Forum Discussion

Richard_1858672's avatar
Richard_1858672
SMARTY Pioneer
10-02-2023

Wifi Preferred Option

Hi! I have a new Fold 4 and noticed a behaviour around wifi calling. I have enabled wifi calling in the menu - when the mobile signal drops to no bars the wifi calling icon appears. When the signal moves to 1 or 2 bars then it turns off. This is an issue since my mobile signal is borderline so want wifi calling by default. On my old Note 9 you could set the calling preference but this option is not available on the new phone (Android 13).

I've done some googling and getting mixed messages around this whether it is an android setting and/or a setting that is available for only certain network providers.

Does anyone on Smarty with earlier android version have the wifi preferred option?

Thanks in advance,

Richard

PS There is the "flight mode" option as a work around which works and I've set up a routine to turn this on and off depending if I'm home or not so this will hopefully work as a fallback!

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

Wi-Fi calling

16 Replies

  • Chalkychap's avatar
    Chalkychap
    SMARTY Trendsetter
    11-02-2023

    What was the Android version on your old Note 9 Richard_1858672?

    Were you using your old Note 9 with a SMARTY SIM card Richard_1858672?

    If you old Note 9 was an earlier version of Android and you were able to set Wi-Fi Calling preferred with your SMARTY SIM card in this handset, it suggests the issue is Android related.

    I'd stick with your work-around Richard_1858672. I've got bad/poor mobile reception at home, and use the Wi-Fi Calling option with my handset in "flight mode".

    • Richard_1858672's avatar
      Richard_1858672
      SMARTY Pioneer
      12-02-2023

      Thanks - unfortunately I traded in Note 9 so couldn't test it - doh!

      I asked a similar question on the Samsung community and someone with the identical model on EE sent a screenshot showing this option was available so this shows is provider related.

      The phone is not on the SMARTY approved list - my theory is it works by default with basic settings but needs them to tweak the APN. Support couldn't say when/if the phone will be added.

      My next experiment is I've ordered a VOXI SIM (Vodafone) to see what that does.....

  • WelshPaul's avatar
    WelshPaul
    SMARTY Centurion
    12-02-2023

    EE are the only provider to allow you to modify the setting on the device, all others prevent you from changing it (some hide it). I guess they don’t want their servers getting hit with to much traffic due to people choosing to use Wifi calling over 2G, 3G or VoLTE.

    • BlueSmarties's avatar
      BlueSmarties
      SMARTY Commentator
      17-02-2023

      Yes. I have a dual SIM Samsung A70 and a smarty and EE sim in it. wifi preferred is an option for EE and not for Smarty. If I swap the sims around the capability follows the sim.
      It's clearly a network issue and due to the often terrible indoor signal I constantly miss calls on the smarty sim due to it flicking between wifi and network constantly.
      The EE sim just works flawlessly.

      Getting someone at smarty to acknowledge this and heavens the thought get it fixed is a near pointless task as it will never happen.
      I suppose best to use a real network for things that matter.

      • Chalkychap's avatar
        Chalkychap
        SMARTY Trendsetter
        27-04-2023

        I'd guess SMARTY would need to invest time and money into getting device profiles/settings updated to allow/support the use of a Wi-Fi Calling preferred option on their network.

        Maybe this is a reason why EE plans are generally more expensive than SMARTY's.

         

    • amethyst_rose's avatar
      amethyst_rose
      SMARTY Rookie
      09-10-2023

      Do you happen to know if the wi-fi preferred setting would be available on the other companies using EE signal or only EE directly (not sure I can justify their prices just for this feature!)

      Trying to set up my new phone with poor indoor coverage and thought I'd finally be sorted...but possibly not. Thanks!

  • JamesPa_2016446's avatar
    JamesPa_2016446
    SMARTY Pioneer
    27-04-2023

    Just got my smarty sim and currently have my old EE sim and smarty sim in dual-sim s22 plus while the number transfers. The EE sim has WIFI-calling preferred option but the smarty sim is just on or off. It is a bit disappointing because it was a big improvement when I went from s9 with wifi-calling on/off to the 2ss plus with on/off/preferred. To be fair, i haven't had chance to test the smarty signal at home but it's a big disappointment to lose that option. 

    As above, on my previous phone, the phone would often decide to use cellular when wifi-calling was needed is the signal was borderline

  • WelshPaul's avatar
    WelshPaul
    SMARTY Centurion
    28-04-2023

    The Three network and any MVNO that uses the Three network will not allow WIFI-calling as the preferred option, they will always default to the cellular network if available. I guess Three have little faith in their back end systems being able to cope with a lot of traffic which is what they will see if they allowed this option.

    • BlueSmarties's avatar
      BlueSmarties
      SMARTY Commentator
      13-12-2024

      RWG do.
      So...... still waiting for smarty to catch up.