Is there a way to do WiFi calling and totally disable the cellular radio? I tried the instructions here to disable the radio:
hxxp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=8993781&#post8993781
and it did just disable the cellular radio (WiFi still showed up as connected), but when I tried to make a call, it said "To place a call, first turn off Airplane mode." I'm about to leave the country, and I was waiting for this update so I could use my phone without the International roaming charges. This won't work if the phone registers with their cell towers.
Turn off Airplane mode and in the Wifi Calling app under settings or such, I don't have my phone with me at this moment, there is an option to select WiFi only calling. Right now I'm over in Ireland and this seems to work well.
It seems that the cell radio has to be enabled for WiFi calling to work. So Airplane mode can't be enabled.
Can someone verify this? I am travelling overseas soon as well and would like to know if this works.
Thanks,
tehtide said:
Turn off Airplane mode and in the Wifi Calling app under settings or such, I don't have my phone with me at this moment, there is an option to select WiFi only calling. Right now I'm over in Ireland and this seems to work well.
It seems that the cell radio has to be enabled for WiFi calling to work. So Airplane mode can't be enabled.
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Do you have your sim in? Mine has an invalid sim error anyway, but I had given up on using it in europe since it seemed like the sim was a requirement.
I am not sure the wifi calling app will provide free international calling. The app requires that you register on a GSM network in order to make a wifi call. This is so it can deduct minutes. My guess is that you either must be on the TMO network or a network that has a roaming agreement with TMO. You are charged minutes for the call, but I am not sure whether you would be charged just regular minutes or roaming minutes if you use the phone on another network.
You would think this should work, all it's doing is connecting to TMO for a connection via WiFi instead of cellular towers. Why would it care where you are in the world when connecting via the net?
I think it should work, but I think the OP was looking for free calling. My guess is that you will be charged regular roaming rates, or at least regular US rates using the wifi calling app.
I'm not looking for free calling, but to be able to make wifi calls outside of the US without getting hit with roaming charges. Unless things have changed, if you turn on your phone outside the US (and you're a US customer) you get hit with a roaming charge, period. Then you have international roaming mins on top of that. With my Blackberry, I could turn the cellular radjo off, and UMA would register my SIM over wifi. I could make calls all day long and they would just count as regular mins. Is there a way to do this without switching back to my Blackberry?
cparekh said:
I think it should work, but I think the OP was looking for free calling. My guess is that you will be charged regular roaming rates, or at least regular US rates using the wifi calling app.
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Sorry,
That is what I meant. I just can't imagine you would be charged roaming since you aren't really roaming. Using your standard minutes I can understand..
You're still registering on someone elses network regardless. I'd think it'll still know you're roaming and still charge you that rate.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
No, you're not registering on someone else's cellular network. People do this with Blackberry UMA all the time. What it is, is your phone connecting to the internet, and passing the packets along to a T-Mobile server. From that point on, it's not any different than any other cell phone call. So you can be anywhere, since the internet in say, Antartica is the same internet in the US. And they don't charge for roaming. Again, Blackberry users do this all the time.
When you are overseas with t-mobile, you only get charged for calls, sms and data used (providing you have int'l roaming activated on your account) If you do not call or text and data roaming is turned off, there should be no charges unless you call.
I would assume that as long as you select wifi only in the wifi calling app, you shouldn't be hit with any roaming charges.
Something else to keep in mind is most of the hotels in europe in which I have stayed charge for internet access.
Why not call T-Mobile and ask...I bet they have an actual answer as opposed to internet speculation.
I did call and ask. That's why I came here to ask you guys if you know of a way to turn the cellular radio off completely, and make UMA calls. The Tmo rep didn't know how to do that. Everyone I was able to get a hold of could only read off the scripts. No one had any experience with the G2 and UMA (not surprising). But what they were able to tell me is, if I turn my phone on, and I have a voicemail waiting for me, it'll send a voicemail notification to my phone, and I'll get charged for international roaming. If I have a text waiting for me, and I turn my phone on, I'll get hit with an international roaming charge. This all sucks because I went ahead and got my wife a G2 now instead of waiting for Christmas, because I thought we'd be able to make WiFi calls while we were traveling. I'm pretty sure they just thought, "oh, airplane mode! people shouldn't be making calls, so we'll block calls while in airplane mode!". Only problem is that the manual radio disable I read about gets detected as airplane mode. So for my situation, UMA calling is worthless! I guess we'll be sharing the blackberry next week.
Yup. I am experiencing the same thing. When I go in and type *#*#4636#*#*, I can disable the radio. Unfortunately, the wifi calling app cannot register on the TMO network and won't enable. Therefore, though I have wifi, I cannot use the calling app. I don't see a way around this, except maybe to set it to GSM only (which is what the wifi calling app does), and then you would not get charged for data roaming, only phone roaming.
