Issue with WiFi calling? - T-Mobile Galaxy Note 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

On my notifications, it says that WiFi calling is turned on, but the cellular bars are still on. On the last Samsung phone i owned, the cellular bars were kind of disabled and it only showed the WiFi bars.
Is this how it loooks for you guys?

Same here, the bars never go grey........I thought this might result from the wonders of smartswitch allowing you to pick your call where wifi falls away however even disabling it doesnt change the colour!! Do you think that this means the cellular radio is actually still active or is just a little bit of superficial window-dressing that T-mobile will change with an update?!

As long as you see the handset/with the wifi symbol above, means you are using wifi calling. That goes away when it switches to cell tower calling. If you prefer wifi calling, then make your setting as the image below.

If u put like picture you will have wifi calling fully and not be using network if you put on the middle it will show like urs wifi calling amd also using network meaning it will show the bars

I have no doubt i am using WiFi calling.
BUT, i think the question still stands, why is the mobile network still on? And is there a way to turn it off?
On my S5 it would turn off. As a result, i assume battery life increased.

mrja22 said:
I have no doubt i am using WiFi calling.
BUT, i think the question still stands, why is the mobile network still on? And is there a way to turn it off?
On my S5 it would turn off. As a result, i assume battery life increased.
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Exactly what I was thinking.

Works for me
NOTE 4

jack black!:good:

BACARDILIMON said:
Works for me
NOTE 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too

I have a weird issue with wifi calling..
If I have it turned on, and I leave the house, I have no access to my data network as I travel around my area; I think the issue is that its always looking for wifi networks, and there are so many of them around me, including xfinity hot spots that are transmitting from people's homes, that I can't make phone calls easily.
Turning off wifi calling gets things back to normal, but I would like to leave "wifi calling preferred" on all the time, but it doesnt seem to be working properly..
This is in Chicagoland, where we have VOLTE, and all the "newest" Tmobile stuff active.
Anyone else notice this?

The bars are on because the Note 4 is a dual-mode device and can stay connected to both IWLAN (WiFi Calling) and cellular networks simultaneously so you can do seamless handoff from one to the other (VoLTE only). This is in contrast to previous Samsung phones that could only do one or the other. This is perfectly normal behavior.

siraltus said:
The bars are on because the Note 4 is a dual-mode device and can stay connected to both IWLAN (WiFi Calling) and cellular networks simultaneously so you can do seamless handoff from one to the other (VoLTE only). This is in contrast to previous Samsung phones that could only do one or the other. This is perfectly normal behavior.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, the only other phone that does it on T-Mobile is the iPhone 6. I actually love this feature cause often time I'll be on a WiFi call and forget and then drive out from my home and the call would just drop.

