Dropped Calls

[Greggbran]

I have tried everything to attempt to resolve the dropped call  issues I have been having  including multiple sims/ Esims,  New Iphones  ,reset network , change to 3G or 4G instead of 5g on or 5G auto  and the list goes on . I have asked for a couple of network resets on their end as well ... Signal is usually strong . I have contacted support (CSAgent ) on a few occasions  and spoken to them in an  attempt to resolve the issue ..... still with  no resolution .. I am a very patient person but it is wearing thin... Does anyone else have this issue on a regular basis.. I am out of ideas .. Gregg 

[Colbydog]

@funpig1 

I occasionally dial into conference calls. All drop just after 29 minutes. Searched this and apparently is an issue globally with many carriers (especially with flanker brands or smaller companies needing access to the large companies' towers) and has to do with the software managing the calls (Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_Initiation_Protocol#).  Here's a good post on Reddit from the UK (https://www.reddit.com/r/Vodafone/comments/113zbx2/vodafone_uk_call_disconnect_29_minutes_50_seconds...). 

SIP kind of works like a "hello, are you there?" where the carriers try to see if a connected cell is still there. If no "answer" it drops the call, otherwise there could potentially be many calls just occupying bandwidth and the system would be over capacity. The default time for some of the main software providers is 1800 seconds (or 30 minutes).  "Cisco - When making a call, the presence of the Min-SE header informs the UAS and any proxies of the minimum value that the UAC accepts for the session timer duration, in seconds. The default value is 1800 seconds (30 minutes)"  "Oracle - Session-Expires: 1800". There can be a problem if this carrier software isn't set up properly to talk to the individual phone software. Something that @smurfit has alluded to.

One small mystery "solved". Now, this gives me no comfort with PM fixing it nor does it explain some of other calls dropping before the 29 minute mark. There are numerous other factors at play with suggested fixes posted on various PM forums (type of phone, phone setup, proximity to a cell tower, 5G vs LTE, network selection, etc etc). I tried the "put call on hold" fix in the Reddit post but it didn't work for me.

Applicable to just about anything else, "you get what you pay for".  I still suspect there is a further, non-transparent, "prioritization" that happens where the companies will give preference to people on the more expensive plans and then down the food chain.  I previously was various corporate plans on Rogers for many years and most recently on a Telus Unlimited 5G+ plan for about half a year prior to porting to PM a month ago. No dropped calls, EVER, no matter the length on Rogers or Telus. I tested with my wife's phone on Freedom and it did the same drop at 29 minutes. PM is classified as a third tier brand so would "rank" below Telus and Koodo in the Telus pecking order.

I don't have a technical background so please do not reply about how I butchered the SIP commentary. 😊

Still waiting for the call back from a tech and am curious to hear what their explanation is.

Cheers.

[Tom22335566]

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@smurfit wrote:

I had another call disconnect again today at exactly 45min. It is always some interval of 3, in this case 3x15. Is this is some sort of frustration algorithm to try to get us to switch to a higher price plan? I'm about to just switch providers.

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Smurf, sadly that's all we can do. As previously mentioned, I've already switched my wife to the Fido $39/50 gig canada plan and its been 4 days....ZERO dropped calls in that time. I've got a few more days to decide what I'm going to do ...my plan renews on the 9th

[smurfit]

I had another call disconnect again today at exactly 45min. It is always some interval of 3, in this case 3x15. Is this is some sort of frustration algorithm to try to get us to switch to a higher price plan? I'm about to just switch providers.

[Tom22335566]

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@Habsy1 wrote:

I'm going to have to switch carriers. I had 2 calls today. The first dropped at 6 minutes and the other at 20+ minutes. Too bad because I loved the offerings but the inconsistency isn't acceptable. Sad but true that 1980s technology was more reliable. 

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Habsy, Yeah, it really is too bad. If Fido is in your area, I can recommend. I switched my wife to the $39/month 50 gig Canada plan and ZERO dropped calls in 4 days. She is happy, which means I'm happy lol I haven't switched myself yet (obviously, as I'm replying here) because I'm still toying with who to go with. PUblic Mobile has great prices and value, but their infrastructure can't handle their customer volume

[Habsy1]

I'm going to have to switch carriers. I had 2 calls today. The first dropped at 6 minutes and the other at 20+ minutes. Too bad because I loved the offerings but the inconsistency isn't acceptable. Sad but true that 1980s technology was more reliable. 

