VoLTE (Voice over 4G data)

[EskeRahn 5,464]

We have various threads where VoLTE have been mentioned. e.g. on AT&T closing down some networks.

VoLTE is similar to VoWiFI in that it handles normal voice-calls through pure data-connection.

I know that VoLTE works with LineageOS, 😁  And others have reported it working with stock Android too. - But I have not (yet?) been able to get it to work with stock for me.

It is easy to test if it is working on the Pro1, as we can select LTE as the only allowed network type (Settings, Network, Mobile network, Advanced).
And if voice calls still works VoLTE is active. 🙂

 

If not working then first we need to check if VoLTE is allowed and enabled.
In the dialer, dial *#*#INFO#*#* (*#*#4636#*#*) and select "Phone1 Information" for SIM1,  And you will get this:

As you can see I'm not even allowed to enable VoLTE (nor video calling) on stock.

 

Some have mentioned that it may require the carrier to explicitly white-list the device for VoLTE.

Though this might be correct for some carriers, I doubt it goes for all, as it on LineageOS works with the Danish carrier CBB that I doubt have even heard of the Pro1.

My normal Danish carrier Oister DO support VoLTE, but unfortunately it does not (currently) work on the Pro1 (neither Lineage nor stock)
(I'm in dialogue with Oister on this)

 

But trying the two carriers SIMs in an old Samsung S8- they act differently!! They both provides VoLTE (*), BUT only the CBB card makes Samsungs's icon for VoLTE appear in the status bar. So not all SIMs reports their VoLTE ability correctly to the device!!!

 

Unfortunately this icon seems to be a feature added by Samsung to Android, so not as easy to spot on the Pro1.

(*) On the S8- I can see it switching down from 4G+ to H+ during calls if I disabled VoLTE, that is how I know it works for Oister too.

 

So in cases where it is not working on the Pro1 we do not know if it is the SIM that does not correctly tell the Pro1 that VoLTE is supported OR it is the carrier that does not allow VoLTE for the Pro1....

 

If anyone got VoLTE working on stock, then please let us know how you did it.... Edit: @Hook and @elvissteinjr reported it working, see below 🙂

Does Sailfish on Pro1 support VoLTE? Ubuntu for Pro1?

[Hook 3,031]

I had it working on stock with Verizon (even when Verizon quit sending SMS which pushed me to go to AT&T, VoLTE was still working).  In my setup, I could switch on VoLTE in the phone menu.  I don't think iyt has anything to do with the device, although the device must be capable of VoLTE (which the Pro1 is). It doesn't even matter ultimately if the device is registered to the carrier (which in all cases the Pro1 won't be).  I think  those switches are available if the SIM has been provisioned for VoLTE by the carrier.  In the case of Verizon, you have to use a mule phone (a phone approved for that network), make sure VoLTE is provisioned for the SIM and then move the SIM to the Pro1.

I'm no expert  This is just based on my experience with getting VoLTE on stock Android on the Pro1.

[EskeRahn 5,464]

29 minutes ago, Hook said:

if the SIM has been provisioned for VoLTE by the carrier

That would make sense. But the same SIM working with VoLTE on a Pro1 on Lineage does NOT give me VoLTE on a Pro1 on stock.

And another carriers SIM giving VoLTE on a Sammy S8- does not offer it with the Pro1 in neither Stock nor Lineage....

So something more complex is in play... I would love to understand what!

[Hook 3,031]

3 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

I would love to understand what!

That makes two of us.  😉

[elvissteinjr 359]

I've done nothing at all, but VoLTE, video and wifi calling are all enabled for me on stock. Mobilcom-Debitel, Germany.
...that's not helpful, is it?

[EskeRahn 5,464]

46 minutes ago, elvissteinjr said:

I've done nothing at all, but VoLTE, video and wifi calling are all enabled for me on stock. Mobilcom-Debitel, Germany.
...that's not helpful, is it?

Well it is, as this tells us that it IS a matter of what the card/carrier signals to the device. It does not tell us how&what of course.

