What is the reliability of Wifi Calling on public Wifi (overseas experience)

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Aaroona

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#233520 19-Apr-2018 13:25

I'm looking at going to Europe for a bit of a time later this year and was thinking of moving from Vodafone to 2D because of Wifi calling, which would certainly help save on the roaming costs.
I did note some things online about how usable (or un-usable) it may be on public. So wanted to get some feedback from people's experience with wifi calling overseas (or on public hotspots).

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#1999319 19-Apr-2018 14:02

Basically the same as it would be using any VoIP service over the internet - FaceTime, Skype, whatever. In other words, depending on the quality of the Wifi in question, your mileage may vary.

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Aaroona

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#1999329 19-Apr-2018 14:25

SaltyNZ:

Basically the same as it would be using any VoIP service over the internet - FaceTime, Skype, whatever. In other words, depending on the quality of the Wifi in question, your mileage may vary.

Does traffic for Wifi calling handle captive portals okay? So it'll just establish a connection once internet is detected?

I assume there is some reliance on ports being accessible from the wifi as well - I know some wifi providers have locked down and do let anything other than 80/443 out, which means things like L2TP etc. fail. So I guess WIfi calling will be the same- will google some ports.

I guess my question was more about the availability of it while overseas and using public wifi's - have people found that most wifi spots usually restrict this traffic going out? I know it's probably an over-generalisation, but curious to know.

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#1999332 19-Apr-2018 14:40

Would depend on the quality of the Wi-Fi network you are attached to but also note 2D seems to be have no 4G roaming not even in AU

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SaltyNZ

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#1999339 19-Apr-2018 14:58

Aaroona:

Does traffic for Wifi calling handle captive portals okay? So it'll just establish a connection once internet is detected?

I assume there is some reliance on ports being accessible from the wifi as well - I know some wifi providers have locked down and do let anything other than 80/443 out, which means things like L2TP etc. fail. So I guess WIfi calling will be the same- will google some ports.

I guess my question was more about the availability of it while overseas and using public wifi's - have people found that most wifi spots usually restrict this traffic going out? I know it's probably an over-generalisation, but curious to know.

It needs to be able to make an IPSec tunnel, so the normal ports for IKE and so on must be opened. It will periodically retry in the background as long as it is attached to Wifi, so captive portals are OK, but you just might find there's a short delay before it attaches if it gets knocked back the first time. Just keep an eye on the network indicator to check whether it is attached to VoWifi or not.

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afe66

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#1999541 19-Apr-2018 20:59

How much do you want to spend? How often are you going to _need_ to talk to people?

Why not get a European aim card and alter the details on your NZ phone messages set up, if it's really important they won't mind paying to call you.

Have you thought about using email?

I've lived in UK for several years over last couple of decades and emailing was enough to keep in touch with NZ.

If you are going on an OE experience, constantly communicating back home gets in the way of meeting locals. Ie bit lonely rung home vrs meeting a local

Aaroona

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#1999626 19-Apr-2018 22:51

afe66:

How much do you want to spend? How often are you going to _need_ to talk to people?

Why not get a European aim card and alter the details on your NZ phone messages set up, if it's really important they won't mind paying to call you.

Have you thought about using email?

I've lived in UK for several years over last couple of decades and emailing was enough to keep in touch with NZ.

If you are going on an OE experience, constantly communicating back home gets in the way of meeting locals. Ie bit lonely rung home vrs meeting a local

I will possibly look at getting a 3 SIM and use that to roam. I'm not worried about the communication back home. It's more for texting than calls, the calls are just a bonus to have available.

A friend of mine said that instead of having the wifi calling/txt, while it would be nice, he found a lot of need for google maps and general internet while out and about. So getting a local SIM for that purpose might be best.

Still curious to hear people's experience with public Wifi and Wifi calling though. Still might look to port to 2D.

