Call problems in the US

[step_hen]

I’m currently in the US, where Vodafone use T-Mobile and AT and T. I wanted to make people aware there’s a technical  issue with AT and T that prevents voice calls being made and received. Calls can be made on T- Mobile, but I find that their coverage is inferior to AT and T,’s. After several conversations with Voda tech support, they acknowledged there is a problem with AT and T, but, apparently, they’re not in touch with AT and T to resolve the problem. 

[PSReady]

I've just arrived in LA and it looks like VoLTE is working at last!

For the first time in 8 months I can:

1. Connect to AT&T and it defaults to 4G

2. Make calls which don't drop down to EDGE/GPRS

FYI, I've got a iPhone 13 Pro Max

Thank you Voda for eventually sorting this out, but the comms around this whole issue until recently have been appalling.

If anyone has any questions or wants me to test anything, let me know.

[chistery]

Good news @PSReady! Thanks for testing. I'll be able to try it out in NYC next month 😃

I think it'll be interesting to see people report back with their devices and whether it works or not. I suspect we'll see iPhones, Pixels, Samsungs and a smattering of others working and a lot of older devices not work along with complaints.

Also be interesting to know what's going on with Europe. Networks are shutting down 3G here too, so is VoLTE roaming actively being discussed within Europe too? It provides a better service, it's not just about the shutdown.

[eventus99]

I'm curious if anyone else lacks the 'VoLTE calls SIM1' option in the 'Mobile Networks' settings on an S20 Ultra 5G?

This is what I was expecting to see however the option is missing on my handset:

Mine wouldn't work in the US back in January, but it seems this thread explains why! I got the compatibility network message when in Miami on AT&T and had to manually select AT&T, although it all worked fine in Orlando because I believe the 3G switch-off hadn't reached there at the time. 

We'll be out there again in the next few months and I want to be confident that my S20 will work fine for calls this time, now all the 3G services are off.

All the setup guides point to the 'VoLTE calls SIM1' option but I don't see that option! The phone is up to date, supports VoLTE, was supplied by Vodafone and neither the store staff nor Vodafone support seem to have a clue about why it doesn't appear or whether it will therefore be on by default and working for our next visit?!

I've been a Vodafone customer for over 25 years and trying to get useful support on this has been by far my worst experience with them......

[chistery]

Vodafone believe they know better than their customers and hide the VoLTE menu option - I can only assume because they don't want people switching it off and think it reduces complaints. That or just general incompetence from their technical teams.

You need to dial *#*#4636#*#* and check the IMS status instead.

It's also not clear which devices support VoLTE roaming apart from iPhones and the latest Pixels. The s20 may still be too old, we need people to test and report back.

[bedasaka]

Does anyone know when we will be able to roam in the US on 5G?  All my US friends and family come here and get 5G service.

[eventus99]

I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry that an S20, a flagship and expensive handset that was purchased when they first came to Vodafone in early 2020 and that is just over 2.5 years old, could be considered too old to support VoLTE 😳😀 There's no wonder this planet is so screwed .... 

I'll have to wait and see whether it works when we get there and will report back the results 🙂

I tried the '*#*#.....' but it just tried to dial it rather respond in the way similar codes do - is that what was expected to happen?

[chistery]

The S20 will support VoLTE - make a call and it should stay on 4G. Whether it supports VoLTE roaming is another question.

Seems you can't dial *#*#4636#*#* from the Samsung Dialler., You need to use the Google Phone dialler for it. It's easier to make a call and see if it stays on 4G.

[mikeecix]

Oh I really hope the S20 supports VoLTE roaming. I have a Note 9 and previously posted in this thread about it not being compatible with roaming in the US and was planning a "cheaper" upgrade to a S20 Ultra rather than suffer the issues with roaming with my Note 9.

Saying that, I'm back in Miami now and 3G hasn't yet been switched off. It was New York where I had the worst issues, with Edge showing a lot in Manhattan. Washington was ok a couple of months ago. 

However, I don't wanna play Russian roulette with coverage every time I visit so hopefully someone will confirm a S20 works ago sometime soon as I'll then make the switch.

BTW I just tried manually selecting AT&T but it refused to connect to the network so am fixed to TMobile. 

[PSReady]

I'm just back from NYC and AT&T VoLTE roaming was working well on my iPhone 13.

This time I also tried to manually switch to T-Mobile but that wouldn't work at all - not that i'm particularly bothered, but it's good to have the option sometimes. I'll try that again in LA in a few weeks to see if it was a local issue or not.

[mikeecix]

@Beth  Voice calls on T-Mobile are impossible using my Galaxy Note 9 and I have been unable to manually connect to the AT&T network in Miami over the past week. I continually get the error "Unable to connect - try later". Has something changed recently with Voda users being able to use the AT&T network as 2 months ago I was able to do this?