Wifi Calling - good news

[matthewfc]

Hey folks,

I submitted a ticket asking about setting up wifi calling yesterday, and got a bit of good news in the response. No indication exactly when yet, but it sounds like it's coming...

"Unfortunately for the moment wi-fi calling isn't implemented with us, but it will in the nearby future, I can't say when exactly, but the moment it's active you'll be notified. 🙂

Andu"

That'll make such a difference for me as I routinely use my phone in areas with poor cell service, or often no cell service whatsoever on any network, so wifi calling is really important for me to be able to receive calls, texts, 2fa codes, etc.

Just thought I'd share the good news as there's been a number of threads about this previously. I'll believe it for sure when it happens, but I'm optimistic.

[RustyShacklfrd]

Been hanging on waiting for WiFi calling, reception keeps getting worse and worse in my area. If they don't bring it out its will force me to go to another carrier... Sure hope its in the works

[hTideGnow]

i agree @DennyCrane , too.   

and @slusagm  I am not sure Rogers will keep offering Wifi Calling for oversea use if Bell and Telus both not offer this 

For Wifi Calling itself, maybe Tier 3 is tier 3, they need some clear difference from Tier 2 and Wifi calling is one of the many differences

with neither  Lucky and Chatr has any move with Wifi Calling, not sure how much longer we need to wait

my wishful thinking is that when they decide a date to sunset the 3G network, maybe they will bring in Wifi Calling

[DennyCrane]

@slusagm Contrary to popular hope/belief, I don't think Wi-Fi calling was ever intended to circumvent standard charges such as roaming fees. They're still providing the back-end infrastructure, albeit not over their cell tower. The intent was to expand service to no/low coverage areas.

[slusagm]

true Rogers has Wifi Calling when overseas.  But use with cautions, it is still very confusing whether you would got charged roaming when using Wifi Calling when you are outside of Canada.  Even people on Rogers forum are not 100% sure. 

So, yes, you can use.  Is it free? unclear.

And Wifi Calling in Canada? nice to have, but for now, keep dreaming

And is that an "Update"? is that a Bad news?  No, it is not a Bad news when we know this from day 1.  Not sure why we need any "Update" at all

Understand my reply?

[hTideGnow]

HI @Dwayne888 

where you got this update? who you got it from?

but honest, not surprise.  Unless you see more tier 3 carrier include Wifi Calling, you won't see this in PM anytime soon

and you sure Rogers wifi calling can be used overseas? sure?

[Dwayne888]

Contrary to the misinformation in this thread. Public Mobile/Telus has no plans on implementing Wi-Fi calling with Public Mobile in the near future. This is consistent with the Tier 3 providers such as Lucky and Chatr.  Source: Telus Advance Level support (they look after PM issues).

Furthermore, only Freedom and Rogers are exclusive providers in Canada which have no geolocation restrictions in accessing the Wi-Fi calling features from overseas. You can bypass this restriction by using a VPN set to a Canadian location.

For those who are unaware what Wi-Fi calling is, I suggest educating yourself. A quick and effortless place to start is by asking ChatGPT, Gemini, or Bing Co-Pilot.

[hTideGnow]

HI @matthewfc @Dwayne888 Wifi calling, we don't have this yet, but certainly a nice to have if they finally bring it here

[DennyCrane]

The post from 4 months ago that stated it was coming in the "nearby future"?

Front line agents are generally not privy to this type of information, so they probably either misunderstood are are talking of their you know what. There's a very small chance it's true, but I would definitely not be taking that information as fact. Just because someone on the interwebs put something in writing, doesn't automatically make it true.

[Dwayne888]

This thread is an unbelievable example of toxic optimism, naivety, and denial. The few posters who tried to inject some rationale fact have been overlooked.

The bottom line is Wi-Fi calling is a premium service and Chatr, Lucky, Public Mobile will never offer this service. If this critical feature is important to you, you need to switch To Koodo if you want to stay within the Telus network. Full stop.

[DennyCrane]

@Pelbaxdar Aside from a random agent, likely speaking out of turn when mentioning it to the OP, there has been no official word or hint of it coming. I won't say it'll never come, but I'd be very surprised if anything was currently in the works.

[Pelbaxdar]

It's now fall 2024. Any updates on this? Wifi calling is now a deciding feature for me. If PM doesn't implement it by the end of this year I'll be switching to Freedom Mobile.

[softech]

@Wayworn Telus has it because it is a Tier 1 provider.  

PMis a tier 3 provider and at the moment, none of the tier 3 has it.  It might come one day, like 5G and eSIM both cane to Tier 3 unexpectedly.  But as of today, no solid sign that Wifi calling isncomimg here any time soon 

[lbm]

Good to know this

[Fluffyone]

Yes, I understood this using context from the original post, and was expressing how great this would be. 

