Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
BRIMAC41
Enthusiast - Level 1

When will Vz certify/activate the use of Wifi calling on BYOD unlocked phones?

Currently I do have HD Calling / Wi-Fi Calling provisioned on my account.

I purchased a Moto X4 standard (XT-1900-1) directly from Moto after verifying from Moto & VZ that the phone was fully compatible with the Vz network.

However, it appears that Vz will not allow unlocked BYOD phones to use their Wi-Fi Calling feature (unlike T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T).  after many hours of troubleshooting on the phone & web with both tier 1 & 2 support at VZ & Moto the only answer that I get is that it should work but each company blames the other for the issue.

I would note that the phone currently has Oreo 8.0.0 and there are no options within the settings menus to activate or turn on/off Wif calling.

I have tried to turn off your Cellular data when making the call to have it force a switch to Wi-Fi Calling with with no luck.

I even took a look at the newest Vz network extender 2.  Unfortunately, my Vz HDSL only provides 4-6 Mbps Down & 0.5-0.8 Mbps Up which is substantially less than Vz's minimum requirement of 10 Mbps Down & 5 Mbps Up and woefully lower than VZ's preferable rates of 20 Mbps Down & 10 Mbps Up.

I have been a loyal customer for more than 30 years residential and more than 20 years wireless & Internet.

There must be some way for Vz to activate the Wifi Calling feature for BYOD phones since the phones that they sell are unlocked currently.

If that is not possible, will Vz be bringing the X4 to there lineup with the Wifi calling  feature functional?

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Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

BRIMAC41-

As a consumer myself, I certainly understand the importance of using WIFI calling especially since it is included with your plan. A "Bring Your Own Device" can certainly work in our network as long as it is unlocked; however, we don't have control over the availability of the features we provide that are not available from your unlocked phone. The reason why is that it is a software that your phone should have if the phone was manufactured for Verizon. While we can activate your non Verizon unlocked phone, unfortunately, some features like WIFI calling may not work up to our network. The best way to prevent this from happening is to acquire a Verizon device to ensure it has all the necessary software that it needs to work with the features that we offer. Please know that we can't modify your phone's software as this is done by the manufacturer. We provide you the service and can guarantee the full functionality of the phone as long as it is a Verizon device. 

At this time, we don't have information on the Moto X4, so I apologize for the inconvenience. You may sign up for email alerts about our latest products and services at https://vz.to/1m2tKLh

 

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Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
boringusername
Master - Level 1

BRIMAC41 wrote:

When will Vz certify/activate the use of Wifi calling on BYOD unlocked phones?

Never. Each carrier handles it differently, so if you want/need wi-fi calling on Verizon you need a Verizon version of a phone. Only VoLTE will work on unlocked phones, wi-fi or video calling will not.

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Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
SarcasticDalek
Enthusiast - Level 1

This wasn't entirely accurate until the Oreo update. I have an unlocked Samsung Note 8. Before the Oreo update, I was able to get into the internal settings on the phone and switch wifi calling and HD calling back on. The carrier clearly disables this on unlocked phones even though it worked perfectly fine. VZW just wants me to spend an extra 100 to 200 dollars so I can have a device loaded with bloatware I will never use. It works, they just switch it off. The feature is still in an unlocked device, you just have to find the work around.

Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
Zlew02
Enthusiast - Level 1

This is a weak reply, and is misleading.

I had to get a T-Mobil Sim card due to traveling in a place with no Verizon service.   I pop the sim card in my unlocked, samsumg direct purchace S9+,  first thing that pops up-  Wifi calling is on!  The android menu  under advanced features now has all of the wifi/HD voice options that disappear when my Verizon sim is in.    Verizon is suppressing it, not the phone, not android.  

Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
boringusername
Master - Level 1

Zlew02 wrote:

This is a weak reply, and is misleading.

I had to get a T-Mobil Sim card due to traveling in a place with no Verizon service. I pop the sim card in my unlocked, samsumg direct purchace S9+, first thing that pops up- Wifi calling is on! The android menu under advanced features now has all of the wifi/HD voice options that disappear when my Verizon sim is in. Verizon is suppressing it, not the phone, not android.

you do get T-Mobile's wi-fi calling is not the same as Verizon's. your unlocked device doesn't have Verizon's wifi calling software, if you want to be on Verizon and want to use wi-fi calling. get a phone designed specifically to work on verizon

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Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
bugl3t
Enthusiast - Level 2

So BYOD is garbage. Only a VERIZON purchased phone allows you to have wifi calling even if the device has HD calling

Content modified as required by Verizon Wireless Terms of Service

Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
rcschnoor
Legend

bugl3t wrote:

So BYOD is [removed]. Only a VERIZON purchased phone allows you to have wifi calling even if the device has HD calling

This is incorrect. I have a 1st generation Pixel and a Pixel 3 which are BOTH the unlocked version purchased directly from Google and NOT the Verizon version. Both of these devices have wifi calling activated on the devices and it works just fine.

I also have 2 unlocked iPhone 7's on my account with wifi calling available, I believe.

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Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
Intel1919
Enthusiast - Level 1

Yep, I can confirm I cannot add wifi calling (get it to work) on my Samsung Note 8, sourced directly from Samsung.  Before I saw this thread, I did activate the feature on my account.   I even called in, got transferred to level 2.  They confirmed the feature is activated on my line, but were perplexed the control for feature (advanced calling) is not showing in Settings --> Connections (after rebooting, waiting an amount of time). 

Visual vm is the same type of issue.  Won't work on a non-vzw purchased device. 

Sorry Verizon, you could very easily solve this by allowing us users to download an app from the Play Store, where it only would work with a vzw account, and feature activated within the account. 

Classic "control" by VZW NJ engineering.  They HATE wifi calling for the simple (and reasonable) reason is they cannot control the experience of the call.  That was the answer I received 3 or 4 years ago when I owned the carrier relationship for a large Enterprise, asking the same question to VZW when other carriers did this.  Looks like nothing has changed......

Our argument t then, as it now, give me choice and let me decide the best network to use.  I am a bit surprised this has not been resolved.  I think a may need to look at one of the other networks then.  Probably won't leave as VZW, IMO, is still a superior network for how/where I use it.

Re: Wifi Calling Service on BYOD Unlocked Phones
boringusername
Master - Level 1

Intel1919 wrote:

Classic "control" by VZW NJ engineering. They HATE wifi calling for the simple (and reasonable) reason is they cannot control the experience of the call.

Wrong. If that was true they would allow wi-fi calling AT ALL. If you think Verizon is so shady and terrible then switch carriers

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