topic Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones in Mobile Network discussions

Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 10:00:13 GMT

I am buying a new SIM free phone that needs to work with wi-fi calling on my Virgin network at home and the EE network at work. I read that some phones are not supported by EE for wi-fi calling. How can I make sure the phone will work with EE wi-fi calling before I buy it, please?

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

Chris_B — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 11:29:00 GMT

@pipcart What device is it ?

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

Kirigaya_Kazuto — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 11:38:57 GMT

If it's an Android phone you may have issues (Samsung phones in previous years had to be running an EE android build for Wifi calling and VoLTE to work) this was the case with my last Samsung device (Galaxy S10+), I cannot speak for other manufacturers

iPhones do not have this issue. I am not sure why it was specific to Samsung

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:21:36 GMT

I'm not certain, but I'll probably get a Moto G62 or G62s.

Anyone know of a list of supported phones, please?

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

bristolian — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:37:38 GMT

The only official source of that detail will be on the individual phone's spec on the EE shop pages.

In practice, if you purchase a phone SIM-free that EE also sell, you should be fine for WiFi-calling

However, if you're wanting a 100% guarantee of that, you will only obtain that by trying your SIM in your chosen phone. Purchasing from an online/telesales outlet and having the backup of the 14day statutory rights of return is potentially the best way of doing that.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:46:36 GMT

Thanks about Android. I don't have any problems with my current Moto G7,
but it seems that is no guarantee for an upgrade working with wi-fi
calling. Very confusing/frustrating

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

bristolian — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 12:54:13 GMT

@pipcart wrote:
it seems that is no guarantee for an upgrade working with wi-fi
calling.

If you're purchasing an upgrade from EE directly, then that comes with the guarantee from the spec pages that you're looking for.

Strictly speaking, EE would likely argue that an "upgrade" has to be purchased from them directly - and a SIM-free purchase is something you've done independently of the network operator.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 14:26:36 GMT

Thanks @bristolian. I guess that's how they get you hooked!

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

wardi — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 14:49:57 GMT

If it helps.. I bought a refurbished Samsung galaxy S10 plus from a separate retailer. The WiFi calling works fine with an EE sim.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

Kirigaya_Kazuto — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 14:53:55 GMT

Happy to see EE may have reserved that lock, for me with the S10+, wifi calling did not work on the stock rom, had to be an EE branded rom (still stock firmware)

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

Chris_B — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 18:58:21 GMT

@Kirigaya_Kazuto It wasn’t EEs doing that was Samsung who didn’t build the feature in to the device unless it had network branding on it so in fact EE gave the device that feature. This isn’t the case any more with Samsung devices.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

Kirigaya_Kazuto — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 19:31:13 GMT

Genuinely didn’t know that, I thought it was an EE limitation so you bought the phone from them to have all the features like VoLTE, wifi calling, etc

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 05:38:03 GMT

To be clear, I have not bought the Moto phone yet and it is not available from EE. However, whichever phone I buy I do want it to be SIM free, not purchased from any of the network providers. My concern is that I have to connect to more than one network, so bring restricted will be a problem and there is a lack of information to help with the decision.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

bristolian — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:44:29 GMT

@pipcart wrote:

My concern is that I have to connect to more than one network

SIM-locking would only be an issue with a network-supplied device, and even that has been stopped recently.

Any phone purchased SIM-free would be network unlocked.

Re: Wi-fi calling for SIM free phones

pipcart — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 18:55:54 GMT

The recent changes sound promising. Thanks