VoLTE is now working!

[Fred54]

I noticed a few days ago that the VoLTE icon on my phone is now lit, it really seems to be the right feature, I can go in the setting to enable/disable and it toggles fine, I made a call and it worked.

So it seems VoLTE is being phased on, can anyone confirm?

[hTideGnow]

thanks @sheytoon  @dust2dust 

then I will sit back and relax and hope it works  🙂

[sheytoon]

@hTideGnow for the most part you won't need to do anything once PM enables it for your account. There's a small chance you'll need to do a software update on your phone, but nothing else beyond that.

[computergeek541]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

HI @computergeek541   can I safely assume Samsung and iPhone would be good?  Even those we bought from US would work?

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In the past, some carriers have been picky about hwere the device was sourced from, but in general, those brands should be fine as long as the devices are VoLTE-capable.

[dust2dust]

@hTideGnow- I have an international Samsung currently running a stock India ROM that works with the US provider I have (that uses T-Mobile). I would imagine that in the future after a restart or airplane mode that the toggle would appear. Then if off, turn it on. It may just be on when it shows up. We'll see.

[hTideGnow]

HI @computergeek541   can I safely assume Samsung and iPhone would be good?  Even those we bought from US would work?

[computergeek541]

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@hTideGnow wrote:

I know they are just testing now or enabling it in phase

So, when PM finally announces VoLTE, any current phone (at least new enough) should be able to use VoLTE without much setting up?  I look like the thread so far, sound like something to do to setup on the device and I am worry

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With a compatible phone, the customer wouldn't to do anything other than ensure that any VoLTE setting is enabled on the device, but not all devices have specific setting for that.  This also assumes the the phone is connected to the LTE network.

[hTideGnow]

Hi All, 

I know they are just testing now or enabling it in phase

So, when PM finally announces VoLTE, any current phone (at least new enough) should be able to use VoLTE without much setting up?  I look like the thread so far, sound like something to do to setup on the device and I am worry

[dust2dust]

Yup, that's what I see for my US service (except English). Plus, it also has VoWiFi enabled after I asked them to enable it.

[Fred54]

Here is some info about my IMS

[dust2dust]

I found IMS info via the VoLTE Check app. It is shown for my US service. It's all unregistered for here. I would still maintain that this needs to be enabled by the provider. I guess I'll see in the next while whether my Samsung gets this enabled.

Also, in sim card status I see a line that is in the US service called IMS Registration status (which says Registered) but that line is not shown for this sim.

[will13am]

I went into the hidden test menu and it says VoLTE and VoWiFi are enabled for that is worth.  I guess this just means the phone settings are ready for these features should the mobile network offer it.  5G is really a discussion for another thread and another millenium, lol.  We are still trying to shed 3G.    

This is what I get from the IMS pop-up.

 

[DennyCrane]

I almost forgot about the white van 😂😂😂

[computergeek541]

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@siberianquirk wrote:

Apparently Koodo prepaid customers don't have access to VoLTE either (their postpaid customers do though). I've done a bit of sleuthing and discovered a dead link on Koodo's website going to here. Luckily, Google managed to cache a version of it before it disappeared: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Qe71Y3ss0IcJ:https://www.koodomobile.com/en/he... 

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is finally available at Koodo Prepaid. As of February 22 2023, any new customer activated on Koodo Prepaid has automatically had their customer profile enabled with VoLTE. Existing customers completing certain transactions may have also had their profiles enabled with VoLTE. The majority of the existing customer base will be enabled gradually over the next couple of months.

From my reading of this, it would appear that this is being done on a per customer basis rather than a per region basis. I would suspect that Public Mobile will be similar, but that is merely a guess on my part.

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There's a long standing joke from Howard Forums that long time Telus emlployees will be aware of.  "Fearing the white van" refers to management jokingly driving around in company vehicles to see what is being said online about the company while on the lookout statements such as the above.

[sheytoon]

It's possible, it depends on the phone vendor and whether they are locking down their software to only use IMS with pre-validated networks, or they openly allow all networks.

OnePlus used to be selective in the past, but now they openly allow it for any network.

Apple and Samsung are still selective.

[softech]

@sheytoon   another question.  I see on another forum before mentioning non-carrier phone (unlocked phone we got from anywhere) might not have IME registration with the carrier and hence cannot use VoLTE.  Is that true?

[sheytoon]

It's getting outside of expertise, but I'll try to answer.

You can't check IMS registration attempts without specialized logging tools. There is an indicator on Pixel phones that says "VoLTE Provisioned" in the hidden test menu. Dial *#*#4636#*#* and go to Phone Information. If that indicator is enabled, I think it means the SIM is provisioned with IMS and should attempt IMS registration if the phone software supports VoLTE for that specific operator.

In the same menu, you can also click the 3 dots in the top right, and select "IMS Service Status". This will definitively show you IMS registration status.

The SIM does require IMPI/IMPU information that comes from the operator, and this is used to attempt IMS registration by the phone towards the IMS core. There registration messages have to be in a very specific format in order to be accepted, otherwise it will fail. There was a guy on reddit that tinkered with his OnePlus phone and eventually got it working...

https://www.reddit.com/r/bell/comments/wi156p/ims_registration/

Voice network type LTE is a strange one. I don't see any benefit for it, as you said it has no bearing on VoLTE. It will update to UMTS when you have no VoLTE and make a call that falls back to 3G.

