Pixel 3xl drops calls after half hour

[Jengoddard]

My pixel 3xl drops every call (made or received) after exactly 29 minutes and 50 seconds. I don't know if this is related to phone settings, network or what so wondered if anyone had had similar issues or knew of a fix. It's a real pain in the backside as currently working from home and means I get cut off in every conference call!

[chistery]

@repaskI hadn't realised there was an issue with wifi calling. Mine is disconnecting when on mobile signal.  The same SIM works fine in every other phone I have, just the Xiaomi, but all other networks work fine in the Xiaomi too, so hard to get Vodafone to understand the issue, especially when the handset is an import.

[repask]

@chistery that's interesting. I didn't have an issue with calls cuting off at 29min 50sec on 3G or 4G network with Vodafone. It was affecting only Vodafone Wifi Calling.

Update 11.11.2022:

When I call from my OLD Vodafone SIM using Google Pixel 7 Pro on 4G signal, it automatically switches to 3G. I found out that when you have "Adaptive Connectivity" enabled under "Settings > Network and Internet" Google Pixel 7 Pro doesn't use VoLTE, but switches back to 3G. I suspect this is battery saving feature, based on the Adapative Connectivity description. I didn't notice this when testing last time. 

I have retested call longer theough 4G network and it disconnected at 29min 50 seconds, same as WIFI Calling. Only 3G network was able to handle call longer than 30 min.

[Gemma]

For anyone still facing the calling issue where calls are dropping after 29 minutes and 50 seconds, please contact my team through Social Media. Please include a link to this thread. We can then look to get this raised on an individual basis. 

[KayleighH]

Hi @Gemma 

With all due respect, people are contacting Vodafone through social media and the issue is still not resolved for most of us. 

A lot of people are either switching networks or, as in my case, every time I need to make a call, I have to switch my preferred network to 3g/2g to prevent the outbound call dropping at 29 minutes and 50 seconds. 

This is clearly not a handset issue, but a Vodafone network issue which even after years, has still not been resolved. This is in no way directed at yourself or any of the admin team on here, but it would appear this is not going to be resolved any time soon. 

[chistery]

I have this issue with a Vodafone, Lebara and Talkmobile SIM, so something Vodafone related.

I just made a call on 4G - lasted 29m50s.

Tried 3G, and made it to 31m, so it's something about Vodafone 4G for me, so that's quite odd!

[mdc1983uk]

@chistery  Yeah it's the same with all their Virtual operators as well. Kayleigh was on Voxi for the deal they gave her and it's the same.  Honestly the only way you'll fix it until they do is using 3G for calls whether manually or getting them to turn VoLTE off on your account. Which is ridiculous because 1st they are looking to shut 3G off next year, so you'll only have 2G calls then, and 2nd because if you are using mobile data at the same time as being on the phone, well you know what kind of speed you will get on 2G/3G.  I couldn't tether anything to my phones unlimited data because every time it rang it would disconnect/pause the streaming on the other device.  Now on 3 network I can be on the phone for 30mins+ and still getting 150Mbps down on either 4G+ or sometimes even higher on 5G with 3 devices tethered to its hotspot.

[Andy]

Hi @KayleighH 👋 I can certainly understand your frustration surrounding this. Our network team are working to fix this for any customers affected by the issue. Currently we are being advised to raise any cases individually to them, where they investigate and work to get this resolved. Once we have any more news we will make sure this thread is updated.

[mdc1983uk]

@repask  Sure it's something along those lines although my phone was doing it over both WiFi and 4G/VOLTE calls. And only on outgoing! I think most people found it was the same and you are the first I've seen that had it only on WiFi. Are you sure the whole call was carried on 4G?  I noticed on mine if it dropped back to 3G at any point in the call it wouldn't cut off and that was one of the default fixes - turn off VOLTE calls either from Voda's end or on the handset if you had the option. Or manually choose 3G/WCDMA only as a network preference before making a long call.

