Advice on Wi Fi calling please

[NavyVeteran]

1 minute ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

 

There is obviously a lot of confusion about how cell phones work (or don't work!) Voice calls and text use the cellular signal...not data. I fully agree with you that *data* is what "runs up the bill".  It is the data that is tracked in cell phone plans (at least in the US) and once you hit whatever cap you have contracted for in your plan you go into extra charge.  Calls are unlimited (most plans)...because they don't use data.

Calls are unlimited only when placed within the service area covered by your plan. They are not unlimited when placed outside of those areas.

[Thrak]

11 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

My point was that you do not need to put the phone in Flight mode - just disable mobile data. Then you'll still have a phone that can receive messages and, in many places, calls as well. You will not receive messages over your phone network if it is in flight mode.

 

Many people have no idea how to simply disable mobile data so the easiest method for many is to simply hit the Airplane Mode button to turn off both data and WiFi and then hit the WiFi button to re-enable WiFi. This is a simple way to accomplish what is needed without any hassle regarding different operating systems or versions thereof.

[leck57]

54 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Many people have no idea how to simply disable mobile data so the easiest method for many is to simply hit the Airplane Mode button to turn off both data and WiFi and then hit the WiFi button to re-enable WiFi. This is a simple way to accomplish what is needed without any hassle regarding different operating systems or versions thereof.

 

Yep, you are correct. As I said though if you keep your phone in airplane mode you don't have a working phone in the traditional sense. I, for one, like getting texts from home from people reminding me of how badly my football team is going.😪

 

[NavyVeteran]

49 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

Yep, you are correct. As I said though if you keep your phone in airplane mode you don't have a working phone in the traditional sense. I, for one, like getting texts from home from people reminding me of how badly my football team is going.😪

If your phone connects to a cellular network outside of your service area, you will be charged for any calls or texts. Depending on your plan and your location, those charges may be large. This is true even if cellular data is turned off. If you have wifi calling from your service provider, then you still have a working phone using wifi while in airplane mode.

[leck57]

2 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

If your phone connects to a cellular network outside of your service area, you will be charged for any calls or texts. Depending on your plan and your location, those charges may be large. This is true even if cellular data is turned off. If you have wifi calling from your service provider, then you still have a working phone using wifi while in airplane mode.

 

Just one question which I don't know the answer to.

I have wifi calling on my phone and it is always enabled, but if I am overseas does a person calling from home have to use wifi calling to reach me, or will the call come through regardless if I have wifi calling enabled?

[NavyVeteran]

1 minute ago, leck57 said:

 

Just one question which I don't know the answer to.

I have wifi calling on my phone and it is always enabled, but if I am overseas does a person calling from home have to use wifi calling to reach me, or will the call come through regardless if I have wifi calling enabled?

This answer is for AT&T in the United States. I don't know if it's the same for your carrier.

If you have airplane mode on and wifi calling enabled, then you can make or receive calls anywhere in the world with airplane mode and wifi at no charge (as long as you have free wifi). The person on the other end makes a normal phone call to a US number or receives a normal phone call from a US number. It doesn't matter whether they're using cellular or wifi.

[leck57]

23 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

This answer is for AT&T in the United States. I don't know if it's the same for your carrier.

If you have airplane mode on and wifi calling enabled, then you can make or receive calls anywhere in the world with airplane mode and wifi at no charge (as long as you have free wifi). The person on the other end makes a normal phone call to a US number or receives a normal phone call from a US number. It doesn't matter whether they're using cellular or wifi.

 

Cheers, thanks. Great to know and I assume my carrier would be similar but I'll check.

On occasions, not always, I've tried to make a wifi call overseas and I get an automated message that wifi calling is not supported, but that's another story.

Thanks for the responses.

[Steelers36]

The people we would want to reach or want to reach us are all on WhatsApp and that works great over internet and can text or video call and it's encrypted end-to-end.

[Thrak]

10 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

The people we would want to reach or want to reach us are all on WhatsApp and that works great over internet and can text or video call and it's encrypted end-to-end.

 

This is why I recently installed WhatsApp on both of our phones. I normally avoid anything to do with FB (Meta) but, in this case, it might be worth the risk of using something related to the data theft masters of the universe. (I don't have a FB account and, so far, haven't used WhatsApp but I looked at something online yesterday and today my wife started getting FB ads for that product. It's happened with stuff for years. GAH!)

[mrmoviezombie]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

The people we would want to reach or want to reach us are all on WhatsApp and that works great over internet and can text or video call and it's encrypted end-to-end.

Your data is more likely to be stolen at the "ends" by the App you installed on your phone than anywhere else. The company that made the App and the third-party code/contractors they used are the least trustworthy parts of the system.

[mrmoviezombie]

12 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

The person on the other end makes a normal phone call to a US number or receives a normal phone call from a US number. It doesn't matter whether they're using cellular or wifi.

Make sure to test the inbound call part at home. Have some make a normal number dialed call to you.

If you get the call when your phone is in airplane mode and connected to your home wifi, then you know your carrier is properly supporting wifi calling and you have everything setup right.