Related

Tmobile wifi calling issues when in airplane mode and on Delta flights with gogo

I recently purchased a brand new XT1103 64gb N6 and was hopeful to make this my daily driver, but having nothing but issues with this phone ever since I've started using it...in fact, it has been so horrible I went back to the LG G4 that I was using before the N6...my issues:
#1. Wifi calling - I have gotten this feature to work at home, but it won't work if I put the phone in airplane mode and connect to a wifi network. For example, on Delta flights that have internet they offer free tmobile texting...by following the directions and prompts, it says that I'm connected, but when I try to send a text it tells me to enable cellular network. On my LG G4, if I do the same procedure, it enables the wifi calling feature and displays the wifi calling icon and I'm able to send/receive texts. On the N6, this feature does not work. I have yet to see any discussion on XDA about using the N6 to text inflight on Delta flights. In addition, I was recently in Paris and tried to enable a wifi call and it gave me the same error...."please enable cellular network to make a call"...when I take the phone out of airplane mode and enable wifi calling (when connected to the hotel wifi), it thinks for a period of time then will allow a wifi call, but only if the cellular network is enabled...never in airplane mode with just wifi enabled. Is there something that is wrong with the N6 in regards to wifi calling? On my LG G4, if I put my phone in airplane mode and turn on the wifi, it will enable wifi calling if I connect to a wireless network. Overseas it's imperative that I'm using a wifi call since TMO charges 20 cents/min on the cell network, but having to enable the cellular network forces me to initiate a call before I see that it's making a wifi call. I am not happy about the wifi calling implementation on the N6 and wish it was more like every other TMO phone I have used in the past...
#2. Signal quality and battery life - as noted in many posts, the signal is horrible and continually bounces around. I've followed several recommendations and have done the following when I received the phone - opened the box, flashed TMO 5.1.1 rom and rebooted with my TMO sim...phone did several updates, then updated to Marshmallow...signal was extremely weak anywhere I used the phone (I live in central Iowa and they only have HSPA+) TMO has not turned on LTE in my area of Iowa...I went to Chicago and experienced the same issues...fast battery drain and poor signal....I flashed Pure Nexus 6.0 and TMO 5.1.1 radio and experienced the same issues so instead of getting a headache messing with the phone, I just went to a local tmo store and got a new sim chip for my LG G4 and have been using it without issue for the last couple of days...It worked much better in Paris and maintained a better cell signal in Paris and I was able to make several wifi calls in airplane mode at the hotel there...
Can anyone share their thoughts and help me improve my experience with this phone? I really like the camera, screen, and feel of the N6, but I can't have a phone with poor signal, poor battery, and faulty wifi calling. Thanks in advance. Nick
wifi calling has never worked for me in airplane mode.. is it supposed to, i dont think so? and it sounds like you live in a small city or in the country? it sounds like it when youre talking about your signal. i live in nyc, and am on tmobile, and i am always connected to lte. my signal never changes, except on one spot on a highway near the ocean. other than that, my signal is perfect. anyways, you can flash and try different n6 radios. some work better for some and worse for others. and you dont need root to flash radios, but you do need to use fastboot.
demonkc135 said:
#1. Wifi calling - I have gotten this feature to work at home, but it won't work if I put the phone in airplane mode and connect to a wifi network. For example, on Delta flights that have internet they offer free tmobile texting...by following the directions and prompts, it says that I'm connected, but when I try to send a text it tells me to enable cellular network. On my LG G4, if I do the same procedure, it enables the wifi calling feature and displays the wifi calling icon and I'm able to send/receive texts. On the N6, this feature does not work. I have yet to see any discussion on XDA about using the N6 to text inflight on Delta flights. In addition, I was recently in Paris and tried to enable a wifi call and it gave me the same error...."please enable cellular network to make a call"...when I take the phone out of airplane mode and enable wifi calling (when connected to the hotel wifi), it thinks for a period of time then will allow a wifi call, but only if the cellular network is enabled...never in airplane mode with just wifi enabled. Is there something that is wrong with the N6 in regards to wifi calling? On my LG G4, if I put my phone in airplane mode and turn on the wifi, it will enable wifi calling if I connect to a wireless network. Overseas it's imperative that I'm using a wifi call since TMO charges 20 cents/min on the cell network, but having to enable the cellular network forces me to initiate a call before I see that it's making a wifi call. I am not happy about the wifi calling implementation on the N6 and wish it was more like every other TMO phone I have used in the past...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue using GoGo on the first flight.
At home, make a few calls when connected to WiFi. In settings/More, Switch from WiFi preferred to Cellular preferred, and go back to home (clicking ok as needed). Then, switch back to Wi-Fi preferred, (toggle the on/off slider at the top as well). Make a call again while connected to WiFi (make sure it shows WiFi calling).
Now, on your next flight, (in airplane mode, enable WiFi) connect to the gogo internet (use the initial splash page to select T-Mo texting/WiFi, captcha etc). Then, try texting - it should work. (it did for me)
I haven't tried WiFi calling from overseas, so can't comment - but I know I'd just use hangouts (or skype) to call.
I'll give that a try when I get home from my trip...I did try making a few wifi calls at home, but I didn't cycle the wifi calling feature...I will roll back the update to the stock TMO 5.1.1 and see how it works...
Quick question, is there a way to not install the 6.0 OTA from tmo? I'm guessing that I can just ignore it...N

