US plan stopped working for calling & MMS after 7 days

[LoraleeH]

I'm in Arizona with family. Three of us have public mobile accounts. One is a brand new 100 GB us/can plan, another was an old account upgraded to the 30 GB us/can plan, and mine is a cheap plan with a 15 day talk/data add on. We're working with one iPhone and 2 androids.

We had a lot of trouble our first 3 days here, but eventually got phone, data, MMS working on all devices. Then, night before last, we stopped being able to send MMS or make and receive phone calls. We hadn't made any changes to our devices or to the location where we've been staying.

I've gone through all the trouble shooting device and have run out of ideas. 

• We're accessing T-Mobile instead  of allowing it to choose automatically
• APN settings include dun (data & texting still works)
• Checked for updates and restarted devices
• Looked for potential coverage issues in the area (T-Mobile says coverage is "ultra capacity coverage" here)
• We have 4 bar (full) signal strength 
• I tried the network reset on one device, with no success, so left the others.

I'm going home before my 15 day plan expiries and really need to have access to calling features. My mother will stay until the end of the month and I don't want to leave her without access to the phone.

I have submitted a support ticket but wonder if the community may have some other ideas as well... As I'd like to get back to the pool to enjoy the last few days of my trip.

[Phil_Adelphus]

@LoraleeH  Our devices are all VoLTE enabled.

Having a VoLTE capable phone, and the VoLTE toggled on, doesn't make the phone work with VoLTE if the carrier hasn't enabled it on that particular device.  I had that experience myself with another carrier.

[DennyCrane]

@LoraleeH No, your phone's are not on Public Mobile's VoLTE whitelist (Samsung Galaxy 10+,
Umidigi A5Pro, iPhone 6S).

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

[LoraleeH]

Our devices are all VoLTE enabled.

[hairbag1]

@LoraleeH 

without a volte enabled cellphone, your calls won't complete while in US. If you find data is working as expected...you could both download WhatsApp and talk / text each other easily at no additional cost. She and you can use either local wifi or your PM data to use WhatsApp. Anyone else in your contact list that also has Whatsapp can be contacted also.

[LoraleeH]

We're trying to conserve data usage, but I'll still make sure those options are available. Thanks 

[eddieO]

@LoraleeH, the same devices may have worked fine in Europe with other carriers but unfortunately they need to be on Public Mobile's whitelist, which means that in the backend, Public Mobile has not enabled this feature not non-whitelisted devices. My wife also has a Samsung Galaxy s10+ and experienced this first hand while in Florida. She ended up using WhatsApp over data and had no issues, and in fact preferred using it to make video calls. There are likely other apps that can also be used like Facebook's Messenger 

[LoraleeH]

I did yesterday, but I'll give it. Atry now again. It's worth a try. Thanks

[DennyCrane]

@LoraleeH None of those phones are on the VoLTE list at Public Mobile. The fact that they work with other carriers VoLTE doesn't mean they'll work here. I'm surprised you had calls working for the first part of your trip. I wonder if you had connected to a T-Mobile 2G connection temporarily.

Still doesn't make sense about SMS though 🤔

[LoraleeH]

I've checked the volte list, yes. They're not on it (they're old), but they do work on volte. We've used them all throughout Europe this year and they did work fine for most of the past week.

• Samsung Galaxy 10+
• Umidigi A5Pro
• iPhone 6SE (mom is tiny and she won't upgrade until they make another tiny iPhone)

[eddieO]

@LoraleeH, you might have tried this already but just in case you did not, have you tried powering off the device and waiting a few minutes and then powering back up? Or, turning phones to airplane mode and then turning airplane mode off?

[DennyCrane]

Talk issues are often related to the device not being VoLTE compatible, but SMS not working seems odd (especially because data is working). What model phones are we working with here? And do you by chance have multiple sims setup on the phone?

[Phil_Adelphus]

@LoraleeH   Did you check the VoLTE list @Handy1  gave for your phone models?

[LoraleeH]

Yes, we're set to 4G and tried 2G (everything stopped with 2 G, but it was worth a try)

[hTideGnow]

hi @LoraleeH talk is always a problem for mom VoLTE whitelisted phone

I suggest you to use WhatsApp or FaceTime for calls , or if you use more traditional calling, download TextNow and use the app to make and receive calls and text on the number the app assigned you

[LoraleeH]

Yes, data worked on all three but text and talk didn't, soo we switched to T-Mobile and everything was going swimmingly, until it wasn't. 😞

[LoraleeH]

Yes, roaming is on and I've tried Verizon and AT&T. Neither worked during the first couple of days either, but the setup with T-Mobile, as recommended by the community, worked great.

[hTideGnow]

hi @LoraleeH 

but mobile data work on all 3 without problem?

unless you have trouble with voice, you should also try AT&T and Verizon and not just ticket with T-Mobile 

[Handy1]

@LoraleeH  Best for you to set phones to  4G/ LTE not 5G and try connecting to not just T mobile but AT&T and or Verizon , also if you phones are not in the PM

voLTE white list making calls can be difficult and in that case you need to reply on phone set 2G/3G and connect to T mobile for voice . Only other option other then that would be to download text now app or what’s app for voice 

VoLTE white list

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

[Phil_Adelphus]

@LoraleeH   What models of phones do you have, e.g. iPhone 8 or more recent?  Have you tried the other roaming partners, AT&T and Verizon?   You  have data roaming turned on?