Is there a 4G successor to the discontinued 3G booster box?

[stephen5000]

As many now know, EE are discontinuing the service of their excellent 3G Booster box, and after 7 fabulous years of 5 bar coverage use, I got 3 weeks notice of this. My phone does NOT have WiFi calling option, so I'm a bit snookered. I don't want to buy a new phone, current one is working perfectly, besides, think of all the poor dolphins in throwing perfectly good stuff in the bin unnecessarily!

Is anyone aware if there is a 4G 'booster box' available that will work for me, preferably supplied by EE? (or a generic one as an alternative)

[stephen5000]

---

@wardi wrote:

@stephen5000  .. if it helps I have a Galaxy S10 plus which definitely does WiFi calling.  The other S10 variants also offer it.  These phones are 2-3 years old now but available refurbished from approx £175-£325.  Very nice phones in other respects too.  I got mine refurbished from Qwik Phone and it looked like new on arrival.

---

Any further recommendations (used/refurbished) up to maximum of £100 much appreciated - I simply can't afford anything more.

[bristolian]

---

@stephen5000 wrote:

---

@nosignalbox wrote:

Other family members iPhone WiFi calling working fine.

Much as I despise Apple, all their phones appear to be WiFi calling compliant - shame Android is hit & miss...

---

SIM-free Android support for VoLTE (4G-calling) and VoWiFi (WiFi-calling) is hugely improved on the situation a couple of years ago.

[stephen5000]

---

@bristolian wrote:

---

@stephen5000 wrote:

---

@nosignalbox wrote:

Other family members iPhone WiFi calling working fine.

Much as I despise Apple, all their phones appear to be WiFi calling compliant - shame Android is hit & miss...

---

SIM-free Android support for VoLTE (4G-calling) and VoWiFi (WiFi-calling) is hugely improved on the situation a couple of years ago.

---

Sadly, you have hit my stumbling block LOL With my budget, I am looking at phones 2 to 3 years old, and as you say, WiFi calling doesn't seem to have been invented then 😁

An analogy would be forcing someone to buy a battery car when you know they are not suitable for your needs, far too expensive, and no infrastructure yet to run one LOL

[bristolian]

An analogy would be making your local roads only accessible to more modern vehicles, but that's a common complaint with clean-air-zones all over the country.

In the case of mobile networks, blanket indoor coverage is nigh-on impossible to achieve - and as the 3G network is switched off, WiFi-calling - along with low-band 800Mhz coverage - are much better solutions for these scenarios.

[nosignalbox]

So EE tell me that I cannot use the OnePlus,3t even though it does have WiFi calling.

They say only 6t and above supported.

So I have to get a new phone as I have been made isolated and vulnerable with the switching off of signal box in my area with no mobile network coverage inside or out.☹️

Before I spend can you confirm if Motorola G30 will work on WiFi calling with EE?

[stephen5000]

Shopping for a replacement phone is depressing! Maybe I'm just doing it wrong!

Can anyone tell me what I need to look at in a phones spec that will tell me if it is capable of, 'WiFi calling'? Looking at a Samsung Galaxy A41 - but the terminology of 'WiFi calling' doesn't exist on any review/spec I read on the phone, so is there a secret tech term I need to look out for?

[bristolian]

The Galaxy A41 should be fine for both WiFi-calling & 4G-calling.

EE will only provide support if you purchase the phone from them, but a SIM-free model should be fine.

You'd be wise to consider the two alternative ways of buying products in the UK:

1: Online or telesales come with a statutory 14days "change of mind" right of return, so if the product doesn't work for you, it can be returned.

2: Instore purchases don't have this and returns are at the retailer's discretion - so if any specific feature is important for you, check it before buying.

For this reason alone, I would recommend an online or telesales purchase in this situation.

[stephen5000]

Thank you for quick response. Is there a 'secret' term I should look out for to be certain of WiFi Calling? Haven't totally settled on the Samsung yet and am still trying to check out alternatives...

[nosignalbox]

I ended up reluctantly buying a Samsung Galaxy A13 for £129  - it wasn't easy to find out how, but it does do wifi calling and works in my home.

Pain in the **bleep** to set up and although 99% OK  it won't work with my Chase banking app (my ancient phone did)- confirmed not compatible by Chase themselves!

I remain unhappy with EE for forcing this change on me without any notification

[stephen5000]

Samsung A41 on hold LOL Just discovered it doesn't have a notification LED. Like having a car with no oil light, just don't understand phone manufacturers at all, they're obviously all young geeks with no real life experience doing a bit of design in between playing with their X box!