adaptive wifi

I have it enabled and it says it auto turns off WiFi and back on when near used wifi locations but it doesn't do that at all. Does it simplyeave WiFi on but low energy?
Screenshot l
Yeah it works.
How do you know it doesn't do it? Cellular phones hand off betwixt cellular and wifi all the time.
When and how often it does is based on some under the hood shenanigans that we dont know about.
marctronixx said:
How do you know it doesn't do it? Cellular phones hand off betwixt cellular and wifi all the time.
When and how often it does is based on some under the hood shenanigans that we dont know about.
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Click to collapse
I drive away from my house. WiFi stays on but not connected. Screenshot says wifi will turn on when near known connections but it never turns off ?
masri1987 said:
I drive away from my house. WiFi stays on but not connected. Screenshot says wifi will turn on when near known connections but it never turns off ?
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I don't think it's supposed to turn off. What that phrase means is that it will connect to WiFi when it's near a saved access point and will use mobile data when none are nearby, but WiFi will still remain on.
What adaptive WiFi does is it will use mobile data even if it's connected to a WiFi access point if the WiFi signal is bad.
I'm not sure what adaptive wifi supposed to do, I have it off and it switches between wifi and cell as it should. Is it switching in the middle of data transfer or something? Because right now I probably drop connection if move outside wifi range and will be on cell tower on the next redial. But to tell truth I never tested it.
So basically it's a gimmick, because Wifi as it is, will auto-connect to previously connected networks as long as you had wifi on. If i'm interpreting the screenshot properly the feature "turns on" wifi, therefore, it must be able to turn it off? I've even manually turned it off to see if it will turn itself back on when i get back home and nothing either.
No documentation on Samsung's site as far as i can find
masri1987 said:
So basically it's a gimmick, because Wifi as it is, will auto-connect to previously connected networks as long as you had wifi on. If i'm interpreting the screenshot properly the feature "turns on" wifi, therefore, it must be able to turn it off? I've even manually turned it off to see if it will turn itself back on when i get back home and nothing either.
No documentation on Samsung's site as far as i can find
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Click to collapse
Basically if you're connected to WiFi but have crappy signal like .2 kbps, it will start using your mobile data even if you're still connected to that WiFi. With adaptive WiFi turned off, it will keep using the crappy WiFi connection until you manually turn WiFi off or manually disconnect from the crappy network. Pretty much the reverse of WiFi calling (use WiFi if phone signal is crappy). Note the exceptions sentence at the bottom, it will not use mobile data even if the WiFi has a crappy signal if the crappy WiFi is exempted.
The "turn on" statement is correct, it will automatically turn on and connect to WiFi when it's in range of "trusted" access points (similar to "trusted devices" and "trusted places") but there is no automatic "turn off", at least, it hasn't done that while I've been using it.
OK i see what you are saying
wifi does not PHYSICALLY TURN OFF. wifi is still connected--the phone will auto switch to the stronger of the two. it won't turn the on screen "switch" off if that is what you are looking for.
its not a gimmick. it works if you are in an area with robust wifi and/or cellular. its supposed to work "in the background" so you don't know its going on.
google fi kinda does this. since google fi uses tmobile and sprint, the phone auto switches between the two carriers depending on which is stronger at the time. i've seen this happen by monitoring an app.
masri1987 said:
So basically it's a gimmick, because Wifi as it is, will auto-connect to previously connected networks as long as you had wifi on. If i'm interpreting the screenshot properly the feature "turns on" wifi, therefore, it must be able to turn it off? I've even manually turned it off to see if it will turn itself back on when i get back home and nothing either.
No documentation on Samsung's site as far as i can find
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a gimmick at all. I work at a hospital that has wireless routers throughout that all piggy back the same access point. I see Adaptive wifi in action all day. Keeps me from losing my connectivity from my work portal.
don't think I want to have this on: I have limit on my cell data, let's say I start downloading something large, let's say 5- 10 GB movie from Amazon on wifi, then I go to my upstairs bedroom, wifi gets weaker, so it switches itself to stronger cell tower and eats my whole month data allotment in one evening, before I even notice? And all I had to do is keep the phone downstairs, next to the router to avoid it. Or am I missing something?
harveydent said:
Basically if you're connected to WiFi but have crappy signal like .2 kbps, it will start using your mobile data even if you're still connected to that WiFi. With adaptive WiFi turned off, it will keep using the crappy WiFi connection until you manually turn WiFi off or manually disconnect from the crappy network. Pretty much the reverse of WiFi calling (use WiFi if phone signal is crappy). Note the exceptions sentence at the bottom, it will not use mobile data even if the WiFi has a crappy signal if the crappy WiFi is exempted.
The "turn on" statement is correct, it will automatically turn on and connect to WiFi when it's in range of "trusted" access points (similar to "trusted devices" and "trusted places") but there is no automatic "turn off", at least, it hasn't done that while I've been using it.
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Click to collapse
Exactly what happens to me when I leave home. My phone (old Note 7) will stay connected to my home network but won't be able to pull down any data from the net. It has to be manually turned off.
Sent from my SM-N950U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
thanks for the education!!
Any 3rd party apps you can recommend that would do what i am looking for?
so an update. It work exactly how it says it would. I had to drive 7 miles out, but wifi automatically turned off, even with scanning off, once i got home it turned back on.
I like it. It works great for me.
masri1987 said:
so an update. It work exactly how it says it would. I had to drive 7 miles out, but wifi automatically turned off, even with scanning off, once i got home it turned back on.
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Click to collapse
Ah, that's the thing. I noticed my WiFi would automatically turn off sometimes and sometimes not, and I couldn't reproduce it reliably. It's most likely either distance or time you have to be away from the "trusted" access point.
Congrats, now you can forget about toggling WiFi forever!
I think this setting has been screwing with my wifi related Tasker profiles. Suspect it really does turn wifi off.
I used to switch my wifi off manually when leaving the house.
All this #[email protected]\%! public wifi, blocking my internet because asking to log in....
Any shop or restaurant where you walk in does it.
And you do not know it, till you search the web and see that there is no internet at all till you switch your wifi off or log in to the shops fishing routers.
Adaptive wifi is a must have and a great improvement.
E.g. walk in a MacDonald's with adaptive switched on or off, you will see it is mother's little helper.
You need to have enough data from your provider of course.
Huib
masri1987 said:
thanks for the education!!
Any 3rd party apps you can recommend that would do what i am looking for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ifttt on Google play store
marctronixx said:
How do you know it doesn't do it? Cellular phones hand off betwixt cellular and wifi all the time.
When and how often it does is based on some under the hood shenanigans that we dont know about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that is some sweet use of the English language!

