topic Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS? in Tech Support

Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 10:08:17 GMT

I have had Wifi Calling using my O2 SIM in my Nokia 8110 4G on PAYG for years (because home network reception is non-existent).

I recently acquired a Google Pixel 6a phone, flashed it with GrapheneOS, and inserted a new EE SIM. Wifi Calling was available so I enabled it and all was well.

I moved my O2 SIM over to the Pixel in order to start using it as my principal phone, but I find that the Wifi Calling option does not appear. I have no home reception on the Pixel and so have had to move my O2 SIM back to the Nokia.

Can this be fixed?

Thanks.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

MI5 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 10:57:44 GMT

@Andy_Kay1

O2 won't support any non official operating systems.

Return phone to stock to fix it.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Enlli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 11:53:32 GMT

Assume you are a 30 day rolling contract as PAYG does not support WiFi Calling at present.

Android 15 works well on the 6a with O2

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 11:56:49 GMT

Thanks for that MI5. Looks like I´ll have to port my phone number over to EE then.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:03:56 GMT

No, I am indeed on PAYG on the Nokia 8110 and Wifi Calling has been working just fine since I bought the phone new six years ago. I wanted to upgrade to a smart phone but didn´t want Apple or Google making me their ´product´ so I acquired the Pixel and flashed it with GrapheneOS to see how far I could get. EE allow Wifi Calling on the device so it looks like I´ll be porting my number over to EE.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

pgn — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 12:19:06 GMT

Interesting that this Nokia 8110 on O2 PAYG can use VoLTE...

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

Any comments from the Forum Manager, @Dave-O2?

FYI independent feedback nsirher confirms nor denies what non-contract offerings from other vendors permit, so advice above is best for you, re the o/s, @Andy_Kay1

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2295368/nokia-8110

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 16:37:46 GMT

Quoting from Grok:

VoLTE, or Voice over LTE, allows voice calls to be transmitted over the 4G LTE data network instead of the traditional circuit-switched 2G or 3G networks, offering improved call quality and faster setup times. Official sources, such as a Gadgets 360 article from June 2018, explicitly state that the Nokia 8110 4G supports "4G VoLTE" (Nokia 8110 4G 'Banana' Phone With 4G VoLTE, KaiOS Launched in India: Price, Specifications, Features). Additionally, the Wikipedia page for KaiOS confirms that the operating system supports modern connectivity technologies, including VoLTE, GPS, and Wi-Fi (KaiOS - Wikipedia).

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

pgn — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:11:03 GMT

If the carrier makes that service available to you, @Andy_Kay1 - even some providers, like giffgaff (I believe does offer the service to their PAYG customers) and TescoMobile (who do not offer it to their PAYG customers), who both use O2's network, differ.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

madasaf1sh — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:15:55 GMT

Trusting Musks AI tool is never a good idea, as it misses out key information, which @pgn points out, it is all dependent on if the provider enables the service, which o2 don't for PAYG...

giffgaff offer it on there no contract sims (the new way of saying PAYG), Tesco Mobile (dont support it on PAYG according to their website)... most new MVNO's support it such as Spusu, Slice and Voxi

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Enlli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 17:30:53 GMT

How you got it on O2 when WiFi Calling is not supposed to work on their PAYG is anyone's guess.

My Pixel Pro supports WiFi Calling but try struggling with a Spusu SIM.

Whatever the Internet says is not always guaranteed

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 18:49:25 GMT

I wasn´t placing any trust in Grok, I was just using it to support what for me is a fact (but what for you is only my claim) that I´ve been benefitting from Wifi Calling on my O2 PAYG SIM for the last six years. I´m in no position to hazard any guesses why this is the case, but I´m not complaining. Now my Nokia 8110 4G is showing its age and I feel it´s time to yield to the pressure to enter the modern era, so I´m on a quest to find the best way of getting Wifi Calling on a smartphone without taking on the worst consequences of having an applications layer. Thanks for the heads-up on Giffgaff -- I´ll investigate further.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 18:59:22 GMT

Thanks for the feedback png. I hope I don´t come over as being abrasive (always a worry for me in this mode of communication) but I was a little confused by your reply... seeing the initial IF clause I was waiting for a subsequent THEN clause but didn´t find one. I infer, then, that you were just informing me that different providers operate differently in respect of Wifi Calling even when they use the same network. The Giffgaff thing looks worthy of further investigation.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:02:31 GMT

Thanks Enlli, I´m beginning to understand what a complicated situation this is.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Enlli — Sun, 02 Mar 2025 19:16:13 GMT

Daughter is in giffgaff. WiFi Calling, VoLTE, 5G etc.

She has no problems

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Dave-O2 — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 14:00:52 GMT

Thanks for the tag @pgn

As our pages confirm WiFi and 4G Calling isn’t available on Pay As You Go at the moment.

@Andy_Kay1 It remains a mystery how you were able to access this service 🤔

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 10:36:03 GMT

A big problem in conversations like this is that nobody (including me) knows what false assumptions I´m making. A quote often attributed to Mark Twain is ¨It ain´t what you don´t know that gets you into trouble. It´s what you know for sure that just ain´t so.¨

It has now dawned on me that just because my phone shows a wifi connection, it doesn´t follow that I´m getting the Wifi Calling service. I bought a new dumb phone six years ago from to O2 shop and got my O2 number (because my old phone on the EE network gave absolutely zero home coverage), and the new phone gave me a wifi connection. There was instant improvment in signal that I mistakenly put down to wifi.

Realising now that I don´t actually need Wifi Calling puts this whole issue in a new light for me. I need to retreat and reconsider. Humble apologies to all those here that I´ve confused, and many thanks for your perseverence.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

pgn — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 11:25:16 GMT

Hopefully this whole thread has been of help - confusion, yes, a hurdle always. You have selected a solution above, which may now be just a truism, but not the full answer - good luck, @Andy_Kay1.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Oxonian — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:53:45 GMT

@Andy_Kay1 wrote:
It has now dawned on me that just because my phone shows a wifi connection, it doesn´t follow that I´m getting the Wifi Calling service. I bought a new dumb phone six years ago from to O2 shop and got my O2 number (because my old phone on the EE network gave absolutely zero home coverage), and the new phone gave me a wifi connection. There was instant improvment in signal that I mistakenly put down to wifi.

This can be confusing @Andy_Kay1.

My Samsung Galaxy A54 on O2 PAYG has a "WiFi Calling" setting and a touch on it lights it up. But I am not getting "WiFi Calling".

It is akin to taking the top off a bottle and tipping it up ; if the bottle is empty, nothing will come out of it.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Andy_Kay1 — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:10:00 GMT

Yes, I´m beginning to appreciate what a quagmire the cellphone industry is, and to gain an appreciation of those that thanklessly volunteer their expertise on forums like this.

Re: Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

Enlli — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 20:24:09 GMT

While WiFi Calling is desirable having the ability to make calls over 4G will be more important with the closure of 3G followed by the slow wind down of 2G

Why O2 has not addressed this for their PAYG customers is puzzling