Wi-Fi Calling on Pixel

[DJM626]

Verizon always touts how "great their network is". Unfortunately, for me, in my current and also my last home I have never had acceptable coverage - literally decades without being able to use my Verizon cellphone(s) reliably inside my house. I am not rural, but I am in suburban California. Verizon sold me a Network Extender which was okay, as long as I was close enough to it in the house. It would not cover my entire house - so still lots of missed calls. When I heard the Pixel had Wifi calling, I thought that my problems would finally be solved, as I have great Wifi throughout my house. And Wifi calling does work great (call quality and consistency) - when it is enabled. As I posted, it just randomly turns itself off for no apparent reason. I will open up a case with Verizon support, although I am sure they will point the finger back to Google. I read the Mod above is on T-Mobile, and it is working fine, so I'm sure that I am in for a bit of frustration with support for this issue.

I totally agree with you for the most part. Funny thing is most of my friends using Motorola phones and iPhones on Verizon can make calls without any issues or without wi-fi in my place. The pixel is the only phone I have owned in which it can't reliably. And I have gone through 3 replacements all with the same results. Like you, Wi-Fi calling works great in my place, nice clear calls other person has no issues hearing me etc, but it shuts itself off after awhile too before it reconnects

 

[Almeuit]

Unless you're always traveling or in an extremely rural area, why would anyone want to use WiFi for calls? The quality is always worse, and there isn't a carrier that still uses minutes.

I could use VoLTE in my house if I really wanted but sending it through my wifi works the same and the phone doesn't have to struggle to hold the weak LTE signal. Not sure about Verizon but HD voice still works the same on wifi calling for the T-Mobile network so the worse quality thing doesn't stand for me.

 

[jf2go]

I totally agree with you for the most part. Funny thing is most of my friends using Motorola phones and iPhones on Verizon can make calls without any issues or without wi-fi in my place. The pixel is the only phone I have owned in which it can't reliably. And I have gone through 3 replacements all with the same results. Like you, Wi-Fi calling works great in my place, nice clear calls other person has no issues hearing me etc, but it shuts itself off after awhile too before it reconnects

I had an LG G3 before the Pixel, and my wife has an iPhone 6. None of them work reliably in my house. My wife's iPhone *maybe* has a slightly better chance of receiving a call in the house. I haven't compared as yet, by walking around outside the house, to see if it picks up the carrier quicker than my Pixel. The LG G3 and Pixel seem about the same to me. Everyone that comes over to the house with Verizon has trouble making/receiving calls. T-Mobile doesn't work up here, and AT&T seems to work fairly well. My phone is on my Verizon company plan, so no chance to switch carriers.

 

[niteryder]

They know this is an issue as well. I just bought my phone on Friday at verizon and as soon as I get done trading in my iphone and paying for the pixel the sales reps tells me a lot of people are returning this phone because of reception and calling issues. Wow, thanks for telling me after the fact.

 

[DJM626]

Yes, Verizon knows about this as well as google, yet neither one of them will budge and come up with a permanent solution to put an end to this issue for those of us who are unfortunately having issues with this phone

 

[cbreze]

I follow the pixel forum because I'm a google fan, so thought that while I don't own a pixel I might comment on possibly something relevant. My iPhone 7 and also HTC 10 both have wifi calling and I use them on Verizon. My iPhone has an icon that is on next to the sig bars that indicates wifi calling is on and enabled and ready to make or take calls. While my HTC 10 doesn't have the icon it still goes thru wifi as my signal here is not always the best. As the signal fluctuates the wifi calling ability fluctuates but will go over wifi when it drops to around 2 bars.
So my point being why in the heck does Verizon and/or Google restrict this on the Pixel? It makes no sense to me. The options for my 2 phones are have wifi calling either on or off with a toggle. Additionally there is a second option for wifi roaming in case your plan may be subject to roaming charges. IMO , this is another flaw in the pixel ointment as wifi calling should just work on or off thats it.

 

[DJM626]

If Verizon is aware of connectivity issues and that some people can not maintain a connection through 4LTE without getting dropped calls, this is something they should enable, even if it is temporary until either Verizon or Google come up with a solution to why people specifically on Verizon network are encountering such issues while trying to make a call. Presently Wi-Fi is the only means I have to be able to make a call

 

[Gdraft#WN]

Im on Tmo, pixel XL and use WiFi calling exclusively at home.