5G NSA technically didn't need a new SIM, but operators did it anyway to minimize pushing certain updates from the core.

5G SA definitely needed a new SIM, these have been getting pre-seeded by operators for a couple of years now, so all new SIMs are SA ready.

[will13am]

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@sheytoon wrote:

Customer phones, especially Samsung and Apple. My S21 isn't sending IMS registration request to the network. Will try a pixel tomorrow.

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@sheytoon , how can I check for this IMS registration?  When I look at the SIM status tab on my phone, the mobile voice network type and mobile data network type has been displayed as separate items for some time, presumably is support of VoLTE and voice having separate attributes to mobile data.  In any event, both show 4G/LTE for as long as I can remember.  However, when an actual call takes place the mobile voice network type changes to 3G.  So is the phone actually sitting in "VoLTE mode" while on standby or is the phone reporting faked information on standby? 

You mentioned that for Samsung and iPhones, they take information from the SIM card.  Are VoLTE related data contained in the SIM card?  I have always thought of the SIM card as nothing more than a "hardware key" that allows connection to the network and nothing more than that.  I have heard of friends on services like Bell which currently offers 5G having to replace the SIM card to get 5G access.  I used to have Tbaytel service on 3G which current customers report having to replace SIM card to get onto the LTE network.  All this seems non intuitive to me.  Maybe it is my tunnel vision with SIM card functionality.  

[sheytoon]

That's awesome. I suspect it's enabled nationally, but they are doing it in batches of customers to minimize impact if something goes wrong.

[Fred54]

@siberianquirkgreat find on the dead koodo link! So it is rolling out, and they are updating their profile gradually for all customers.

This is cool especially for people often going to the USA, having about no coverage there was a nonsense in 2023... In fact I discovered I had the VoLTE icon when entering Canada at Lacolle (QC) last week, so it maybe enabled for the whole province already. Anyway, great news!

Now we need VoWiFi!

[sheytoon]

@softech I don't know how to force it, just going to wait for the update on my phone.

[dust2dust]

@siberianquirk- lol what are our "mobile masters", chopped liver? How come they weren't privy to this? Nice to see a "mobile master" copy things directly.

Adding - @sheytoon - My US provider uses volte. My Samsung phone simply enables the switch and goes ahead and uses it. So it would seem that it's the provider side that needs to enable it. I found out that I could also ask them to enable vowifi. They did. It works. For text too.

[siberianquirk]

Found another small tidbit on the Koodo forums, one of their "Mobile Masters" (similar to the Oracles here?), specifically includes Public Mobile in the VoLTE rollout date https://community.koodomobile.com/prepaid-79951/volte-for-prepaid-customers-7816965

Starting Feb 22, Koodo Prepaid and Public Mobile customers will be able to access Voice over LTE (VoLTE) on their capable devices.

There will be a gradual process to enable existing customers with this new capability.

[DennyCrane]

Great find!!

They also called out US roaming:

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Qe71Y3ss0IcJ:https://www.koodomobile.com/en/he...

"Can I roam with VoLTE?

Phones that are VoLTE roaming-capable (please see the “Which phones don’t support VoLTE roaming?” section below) with the latest software installed will be able to place and receive calls over the LTE network instead of the HSPA network while roaming in the U.S.

If there isn’t any VoLTE coverage, or if you don't have a VoLTE roaming-enabled device, you’ll continue roaming on the HSPA network. VoLTE roaming rates will be the same as current HSPA roaming rates."

[siberianquirk]

Apparently Koodo prepaid customers don't have access to VoLTE either (their postpaid customers do though). I've done a bit of sleuthing and discovered a dead link on Koodo's website going to here. Luckily, Google managed to cache a version of it before it disappeared: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Qe71Y3ss0IcJ:https://www.koodomobile.com/en/he... 

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) is finally available at Koodo Prepaid. As of February 22 2023, any new customer activated on Koodo Prepaid has automatically had their customer profile enabled with VoLTE. Existing customers completing certain transactions may have also had their profiles enabled with VoLTE. The majority of the existing customer base will be enabled gradually over the next couple of months.

From my reading of this, it would appear that this is being done on a per customer basis rather than a per region basis. I would suspect that Public Mobile will be similar, but that is merely a guess on my part.

[softech]

@sheytoon anyway to force a Samsung to send IMS registration?.

[DennyCrane]

Ah, gotcha. I'm using a Pixel 5A. My wife has the same phone and hers makes calls on LTE now too. No settings to change either. 

[sheytoon]

Customer phones, especially Samsung and Apple. My S21 isn't sending IMS registration request to the network. Will try a pixel tomorrow.

[softech]

>. They may not have the VoLTE patch yet.

@sheytoon  who are 'they"??  PM or us customers?? why need the patch?

[sheytoon]

Fred is in Montreal and it's working for him too. There is also a phone software requirement. Samsungs and iPhones are notorious for only enabling certain features based on the SIM.

They may not have the VoLTE patch yet.

@DennyCrane what phone are you using?

[DennyCrane]

Ah ok. Maybe it's just being phased on with BC first. And yeah, that was my thought about all the voice issues too.