WiFi calling stopped working, possibly after upgrade to iOS18

[ylexus]

I have been relying on WiFi calling for years, as reception at home is very bad. Approximately after I updated my phone to iPhone 16 pro max with iOS18 the WiFi calling stopped working. It activates for a short while intermittently and then goes down, and mostly stays down (judging by the WiFiCall icon next to the WiFi  symbol). As a result, I can’t make calls and all incoming calls go to voicemail. I did all I could find on internet: reset network settings, check for carrier updates, turn WiFi calling off and on, rebooting phone. 
My WiFi is on O2 and she has exactly the same issue. She has iPhone 14 Peo Max and I have iPhone 16 Pro Max, we are on iOS 18.0.1. 
Seems to me it’s some incompatibility if iOS18 with the mobile operator’s software. 
To make it worse, there is currently no way to speak to a human in EE tech support. From everywhere I tried I am just redirected to some SMS chat with 150 which takes me to a page which goes back to SMS chat. 
I have reported the problem to EE via network status page. But is there any way to talk to someone in support at all? Is there any way to fix this?

[Chris_B]

@ylexus     I don’t have this issue and as you have it with 2 separate networks providers and you are both using the same router have you tried just restarting the router?   Turn it off for 30+ seconds and then restart it. 

[ylexus]

@Chris_B yes I tried restarting the router. Only other thing I changed is I enabled the MLO WiFi 7 network on the router as iPhone 16 supports WiFi 7. I will try disabling it and report back. I highly doubt this made any difference as my internet connection is stable and very fast, and WiFi calling is essentially based on the nternet connection to the mobile provider. 

[Chris_B]

@ylexus  But two phones two different networks and the same router???   The only common item is the router as what are the chances of two phones  on different networks having the be same problem at the same time but are using the same router.       WiFi calling is very much dependent on the router also as you might be getting a good WiFi connection but WiFi calling can still have issues even with a great WiFi signal and it could just be the router.    

[ylexus]

@Chris_B 

1. It worked with the same router for months, and same router firmware version for at least 4 weeks.
2. What do you think can be wrong with the router that only affects WiFi calling and no other services? WiFi calling is essentially VoIP using TCP and UDP, and nothing else. I do not have any firewalls active.
3. As I mentioned before, the other two common things are that both phones are iPhones and both have recently had a major OS upgrade.

I do not claim that I am 100% sure it's not something with the router, but I find it really unlikely, compared to the probability of some incompatibility of the operators' software with the fresh Apple OS.

One of the two goals of my post was to find some way to contact a human in EE customer services, as this seems impossible! Do you know how to do it?

[Chris_B]

@ylexus  If you want to speak with customer support the best way is to call them.   I’m on the very same firmware as you and don’t have this issue.   The best way to test this could be to connect to a different router and see if it works. 

[ylexus]

@Chris_B as mentioned in the original message, I have tried calling 150 and it’s just a cycle between them sending a link which leads back to calling 150. If you know a magic combination of options where you can reach a human, I’d appreciate it. 

I will try to connect to WiFi at a friend’s and see what happens. 

When you say you are on same firmware - you mean you are on iOS 18.0.1 and your WiFiCall symbol stays on all the time?

[FeeBee1978]

Hello - I was wondering if you made any progress with this? 

I too experience little to no coverage at home and have relied heavily on WiFi calling. I just had a job interview in which my phone dropped out three times. My partner, who has my old phone, has no problems. 

If you have any advice, as I have done all the normal things, I'd be very grateful! 

[Peter_W]

Hey there @FeeBee1978, thanks for reaching out to us about this.

Are you using an iPhone on iOS 18.0 or later like the OP mentioned, or are you using a different device / software version?

Peter

[ylexus · Accepted solution]

For me it was indeed a problem with the router. It is impossible to explain why all of a sudden the router started blocking the VoWiFi traffic while it did not previously do it, but after a firmware update from the manufacturer (the router is TP-Link BE85) it started working.