@KayleighH  Hello again! I wondered if you were still about, I can't believe it's still going on. Voda lost my business months ago because of this as you know. 3UK have been so good I brought my daughter the same SIM only package that i'm on and got rid of the Voda home broadband as well even though that was OK. Now we've got 2x 5G mobile broadband SIM's with unlimited data for less than the price I was paying just for the one dodgy phone on Voda and I don't have to pay them anything at all.  I came back because of the alarming news that 3 and Voda are in talks about merging their networks for faster 5G rollout and cost saving. I really don't want that to happen for obvious reasons!!! Or I want to see a fix first.  Or maybe you will all get lucky and they merge and take over 3's systems that aren't susceptible to this LOL

[repask]

@mdc1983uk 

You're right. My signal at home is very spotty. To get 4G or 3G signal I had to leave the phone on a window for 30min + when testing last time.

For clarity, I have access to 2 SIM cards from Vodafone.

OLD SIM - my old Vodafone plan SIM that was fixed early this week by Vodafone disconnectin/reconnecting my number and then resetting my WIFI Calling settings. Nothing was changed, applied or updated on the Google Pixel 7 Pro. I can now make calls loger than 30 minutes over Wifi Calling and 4G.

NEW SIM - my new Vodafone plan that came with the phone. Calls over 4G and Wifi Calling still disconnect after 29min and 30 seconds. I didn't contact Vodafone support in regards to this SIM before. This is 2 weeks old SIM card.

Test 1:

When I call from my OLD Vodafone SIM using Google Pixel 7 Pro on 4G signal, it automatically switches to 3G. I found out that when you have "Adaptive Connectivity" enabled under "Settings > Network and Internet" Google Pixel 7 Pro doesn't use VoLTE, but switches back to 3G. I suspect this is battery saving feature, based on the Adapative Connectivity description. I didn't notice this when testing last time. I'll update my previous responses so it doesn't confuse anyone else reading through the forum.

This is getting more complicated by the minute.

Test 2:

Call from my NEW Vodafone SIM with Google Pixel 7 Pro over WIFI Calling disconnects at 29min 30 seconds. 

This confirms the issue is specific to each Vodafone SIM card provisioning and not a fix that Vodafone applies to your handset. Keep in mind that I'm using the same Google Pixel 7 Pro phone and one Vodafone SIM (NEW) disconnects calls whereas the other Vodafone SIM (OLD) doesn't.

Test 3:

Call from my NEW Vodafone SIM with Google Pixel 7 Pro over 4G/VoLTE disconnects at 29min 30 seconds. 

Test 2 and 3 confirms that calls over both 4G/VoLTE and WIFI Calling have same disconnect issue, but not 3G as shown in Test 4.

Test 4: 

Call from my NEW Vodafone SIM with Google Pixel 7 Pro over 3G lasts well over 30 minutes.

Test 5 and 6:

Call from my OLD and NEW SIM cards using Huawei P30, both calls lasted longer than 30min over Wifi Calling and over 4G/VoLTE as well. I have no issue when using Huawei P30 with either Vodafone SIM.

In a nutshell, inability to place call over VoLTE (4G) was due to "Adaptive Connectivity" enabled in Google Pixel 7 Pro settings.

The issue with Wifi Calling over Google Pixel 7 Pro is certainly resolvable by Vodafone as they have fixed it for one of my Vodafone SIMs. The fix is specific to Vodafone SIM card and it's provisioning settings.

Hopefully this helps someone as testing this was a long process to see how each handset and SIM combination behaves over different Vodafone networks (3G/4G/Wifi Calling).

[Rob_Bull_001]

Both the wife and myself have Sony Xperia xz3 and have the same issue of disconnect after 29 minutes 50 seconds. We had a contract renewal early last year, and this issue occurred also in the old contract and we both fixed the issue then by disabling wifi calling in the phone app and at the time the MyVodafone app also had a slider button in the "Manage Controls and Extras" where the app also had an option to disable wifi calling .

Since contract renewal, the problem started again. The wifi calling option in the phone app had gone, likewise the slider button in the My Vodafone app manage controls and extras had also gone. After several calls to Vodafone support we got a message from Vodafone support that re-enabled the WiFi call option in the phone app, but the My Vodafone app still does not allow me to disable that option.  I also just tried a Sim swap to a brand new Sim but it made no difference.  We're raising this once again with Vodafone and trying to escalate as its been a really annoying issue.  I'll post any updates and solutions if I get anywhere.