Wifi Calling unavailable on Pixel 6a running GrapheneOS?

[Andy_Kay1]

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.

[Andy_Kay1]

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.

[Andy_Kay1]

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.

[Andy_Kay1]

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

[Enlli]

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

She has no problems

[Dave-O2]

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 🤔

[Andy_Kay1]

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.

[pgn]

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.

[Oxonian]

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@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.     

[Andy_Kay1]

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.

[Enlli]

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