Snookered by VoLTE

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freakalad

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#324412 5-Apr-2026 14:03

I recently got caught off-guard by the 3G retirement, switch to VoLTE - 110% sure I'm not the only one.

I tend to run Custom ROM's on my mobile, as I want/need control over my stack(s).
Running vanilla LineageOS 23, Android 16 on a Samsung Galaxy device.

So far, so good, but.... I hadn't quite glommed on to the fact or the extent of how Samsung $cr3w&d me/us on this one.

Turns out - or at least this is as best I could decern - that in order to utilise LoLTE/VoWiFi, some sort of client-side IMS blob is required, and Samsung has a proprietary blob that's un-ported.

Got adb/shell root, tried all sorts of tricks, including emulation, but it's an absolute dead-end.
Confirmed via *#*#4636#*#*

This only affects voice. TXT's & LTE mobile data remains unaffected.
To be fair, I hardly make any calls, and even then it's IP-based - WhatsApp, Singal, Messenger, even Teams, etc - so it's not a biggie, yet, but this does mean I can't make or receive "normie" or emergency calls.
I'm on Kogan, since all I've really needed is to keep my number alive, some SMS's & enough mobile data to get me between WiFi AP's.

My backup plan I've come up is to use a SIP/VoIP line, so that I can at least have a terminating number.
Sadly, en$#!tification seems to have crept in since I last used SIP/VoIP in any meaningful manner.

From what I can tell, 2talk is the last-man-standing. Maybe Hero?

I know, I know: the "right" way to resolve this is to use a device with a VoLTE IMS that's supported in AOSP, but I don't have the money simply lying around for an edge-case with no guaranteed outcome.
LineageOS has served me very well - and honestly, still does - allowing me to have well-maintained OS well past manufacturer's designed lifetime. (R2R FTW!)

Has anyone found a workable solution?

E: s/deprecate/retire/

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3478282 5-Apr-2026 14:11

freakalad:

I recently got caught off-guard by the 3G deprecation, switch to VoLTE - 110% sure I'm not the only one.

Just to clarify a term... "Deprecated" in general computing means something that is named obsolete and no longer supported. Though the feature may work, it will be removed at a certain date.

Deprecated comes before retirement. It's an "on notice" status.

In this case, 3G is no longer deprecated, but retired. 3G was deprecated when its retirement was first announced.

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muppet

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#3478286 5-Apr-2026 14:26

The thing is, sadly you are kidding yourself if you think running Lineage is keeping you secure. Yes your Android OS is getting patched, but the baseband and binary blobs where a lot of the exploits end up being located aren’t. Only the Vendor can update those and of course those updates have stopped.

Don’t get me wrong, Lineage is FANTASTIC for keeping a device usable and able to install apps that need the latest API versions. But secure it most certainly is not.

You could run a SIP client like you’re thinking about, but it’ll murder your battery life. Otherwise I don’t think you have any real option. I assume the Lineage forums/reddit don’t have any wise ideas?

yitz

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#3478289 5-Apr-2026 14:40

Only recent post I have come across on this topic is one from @AlickW in which they noted they had a good (or working at least) experience on 2talk Lyra with Acrobits Softphone on Android and iOS.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=43&topicid=177025

I would be interested to know too others recent experiences with SIP/VoIP over mobile.

Surely with push notification protocols the battery drain shouldn't be that bad? I used to use Skype over mobile data over a decade ago and don't recall the battery drain to be too ridiculous.

Does anyone know which telcos have app based voicemail so at least you can check voice mail box over data and then call back another way?

freitasm

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#3478290 5-Apr-2026 14:52

Also remember (as noted) lack of VoLTE will prevent emergency calls too. If you need or depends on your phone this is something to consider.

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freakalad

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#3478291 5-Apr-2026 14:54

@freitasm - I meant "retired". /me not enough coffee

@muppet - I agree. Honestly, it's about managing risks: I have a better handle on LOS vs buried hooks & massively out-of-date vendor ROM's.
Better the devil you know... There is no "secure" - just more or less secure.
I need to have my grubby little fingers all up in my $#!7, so saving the ability to interrogate & sandbox/limit capabilities for apps I need but not behaving as wanted is a significant win for me - starting with blocking ads (DNS-BL), arguably the most meaningful vector INHO.
Currently supply-chain exploits are my biggest worry, and I cannot (nor should!) be confident of the provenance of some of the code I run - which is what I think you're pointing out.
No approaches are ideal.

@yitz - chur.
I'll x-post

richms

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#3479343 8-Apr-2026 20:11

yitz:

Only recent post I have come across on this topic is one from @AlickW in which they noted they had a good (or working at least) experience on 2talk Lyra with Acrobits Softphone on Android and iOS.

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=43&topicid=177025

I would be interested to know too others recent experiences with SIP/VoIP over mobile.

Surely with push notification protocols the battery drain shouldn't be that bad? I used to use Skype over mobile data over a decade ago and don't recall the battery drain to be too ridiculous.