[smurfit]

Making calls on public mobile lately is kinda like flying standby.  They'll let you board the plane but after 9min they boot you out the door without a chute.

[smurfit]

Hi. Are you certain that your call was going over LTE? Even if it shows LTE while not on a call, it will switch to 3G/UMTS when a call comes in or when making outgoing call. There are alot of checkboxes that need to be satisfied for VOLTE to actually be enabled on a voice call. From Public Mobiles VOLTE info page:

"How do I Activate and Use VoLTE?

Making a VoLTE call is simple. To make a VoLTE call, you'll need to:

1. Check that you have a VoLTE-compatible phone (Note: most new devices sold by Public Mobile and most new devices sold in Canada will work on the Public Mobile VoLTE network. A complete list of the supported devices can be found at the bottom of this page).
2. Ensure that you are on the VoLTE network. If you activated after February 22, 2023 you are automatically on the VoLTE network.
3. Once you are on the VoLTE network make sure that you have the latest software version on your device and restart your device to ensure you connect to the network properly
4. Be in a VoLTE-enabled coverage area
5. Make a voice call like you normally would to another VoLTE-enabled device"

Notice that last one? You also have to be calling another VOLTE enabled device. So alot of calls fallback to 3G. Unless you see the LTE logo on your status bar while on a call, it is going over 3G.

[Tom22335566]

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@Colbydog wrote:

Thanks, Greg, for this summary. Not totally surprising as I thought there must be some sort of prioritization for the higher paying plans before PM (like priority boarding on planes). I agree it is a pain to switch to a lower band since we are paying for 5G. I'm still waiting for a tech to call me back so will keep this infor for useful reference when I chat with them.

Cheers.

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Colby, my wife is on the $39 50gig canada plan at Fido. She loves it and good call quality. Switching to 3G is like going back 10 years. I don't recommend it. it is slow as heck and it sounds like a real hassle

Tom

[Tom22335566]

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@Greggbran wrote:

So I finally have figured out why I am getting dropped calls. I spoke to a tech at Telus. The main tower in my area is a bell tower. There are micro towers around my area with a good signal strength of about -90 dcb. The problem with the micro tower is that it becomes over- capacitated ( if that’s a word)  or over whelmed therefore droping the calls as there is too many people on the network. So for me the fix is new  micro towers in our area to allow increase capacity. I live in Bedford NS and it has been grow exponentially. Another thing that was mentioned was prioritization. When a bell customer is using a Bell tower they would have Priority , then Telus and then PM. He could not confirm this , as it is Bells equipment not Telus but he did say that is a thing. He did say that can happen depending on  whose equipment is being used and plan provider you are subscribed to. I am going to perform a test and Join Telus or Bell  for a month and see if the drop calls  continue or not. He did say changing to 3 g may help as that band is not used as much compared to LTE or 5g therefore less traffic , therefore less dropped calls. Thats a PITA ! So my suggestion to all is that you speak to a TELUS tech to get yours answers as every  situation can be different. Rule out hardware and software problems first , like changing sims , changing from 5g to 4g , have PM  do a network reset etc. as that may work for some people. After you have exhausted all those options get them to create a ticket to telus and tech support at Telus will call you and investigate further. 
He also told me that he will forward his findings to Bell. If there are enough complaints they will investigate and possibly add some new hardware but I’m sure it will take some time as that is an additional cost to the providers. Wifi calling would be a great solution for situations  but unfortunately Pm does not provide that service. Hope this helps. 

people. 

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Hey Greg, that's what I figured. Over capacity of the tower. Public grew too fast and they don't have the infrastructure to support the customer base. Unfortunately, there is no fix for us. You either switch or you have to put up with the dropped calls.

I've already switched my wife to FIDO....$39 50gig unlimted canada plan. She's happy. She is getting good call quality. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. THe Fido plan is cheap but is LTE. My wife didn't care, but I want 5G so the Rogers $45 100gig unlimited plan is still available for me but we will see. I have a few days to go before my plan renews for the month

Tom

[Colbydog]

Thanks, Greg, for this summary. Not totally surprising as I thought there must be some sort of prioritization for the higher paying plans before PM (like priority boarding on planes). I agree it is a pain to switch to a lower band since we are paying for 5G. I'm still waiting for a tech to call me back so will keep this infor for useful reference when I chat with them.

Cheers.