[FlyingAntero 871]

I live in Finland and my carrier is DNA. I have two devices: Pro1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact. Here are my results:

On stock firmware (both Android 9.0 Pie):

• Pro1: VoLTE is disabled
• XZ1 Compact: VoLTE is enabled and working

On Lineage OS

• Pro1: Not tested
• XZ1 Compact: VoLTE is disabled and not working

XZ1 Compact is running unofficial version of Lineage OS 17.1 (Android 10) so that might be reason why VoLTE is not working on LOS. The changelog says that "IMS does not fully work for some carriers yet" and I flashed different firmware to phone before I flashed LOS (German region, initially I used Nordic region).

My carrier has whitelisted these devices on their website.

Quote

 

 

Quote

The models listed below have been tested by us:

Samsung

J4+, J6 +, Galaxy S10, S10 +, S9, S9 +, S8, S8 +, S7, S7 Edge, S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge +, Note 8, A8, A6, A6 +, A5, A3 (2016 or later), XCover 4, J7, J5, J3 (2017 and later models).

On Samsung devices, WiFi calls may require a software update to work.

Huawei

P20, P20 Pro, P20 Lite, P Smart, P10, P10 Plus and P10 Lite, Mate 10, Mate 10 Pro and Mate 10 Lite, Mate 20 Pro, P30 and P30 Pro
Honor 10, Honor 10 View, Honor 9, Honor 9 Premium

Sony

XperiaX, X compact, Xperia XZ, Xperia XZ Premium and Compact, XZ1 and XZ1 Compact, XZ2 and XZ2 Compact, Xperia XA2, Xperia L2

Nokia

1, 3, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 (latest software versions)

blockquote widget

Edited August 1, 2020 by FlyingAntero

[EskeRahn 5,464]

@FlyingAntero
As I read that quote it just says that they know it works out of the box or with known actions taken on the listed devices. So they just do not guarantee it working on other devices.

Maybe like CBB here it would work on LineageOS on a Pro1 too, despite not working on stock?

[FlyingAntero 871]

18 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

@FlyingAntero
As I read that quote it just says that they know it works out of the box or with known actions taken on the listed devices. So they just do not guarantee it working on other devices.

Maybe like CBB here it would work on LineageOS on a Pro1 too, despite not working on stock?

Yes, you are right. They just list devices that are guarentee to work. I think that VoLTE could work with my carrier on LOS (Pro1). I will report the situation once I will flash LOS again to Pro1.

I am just wondering what might be setting that enables VoLTE on some ROMs.

[EskeRahn 5,464]

Indeed. On the Pro1 we have (at the least) three variants for carriers supporting VoLTE

1. Carriers that works with both stock and LineageOS
2. Carriers that work on LineageOS but not stock
3. Carriers that work on neither LineageOS nor stock.

Does Sailfish on Pro1 support VoLTE? Ubuntu for Pro1?

 

[EskeRahn 5,464]

I have been in contact with Danish carrier CBB.
And long story short , they could not care less if it was working or not on a device they are not selling. Lineage or Android.
So had to tell them that I find a phone that suits me, and then a carrier that supports it - not the other way round.....

Danish Carrier Oister also have a positive list they start from, but seems more interested in helping, so we will see how things go. (They were unaware that Samsung VoLTE icon did not show with their SIM, and are currently trying to fix that - and with a little luck, this will help the Pro1 as well - at the least on LineageOS...)

 

We see similar issues with AT&T mentioned by @JooJooBee666 here

 

 

[tdm 2,322]

12 minutes ago, EskeRahn said:

I have been in contact with Danish carrier CBB.
And long story short , they could not care less if it was working or not on a device they are not selling. Lineage or Android.
So had to tell them that I find a phone that suits me, and then a carrier that supports it - not the other way round.....

 

It is interesting and sad to hear that CBB is acting this way.  I thought the US was the only country in which most carriers sold phones and supported only their own phones.

 

[EskeRahn 5,464]

21 minutes ago, tdm said:

It is interesting and sad to hear that CBB is acting this way.  I thought the US was the only country in which most carriers sold phones and supported only their own phones.

I was pretty surprised too. I have not experienced that in Denmark before.

I guess the prices here are getting so competitive so they make a substantial portion of their profits on devices. Some years ago it was the other way round, they sold devices heavily discounted to wheel in people, as the profit clearly was with the expensive monthly plans and/or usage fees. Today I can buy a no-limit-talk and 500GB/Mo Data plan for $20.5/Mo at Oister.dk If 10hours and 10Gb is enough, it is $12.5/Mo

[DieBruine 397]

Just checked. Voice LTE enabled here, Vodafone.

