@will13am wrote:
Thanks for the update. This is why I discourage members in this forum from suggestions that force the phone onto 3G as a way to seek enhanced performance.
Ties right in with those CSAs implying that some customers are imagining things.
I embrace that, with VoLTE now available, leaving it to the phone to pick the best connection makes sense now.
However, up to February 22/2023*, trying to force the phone to 3G was a valid trouble shooting tool for consistently missing calls that go directly to voicemail without ringing on the phone despite having an actual (4G) connection, in areas with borderline 3G availability / bandwidth, IMHO. I recommended trying it, where it seemed appropriate advice, because it worked for my situation. I never said it was the panacea.
It's really fantastic that you never had to deal with this problem and have always had flawless call connectivity. Good for you! And I'm happy that soon all of us should be able to enjoy call reliably again (as long as we are in coverage, of course, and hopefully with call forwarding options restored eventually).
But dismissing people who found that it helped with their call problem in the past is not ok. Just because you didn't experience the problem yourself doesn't mean that it didn't exist pre-VoLTE for some people in some areas.
Even in 2023, there are people who actually use their cell phones predominantly as *gasp* phones. I've been in the same spot for 5 out of the 6 years this line has been active with PM. While the quality seemed to gradually decline, in summer 2022 there was a considerable drop in call reliability and quality.
I can tell you, having 9 out of 10 calls going straight to voicemail because the phone (actually tried with a hanful of different brands, models and OS versions, just before you bring that one up) can't drop down to 3G fast enough for the device to ring is ... a PITA.
Once the phone was connected to 3G all the time (in this spot) the ratio inversed: 1 out of 10 calls didn't come through before voicemail kicked in. I still had to go to the "phone spot" to get somewhat acceptable call quality, but at least I could take the calls as they came in.
In the few days with VoLTE I've had 100% call connection, and the quality feels like a completely different ball game.
I'm happily ditching that recent research on second tier providers.
* Or possibly until that official help article was actually online, I did browse the help articles in early March and the VoLTE piece wasn't there. It is the only official statement about VoLTE rollout we mere mortals got to see, as far as I can tell.