[Greggbran]

So I finally have figured out why I am getting dropped calls. I spoke to a tech at Telus. The main tower in my area is a bell tower. There are micro towers around my area with a good signal strength of about -90 dcb. The problem with the micro tower is that it becomes over- capacitated ( if that’s a word)  or over whelmed therefore droping the calls as there is too many people on the network. So for me the fix is new  micro towers in our area to allow increase capacity. I live in Bedford NS and it has been grow exponentially. Another thing that was mentioned was prioritization. When a bell customer is using a Bell tower they would have Priority , then Telus and then PM. He could not confirm this , as it is Bells equipment not Telus but he did say that is a thing. He did say that can happen depending on  whose equipment is being used and plan provider you are subscribed to. I am going to perform a test and Join Telus or Bell  for a month and see if the drop calls  continue or not. He did say changing to 3 g may help as that band is not used as much compared to LTE or 5g therefore less traffic , therefore less dropped calls. Thats a PITA ! So my suggestion to all is that you speak to a TELUS tech to get yours answers as every  situation can be different. Rule out hardware and software problems first , like changing sims , changing from 5g to 4g , have PM  do a network reset etc. as that may work for some people. After you have exhausted all those options get them to create a ticket to telus and tech support at Telus will call you and investigate further. 
He also told me that he will forward his findings to Bell. If there are enough complaints they will investigate and possibly add some new hardware but I’m sure it will take some time as that is an additional cost to the providers. Wifi calling would be a great solution for situations  but unfortunately Pm does not provide that service. Hope this helps. 

people. 

[Colbydog]

Tom, I totally can relate to that - "you get what you pay for"!! 😂

[Tom222333444555]

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@slusagm wrote:

HI @Tom222333444555 

but each carrier will have it bad days (or weeks 😞 )  , Rogers has other outage issue once in awhile too.

I see the voice problem is  something fixable, wait another week or two for it to fix it

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you obviously don't know the history....it has been 3 weeks of every single call dropping. It has been configuration and talking with tech support. I'm done bro.  AND it has been 3 weeks of having listen to the wife complaining about how **bleep** the service is....that alone is worth paying double somewhere else.

[Tom222333444555]

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@Colbydog wrote:

Sorry to see you go, Tom. I totally understand and share your frustrations. I'm eagerly awaiting any magical bullets that Greggbran or my tech may come up with - I'm not holding my breath.

Cheers.

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Hey Colby, I really tried man. I did all I could, but if I have to listen to one more day of the wife complaining about how me being cheap and trying to save a few bucks actually cost me more in time blah blah blah blah lol....

[slusagm]

HI @Tom222333444555 

but each carrier will have it bad days (or weeks 😞 )  , Rogers has other outage issue once in awhile too.

I see the voice problem is  something fixable, wait another week or two for it to fix it

[Tom222333444555]

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@slusagm wrote:

@Tom222333444555 

i have got some dropped calls lately.  Online site said try to change the network to Public Mobile (dont use automatic).  I seems to have less dropped calls after.  Try it

but I saw people on Koodo also have the problem, so, it is not just Public Mobile

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Hey slusagm, Thanks for the info, but it didn't work for me. Trust me, I have tried that, and almost anything else you can possibly do. PM good for texting and data, no good for voice calls. I'm going back to Rogers where I know everything is going to work...unless Greg has the magic beans from his tech guy which I'm anxiously waiting to hear about lol

Tom

[slusagm]

@Tom222333444555 

i have got some dropped calls lately.  Online site said try to change the network to Public Mobile (dont use automatic).  I seems to have less dropped calls after.  Try it

but I saw people on Koodo also have the problem, so, it is not just Public Mobile

[Tom222333444555]

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@Greggbran wrote:

Please don’t leave us Tom. All for one and one for all. Lol. I  have Telus  tech calling me tomorrow with some supposed answers. Square peg in a round hole. Love it !! 

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LOL....Greg, I'll still be anxiously awaiting to hear what miraculous info your tech is going to give you. my sim card is in the mail and coming monday or tuesday so I have a few more days to cancel.....IF your tech has those magic beans

[Colbydog]

Sorry to see you go, Tom. I totally understand and share your frustrations. I'm eagerly awaiting any magical bullets that Greggbran or my tech may come up with - I'm not holding my breath.

Cheers.

[Greggbran]

Please don’t leave us Tom. All for one and one for all. Lol. I  have Telus  tech calling me tomorrow with some supposed answers. Square peg in a round hole. Love it !! 

