Confused about VoLTE when in US

[ottawa]

I was a bit confused about VoLTE before, and more so now. 😞 Hoping to understand so I can share the info, especially now that PM has competitive US roaming. I have a few friends & family travelling to US and want to make sure they can use PM SIM on either a Canada-US plan or a 15-day US Roaming Package.

TL;DR : is being on the PM whitelist a requirement or just a list of most common models to save people looking up IMEIs?

I'll start with background, sorry for the diversion.

Many (or all?) US carriers require VoLTE capability. Mint is one example, a couple of years ago they wouldn't activate in a Samsung A8 (failed Mint's IMEI checker, though Telus IMEI checker said it was VoLTE capable). Right there I was already confused. But we activated the Mint SIM in a Samsung S20 5G, which both Mint and Telus agreed was VoLTE compatible (even though there's nothing in Settings about VoLTE). It worked well on Mint.

PM's compatibility list does not include this S20 5G. I know it will work with a Mint SIM, which means it has VoLTE capability even if not in Settings, but will it work with a PM SIM on a Canada-US plan or a 15-day US Roaming Package? Does PM have an actual IMEI checker that gives a definitive answer for a given handset?

Furthermore, as yet untested, we also have access to Samsung S20 FE, Google Pixel 4a, and Google Pixel 7. The S20 FE is not listed on PM whitelist, but does pass Telus and Mint IMEI checkers. The Pixels are on PM whitelist "for some values" (unexplained) so is that the Build? For example, "Google Pixel 7/7 Pro (TD1A.220804.009.A2 & above)", does a Pixel 7 with Build # UP1A.231105.003 pass? The middle sounds like a date which would imply yes, but that's a lot of assumptions.

How confident can I be that any (or which) of these 4 handsets (S20 5G, S20 FE, Pixel 4a, Pixel 7) will work with PM SIM in US? Thanks for any help you can give clarifying this.

For reference, these are the URLs I used:
PM compatibility list: https://publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte
Mint Mobile IMEI checker: https://www.mintmobile.com/byop/
Telus IMEI checker: https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/how-to-use-volte

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Ladie1  "my settings say I am connected to AT&T which I understood no longer worked with PM"

I think what's been said is that 5G on AT&T has been problematic rather than AT&T per se, so some have got their US roaming working with AT&T by switching from 5G to 4G/LTE 

[Ladie1]

I am currently using Public Mobile's Canada - US plan with my Samsung S20 FE 5G model SM-G781W (bought from Costco Canada) while visiting in Texas.  I checked before switching to the plan a week ago, and this phone is compatible with T-Mobile.  Ironically, my settings say I am connected to AT&T which I understood no longer worked with PM.  No matter!  My phone works perfectly for calling, texting, messaging, whatsapp and data for calls from here to other US locations and back and forth between US and Canada and of course within Canada itself.  Great plan, though I only took out 1 month.  I wanted to be sure it worked with my phone and to see if PM might have a better deal than $65/ month $60/ month for 90 days during the holidays.  Still waiting on that one and the Freedom Mobile Canada-US Plan for $34 is pretty tempting.  😊

[dust2dust]

I don't think that's a valid test for volte. Call someone. Stay on. Go to settings, about phone, status information, sim card status and look for mobile voice network type. Does it say UMTS or LTE. Stay on the call all this time. Further, do you see any mention of IMS and if so is it registered?

Failing volte, the only option is connecting to T-Mobile and hope that the phone will drop to 2G GSM. And if you can change to it manually all the better.

[ottawa]

Understood, but an incomplete whitelist (probably then technically not a whitelist) is merely a shortcut. 🙂

[computergeek541]

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@ottawa wrote:

@computergeek541 I'm happy that's not a whitelist of "not on here, won't work" at least.

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It is a whiltelist.

[ottawa]

Thank you both.

@computergeek541   I'm happy that's not a whitelist of "not on here, won't work" at least.

@Phil_Adelphus   so we turned off WiFi on the S20 5G and called Pizza Pizza from Ottawa (easy because I know the number and don't have to talk to or hang up on someone 🙂 ). The status bar changed from LTE+ to 4G and the call connected. So this handset (the one that worked with Mint) should work with PM in the US, given the appropriate plan or package?

And, if I send someone with one of the above handsets than ends up not working for voice in the US, they should still have data and text, right? There's no data&text roaming package, so I'll probably put them on data&talk&text anyway, but want to manage their expectations.

[dabr]

@ottawa   Yep, it would seem PM is purposefully restricting devices with VoLTE capability from being able to use it and I believe that restrictions is carried forward when roaming in the US.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@ottawa   Test the phones before you go.  Turn off wifi, make sure cellular data is on, then make a phone call and watch the status at the top.  If it drops to 3G the phone is either not enabled for VoLTE or not capable. If it stays on LTE then it is VoLTE capable and enabled.

[computergeek541]

Sorry, but there's no complete list or IMEI checker than can be used.  Telus does have an IMEI checker but it sometimes will state that a phone is compatible with VoLTE at Telus but it doesn't work end up working on VoLTE at Public Mobile.  As for the list that Public Mobile provides, it isn't complete.  If the IMEI of your devices isn't on Public Mobile's allowed list for VoLTE, it won't work for that.  Public Mobile actively blocks some VoLTE devices from using VoLTE.