Calls dropping

[Irishboy17]

Hi All, just wondering if anyone can help me with frequent call drops, I have a iPhone XR, I have tried switching from lte to 3G but it still doesn’t work, I’ve tried shutting down and wait , pull out SIM card & then still put it back & turned phone back on still not working, this is getting annoying as sometimes I’m on hold & then the call keeps getting dropped & I lose my place to speak to a customer service representative from other companies, can someone help please. Thanks 

[Irishboy17]

Hi , I have a iPhone XR.

[GerryJet]

What kind of phone do you have?

PM is telling me my S10 plus doesn't support Volte and i need a newer phone! 

[Danid]

I have dropped calls ALL THE TIME in downtown Vancouver

[Irishboy17]

Hi I live in Laval Quebec, I’ve had other cell phone carriers & never had this issue before.

[Notaprofile]

Southwestern BC.

[StealthOne]

While I appreciate all the suggestions to change phone settings, it's clear that this is a Public Mobile problem. It shouldn't be dropping calls! 

A statement from PM that they're looking into it would be a good start. 

[McKinleyLS]

I am having a similar issue (the exact same, really). I can have a 3 minute phone call with no drop. But anything spanning longer than 10 minutes is at risk of dropping any second. It's supremely frustrating, and I'm always having to call people back and apologize and explain to them that my network sucks! 

I've noticed it since January, a little longer than you mentioned. I think I'm just going to switch to a non-Telus provider. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @Notaprofile 

not sure if it isolated to some particular area

what province and city you are in?

[Notaprofile]

I've been getting a lot of dropped calls for weeks. People I regularly talk to are UP IN ARMS and demanding I move to a different carrier. I've tried the troubleshooting, but nothing has helped. I think this is clearly a Telus thing.

[Irishboy17]

Thanks for the good advise, i was on LTE when this happens i also switch to 3G & you were correct it did not help, i did reach out to PM & the did tell me they did an update & asked me to try it out for 24 hours to see if the update worked so far it is good,thanks again.

[SM100]

This is absolutely ridiculous. Literally everyone I know on Public Mobile is experiencing dropped calls and there's been radio silence from Public Mobile on this issue. 

What a joke.

[smurfit]

Hi. I don't think switching your phone to 3G will help with this issue but please try it anyway. Can you verify if your call is starting out on VOLTE or 3G? You may need an app to show you what tower and frequency you are connecting at when the call comes in. I am using a few on android. One is "Network Cell Info", another called "Network Survey". Not sure what's on iOS. You can also look in the status bar to see if it says "LTE" or "VoLTE" while on a call. If it doesn't show those icons, then the call is already going over 3G/UMTS anyway, regardless of the setting.

Here is my theory of what is happening: The problem now happens when some line of code on a Telus server kicks in and decides that even though your call is working fine on 3G, it needs to move your call to VOLTE to save bandwidth for the ever growing network. Somewhere in this code is an IMEI check that looks to the Telus database to determine if VOLTE is supported by your device. There seems to be a missing line of code that also checks the PM whitelist. I was having the issue with two different devices that are VOLTE supported by Telus, but not by PM. Is your device on the PM whitelist for VOLTE? If so, then the issue may just be a faulty switchoff from UMTS to LTE during the call.

Anyway, switching the phones radio to 3G doesn't seem to make a difference for my VOLTE capable devices. As long as the device is in the Telus VOLTE database, the network seems to disregard the setting and tries the handoff anyway, then gets denied by PM's whitelist resulting in call disconnect. I think the problem will persist until they can find the glitch in the UMTS to VOLTE relay software or switching equipment.

You can verify your phone is on the Telus VOLTE database here:

https://www.telus.com/en/support/article/how-to-use-volte

Here is the Public Mobile VOLTE whitelist, but it is very outdated. You are best to have it checked by support:

https://publicmobile.ca/en/bc/get-help/articles/volte

[funpig1]

@smurfit   on the advice of others, I have switched my network setting from 5G (recommended) to LTE to see if this will reduce the drop calls. Too early to tell. Following your logic, would switching network setting to 3G on my phone reduce the drop calls further? When I check the signal strength on my phone, under 3G, the signal strength is about 10 dBm better. However, I have read that comparing the respective signal strengths between 3G and 4G is like comparing apples to oranges; a stronger 3G signal does not necessarily mean that the call quality is better than the lower signal 4G. 

PS My father-in-law 's is still using an old 3G flip phone on Telus. Last month, telus started charging him $3 a 3G user add-on fee. Telus was charging him more for using old technology. I contacted Telus on his behalf and removed the charge.

[smurfit]

If you need reliable voice service on PM, try your old phone. One that preferably only supports 3G or if it has LTE, force it to 3G only. It must be too old to have VOLTE capability, otherwise the Telus network seems to attempt to force the call onto VOLTE at some point during the call resulting in complete call disconnect.

So dig out that old flip phone or ancient obsolete Android phone (try loading LineageOS on it to bring it up to date). Give it a try and help me prove to Telus that the problem is a programming glitch in their VOLTE handoff/switching equipment. I just hope they can get this solved before they decide to shutdown 3G altogether.

[funpig1]

@Irishboy17 @Dunkman 

Use an app like "TowerLocater Canada" and Telus coverage map to figure out where the transceivers are and quality of coverage.

Our house is equidistant  between two transceivers and definitely in a 5G dead zone. Signal strength is a lousy -112 to -122 dBm. It is worse when outside the house at ground level. When I drive near a transceiver, the signal strength is about -50 dBm.

I sent a message to PM to see if they can get mothership Telus to install another transceiver closer to house.

[Irishboy17]

Will give it a try. Thanks 

[Dunkman]

@Irishboy17 

From a different forum (reddit, RFD), one customer had the following fix:

For iPhone:
settings>>>cellular>>>Primary>>>network selection>>> turn off automatic network selection and reboot

If that does not work, you may want to submit at ticket for CSA help.  Sometimes CSA can refresh your account on the backend and calling works better. 

[computergeek541]

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@Irishboy17 wrote:

Thanks for the advice will definitely give support a call, this happens frequently, have a good one.

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Sorry, but there isn't any way to call support. You'll need to open a ticket throught the chatbot to contact support.

[BKNS27]

@Irishboy17 

I guess you can’t blame on the iOS. There were issues with connectivity on the iOS updates.

[Irishboy17]

Thanks for the advice will definitely give support a call, this happens frequently, have a good one.

[Chalupa_Batman]

Funny, I have the same phone. Just a few days ago I was on a call and it dropped within 4 minutes. It's on Public Mobiles end. This has been an ongoing issue for the last several weeks. Not much we can do. But if it does happen a lot more than not, please create a ticket and voice your concerns. They may reset your network from their end.

To Submit a ticket, please click the following link to access the Public Mobile Chatbot:  https://widget.telus.tiia.ai/publicmobile/publicmobile.html  Type: Customer Service Agent

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: I am not a Public Mobile employee. I am a customer just like you. Please do not send me a private message with your personal information. 

[computergeek541]

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@Irishboy17 wrote:

Hi All, just wondering if anyone can help me with frequent call drops, I have a iPhone XR, I have tried switching from lte to 3G but it still doesn’t work, I’ve tried shutting down and wait , pull out SIM card & then still put it back & turned phone back on still not working, this is getting annoying as sometimes I’m on hold & then the call keeps getting dropped & I lose my place to speak to a customer service representative from other companies, can someone help please. Thanks 

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I have also been receiving some dropped calls.  The dropped call issue is something that Public Mobile is looking into.  Hopefully, additional details will become available.