Wifi Calling on Samsung S21 Ultra

[PHewson69]

I have had my S21Ultra for a little over a year. Glad to have a Samsung again.

My home network was Amplifi HD connected to Virgin ISP. WiFi calling was working, even with 2 bars of phone signal and 100% Wifi it would select Wifi Calling. Perfect

Something in the last couple of months has changed, as Wifi calling ONLY works if I turn on FlightMode and turn on wifi.

Reason I noticed it, was that I changed ISP to Zen, new network, Ubiquiti WAPs with a cloud key controller.

Went back to my original network, as Virgin is still active and still no WiFi calling.

Spoke to my ISP, admittedly accusing them by accident, of blocking certain ports, as I was sure it was working before I changed from Virgin, but even going back to Virgin service it did not want to work.

My conclusion that an update, either from VodaFone or Samsung has broken our WiFi calling feature.
The WiFi Calling screen is a giveaway, 'Make and Receive calls over a WiFi connection whenever available'

'Whenever' is the key word.. so not when I have 1, 2 or 4 bars of cellular service, but whenever I am connected to WiFi.

VodaFone / Samsung, Wifi is available, so what has happened to the software either of you have been playing with? It is the only logical explanation..

Voda wanted me to reset my phone, as that is all they can recommend and Tobi likes to send you texts on how to enable WiFi calling.
##~##, it was working, what have you broken? Do not tell me it is my phone as that does not wash with me. And no I did not buy it from Voda, as I did not want to pay for it over the next 3 years. I buy my phones outright from John Lewis.

Regardless of  where I buy my phone from, I pay for a service, which I am not getting.

Please fix it.

[Evie]

Hi @PHewson69 - I can understand why this would be confusing if your Wi-Fi calling was working previously with no need to change any settings. Issues with Wi-Fi calling can be many factors depending on your Wi-Fi connection, mobile phone signal, device, settings or software. Once Samsung have conducted their investigation this may shine more of a light onto this. 

I'd like to get this looked into with our tech team, so if you don't have much luck with Samsung and all of the above (Wi-Fi connection, settings, software, etc.) are as they should be, please get in touch with us on social media. Make sure to include your mobile/account number, a link back to this forum thread and your forum username so that you don't have to repeat yourself.

[AnnS]

@PHewson69 

It might be helpful for you to ask this question on Samsung Community where you should get a good response from Samsung members https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/english/ct-p/uk

[PHewson69]

After speaking to Tobi who is as useful as a chocolate teapot, I spoke to 2 or your so called tech guys, who told me to do everything I had read on the internet.

I called complaints, spoke to a lady who was more understanding and tried to put me through to a tech, but he was just another voice with a screen full of scripts, probably in customer service.

I then came on here, some really helpful answers, which I appreciate and one person who obviously knows it all and suggests that it cannot be the software.😴

I write software to control houses, BMS systems, networks, audio systems etc, and if the software is not right, devices I need to control, either do not work or do the wrong thing.

I expect my phone to use WiFi Calling if I am connected and authenticated to a wireless network. Period.

That is what used to happen. It even tells me that's what it is going to do in the WiFi Calling page

'MAKE AND RECEIVE CALLS OVER A WIFI CONNECTION WHENEVER AVAILABLE'

I have a 400mb wireless connection from my phone to my Access point, 100% signal strength, and a 500mb internet connection to my network.

If vodafones software tweaks dictate to only use wifi calling when cellular signal is <= 1 bar, then that is not good practice.

Why cant we have the same function as the person posted that EE uses, 'WiFi preferred'?

I found a place today in my house where I was able to get 1 bar of cellular and wifi calling went active, instead of me manually going FlightMode and turning wifi back on. So that, in my mind Voda has over tweaked the software.

@EvieI had a response from Samsung this afternoon and they are looking at the issue I reported. I have lost faith in Voda;s techs. Hence why I went to Samsung for help.

We, your customers pay for our service, so I personally do not want over tweaked phone settings which compromise my phone functions.

[BandOfBrothers]

Totally understand and appreciate your viewpoint on this @PHewson69 

I agree going from the screenshot from the other member showing a preferred option it's a viable option Vodafone should look at.

As evie also says it can be "software "  related so it's not nonsense at all.

Your more than welcome to post on the Samsung eu community forum where I'm also a member to ask the very same question, and I'll be only too happy to repeat my responses there too.

