Unable to make calls in New York City.

[fredfor]

I am currently roaming in the USA. I bought the $30 unlimited talk, text and 3 GB data.

I have an iphone.

When I am in New Jersey, everything works.

But when I am in New York City, I am unable to make calls - they just don't go through, no error message. Data works just fine though when I am in New York City.

I have my iphone set to automatic network selection. It chooses the T-Mobile LTE network in both New York and New Jersey. If I manually try to select the AT&T, Verizon or Sprint network, it doesn't work at all, the phone says no service. I have tried rebooting my phone and it is up to date.

Any ideas? (aside from leaving Public mobile or creating a support ticket)

Thank you.

[hTideGnow]

HI @fredfor 

are you back in Canada now?  I think you can submit a ticket with PM agent and ask for some compensation

[fredfor]

Looking at t-mobile USA's website, they have a webpage where you can type in your phone's IMEI number and see if it is compatible with their network: https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/bring-your-own-phone

T-mobile's website says my phone is fully compatible, supports VoLTE, etc. I'm just SOL...

[DennyCrane]

Don't turn off cellular data, just turn off wifi. The reason for this is that it removes the wifi symbol from the screen and allows you to see whether your phone is staying on 4G/LTE/5G when on a call (yes you have VoLTE) or whether it drops to 3G when on a call (no you don't have VoLTE) 

[dust2dust]

Are you back in Canada? See if you can verify whether or not you had been enabled for volte. The way to do that apparently is to turn off wifi and turn off cell data. Make or take a call. What symbol shows on the top bar? Like 3G or LTE or ??? Maybe also if the call screen shows HD Voice or something like that.

Adding - thanks @DennyCrane , I'm not an Apple guy. I just wanted to be sure the minimum info was up there to let the proper symbol show up.

[softech]

@fredfor  voice was always a hit and miss in NYC.  But it was because of 2G.  Surprise VoLTE not working for you there

[fredfor]

@dust2dustSMS and data worked fine everywhere.

Voice calls worked in New Jersey, but voice calls did not work in New York City.

I'm no longer in the USA so I'm unable to test further.

[dust2dust]

Have you gone back to Jersey in this time? I wonder if you would see evidence of volte when there.

Text works though, right? Along with the data that you say works.

[fredfor]

@dust2dust I've already tried that a few times, no change. I did the "reset network settings" option at the recommendation of the CS agent, no luck.

And scrolling back through my text messages, back in late March of this year Public Mobile sent me a text saying that my device supports VoLTE and that it is active.

So, either Public Mobile is lying to me, or their network is faulty. Or both.

[dust2dust]

Try a full power down restart. Connect to wifi and check for any updates. See if anything happens going into settings, general, about.

[DennyCrane]

What phone do you have?

[fredfor]

@softech the agent replied and says that my account is configured with VoLTE. Still not working properly though.

[fredfor]

@dust2dustthanks for the info, but on my iphone there is no "Enable IMS" option.

When I search for Enable IMS iphone with google, I don't find anything aside from the article you linked to.

[softech]

@fredfor 

is your data ok in NYC? just voice is a problem?

Yes, your phone is VoLTE enabled, but did the agent confirm your profile is already enabled with VoLTE?

[fredfor]

@DennyCrane not only do apple's specifications say that my iphone supports VoLTE, but public mobile's own website says that too: https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte

Unfortunately, the public mobile tech responded to my ticket saying that I can't expect perfect service in the USA. Seriously????

If I was in the middle of nowhere in rural Wyoming I could understand that, but this is New York City, the largest city in the USA. It's normal and reasonable to expect to be able to make phone calls in NYC. Especially when T-mobile's coverage maps say that they cover everywhere in NYC.

[DennyCrane]

I suspect you're right. I'm curious what iphone model @fredfor has, because PM started the "few months" transition of existing users to VoLTE at the end of February. I suspect all accounts have been upgraded, and now it's simply a device issue.

[maximum_gato]

@dust2dust 

Nice one.