My old LG G3 would ALWAYS turn off the WiFi radio when in sleep mode (after several frustrating calls to Tmo, I found out this is something they bake into their WiFi calling to save battery life)

I was hoping on the Pixel it would over ride any limitations from Tmo.... . It is better, but every now and then when I wake the phone, I see the WiFi is not turned on.

I am not missing calls, but have had several people tell me the phone never rang on their end when I answer.

I suspect this is a "feature" baked into Tmo WiFi. Tmo holds the call in suspended animation while it wakes the phone.

The only real concern or gripe, is when I pick up the phone and need to quickly make a call or get online and I have to wait 10 or 15 seconds for the WiFi to come to life.

So, I think as much as Googly wanted to be "clean". I think in the case of WiFi, they had to adhere to each carrier's specs.

 

[78racing]

I have two pixels purchased from google and both continue to turn the wifi calling off randomly. I contacted google and they say they have not heard of this happening, suggested I call Verizon. I gave up with Verizon support useless as usual and I am looking forward to switching to fi. Would love to hear how you make out with Verizon.

 

[Jaw Kerplkn]

WiFi calling does not turn off WiFi to save battery - that defeats the purpose of WiFi calling,

 

[Jaw Kerplkn]

Im on Tmo, pixel XL and use WiFi calling exclusively at home.

My old LG G3 would ALWAYS turn off the WiFi radio when in sleep mode (after several frustrating calls to Tmo, I found out this is something they bake into their WiFi calling to save battery life)

I was hoping on the Pixel it would over ride any limitations from Tmo.... . It is better, but every now and then when I wake the phone, I see the WiFi is not turned on.

I am not missing calls, but have had several people tell me the phone never rang on their end when I answer.

I suspect this is a "feature" baked into Tmo WiFi. Tmo holds the call in suspended animation while it wakes the phone.

The only real concern or gripe, is when I pick up the phone and need to quickly make a call or get online and I have to wait 10 or 15 seconds for the WiFi to come to life.

So, I think as much as Googly wanted to be "clean". I think in the case of WiFi, they had to adhere to each carrier's specs.

That is 100% not true.

WiFi calling on T-Mobile is by default WiFi preferred and all Android phones ship with it enabled by default (because of VoLTE being able to handoff and on) + WiFi never sleeping by default. You must have changed the setting on your phone and restored a settings backup because I have 10 phones in front of me that all have WiFi set to never sleep, and WiFi does NOT turn off when the screen is off unless the setting is changed from the default.

Don't spread misinformation based on your own personal settings. Thanks.

 

[Almeuit]

That is 100% not true.

WiFi calling on T-Mobile is by default WiFi preferred and all Android phones ship with it enabled by default (because of VoLTE being able to handoff and on) + WiFi never sleeping by default. You must have changed the setting on your phone and restored a settings backup because I have 10 phones in front of me that all have WiFi set to never sleep, and WiFi does NOT turn off when the screen is off unless the setting is changed from the default.

Don't spread misinformation based on your own personal settings. Thanks.

First -- let's calm down. No reason to get hostile. Second -- this is a Pixel / Pixel XL Forum so the normal default settings by T-Mobile on their Android phones doesn't apply here since they don't touch the phone. I know on my Pixel XL I had to turn WiFi calling on for it to work since it wasn't on by default.

I also have my WiFi set to never sleep and I have the same issue he does -- sometimes people tell me the phone never rang on their end but it did on mine since I have the missed call notification. Not sure what the cause is (Google or T-Mobile) but it does happen.

 

[matty032]

I guess you guys have contacted Verizon/T-Mobile and had them provision your phone's for Wi-Fi calling? Sometimes just enabling it on your phone doesn't cut it. My Wi-Fi never turns off unless I turn it off. If yours is, something is wrong. Guess that's a dumb statement.

 

[JimSmith94]

Im on Tmo, pixel XL and use WiFi calling exclusively at home.

My old LG G3 would ALWAYS turn off the WiFi radio when in sleep mode (after several frustrating calls to Tmo, I found out this is something they bake into their WiFi calling to save battery life)

I was hoping on the Pixel it would over ride any limitations from Tmo.... . It is better, but every now and then when I wake the phone, I see the WiFi is not turned on.

