Why would wifi calling stop working?

[tiredoftalus]

Like many of you, we have very poor mobile service at home. I got a phone and a plan that had wifi calling. Unfortunately, if there is even a weak mobile signal, the phone will use mobile, not wifi, resulting in very poor quality calls. I started a Verizon chat, hoping to find a way to use wifi calling when the mobile sigal was weak. The tech said there was not. [WHY NOT VERIZON??] She suggested a workaround. Go into airplane mode [thus ignoring the mobile signal] then re enable wifi. This worked. For months. Until this week. I tried to make a call from home home yesterday and a message came up saying that the phone can't make calls in airplane mode. I contacted Verizon again. After a long chat, the rep had me turn off the phone and did a resync? from her end. After powering up the phone I was able to make a wifi call in airplane mode. Yeah!. I asked if there was anything I could do from my end to prevent and or solve the problem if it happened again. The rep said no, the solution should be permanent. It was if permanent means less than a day. Today the problem returned. Another long chat [with the rep suggesting I buy a network extender and that wifi calling was never meant to take over for phone calls] he repeated the procedure from yesterday, and now wifi calling in airplane mode is working again. One thing that may have retriggered the problem is that when I was away for home today I tried to make a call while still in airplane mode. I got the message that the phone cannot make calls in airplane mode and asked if airplane should be turned off. I tapped OK and had a successful call over the mobile network. That was the message the phone gave me when I went back home, went into airplane, enabled wifi and tried to make a call. To sum up, my issues are 1.Why can't the phone default to wifi calling when the mobile signal is too weak for an intelligible call? 2. Why is the workaround [go into airplane, enable wifi, suggested by a Verizon rep] giving me problems?

[vzw_customer_support]

tiredoftalus,

I apologize for the inconveneince of having to go through multiple steps with the workaround. I will answer the question that I can, which is regarding the workaround.

I suggest you try this: when you leave your home having successfully been using Wi-Fi calling, turn the Wi-Fi setting on your phone to OFF before taking the phone out of Airplane mode, and while away from home and out of Airplane mode, leave the Wi-Fi in the OFF position (when convenient). When you return home, place your phone into Airplane mode first, and then turn the Wi-Fi back to ON. Following this process will allow you to automatically connect to your home Wi-Fi network, not need to restart your device, and continuously make Wi-Fi calls while at home.

The reason behind: Following this procedure ensures that at no point is your smartphone attempting to connect to any Wi-Fi or cellular signal simultaneously. Does this make sense? Let us know if this process eliminates the problem.

As far as defaulting to Wi-Fi calling when mobile signal is weak, the answer to that question likely has to do with the fact that Wi-Fi calling is not supported by all devices. On the devices that it is supported, even then it must be enabled via a feature from your billing. Not to mention that if you were to switch signals mid call you would be experiencing a lot of dropped calls. There are too many variables for it to be a good experience at this point in the technology.

Colin H_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[tiredoftalus]

    The workaround is not described in any of the wifi FAQ or how to pages onVerizon.com I just looked at. Any idea why this is happening to my phone and not everybody's?  What has worked for the last three days is to not make a call in airplane mode when I'm out of range of home wifi.

   " that at no point is your smartphone attempting to connect to any Wi-Fi or cellular signal simultaneously. Does this make sense?" Don't most people's phones deal with wifi and cellular signals simultaneously?

   "As far as defaulting to Wi-Fi calling when mobile signal is weak, the answer to that question likely has to do with the fact that Wi-Fi calling is not supported by all devices." Mt device [Verizon branded Moto Z Play Droid] does support wifi calling.

    "must be enabled via a feature from your billing." My plan includes wifi calling.

   "Not to mention that if you were to switch signals mid call you would be experiencing a lot of dropped calls."    My signal wouldn't be switching at home, the only place I use wifi calling.

     If I have problems again while using my simpler workaround I'll let ya'll know

[tiredoftalus]

Last night I made a call in airplane mode with wifi turned back on. It worked fine. This morning, without changing location or any settings I see this again: "Airplane mode on You cannot make a call while the device is in airplane mode. Would you like to turn airplane mode off?" I would not like to turn airplane mode off because the phone will connect using 1 bar of mobile signal resulting in a garbled unintelligible call.

   Please Verizon, I want to be able to make a phone call from home using wifi calling.

[tiredoftalus]

Last two times this happened it was temporarily "fixed" by a Verizon rep via chat. I believe one of them said they would "resync" the phone. Is their a way to do this on my phone by myself? If not, is there a quicker way to do it without having to explain the problem for a third time? Thanks.

[Shwiefels]

I agree. I am experiencing this on an iPhone 7 running the latest software WiFi calling worked until...