Disconnecting WiFi

Hello,
I've used my Mi A2 around 2 weeks now and I'm really satisfied with the phone. However, I got some annoying issue about wifi. When the signal strength of wifi is not so strong (below -70 dbm), it tends to disconnect for around 10-20 sec and then reconnected again. This happened to me like 10 times since I got the phone. And wifi works perfectly without disconnections when the signal strength is strong enough.
Does anyone experience this issue? Or I got a defected device?
Thank you
Same here, sometimes it just disconnects ...
Sent from my Mi A2 using Tapatalk
It is a normal stock android behavior, because android detects that signal of wi-fi is to low, and tries to switch automatically to GSM mobile data, or to another wi-fi if it is available in the area.
I don't have this happen but wifi signal is strong and also; gsm data is turned off.
That *may* help to turn that off possibly, as it obviously can't (now) switch to it?
minnuss said:
It is a normal stock android behavior, because android detects that signal of wi-fi is to low, and tries to switch automatically to GSM mobile data, or to another wi-fi if it is available in the area.
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Even if mobile network is off? Is there a way to change such behavior? I tried to find in the setting but what I just found is Aggressive WiFi to mobile handover, which was already turned off.
AsItLies said:
I don't have this happen but wifi signal is strong and also; gsm data is turned off.
That *may* help to turn that off possibly, as it obviously can't (now) switch to it?
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Click to collapse
It happened both when mobile network was on or off.
Marciano09 said:
Even if mobile network is off? Is there a way to change such behavior? I tried to find in the setting but what I just found is Aggressive WiFi to mobile handover, which was already turned off.
(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that it is called smart wifi, or wifi+ option in other types of android OS, and here it is just a automatic option in stock android i guess.
I don't mind it, because it will change my wifi router AP if it get stuck, and need an reboot, so it will automatically switch to another closest one that works.
You better think of some way to get a better signal then to turn off this function.
Try with aps like this on the link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seah0rse.swififree
minnuss said:
I think that it is called smart wifi, or wifi+ option in other types of android OS, and here it is just a automatic option in stock android i guess.
I don't mind it, because it will change my wifi router AP if it get stuck, and need an reboot, so it will automatically switch to another closest one that works.
You better think of some way to get a better signal then to turn off this function.
Try with aps like this on the link.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.seah0rse.swififree
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is that wifi also disconnected when there's no other nearby networks to switch to. I did something to get better signal in my room but this still happened sometimes.