Vodafone UK have a part in controlling the software updates for their branded phone's so Samsung would only Comply with their requirements as per the Vodafone Firmware-Explained Statement.  

Maybe another member there also has insight.

Sorry if I've missed this in your earlier posts but was the phone supplied by Vodafone UK ?

[chistery]

Just to add, my phone was purchased direct from Samsung. The carrier settings that Vodafone send are not specific to devices they have sold, they will apply to any device wherever you bought it.

[AnnS]

Evie also mentioned about settings being correct, we are expected to respect other points of view and will not have my replies put down on this forum.

I stand my my answers and would repeat them, data calling is working correctly with Vodafone when the signal drops. Samsung software does not affect data calling.  

The OP has also mentioned he buys his phones from John Lewis.

[PHewson69]

Got a response from Samsung Support. @Evie 

'Hey, Paul! According to the requirement of Vodafone UK, the Wi-Fi preferred mode is set as "CS preferred". Wi-Fi calling can be available when the LTE signal is lower than -116 dBm.

We can see that your LTE signal was good enough not to hand over to VoWIFI. This is a normal operation according to the requirement of Vodafone UK. 

If you are still experiencing the same issue, we would advise contacting your network provider directly, as Wi-Fi Calling is a network-related feature. If you need help with anything else, please reach back out by tapping on the "Ask Again" button. We'll be happy to advise you further! ^SM '

So questions from this are;

What is "CS Preferred"?

-116 dBm. - what bar is that on the S21 display.

So it is Something that VodaFone has implemented not Samsung. We all thought so.

Today, I made a call to BroadBand Buyer inquiring about product. I had one bar of cellular and it would not switch into WiFi Calling.

Made the call, the person at the other end told me he could not hear me properly. Told him I would call him back.

Flightmode on - WiFi back on, WiFi calling automatically enabled, made the call and he could hear me clearly.

VodaFone UK, I hope you are reading this.

I would like my phone to perform as it says it can. "Make and receive calls over a WiFi connection whenever available'

I do not want it when Voda thinks my connection is iffy then switch to WiFi Calling.

I want it when I have a connection to a WiFi network regardless if I have 1 or 5 bars of cellular service. If I  am authenticated to a WiFi Network, it uses that instead of Cellular. Period.

Even better, been able to choose how I / we want it to work, like EE allows - WiFI preferred.

As previously mentioned, your heatmap of my postcode is incorrect, even if I am standing outside.

[WelshPaul]

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@PHewson69 wrote:

So questions from this are;

What is "CS Preferred"?

-116 dBm. - what bar is that on the S21 display.

---

1. CS Preferred  = Vodafone network takes priority over WiFi Calling (Cellular Service Preferred)
2. Settings > About phone > Status information > SIM card status > Signal strength

[PHewson69]

Thanks for the info @WelshPaul 

Shame no one at Voda has spoken up

So obviously their settings are too restrictive. Please Fix this issue.

[anuraagpaul]

I used to have a OnePlus 7 Pro which was set to Wi-Fi Preferred for Wi-Fi calling and would connect to VoWi-Fi regardless of my signal strength.

Since using an iPhone 13 Pro, I have noticed Wi-Fi call doesn’t activate until I am on about 1 bar of signal of 4G which I assume, as per what Vodafone have stated, is anything lower than -116dBm of signal (Anything lower than -125dBm results in no signal btw and anything around -85dBm or higher results in full signal bars).

Bit of a pain really but seems like this is how Vodafone have configured it to run I guess.

Also to add, in any locations where you drop to a 3G signal, even at full bars, Wi-Fi call will be achieved as of course Wi-Fi calling would be of equivalent call quality to 4G calling as call quality over 3G may possibly inferior.

I am pretty certain I read an article somewhere about Wi-Fi networks, especially when using a public Wi-Fi hotspot that were being clogged up with everyone being on Wi-Fi calling affecting the data network performance which is why the parameters are set for you to connect to the voice line network on Wi-Fi in the event of a weak signal, anything less than a 4G signal or no signal.

Of course you can just manually force Wi-Fi calling by switching on flight mode, if you wanted to. Only caveat with that is, if you need it to receive texts (especially when receiving OTP codes) you need to see if your phone supports SMS over Wi-Fi. My OP7 Pro did not have support for this however my current iPhone 13 Pro does support it. You are able to find this information out from Vodafone’s website (not all models shown).

Hope that helps.