Canada-US Plan - VoLTE calling

[Bob_W]

My wife and I are new to PM and just purchased the Canada-Us 90 Day plan for each of our phones. Before switching from Fido to PM, I had the option to turn "VoLTE calling" either on or off. After switching to PM, that option disappeared. I thought that I needed to have that switched on to make calls from the US. My wife and I will be heading to the US in a couple of weeks. We will be using talk, text and data regularly. I just want to make sure that the transition is seamless once we are in the US. Can you please advise what we will need to do in order to make sure that we have no unexpected surprises when using our phones in the US. I am hoping that PM turned on "VoLTE calling" when we activated our new plans. Just don't know why they would hide this option when it was visible before. Any help or clarification would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[kj99]

When you change to PM it takes away the option to be able to toggle with VOLTE. Its by default. its also important because in US without that it will not be able to operate on all networks..

[PM_5G]

So it looks like there are 2 versions of the S20FE

You may have a non 5G which would not show the 5G Option...

Galaxy S20 FE - LTE Version
Galaxy S20 FE 5G - 5G Capable

Even if you are on LTE but have a 5G plan you will still get higher LTE speeds - about 200+ MB/s Down and 30mb/s UP from my testing on a non 5G Phone. Cell Site Location and Type dependent of course...

4G Packages cap out at 100mb/s down and 15mb/s up

Handy1 mentioned/posted below on S20FE 5G - that may provide more info and has some pictures of the box specifically showing 5G - pictures are at the bottom of the thread...
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Samsung-s20-5G/td-p/1043088

Unfortuntely unless you are willing and able to do some modding of the phone settings it looks like you will be only able to use the LTE if the phones are the 5G versions.....

[Bob_W]

I don't have the "5G/LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)"option, just "LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)". So I guess that I just leave it as is.

[PM_5G]

I reposted here as well hoping this and the next post below help people!

5G on Samsung Phones  -  enabled in:
Settings/Connections/Mobile Networks/Network Mode - Select:
5G/LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect)
Once selected phone usually chooses the best network for you... BUT 

I have had issues with auto selection and have had to manually select back and forth from above and back to: 
LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect) 
I am pretty Fluent in Samsung and it even stumped me a few times!

Hope this helps!

[PM_5G]

I had to chime in here as well!

[PM_5G]

My 2 Cents worth and it drove me nuts trying to figure it out on Note 9 and S22 Ultra when PM 1st got VoLTE!

PM Hides both these items in menu's.... NO way to re-enable them.

Fido offers both Wi-Fi Calling and VoLTE but no 5G...

SIM Card switch/swap(new carrier) requires a reboot on Samsung Phone... So on reboot PM Hides:

VoLTE Settings in Settings/Mobile Networks 
Wi-Fi Calling in Phone/Settings Menu

Wi-Fi Calling is not available with PM so I can sort of understand hiding that.  VoLTE enabled is account default now so they hide this option as well. Sorta makes sense - why would you turn it off  - you lose data connectivity during calls if it is off.

In Europe this summer I inserted a European SIM in phones and both the above menu items re-appeared and functioned.
Soon as I returned and entered PM Sim cards menu items were gone again...

Just how it is.....   🙃

[Bob_W]

Ok. Thanks DennyCrane  and Handy1. I really appreciate the help. Much better than I've experienced so far with the Chatbot and  the PM customer service agents.

[DennyCrane]

@Handy1 is correct. To add to it, you can still achieve 5G speeds on the 4G network. Both are artificially throttled to your plan limit anyway.

[Handy1]

@Bob_W  No even thou the s20’is 5G ready , PM doesn’t give s20 the 5G option . One has to flash firmware on e the device to get 5G access on s20 model

add check out my thread on the s20 and 5G @Bob_W 

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Samsung-s20-5G/td-p/1043088

[Bob_W]

Dumb question. If I'm in an area that has 5G, will my phone automatically select it? My plan is supposedly 5G and my phone is capable of 5G. Not sure how it works. 

[DennyCrane]

@Bob_W Got it. I think you're good then. In your case I think 4G = 3G and LTE/LTE+ = 4G/LTE. Looks like you do have VoLTE and you should be good in the US. Make sure you have your network selection set to Automatic and your preferred network to LTE/WCDMA/GSM(auto connect).

[Bob_W]

I made another call and LTE+ was on for the duration of the call. When I switched to "WCDMA/GSM(auto connect)" the icon on the home screen is 4G. 

[DennyCrane]

@Bob_W When did you see the + symbol and when didn't you? I'm a bit curious if the + symbol dropped when the call connected.

Also can you change your preferred network to WCDMA/GSM(auto connect), turn wifi off, and tell me what it says on the top of your home screen?

I'm trying to figure out if LTE = 3G and LTE+ = 4G on your phone. I've heard weird things like that about some phone manufacturers in the past.

[Handy1]

@Bob_W  Yes your good to go no worries voLTE is enabled 

[Bob_W]

Ok , so I made a call and the icon stayed steady in LTE and sometimes had a "+" beside it. So........ I think that I'm good to go?

[DennyCrane]

@Bob_W LTE/WCDMA/GSM(auto connect) means LTE preferred. Put it in that mode, turn wifi off, make sure you're connected to LTE, make a phone call, see if it stays in LTE or drops to 3G.

The reason for turning wifi off is so you can see what network you're connected to on the top of the screen. With wifi on it would hide the indicator.

[Bob_W]

I don't have a "LTE only" option. I have LTE/WCDMA/GSM(auto connect), WCDMA/GSM(auto connect), WCDMA only and GSM only. Any suggestions?

[DennyCrane]

@Bob_W I'm not sure whether that list is up to date, but just because the phone is VoLTE compatible (yours is), does not mean it is compatible on PM's network for VoLTE. PM has a very restrictive list for whatever reason.

No sense guessing though. The test we suggested will confirm in about 20 seconds.

[Bob_W]

You are right that my phone is not on the list, however, I wonder if that list is up-to-date. Prior to switching to PM, I was with Fido. The "VoLTE calling" option was accessible in 'Mobile Networks" , right under the "Data Roaming" option. It had always been switched "on". In previous years I bought AT&T sim cards when travelling in the US and had no problems. That's why I am pretty sure that this phone has "VoLTE".

[DennyCrane]

@Bob_W I don't believe that phone is on PM's VoLTE whitelist. I think you need an S21 or newer. Perform that test at home to verify though. Ensure you're connected to LTE first, then make a phone call with wifi off. If it drops to 3G, you don't have VoLTE.

[Bob_W]

Ok. Thanks. I'll give that a try.

[Handy1]

@Bob_W  No do this at home to ensure you have it 

[Bob_W]

I assume that I would have to be in the US to perform this test.

[Bob_W]

They are Samsung S20 FE's.

[Bob_W]

Thank you for your quick response. Any idea why they decided to hide this option? Just nice to be able to see and actually verify that it is switched on. Would you know if there is a way to verify or test this setting? Thanks, Bob.

[Handy1 · Accepted solution]

@Bob_W  You can test for voLTE . Turn wifi off and set phone to LTE . Now make a call does it stay in LTE or drop to 3G ? If stays on LTE you have voLTE enabled if not for voice you will need phone set to 2G and connect to T mobile for voice 

[hairbag1]

@Bob_W 

what is make and model of your cell phones ?

[TheSterlinger]

The VoLTE option is automatically hidden while worth Public Mobile. You’re all set. You can read this article for more information.

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