topic Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed? in Android

4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 11:17:33 GMT

I have a Galaxy S9+, 4g calling is enabled in my account and enabled in the mobile settings on the phone itself. The O2 coverage map indicates I'm in a good area where 4G calling is enabled. However I'm never seeing the VoLTE icon in the status bar. Friend of mine with a Galaxy (on EE) see's the VoLTE icon all the time with VoLTE calling active.

I think that 'Voice over LTE' and '4G calling' are the same thing, so why do I never see the VoLTE icon? Does anyone else enabled for 4G calling see the VoLTE icon?

Thanks.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 12:36:31 GMT

It all depends on the firmware on your phone. You may just see 4G displayed when on a call.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:07:47 GMT

Thanks, I'm sure I'm on the latest firmware. From what I've read the VoLTE icon should be displayed if the phone is VoLTE capable and enabled (i.e. on all the time regardless of whether or not a call is in progress). That's why I wanted to know if other O2 users with 4G calling enabled see the VoLTE icon or not...

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

madasaf1sh — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:17:44 GMT

Are you using an o2 variant or Sim Free..

What i have noticed is that the VOL LTE icon doesnt always appear on devices.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:20:02 GMT

Are you seeing 4G displayed when on a call or only 3G?

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:22:38 GMT

@madasaf1sh wrote:
Are you using an o2 variant or Sim Free..

What i have noticed is that the VOL LTE icon doesnt always appear on devices.

I guess on generic firmware it is enabled and for network devices, it will be the choice of the network.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 17:40:37 GMT

This is an O2 phone so O2 firmware. During a call (and I've tested this from my friends phone where the VoLTE icon is on) on my phone the 4g icon *always* drops to H or H+...hence my initial query as I thought with 4G calling the phone should maintain the 4G connection. So (despite 4G calling on my account and the 4g toggle enabled on the phone) I don't think 4G calling is working for me, which is why I was interesting in whether or the not the VoLTE icon shows on other O2 phones...

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 17:46:49 GMT

It's not working, hence the reason I asked if it showed 4g or 3g in a call.
You need to give customer services a call to find out why?

If you previously had an iPhone, you might still be on iData which will prevent certain features working on an Android device.
Also, what is your CSC ?

https://www.o2.co.uk/help/network-coverage-and-international/wifi-and-4g-calling#samsung-setup

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 20:26:25 GMT

Yes, I don't think it's working either.

I've never had an iPhone.

CSC is G965FOTF1BRF7.

Do I need a newer SIM card? I've had this SIM over 2 years (previously in an S7, never got VoLTE on that either despite it being apparently enabled). Although the SIM is 4G enabled is that enough to also enable 4G calling?

I'll give customer service a call, but also appreciate any futher advice you might have - thanks.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 20:38:44 GMT

When did you update to that version?
I'm not aware of anything specific required on the sim for VoLTE but it won't hurt to get a new one either.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:14:11 GMT

I had a software update earlier today so assume CSC version was updated then.

Will order a new SIM and see what happens.

Thanks.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 22:16:42 GMT

That's what I was wondering as your software was only released yesterday and I wasn't aware it had been rolled out yet.
But it is O2 version so everything should be working for you.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

EmilieT — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 10:47:47 GMT

Hi @dougwzz98, it'll be really interesting to know how you get on with this going forward and if you make any progress

Cheers @MI5 and @madasaf1sh for the advice!

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 19:45:44 GMT

Awaiting arrival of new SIM card. Will update when I get it and have done the swap.

Doug.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 10:02:45 GMT

Ever start something then wish you hadn't...

So new SIM arrived and swapped over yesterday evening, no problem. Phone worked fine, but still no VoLTE icon or any indication 4G calling was working. So I thought OK, I'll deactivate 4G and WiFi calling in my account, then reactivate it to see if that will kick it into life. Deactivate done online, usual blurb about request pending, all looked OK.

This morning phone tells me "SIM not provisioned". No cell network connection at all. Now I'm sure I've done the 4G calling deactivate/reactive process before and it never disabled my SIM in this way (why would it?). So I call customer services on my landline who tell me yes, there is a request in process and it can take up to 24 hours to go through. They won't do anything until 24 hours has gone by, but from where I am it looks like something is 'stuck', and I'm dubious it's going to start working after this period without some sort of intervention. But there's nothing it seems I can get them to do until this period of time elapses...so I'll just restart the phone at intervals today and hope for the best!

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

MI5 — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 10:05:39 GMT

Good luck but you’re correct in that it shouldn’t disable the sim completely.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Wed, 11 Jul 2018 14:26:25 GMT

SIM has just reenabled so phone is now back on the network. 4G calling and WiFi calling are showing as inactive on my account.

I think I'm going to leave things alone for the rest of today, and will try activating 4G calling and WiFi calling on my account tomorrow. Will update after I've done that.

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Sat, 14 Jul 2018 08:59:07 GMT

So I have activated Wi-Fi calling and 4G calling on my account. SIM remained enabled and after a few hours the Wi-Fi calling and 4G calling toggles appeared in the settings menu. So far so good. Switch on the Wi-Fi calling toggle and the Voice over WiFI icon appears as expected. Switch on the 4G calling toggle and switch off WiFi so I'm on the cell network and...no sign of the VoLTE icon, just the usual 4G icon. So I'm no further forward at all.

I think the options are:

1: I'm completely misunderstanding how 4G calling is supposed to work. Maybe O2 don't raise the VoLTE icon at all, not if the service is available or even just during an actual call. This seems inconsistent as they *do* raise the Voice over WiFi icon as soon as you toggle that service on.

2: Despite what the O2 coverage map says maybe 4G calling is not available in my area (although I do travel around a bit and even in central London I've never seen the VoLTE icon).

3: 4G calling just doesn't work as advertised, in my tests from another O2 phone which has 4G calling enabled (which also never sees the VoLTE icon) a voice call causes both phones to drop from 4G down to H (not supposed to happen during a 4G call with 4G calling active).

I can't think of anything else to try. Thanks for the assistance so far, I may just give up at this point as I think I've exhausted all the avenues I can think of to prove that this works!

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

EmilieT — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 13:47:54 GMT

Hi @dougwzz98, sorry to read you're still stuck with this I'll send you a Private Message to get some more details and see if there's anything we could do at all at this point to get this resolved for you!

Re: 4g calling, VoLTE icon not displayed?

dougwzz98 — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 20:13:49 GMT

An update on this, I think I'm just not in right situation for 4G calling to activate. It seems it's very dependant on the signal strength of both the 4G and 3G networks in a given location, and theres no way with O2's implementation of it to 'force' the situation. I gather other networks provide settings to get some control over this (e.g. to always use VoWiFi when available, whereas O2 automatically switch VoWiFi on and off depending on the 4G signal strength from moment to moment and theres no user control available). Similarly I think other networks allow you to prefer 4G calling over 3G, but O2 again seem to handle this automatically based on signal strength (and maybe network congestion and other factors).

I can force VoWifi to activate all the time by going into flight mode and then just turning on my WiFi connection.That works fine, but it seems there is no equivalent test for VoLTE short of turning off the 3G network in my area

So I'll keep on eye on it as I travel around and see if one day I get that voice call where my 4G connection also stays active

Thanks to all and especially Emilie for the offline assistance.