Why not just use the skype app?
You can then call out on Wifi and it costs basically nothing, their intl' rates are so cheap. It will cost literally nothing if your wife also has the skype app on her phone.
Also, don't forget tikl or any of the dozens of mobile to mobile walky talkie apps which work over wifi. Get creative!
app isn't UMA
because it has to register with the wireless network, the app isn't UMA like on a BlackBerry. I think it's a great concept, but it would be nice for everyone if it worked the way you are hoping.
just another way the company is "stickin it to ya"
it doesn't have to register on the cellular network. that would completely defeat the purpose. I can go where there's no cellular coverage at all, and make calls. i've verified that this is possible. we have a complete dead zone at work. i've turned the phone off, turned it on in that area, enabled wifi calling, and made a call. if I turn airplane mode on for a second, it refuses to allow wifi calling. also, someone who lives in a rural area and doesn't have any coverage at all would never be able to use wifi calling. And that's the whole point of it! i don't know where people get this idea that it has to register on the cellular network? does anyone actually have proof otherwise? or is it just speculation?
I do agree that this is just a way for tmo to stick it to us!!
anyways, skype's out because my wife can't forward her number to a skype number. oh and the company who developed it is calling it UMA.
Actually you can forward any number to a skype number if you have a skype-in number. I paid 30 dollars per year for a skype in number and I use skype for 99 percent of my calling on my G2 in combination with google voice. I have the hacked version of skype that works over 3G and it works great over wifi as well.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App (and voice to text)
WiFi calling on UMA is not the same as SIP calling. Please do not expect WiFi calling to work in airplane mode as your headset... as has been said before must register with a tower.. wifi calling is like a signal enhancer. If you want sim free calling you may wanna investigate SIP. the best setup so far is Google voice + gizmo + a sip client.... I don't use sipdroid since I don't know why it needs my GPS location. But there you have it.
I did a search prior to posting this thread. Questions are as follows:
I'm on an unrooted Epic 4G, running the latest update, DI8.
4G Hotspot: When I'm using my pone as a wireless hotspot in a 4G service area, and get a phone call, my Epic drops the 4G connection, interrupts the internet connection to take the call so I'm not able to do 4G and phone calls simultaneously. The same thing actually happens when I'm not using the phone as a hotspot. I'm connected to 4G, a call comes in, 4G is disconnected.
I'm in Cali and though 4g isn't official, the city's been lit up for the last three months or so.
Calendar: I've read bits and pieces here and there, but can the builti-in calendar take meeting requests sent via outlook or ical (not on exchange, just a regular appointment invite from either client).
Thanks in advance.
Lol. I guess no one here is tethering unrooted where there's 4G?
ONe last question...
Has anyone been able to tether with a Mac via USB without using third party software?
I work at my local grocery store. Inside the store, there's little to no signal with 2g/3g...but when I turn on 4g, I have nearly full signal. I tried sending some texts while 4G was active, but they said it could not be sent due to not having 2g/3g signal. Same goes for phone calls. Does 4G really only apply to my browser/speed test? Pretty lame if you ask me. I should be able to send texts through 4G.
Is it just a setting on my phone?
Overstew said:
I work at my local grocery store. Inside the store, there's little to no signal with 2g/3g...but when I turn on 4g, I have nearly full signal. I tried sending some texts while 4G was active, but they said it could not be sent due to not having 2g/3g signal. Same goes for phone calls. Does 4G really only apply to my browser/speed test? Pretty lame if you ask me. I should be able to send texts through 4G.
Is it just a setting on my phone?
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You can't send SMS or Phone calls over 4g. The SMS and Voice rely on 1xrtt protocols which 4G doesn't support ATM. Give it time - its new tech still. At least you have 4g near you - i have to drive like 100 miles.
4g is data only. 3g is data only. 2g is voice and text. I'm not sure, but you may be able to send texts via google voice over your data connection.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Kcarpenter said:
You can't send SMS or Phone calls over 4g. The SMS and Voice rely on 1xrtt protocols which 4G doesn't support ATM. Give it time - its new tech still. At least you have 4g near you - i have to drive like 100 miles.
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I see. It's not a huge problem because I can still use Pandora while working. Muhahhaaha
Thanks
One more question, sometimes tether doesn't pick up my 4G signal, is that a setting issue?
Hey guys, new to the xda forums after lurking here for the last two weeks after getting my N4.