[Tom222333444555]

So, just to update this thread and let you guys know, I've tried. I really did. Hours of trying to get this to work. I wanted to keep my $40 75gig can/us plan. But the Public Mobile experiment is coming to an end soon for me.

I got a rogers offer of 5G unlimited 100gig plan for $45 and I'm taking it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the US calls, but I'll either use an app, or I'll pay the $10 bucks for the US calling. I pay way more, but I know its going to work.

I wish you all the best in your continued quest trying to put a round peg in a square hole 🙂

Tom

[Tom222333444555]

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@Habsy1 wrote:

A tech support person got back to me last night. They suggested I put my phone on LTE (and I just upgraded to a new 5G plan). He said it's not a network issue because there aren't enough complaints. I said he should read this thread. He also said Wi-Fi calling would solve the problem, but you can only do that with Koodo or Telus (not Public).  Hopefully, the LTE setting solves the problem, but judging from this thread, I'm not very optimistic.

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Sorry Habsy, LTE did not work for me....it is a backend problem with public mobile. I all but confirmed that today.

[Greggbran]

I hate to burst your bubble but most of my phone calls that are dropped are on LTE ..Telus tech has been in touch and Ill  see if i can get any answers .. Also this was smurfits response  Smurfit

Good Citizen / Bon Citoye

I think I am making some progress with my own diagnostics and analysis. This kinda sucks though that I am wasting so much of my own time and not getting paid, meanwhile the Telus techs are getting paid and not fixing this issue!

The issue has everything to do with PM's half-baked VOLTE rollout. Up to a couple months ago I could make calls for an hour or two. Now it drops at 9min, 15min, 18min...always exactly at the minute mark of some seemingly preset interval. If it was signal related, the drops would be completely random at a different number of seconds past the minute mark.

The issue is not signal related. I have confirmed with my own diagnostics that the signal is not changing or dropping and the tower is not changing. It is happening on 3G UMTS for me and the signal ranges from about -88dbm to -110dbm. Even if I have LTE enabled, the tower changes to a 3G tower and frequency as soon as a call comes in.

I have experienced the call dropping issue on both a pixel 3 and moto g power, both of which are VOLTE supported by Telus but not PM. The problem even happens when 3G mode is selected and VOLTE should therefore be disabled. Now here's the kicker. I put my sim card in my very old Samsung S5 running lineageOS and forced WCDMA only. This phone has no possibility of VOLTE connection and I was told it is not supported at all by Telus or PM or Koodo...and yet it works flawlessly! I finally have reliable phone service again. The solution for now is to find the oldest phone you have kicking around that supports 3G/HSPA and put your sim card in and talk.

It seems PM has become too focused on data plans and supporting high speed LTE/5G and has really dropped the ball on reliable voice service.

I was about to clear out the junk drawer and sell off my old S5, but I guess it will live on until PM gets it's act together.Just to further clarify my last reply, even though I am having the calls dropping while on 3G, I believe there is some sort of network mismatch error taking place when using a phone that has partial VOLTE support. Telus thinks it should be supported, but PM's whitelist says NO. Even when forced to 3G mode, it seems that if the phone's IMEI is recognized by Telus equipment as VOLTE compatible but not PM whitelisted, it gets eventually disconnected due to some weird IMEI check. The only solution I have found is using an older phone that is completely VOLTE incompatible and therefore fails the VOLTE supported check on both Telus and PM.

[Habsy1]

A tech support person got back to me last night. They suggested I put my phone on LTE (and I just upgraded to a new 5G plan). He said it's not a network issue because there aren't enough complaints. I said he should read this thread. He also said Wi-Fi calling would solve the problem, but you can only do that with Koodo or Telus (not Public).  Hopefully, the LTE setting solves the problem, but judging from this thread, I'm not very optimistic.

[Colbydog]

@smurfit 

Wow, very comprehensive diagnostic! I agree, PM has dropped the ball on voice.

[smurfit]

Just to further clarify my last reply, even though I am having the calls dropping while on 3G, I believe there is some sort of network mismatch error taking place when using a phone that has partial VOLTE support. Telus thinks it should be supported, but PM's whitelist says NO. Even when forced to 3G mode, it seems that if the phone's IMEI is recognized by Telus equipment as VOLTE compatible but not PM whitelisted, it gets eventually disconnected due to some weird IMEI check. The only solution I have found is using an older phone that is completely VOLTE incompatible and therefore fails the VOLTE supported check on both Telus and PM.