[computergeek541]

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@Fluffyone wrote:

This is amazing! I’ve almost considered switching providers over this, but the price of Public is just too good. I’ll be glad to get better connectivity through Wi-Fi 

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There has been no official announcement about Wi-Fi calling.  Customers should not expect this feature any time soon.

[Fluffyone]

This is amazing! I’ve almost considered switching providers over this, but the price of Public is just too good. I’ll be glad to get better connectivity through Wi-Fi 

[heccubus]

Really hope this is true .

Although I live in Toronto surrounded by towers , I'm in an older apartment building with lousy cell reception for much of the year when the doors and windows to the outside are closed.

This is the one feature I miss after porting from Koodo earlier this year.

[slusagm]

@will13am 

Google Voice is not Wifi Calling, it is using Wifi (or mobile data) to call, but it is an VoIP app

[DennyCrane]

@will13am The continuity of my regular phone number for calls and texts is important to me though, as I have business dealings that are not conducive (or convenient) to juggling multiple numbers. My situation works good as-is, but Rogers definitely has a better WiFi calling implementation. 

[will13am]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

@umnikke8 Yes, **if** WiFi calling comes to Public Mobile it will be Canada only. I have a Telus line with US and Mexico included, but even their wifi calling only works in Canada. It's unfortunate because sometimes I'm in poor reception areas in the US.

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Google voice is your WiFi calling in the US.  In fact you can look at it as international WiFi calling.  

[DennyCrane]

@umnikke8 Yes, **if** WiFi calling comes to Public Mobile it will be Canada only. I have a Telus line with US and Mexico included, but even their wifi calling only works in Canada. It's unfortunate because sometimes I'm in poor reception areas in the US.

[fixin1]

@golfball - That was me. Someone on Reddit told the same answer earlier this year. Should see if I can post it here.

EDIT: Found it on my old account:

 

[will13am]

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@LitlLdy wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

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@LitlLdy wrote:

@matthewfc , thank you for sharing this. Customers like me can definitely benefit from Wi-Fi calling. Even when I am at home my cellular signal isn’t always good. The town I live in doesn’t have any Telus towers here & there’s only one Bell tower which I connect to for Public Mobile. Rogers has 2 towers here.

Some CS_Agents don’t always provide correct information but I trust Andu when he says something. 🙂

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Telus and Bell have tower sharing agreements for most of Canada.  

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@will13am , I know but unfortunately there’s only 1 Bell tower here which I connect to & most of the time it is not strong enough for a reliable signal here in town whether I choose 3G, LTE or 5G Auto.

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If you use an app like network cell info lite for android, you can determine the type of hardware on that tower.  It is likely the same spectrum might be used across the 3 networks which explains why changing network type doesn't do anything.  

[matthewfc]

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@slusagm wrote:

hi @matthewfc 

RCS is pretty much the iMessage for Android users.  I think iOS finally agree to open up iMessage for Android with RCS,it will come soon

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Yeah, RCS is coming to iOS. AFAIK that doesn't have anything to do with wifi calling or routing SMS or RCS over wifi though.

[LitlLdy]

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@will13am wrote:

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@LitlLdy wrote:

@matthewfc , thank you for sharing this. Customers like me can definitely benefit from Wi-Fi calling. Even when I am at home my cellular signal isn’t always good. The town I live in doesn’t have any Telus towers here & there’s only one Bell tower which I connect to for Public Mobile. Rogers has 2 towers here.

Some CS_Agents don’t always provide correct information but I trust Andu when he says something. 🙂

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Telus and Bell have tower sharing agreements for most of Canada.  

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@will13am , I know but unfortunately there’s only 1 Bell tower here which I connect to & most of the time it is not strong enough for a reliable signal here in town whether I choose 3G, LTE or 5G Auto.

[slusagm]

hi @matthewfc 

RCS is pretty much the iMessage for Android users.  I think iOS finally agree to open up iMessage for Android with RCS,it will come soon

[matthewfc]

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@will13am wrote:

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A lesser discussed item is RCS which you could call WiFi texting.  The iOS users in the crowd will get access to the feature later in the year when a new OS update rolls out.  Android users have had the feature for some time now.  

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I'm an iOS user, and I'm fairly sure I was able to send SMS over wifi using wifi calling on rogers previously. I don't think it's an android-only feature. I know for sure I've received SMS over wifi when connected that way, because I've used it to get a 2FA code with no cell service at all.

[will13am]

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@LitlLdy wrote:

@matthewfc , thank you for sharing this. Customers like me can definitely benefit from Wi-Fi calling. Even when I am at home my cellular signal isn’t always good. The town I live in doesn’t have any Telus towers here & there’s only one Bell tower which I connect to for Public Mobile. Rogers has 2 towers here.

Some CS_Agents don’t always provide correct information but I trust Andu when he says something. 🙂

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Telus and Bell have tower sharing agreements for most of Canada.