To fully describe my situation, I'm still in college and on most college campuses, signal is very shaky while strong Wi-Fi exists everywhere. Therefore, I initially thought GV + VoIP would be a great option if I dont have signal. However, I'll also be traveling a lot this year in the summer and in those cases, I'll be relying on Tmobile data (yeah...not sure how reliable that'll be in a lot of areas in the U.S.) so I'll probably want to call using T-mobile signal. Being the phone noob that I am, I'm unsure if GV + VoIP will allow me to use the wi-fi in campus to make calls during the fall + winter and also allow me to still make calls with the Tmobile minutes I have in the summer when wi-fi is shaking and I don't really want to trust in Tmobile data strength in a lot of rural U.S. areas.
So TLDR: does GV + VoIP have an easy option to switch between using VoIP with wiFI and disabling VoIP and using carrier minutes to call?
Thanks in advance and sorry if it's a stupid question haha
Use grooveip. You can try sipdroid also but grooveip is better I think.
A thread with a lot of good info....http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646755
Use groove ip and set it to only use while on Wi-Fi. Problem solved
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
I normally use Talkatone (a Groove IP alternative better IMO) and turn on airplane mode and turn on WiFi. I have T-mobile but I only use it as a backup for when I find I am not getting my WiFi signal for the hotspot I always carry with me. So if I need to make a T-mobile call I just turn off airplane mode and use the native dialer to make the call.
i am considering project Fi.
But where i live there is not tmobile signal, my friends come here with tmobile homes and they dont get signal(they live half a mile away).
Sprint coverage map says that there is "fair" signal.
so i was wondering if with project FI i dont have signal at home, the nexus 6p will switch to my wifi network and i will be able to receive and make calls?
buton2 said:
i am considering project Fi.
But where i live there is not tmobile signal, my friends come here with tmobile homes and they dont get signal(they live half a mile away).
Sprint coverage map says that there is "fair" signal.
so i was wondering if with project FI i dont have signal at home, the nexus 6p will switch to my wifi network and i will be able to receive and make calls?
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I activated my Project Fi sim earlier in the week. T-Mobile is not strong around my house (I had to switch to an AT&T sim when I was with StraightTalk) and I'm not sure about Sprint. So far, while I'm at home, the majority of my calls are using my home wifi. I haven't had the chance to test a continuous call as I'm driving home to see if it switches to wifi, as Google indicates it will.
jrstaples1 said:
I activated my Project Fi sim earlier in the week. T-Mobile is not strong around my house (I had to switch to an AT&T sim when I was with StraightTalk) and I'm not sure about Sprint. So far, while I'm at home, the majority of my calls are using my home wifi. I haven't had the chance to test a continuous call as I'm driving home to see if it switches to wifi, as Google indicates it will.
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We are on the same boat...I work on the city and signal is strong there...
Verizon and att serve my home..but I want to get away from them...
Sent from my XT1060 using XDA Free mobile app
Yes, Project Fi uses WiFi for calls and texts when you are on WiFi.
Honestly tmobile wifi calling isn't even that great also. I am only able to get edge in my house with them and wifi calling enabled. I tried calling my phone 15 times and 2-3 times it didn't go through (it actually RINGS but my phone doesn't ring or indicate someone called, and the phone I'm using it rings and goes to voicemail) Wifi calling is at it's infancy I feel like.
I had a tmobile lte booster installed in my room for a year and it BARELY made a difference, still got 0.3-0.5 mbps speeds on their "lte"
Fast forward to last month they finally came out with a lte booster that ACTUALLY works, the previous one came was trash.
If I were you, I'd get tmobile and get the NEW lte booster, because the old one gave me 0.5 to 1mbps at it's best and the new one gives me around 7-10mbps on speedtest. Sprint has horrible signal, I would think their "Fair" signal means horrible reception.
Or just go AT&T and verizon, you get what you pay for..... they are much MUCH reliable than tmobile and sprint.
btort1 said:
Honestly tmobile wifi calling isn't even that great
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Note that T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling has nothing in common with Project Fi Wi-Fi calling, which works perfectly.
I seem to only have had one wifi call at my house with Project Fi that I've actually noticed / remembered. I have no idea why all of them don't come in / go out that way. I have a good cell signal too. But, my wifi is strong on 5 Ghz and my bandwidth is about 88 mbps down / 12 up. I only noticed that one time I got an incoming call that said something to the effect of "using wifi network name." I've confirmed the settings in the phone app are set to use wifi calling too.
WiFi calling works perfect at the house. Have very limited cell signal with every provider, so I put on Airplane mode + WiFi and zero issues?
Solutions Etcetera said:
Note that T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling has nothing in common with Project Fi Wi-Fi calling, which works perfectly.
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Yeah I was just mentioning how bad tmobile is in some areas. But if you have their new lte booster, it works great. The older version barely made a difference. Came from 0.5mbps to 7-10mbps consistently
I mentioned it also cause they told me to try their wifi calling last year and it was jist decent, I still missed calls without knowing people actually called