[EskeRahn 5,464]

5 minutes ago, DieBruine said:

Just checked. Voice LTE enabled here, Vodafone.

One thing is "enabled", is it actually working if you select LTE as the only network type?

[Hook 3,031]

My AT&T SIM works fine set to LTE only, just to be clear.  AT&T here gave me no trouble about the Pro1—in fact, they were quite excited when I pulled the phone out and clacked the keyboard.  The AT&T store here seems to be filled with gear heads.  😄

[phix 14]

On 8/1/2020 at 9:37 AM, EskeRahn said:

Indeed. On the Pro1 we have (at the least) three variants for carriers supporting VoLTE

1. Carriers that works with both stock and LineageOS
2. Carriers that work on LineageOS but not stock
3. Carriers that work on neither LineageOS nor stock.

Does Sailfish on Pro1 support VoLTE? Ubuntu for Pro1?

 

HI, @EskeRahn

as far I know (I was a daily user of a Jolla C before I got a Pro1), SailfishOS does NOT support VoLTE at this time. It seems related to the ofono backend...

https://forum.sailfishos.org/t/volte-support-in-sailfishos/1093/38

https://together.jolla.com/questions/scope:all/sort:age-desc/page:1/query:volte/

[FlyingAntero 871]

I contacted my carrier but they claimed that Pro1 does not support VoLTE. They used my phone number to check it from their system and I also linked F(x)tec website to them. Then I told that I know others that have VoLTE enabled on Pro1 so it should support VoLTE.

They started to investigate the issue further but the end result was that they believe that Pro1 does not support VoLTE or my device is broken. They even asked if I could test with other carrier that is confirmed to work with Pro1.

My carrier said (or atleast claimed) that they are not using whitelisting. Every VoLTE supported device should work with my data plan and SIM. So maybe it is a software thing on our side? I will check with LOS later.

BTW, WiFi calls are working just fine.

[Hook 3,031]

I haven't kept track of all your posts so ignore this if you already did this.  Did you check the phone menu (*#*#4636*#*#) and make sure the provisioning switches for VolTE are on and not grayed out?

[FlyingAntero 871]

40 minutes ago, Hook said:

I haven't kept track of all your posts so ignore this if you already did this.  Did you check the phone menu (*#*#4636*#*#) and make sure the provisioning switches for VolTE are on and not grayed out?

It is grayed out and I cannot switch it on.

[Hook 3,031]

2 minutes ago, FlyingAntero said:

It is grayed out and I cannot switch it on.

What I suspect that means is that the SIM is not being recognized as being capable of VoLTE. Is this a new SIM you bought for the Pro1?  It may be that with that carrier you have to do the mule trick—use a phone they approve of, get the SIM provisioned for VoLTE and confirm it works on the mule phone, then transfer the SIM to the Pro1.

[FlyingAntero 871]

Just now, Hook said:

What I suspect that means is that the SIM is not being recognized as being capable of VoLTE. Is this a new SIM you bought for the Pro1?  It may be that with that carrier you have to do the mule trick—use a phone they approve of, get the SIM provisioned for VoLTE and confirm it works on the mule phone, then transfer the SIM to the Pro1.

It does not work. I have Xperia XZ1 Compact which is working fine (VoLTE) with the same SIM. My carrier also checked that I have modern SIM in use which supports VoLTE.

[EskeRahn 5,464]

5 minutes ago, Hook said:

What I suspect that means is that the SIM is not being recognized as being capable of VoLTE. Is this a new SIM you bought for the Pro1?  It may be that with that carrier you have to do the mule trick—use a phone they approve of, get the SIM provisioned for VoLTE and confirm it works on the mule phone, then transfer the SIM to the Pro1.

It looks very much like what I get with Oister that DO work on a Samsung S8- (Though NOT tricking the Samsung icon)

[DieBruine 397]

5 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

One thing is "enabled", is it actually working if you select LTE as the only network type?

Just forced LTE only and called myself on my company phone. No problems. Checked again and it was still on LTE only. VoLTE is provisioned by the way. So yeah, I assume it's working as it should,

[DieBruine 397]