Does anyone know which telcos have app based voicemail so at least you can check voice mail box over data and then call back another way?

I tried it again not too long ago, but really my needs have moved on and I am not into getting calls now, but it was fine, same as near 20 years ago when doing it with 2talk on a nokia Symbian phone. No idea on the voicemail question. Voicemail is a product I would like to see go die in a fire.

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Ragnor

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#3479351 8-Apr-2026 20:36

In a previous thread, someone said Graphene OS on Pixels 6 or newer with VOLTE worked on One NZ

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=40&topicid=320332&page_no=1#3399334

So secondhand Pixel might be your best bet.

freakalad

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#3479448 9-Apr-2026 12:39

@richms - I've not used voicemail in a very long time, very rarely make DDI/DID calls - mostly Signal, WhatsApp, etc.

I've got a pretty decent PoC going via 2talk & Hero.
Sadly Android/GSI retired native SIP a few versions ago; Jami & Linphone seem OK, will try Acrobits later - results not guaranteed.

Now just to figure out some of the details around the edges.

@Ragnor - GraphineOS is purely Pixel hardware.
Last I checked, Pixels don't have expandable (mSD) storage, so that puts a bit of a crimp in things.

From what I can tell, Nothing & Fair phones may be good choices, but then carrier black/white-listing may remain an issue.
AFAICT, Zenphone users have also had some issues.

It really does feel like there may be some bad-faith shenanigans going on at the back-end.
I understand that carriers are retiring 3G, etc to free up the radio spectrum & some other good reasons, and there's been a push to extricate Chinese "CCP Huawei" hardware from the network, but OTOH users' agency is deliberately being chipped away across the OSI stack.
I really do feel we're a reasonable amount worse off than we were maybe a decade ago..... "en$#!tification"

FLOSS'er, aspiring Maker

richms

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#3479459 9-Apr-2026 13:08

I think we are much better off than back then.

They are a data network seller as far as I am concerned. The calling and SMS stuff is just legacy cruft that comes along with it. The shift to LTE and elimination of all the legacy fall back to disfunctional 3G is a huge step in providing reliable data services.

Richard rich.ms

freakalad

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#3479518 9-Apr-2026 13:54

@richms - agreed; it is a net-positive overall, but doesn't make it stink any less.

Voice & TXT as legacy is true; I consider LTE - VoLTE, ViLTE, VoWiFi, etc - to be glorified VoIP, what with LTE "simply" being IP.
[/insert obligatory "It's all just IP? It's always been IP" astronaut meme]

There's no good reason why provider/carrier cannot provide backwards-compatibility for legacy application, other than "couldn't be bothered"
eg. <sip:{mobile#}@sip.{provider}.co.nz:5061;transport=tls>

Sure, battery & mobile data will get hammered until handset is properly upgraded, but that's a choice that users can make, not something thrust upon us, much like W10 EoL forcing perfectly fine hardware into landfills because TPM requirements.

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silicoBiomancer

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#3479653 10-Apr-2026 08:46

It took a lot of effort, but I managed to get two Xperia phones working. I'll be posting the 5 ii to trademe shortly, currently it is running its official Lineage OS with working 5G and volte on spark. (SD card slot and headphone jack!)

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freitasm

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#3479662 10-Apr-2026 09:26

@silicoBiomancer:

It took a lot of effort, but I managed to get two Xperia phones working. I'll be posting the 5 ii to trademe shortly, currently it is running its official Lineage OS with working 5G and volte on spark. (SD card slot and headphone jack!)

Are you planning on posting the steps?

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silicoBiomancer

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#3479664 10-Apr-2026 09:39

Yes, I am hoping to post on xda, although I didn't document very well as I went and had to try a lot of iterations. Realistically, I suspect I won't have time to tidy it up into a postable state. The process is device specific too, so will only be useful if you can get a similar device. I was lucky that the binaries happened to work for both xperia models

yitz

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#3479926 10-Apr-2026 18:15

richms:

They are a data network seller as far as I am concerned. The calling and SMS stuff is just legacy cruft that comes along with it. The shift to LTE and elimination of all the legacy fall back to disfunctional 3G is a huge step in providing reliable data services.

One NZ 5GB endless data SIM - $11.25/month [1]
One NZ Pay Monthly 6GB endless mobile plan - $50.00/month [2]

That's nearly $40 a month for legacy cruft 😛

Technofreak

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#3479936 10-Apr-2026 20:13

silicoBiomancer:

It took a lot of effort, but I managed to get two Xperia phones working. I'll be posting the 5 ii to trademe shortly, currently it is running its official Lineage OS with working 5G and volte on spark. (SD card slot and headphone jack!)

I have an Xperia 10iii running Sailfish OS. Sailfish supports VoLTE but unfortunately VoLTE doesn't work here as the phone, along with all other Sonys, was never sold here so Sony doesn't provide profiles compatible with NZ Telcos.

I to would interested to know how you got your Sonys working.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

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