US Roaming and Fold5?

[ottawa]

TL;DR: has anyone had success using a Samsung Fold5 in the US on PM, either a Canada-US plan or add-on?

I know there is no way to know if a given model handset will work for voice in US without trying it. As I understand it, the PM whitelist at https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte is not exhaustive, and there's no IMEI checker as there is for Telus or Mint. So a VoLTE-capable handset not on the list might or might not work on PM, even if it works on Telus or Mint?

A friend went to Orlando in December with a 15-day US add-on, and their S20 FE (bought from Bell before I switched them to PM) worked fine with no intervention by them, so I infer it was on VoLTE. I note the S20 FE is not on the PM whitelist, though their specific IMEI passed both Telus and Mint IMEI checkers.

Another friend just bought a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 while in US. The Fold2, Fold3, and Fold4 are all on the PM whitelist, but Fold5 is not. They were using their PM Canada-US plan with no problem on a Pixel 4a, but now they're having trouble with calls on the Fold5. Dropped calls, poor quality, missed incoming, and so on. Is it possible they're just hitting the occasional 2G tower, or could there be trouble with the network either in US or Canada? Has anyone successfully used a Fold5 with PM in the US? Trying to eliminate "bad handset" from the equation.

I did have them change preferred network from 5G/LTE/3G/etc. to LTE/3G/etc. but it didn't help AFAIK. Is there anything else they can do?

And am I right this should work with PM in Canada with no problem?

Thanks.

[ottawa]

Thank you both. S20 FE is back in Canada, they had no trouble but maybe they were on 2G network. Don't think they know enough to know, and since it was working they had no reason to ask me for help. 🙂 I thought there was a thread here started by someone who used an S20 FE in the US.

The Fold5 is still in US for at least another month, I'll get them to try a Mint SIM in it (to see if the handset is simply having trouble) and will try to work more closely with them on it. To be clear, data and texting are not a function of this (yes I know, clue is in the "V" of "VoLTE")? And forcing LTE/3G/etc. instead of 5G/LTE/3G/etc. is more about data than about voice?

[Phil_Adelphus]

@ottawa  With the 20 FE is it possible it was connecting to T-Mobile on 2G rather than using VoLTE?  They are in Canada now?  If so try the Fold5 for VoLTE by turning off wifi, turning on data and making a call to see if it stays on LTE or drops to 3G.  Since the phone was purchased in the USA I wonder if that may make a difference to its compatibility in Canada?  If it turns out to be the phone that is the problem is it even warrantied outside of the US?

[softech]

@ottawa 

Fold5 should be VoLTE compatible with PM. 

As far as I know, those newer models on the same lines of models that are already VoLTE compatible will also be compatible, PM just didn't update the  whitelist.  But of course, newer phones might not be added to the system for VoLTE immediately .  But Fold5 has been out for almost 5 months and it should be added as VoLTE on the system already 

With the Fold5 call issue, make sure the phone is updated with latest OS.  If the voice issue is same with latest OS, I suggest to open ticket with PM support and ask them to escalate and haven senior technician to check 

on the other hand, S20 FE is not VoLTE compatible with PM