I went to the city 3 hours away and spent the night in a hotel. I used the WiFi so that I don’t drain my 8gb of data on 2 separate networks at 2 different hotels. We get absolutely no signal from Verizon at all up here in the mountains of Northern California. Son having WiFi calling is aN amazing tool. Also because when callers leave messages it takes days to get those messages downloaded to my phone. This terrible. 

I hope I don’t have to go through this disaster of a scenario of calling a rep to correct the issue of WiFi calling every time I need to go use WiFi elsewhere. 

[vzw_customer_support]

tiredoftalus, WiFi calling is a handy feature, so we want you to be able to use it. I'm happy to assist further. Just so we're on the same page, what make/model of phone do you have?

TracyB_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[tiredoftalus]

The phone is a Moto Z Play Droid purchased at a Verizon store 12/2117. Neither this phone or other devices have a problem with staying connecting to wifi. The phone is connected to wifi when the message comes up ["Airplane mode on You cannot make a call.....]    The phone is 20' from the router with no wall or obstruction.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thanks for the additional detail, tiredoftalus. I would like to investigate further so we can resolve this for you. Please check your private messages so we can begin.

TracyB_VZW

Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

[Tk10110]

This does not work for me. iOS 18 on  iPhone 14Pro. 

[bearone21]

if the verizon signal is weak, the wi-fi will be weak!!

if the wi-fi signal is weak it reverts to the network!!

[vzw_customer_support]

@tiredoftalus We know the importance of having the ability to utilize WiFi calling. Lets continue to dig. I'm curious do other devices have issues staying connected to WiFi in your household? How far are you from the modem when attempting to use WiFi calling? Are there any walls or structure in between you and your WiFi modem?

JoelD_VZW

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If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[Shwiefels]

I’ll speak for my scenario. WiFi signal strong. No devices have issues connecting.  Modem in same room. No walls between us. I can move to another room to have walls, but most people I’m sure would be by their modem I doubt most people put their modems in a closet. See my response above for more detail. 

[vzw_customer_support]

Shwiefels, let's help get the wifi calling up and running for you. Do you receive any error messages when trying to use wifi calling? How long ago was the last time it did work?

StevenM_VZW

[Tsorel1600]

I have the same issue, iPhone 6, I’m in 94546. I have 1 bar or less in my neighborhood. Verizon WiFi is always turned on but it hardly ever works or shows that it is available to connect to. I can hardly ever make or receive phone calls and always have trouble sending pictures over text messages when I’m home. People just give up calling me and tell me to switch to a different cellular provider. 

[vzw_customer_support]

We can certainly troubleshoot this issue with you to help figure out what's going on with your network connection. May I have the ZIP Code you're having this experience in? ChristopherS_VZW

[Shwiefels]

Hey figured it out with my internet carrier. Thanks. 

[godess]

I have poor wireless signal at my home also and must use wifi calling. It constantly has problems. Verizon told me that when a call comes in or is outgoing it will use whichever signal is stronger, which is usually the wifi. I have good wifi, but suspect there are glitches causing calls to drop or as in my case the call doesn't ring, doesn't show up on the recent call log, but there is a voicemail.Verizon rep also said if it doesn't show up on the call log it is not coming through Verizon. I miss calls everyday and can't find a solution.

[molding]

I have the same issue

[Brownian_Motion]

Verizon has also pooched the Droid Turbo.

I've been fighting with them for a week or so.  They finally admitted that it is no longer on the list of phones that will "do" VoWiFi...

[vzw_customer_support]

Brownian_Motion, I appreciate all the feedback and your efforts thus far to correct this Wi-Fi Calling concern. The last thing I want is for you to feel forced into upgrading into a new smartphone simply because Wi-Fi Calling doesn't work anymore. I apologize for the lack of proper resolution and not fully taking your needs into consideration. I want to do my best to exhaust all options so Wi-Fi Calling can work on your Droid Turbo again.

Based on my extensive research as we are also Tier 2 Tech Support via this channel, I cannot find anything that actually confirms that Wi-Fi Calling is no longer capable on the Droid Turbo or that a recent software update took the feature away. Please attempt to Reset Network Settings on your device if not already. This will reset all Wi-Fi, mobile network and Bluetooth connections. You may attempt a Wi-Fi call going forward. http://spr.ly/6589D0bGt

In addition, there is an option where you can run a Software Repair Assistant on your phone in an attempt to correct the Wi-Fi Calling functionality issues. This is a great option and allows you to retain all your personal information on the phone while the software is re-loaded on your phone. The link attached provides you with steps you can take via a computer. Please keep us posted on any changes. http://spr.ly/6580D0bGQ

AlanS_VZW
Follow us on TWITTER @VZWSupport
If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!