WiFi Calling on Moto G pro

[Adrian_M]

Christmas before last I treated our family to three Moto G Pro's. Seemed like a nice large format phone with stylus and they've been brilliant. Now Vodafone keep pinging me by email and SMS about the turn off of 3G and when I follow the instructions on the web link, the first hurdle of checking compatibility fails with "Your device is not compatible"

What's going on? The phones are using 4G just fine. VOIP is a generic network protocol that any internet connected device can make use of - so why does a device that can transfer packets over IP get labelled "not compatible"? Even if the Android system (version 12) doesn't support VOIP (which it does) there are lots of apps that can be downloaded. But I don't see how this would integrate with our Vodafone telephone numbers. I'm very confused in an area that I thought I understood fairly well. 

[Adrian_M]

Android has had  WiFi Calling calling baked into the OS since version 6:

Make calls over Wi-Fi

In some cases, you can call people over a Wi-Fi connection instead of a mobile carrier. Not all carriers support calls over Wi-Fi.

Before you can make calls over Wi-Fi, you'll need to turn on the feature in your settings.

Important: Some of these steps only work on Android 6.0 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

Turn on Wi-Fi calling

Important: You may incur additional charges for making calls over Wi-Fi, so check with your mobile service provider for details.

Use a mobile carrier’s Wi-Fi calling

1. Open the Phone app 
2. Tap More   Settings.
3. Tap Calls.
4. Tap Wi-Fi calling. If you don't see this option, it’s because your carrier doesn’t support this feature.
   • You can use Wi-Fi calling without a service on some carriers.
   • If your carrier doesn't offer Wi-Fi calling, you can still do so through a voice over IP service

The key point is step 4: "Tap Wi-Fi calling. If you don't see this option, it’s because your carrier doesn’t support this feature." So, unlike what's reported on the Vodafone website, it's not the case that the device isn't compatible with 4G Calling, it's just not a Vodafone service being enabled for our accounts.

[Adrian_M]

I'm not getting anywhere with this. A phone released mid 2020 should not suddenly revert to 1990's technology - particularly when ofcom say:

"If you’re already using a newer 4G or 5G device, you shouldn’t need to do anything. Some 4G devices might still need a software update to ensure any calls you make use the right network. Your provider will tell you if that’s the case and explain how to make the updates needed."

I have been in touch with motorola support who responded with the following:

"Thanks for waiting. We reached out to our team and have confirmed that IMS is disabled for all carriers, including Vodafone, on Moto G Pro phones. So, Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE will not be possible on UK carriers."

So  my family are using newer 4G phones but our provider will be unable to explain how to make the updates needed  and can only tell us to ditch our 2 year old phones in the bin.

[Gemma]

@Adrian_M - thanks for the points you've raised to us about your new phone not being compatible. I understand this must be frustrating. To check which devices are compatible with 4G Calling, please see here. 

[Adrian_M]

Thank you for replying @Gemma You will see in my opening post that I had already checked the link you just provided and that this was when I found out that our 2 year old 4G phones were incompatible.

I do not understand why you would attempt to send me around this loop once more. Motorola said that IMS is disabled and therefore Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE will not be possible on UK carriers. So contrary to ofcom's direction that my provider will tell me how to make the necessary updates, you would not seem to be able to.

4G phones have been in circulation for 10 years, and I understand that this is part of the reason the regulator has agreed with the networks that 3G can be switched off now - as all newly purchased phones would be capable of using VoLTE - but this is clearly not the case.

Do you have any other suggestions for us please?

[Gemma]

@Adrian_M - I'm sorry that my post looked like I was sending you back around a loop. This wasn't my intention at all and I do understand your frustration, with your phone not being compatible. 

I linked back to that link, so that if you do get a different device in the future, you can check there for if it's compatible. 

If you do, do this then we can also make sure everything 's set up on your account as it should be. You'd just need to contact us through Social Media.