[smurfit]

I think I am making some progress with my own diagnostics and analysis. This kinda sucks though that I am wasting so much of my own time and not getting paid, meanwhile the Telus techs are getting paid and not fixing this issue!

The issue has everything to do with PM's half-baked VOLTE rollout. Up to a couple months ago I could make calls for an hour or two. Now it drops at 9min, 15min, 18min...always exactly at the minute mark of some seemingly preset interval. If it was signal related, the drops would be completely random at a different number of seconds past the minute mark.

The issue is not signal related. I have confirmed with my own diagnostics that the signal is not changing or dropping and the tower is not changing. It is happening on 3G UMTS for me and the signal ranges from about -88dbm to -110dbm. Even if I have LTE enabled, the tower changes to a 3G tower and frequency as soon as a call comes in.

I have experienced the call dropping issue on both a pixel 3 and moto g power, both of which are VOLTE supported by Telus but not PM. The problem even happens when 3G mode is selected and VOLTE should therefore be disabled. Now here's the kicker. I put my sim card in my very old Samsung S5 running lineageOS and forced WCDMA only. This phone has no possibility of VOLTE connection and I was told it is not supported at all by Telus or PM or Koodo...and yet it works flawlessly! I finally have reliable phone service again. The solution for now is to find the oldest phone you have kicking around that supports 3G/HSPA and put your sim card in and talk.

It seems PM has become too focused on data plans and supporting high speed LTE/5G and has really dropped the ball on reliable voice service.

I was about to clear out the junk drawer and sell off my old S5, but I guess it will live on until PM gets it's act together.

[Tom222333444555]

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@Colbydog wrote:

CS agent got back to me. Started with "phase 1" of diagnostics meaning they did a "refresh" of my account in their system. I restarted the phone and made 5 calls shortly after doing this. One was for 5 minutes with no issues. Four calls were longer conference calls. However, each of them dropped at exactly the 29 minute mark. Clearly something systematic is happening with the network as this is not coincidental! I'll continue on over the next few days and see how the performance is. 

I also got a promo email today from Telus offering 100GB 5G Essential Unlimited plan for $40. This might be my fallback if the PM issues persist.

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Colby, I had mine reset too...set it to LTE as per the service agent request, but 2 calls and nothing but static. I reset it to 5G. I had 4 calls today.

First one dropped at 8 minutes

second one did not drop, I hung up at 50 minutes

third one dropped at 8 mins, 20 secs

4th one lasted 40 mins no drop.

Seems that it is inconsistent still.

My opinion of Public Mobile is that, if you need to make voice calls for business or anything serious, you need to go with one of the guys like Bell, Telus or Rogers. If you are primarily using for texting and data, then it is fine. It is not reliable enough for anything serious. 

I'm not sure If I'm going to continue with the "diagnostics"...it just isn't worth my time. My 16 yr old will stay on public mobile because it is fine for his needs, but I'm switching my wife and I to either Rogers or Bell. It will be around $45 for unlimited 5G but I lose the US calling. Too bad really....it is impossible to beat the $34 plan.

[Colbydog]

CS agent got back to me. Started with "phase 1" of diagnostics meaning they did a "refresh" of my account in their system. I restarted the phone and made 5 calls shortly after doing this. One was for 5 minutes with no issues. Four calls were longer conference calls. However, each of them dropped at exactly the 29 minute mark. Clearly something systematic is happening with the network as this is not coincidental! I'll continue on over the next few days and see how the performance is. 

I also got a promo email today from Telus offering 100GB 5G Essential Unlimited plan for $40. This might be my fallback if the PM issues persist.

[Tom222333444555]

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@Greggbran wrote:

I have been  in contact with 3 levels of support > firstly  the CS agent . That was escalated to Tech support . This morning  had a person contact me from Telus Tech support and he is going to investigate further with information I have provided . Will keep everyone posted.. Thanks  

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So CS_AGENT "refreshed" my network. I'm not confident on this since many others had this done. And asked me to set my phone on LTE, which I did. Was told that LTE is better for voice and to switch to 5G when I'm using mobile data. This kinda is a hassle but at least I'll try it. I paid for 5G so I don't want to have to fiddle with my settings constantly. But at least lets see if this stabilized things.

Gregg, I'm waiting anxiously to see whatever you learn, and if it worked for you. I don't really want to switch, but Rogers is offering me $45 a month unlimted 5g plan so if things don't workout with public mobile, I'm switching.