Wifi Calling Preferred Default w/adb -Verizon

Is anyone able to access the global wfc_ims_mode in the Pixel 4 or any later versions of android than 9? Here is the method I am referring to.
I need to know this because I am currently using an OG pixel and I manually set the Wifi Calling to Wifi Preferred as we know the toggle button verizon offers inside settings is a dud.
Without forcing the global wfc_ims_mode to 2, my phone is essentially a paperweight as all data and more importantly calls and text will always default to cellular which I have 0-0.5 bars of service at my home.
Thanks!
Deeper explanation and rant - cynicism and blame incoming.
A quick summary of Wifi Calling Preferred - There is Wifi Calling, yes I know, that toggle works and is on. Then there is Wifi Preferred, a separate setting that tells the phone it what connection to default to. This is a toggle that was inside of the the Wifi Calling settings that has been confirmed to do absolutely nothing regarding your phones affinity for wifi or celluar. It is not tied to anything on the side of the android ROM, it is just there to create the illusion that it works. It was supposed to allow people to force the phone you have to use the wifi connection over the mobile connection which really help people on the edge of a service area or, in my case, in .5 miles from a Cal State University with a partially obstructed view of a cell tower.
"But I see "Wifi calling" in the top of my phone sometimes and I have never had problems."
1. Yes, Verizon does allow calls to sometimes initiate through wifi and even stay on wifi for several minutes. However, Verizon has set conditions on what a "good connection" means in order to keep wifi routing of calls AND data to an absolute minimum regardless of how this effects the end users call and data quality. Simply put, if we rate our wifi and cell connections from 1-20 with 20 being spectacular and 1 being awful; Verizon has effectively written boundary rules that say a cellular signal rating of 1 is ALWAYS preferred over wifi signal 20. You could be standing next to a brand new gigabit router with google fiber and full signal, but if Verizon thinks it has .005 % of a bar, then guess what? No call! However, Verizon knows that it must initiate the call with good quality so they use the "wifi calling" (comes up on the top of the screen) to start the call, but as soon as the call has begun, and the phone has detected a signal of 1 on the cellular it will perform a hand-off to the cellular network. Icing on the cake?This is a mono-directional hand-off, meaning wifi MUST handover to the cellular but going from cell to wifi requires the phone disconnecting the call. Outstanding move Verizon!
2. I have 0-1 bars of service where I am so if you have more than that you wont notice the hand-off. I run my business through my phone and I was so tired of missed calls, missed texts, dropped calls, garbled sound, echo. Most people will see the "wifi calling" icon in the top of the phone and assume the entire call took place over wifi. Not the case at all. Just trying to avoid the "I have wifi calling on and everything is fine for me". Yeah, how long do you talk on the phone? How many calls are you getting? How sure are you after reading what I just wrote that the entire call, and every call that takes place in your house just simply because you are home and connected to wifi and one time saw wifi calling on the top is actually using wifi maintaining the call through your ISP??
To get around this, here is a method that I still use on my original pixle XL. I am still running android 9 as the move to 10 seems to have move the wfc_ims_mode select.
This is one of the main reasons I still use this phone. Without Wifi Calling being forced as "Preferred", I know everything will route through Verizons service which is virtually 0 where I am. This results in missed calls, dropped calls, and video qualities jumping around between 144p and 360p.
Would like to know also.
i have tried this method on my Pixel 3 android 10 stock and it didnt work.

Aggressive WiFi to cellular handover

Does anyone else experience their pixel 5 deciding that a perfectly good wifi connection is "low quality" and using cellular instead?
I have this happen very often. Have at least 50% of the wifi symbol full on my fast home network (that nothing else struggles on) and my pixel 5 just labels it as "low quality" and switches to cellular. I normally just have to go to airplane mode and turn wifi on. Toggling wifi (without airplane mode) will get it to reconnect but it'll quickly do it again on occasion.
I remember in the past there was a setting for aggressive WiFi to cellular handover but that's gone now. Not sure if that would solve this anyway.
What are your actual wifi stats? Just because the icon shows 50% doesn't mean you actually have a good signal.
Gibsonflyingv said:
Does anyone else experience their pixel 5 deciding that a perfectly good wifi connection is "low quality" and using cellular instead?
I have this happen very often. Have at least 50% of the wifi symbol full on my fast home network (that nothing else struggles on) and my pixel 5 just labels it as "low quality" and switches to cellular. I normally just have to go to airplane mode and turn wifi on. Toggling wifi (without airplane mode) will get it to reconnect but it'll quickly do it again on occasion.
I remember in the past there was a setting for aggressive WiFi to cellular handover but that's gone now. Not sure if that would solve this anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
count your blessings. in my experiences, android tends to hang onto bad wifi connections for faaaarrrrrrr too long. i'll be a half mile from the house before it finally switches over.
WaxysDargle said:
count your blessings. in my experiences, android tends to hang onto bad wifi connections for faaaarrrrrrr too long. i'll be a half mile from the house before it finally switches over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish that was the case for me. Mine will pick a single bar of LTE over my near full wifi signal. I've never had another phone do something like that. I basically have to use my phone with airplane mode on at home.
Unlock the developer settings and turn on verbose wifi. It should give you better wifi signal and band information to work with.

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