SaltyNZ

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#1999659 20-Apr-2018 07:45

Aaroona:

I will possibly look at getting a 3 SIM and use that to roam. I'm not worried about the communication back home. It's more for texting than calls, the calls are just a bonus to have available.

A friend of mine said that instead of having the wifi calling/txt, while it would be nice, he found a lot of need for google maps and general internet while out and about. So getting a local SIM for that purpose might be best.

Still curious to hear people's experience with public Wifi and Wifi calling though. Still might look to port to 2D.

I used it in Australia with no problems, even at the airport. Pat Pilcher posted an article about his experiences with it too. I do know that the service has been used from multiple countries overseas besides Australia. In any case it costs you nothing to try it...

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#1999663 20-Apr-2018 08:06

@Aaroona I ported my mobile number a few months back and no complaints from me

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alasta

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#1999666 20-Apr-2018 08:15

This month I have used the wifi facilities in a few different airports and hotels, and I have to say that it tends to offer a pretty poor experience for general web browsing. Some places provide a reasonable quality of service, but generally I wouldn't trust it for any sort of VOIP application.

KiwiSurfer

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#1999676 20-Apr-2018 08:42

One advantage of getting an EU sim is the free roaming across the EU. Be aware that 3 has strict rules about tethering so if you do a lot of that it may not be suitable for you. On my last trip I used an EE UK SIM which got decent coverage across Europe and I'm planning to use the SIM again this year. Vodafone UK has much better 4G roaming coverage within the EU if that is ideal for you. Thankfully Brexit hasn't happened too quickly!

AKT

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#2003853 28-Apr-2018 05:17

Aaroona:

I'm looking at going to Europe for a bit of a time later this year and was thinking of moving from Vodafone to 2D because of Wifi calling, which would certainly help save on the roaming costs.
I did note some things online about how usable (or un-usable) it may be on public. So wanted to get some feedback from people's experience with wifi calling overseas (or on public hotspots).

Unless 2d do wifi calling in a different way from other carriers, it's not a method of cheap roaming - you will be charged the same as if you were on a cellular call.

If cost is a concern then get an EU sim card as you will get free Europe-wide roaming, much cheaper and people will still be able to call you using WhatsApp etc for free (you can even keep an NZ WhatsApp number) unless you opt for a tiny amount of data.

KiwiSurfer

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#2003888 28-Apr-2018 08:17

AKT:

Unless 2d do wifi calling in a different way from other carriers, it's not a method of cheap roaming - you will be charged the same as if you were on a cellular call.

For those who are on plans that include a good amount of minutes (and some plans even have unlimited minutes such as my $55/m plan) then Wifi is pretty much free (in the sense there is no extra costs to pay—all included in the plan) and less hassle than going through the process of getting a local SIM.

eracode

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#2003949 28-Apr-2018 10:40

Going to France shortly - where and how do I go about getting an EU SIM there?

Thanks.

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KiwiSurfer

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#2004040 28-Apr-2018 12:06

eracode: Going to France shortly - where and how do I go about getting an EU SIM there?

Thanks.

Some good info here that might be helpful: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/France

- James

AKT

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#2004171 28-Apr-2018 16:33

KiwiSurfer:
AKT:

Unless 2d do wifi calling in a different way from other carriers, it's not a method of cheap roaming - you will be charged the same as if you were on a cellular call.

For those who are on plans that include a good amount of minutes (and some plans even have unlimited minutes such as my $55/m plan) then Wifi is pretty much free (in the sense there is no extra costs to pay—all included in the plan) and less hassle than going through the process of getting a local SIM.

I think you’ve missed my point. Calls are charged the same whether they are on Wi-fi or cellular. So unless your plan has free European roaming you’ll be paying for the calls at roaming rates regardless of how they are routed. Your $55 plan won’t have roaming to Europe included - my $70 one doesn’t. The globetrotter add ons cover you for roaming but are much more expensive than a local sim and defeat the OP’s idea of using Wi-fi calling to save on roaming cost.

A

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