WiFi calling - My EE account had it. My O2 account doesn't

[PhilipOwen]

I live in a hilly area. It is Wales. Reception is terrible. I was previously using 3 but I bought an O2 card to test the signal (the O2 mast is nearer) and found a slightly better signal was available from O2. I am transferring my account from 3. However, 3 offered me a Wi-Fi solution. While my phone was connected to Wi-Fi I could make and receive telephone calls, even without a mobile signal.

It appears that the same services not available from O2. O2 offers a service called Wi-Fi calling, but is restricted to a small number of telephone models. My phone is a Philips V526 dual SIM using Android Lollipop and the 3 App operated on this phone without a problem. There appears to be no equivalent App for O2.

How do I solve the problem of very limited reception at my house. To get reliable reception I need to walk 50 yards. Does O2 offer a femtocell? Can it operate from a bedroom, where the signal is higher, rather than taking up space in my router? Maybe I should return to using 3? Although their signal is generally weaker in the whole area, when I remember to switch the App on, I get phone messages.

[MI5 · Accepted solution]

There is nothing for a normal consumer account from O2 unless you take one of the latest phones that can utilise wifi calling.
Business accounts can get a boostbox, but not regular consumers.
Stick to Three if the wifi app is important enough to you.

[Bambino]

@PhilipOwen O2 used to have an app called TuGo, which enabled the user to make and receive calls and send texts over WiFi, and, I believe, was used by tens of thousands or maybe more than that. So O2, in their wisdom decided to abandon that app and leave all those tens of thousands of people without the ability to use their phones over WiFi. Shrewd move. Stick with Three, as suggested, if you need to use your phone at home.

[anticpated]

Tugo was useful in blackspots. Or you just wanted text quickly.