@DennyCrane 

Since voice calls worked in New Jersey I suspect the phone has automatically dropped down to 2G and the issue simply lies in the lack of 2G network in NYC. This also indicates the iPhone does not have IMS registration for VoLTE. Hopefully @dust2dust 's suggestion will work for @fredfor.🤞

[DennyCrane]

Doesn't help you now, but when you get home turn wifi off, make a call, and watch if your phone stays on 5G or 4G/LTE; if it does, you have VoLTE. If it drops to 3G you may not, which could be the reason for this issue.

[dust2dust]

I found this, no clue if it does anything. I tend to think that selecting LTE and Voice & Data imply volte. But I'm not an Apple fanboy.

First, open the Settings app and select the “Phone” option. After that, locate the “Enable IMS” toggle and switch it on. Next, restart your iPhone for the changes to take effect. Once done, go back to the “Phone” option and select the “IMS” tab.

From there, you will need to enable the IMS feature by certifying your phone. An access code must be entered into the “Device Certification” field found in the “IMS” tab after which you will receive a text message with a verification code.

Enter this code in the provided field and you are all set.

Finally, you need to ensure that the “Enable IMS” toggle is turned on in the “Phone” settings and that your device is connected to a network provider with IMS capabilities.

(credit - https://www.remodelormove.com/what-is-ims-status-voice-and-sms-iphone/)

[maximum_gato]

@fredfor 

VoLTE has to be provisioned for your phone by the provider. I have 4 different phones that support VoLTE none of them have been provisioned by pm for VoLTE. However most iPhones are more favourable when it comes to provisioning of VoLTE at pm but it does depend on the model.

You can check for IMS registration but being an Android user I can't remember the sequence for an iPhone.

[softech]

@fredfor for VoLTE to work, other than your phone, PM has to enable it on your account.  I would assume yours already enabled admit has been 4 months since PM enable it

[fredfor]

@maximum_gato I'm not sure what you mean by Is it provisioned for VoLTE. My iphone supports VoLTE (or, apple certainly says that it does). I'm not sure how I can check VoLTE aside from apple's specifications.

[maximum_gato]

Can anyone remember how to check for IMS registration on an iPhone?

[fredfor]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

@softtech, there is an LTE toggle on iphone under settings, cellular, cellular data options, voice & data. It is set to LTE. The other option there is 3G, I tried both, no luck, unable to make calls in New York City.

@DennyCrane, I'm not sure what you mean if my account is volte enabled. My iphone supports volte, and my iphone has an option in the settings to choose LTE or 3G for "voice & data", it is set to LTE. I've never seen a setting for my account for volte.

[dust2dust]

If your phone will let you choose 2G GSM then try that. I found in one area the phone would drop to 2G. But in another it wouldn't and then I tried it manually and it worked fine.

Adding - and your inability to connect to AT&T continues to prove our assertions that AT&T isn't valid and that the literature and support here are quite wrong.

[maximum_gato]

@fredfor 

What model is your iPhone? Is it provisioned for VoLTE? Is it 5G? If you cannot use VoLTE and your phone is relying on T-Mobile's 2G network for calls certain parts of NYC have little or no 2G network coverage unfortunately. You will need to rely on a voip provider like textnow for voice calls when you encounter loss of connectivity to the 2G network in NYC.

You can check for specific cell tower coverage using the cell mapper site...

https://www.cellmapper.net/map?MCC=302&MNC=220

Additional info and instructions can be found here... https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/US-Roaming-Add-ons-Decommissioning-of-US-...

Forget trying to connect to any other provider than T-Mobile. While pm has not confirmed the community's suspicions we believe they had allowed their roaming agreement with AT&T to lapse during the decommissioning of the 3G networks the US last year and have yet to negotiate a new roaming agreement with them.

[softech]

@fredfor some people has problem using voice in  NYC

Try to see if you have VoLTE toggle on the connection page, toggle it on and try

if not, a quick workaround is to download VoIP app TextNow and make calls using the app, like a real phone 

[DennyCrane]

What phone are you using? Do you know if your account is VoLTE enabled and/or if your device is supported for VoLTE with Public Mobile?

With no more 3G network in the US, you either need VoLTE to be able to make calls over the LTE network, or to need to see if there is by chance a 2G T-Mobile signal available to make phone calls on.