phone can see and use.

Just looks like a coverage issue...

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quickymart

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#3374766 19-May-2025 21:43

I don't know about it being a coverage issue - it does get 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G - just it either doesn't hang onto it or it has issues reconnecting to the signal once it loses it. The coverage on my phone (in the same location) is good, as are all the other phones in the house. But thanks for the suggestion re Netmonster, hadn't thought of that, I'll give it a shot.

quickymart

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#3375075 20-May-2025 19:10

MaxineN:

You could compare your device to his and use something like Netmonster to see what bands his phone can see and use.

He took some screenshots using this app to see what was happening on his phone. Note that all of these were taken within about a 20m range (walking around my house):

Hopefully this is some helpful information?

MaxineN

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#3375076 20-May-2025 19:17

I would delete those screenshots as that can reveal where we live in the country.

But if you can see all of One NZ's bands then this is not a UE issue (unless the antenna bands within the device are damaged) and this just looks like poor coverage and this device in particular is not handing it very well at all.

To prove it is a One NZ issue, it would have to be wide spread to multiple devices.

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

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