I am not missing calls, but have had several people tell me the phone never rang on their end when I answer.

I suspect this is a "feature" baked into Tmo WiFi. Tmo holds the call in suspended animation while it wakes the phone.

The only real concern or gripe, is when I pick up the phone and need to quickly make a call or get online and I have to wait 10 or 15 seconds for the WiFi to come to life.

So, I think as much as Googly wanted to be "clean". I think in the case of WiFi, they had to adhere to each carrier's specs.

I and many others have the same problem of incoming calls not ringing for the caller. I had so many hang ups that I had to turn off WiFi calling. That is definitely NOT a feature to me!

Since TMO's WiFi calling is WiFi preferred, I don't understand why your phone waits for WiFi to wake up or why it goes to sleep in the first place. My WiFi is set to always on and since you're connected to WiFi, yours should be as well.

 

[MrDoh]

Well, over 2 months later, and still have "Cellular preferred" on the Pixel for wifi calling setting on Verizon. The iPhone works great with wifi calling, but the battery on the Pixel goes down too quickly since with "Cellular preferred" the Pixel still has to track a low-level cell signal. With the iPhone, it totally switches over to wifi calling, and doesn't worry about the cell signal so the battery is great.

I really can't justify using the Pixel on Verizon, I need wifi calling at my home...so either I'll leave Verizon, or keep using the iPhone. In my preference, the iPhone is a distant 2nd to the Pixel phone. I am so disappointed and frustrated with Verizon...it would be really easy for them to allow the "Wi-Fi preferred" setting for the Pixel, and then it would work as it should. Verizon really sucks on wifi calling anyways. I remember back when other cellular providers were taking care of business with wifi calling, Verizon was caught up in ego games, saying that since their signal is so good (not at my house), their customers didn't need wifi calling. What a company, they have no idea what their customers need since they don't care enough to ask and then listen to their customers' answers.

I really hope that Verizon loses their customer base for not listening to their customers needs. They finally got that their customers want unlimited data AFTER customers were leaving in record numbers to join providers that had that. They deserve to go down the tubes, in my opinion. Unfortunately, they have enough customers so that'll take a while, but they have such a terrible track record with customers (always in the top 10 most hated companies in the US) that it seems inevitable.

 

[matty032]

I and many others have the same problem of incoming calls not ringing for the caller. I had so many hang ups that I had to turn off WiFi calling. That is definitely NOT a feature to me!

Since TMO's WiFi calling is WiFi preferred, I don't understand why your phone waits for WiFi to wake up or why it goes to sleep in the first place. My WiFi is set to always on and since you're connected to WiFi, yours should be as well.

I missed some very important work calls. WiFi calling was on. Had it in airplane mode so no cellular. Had WiFi on. Missed 10 emergency calls from work. So, I wouldn't recommend turning off cellular if your on Verizon. Even with poor to no signal.

 

[sangs]

Well, over 2 months later, and still have "Cellular preferred" on the Pixel for wifi calling setting on Verizon. The iPhone works great with wifi calling, but the battery on the Pixel goes down too quickly since with "Cellular preferred" the Pixel still has to track a low-level cell signal. With the iPhone, it totally switches over to wifi calling, and doesn't worry about the cell signal so the battery is great.

I really can't justify using the Pixel on Verizon, I need wifi calling at my home...so either I'll leave Verizon, or keep using the iPhone. In my preference, the iPhone is a distant 2nd to the Pixel phone. I am so disappointed and frustrated with Verizon...it would be really easy for them to allow the "Wi-Fi preferred" setting for the Pixel, and then it would work as it should. Verizon really sucks on wifi calling anyways. I remember back when other cellular providers were taking care of business with wifi calling, Verizon was caught up in ego games, saying that since their signal is so good (not at my house), their customers didn't need wifi calling. What a company, they have no idea what their customers need since they don't care enough to ask and then listen to their customers' answers.

I really hope that Verizon loses their customer base for not listening to their customers needs. They finally got that their customers want unlimited data AFTER customers were leaving in record numbers to join providers that had that. They deserve to go down the tubes, in my opinion. Unfortunately, they have enough customers so that'll take a while, but they have such a terrible track record with customers (always in the top 10 most hated companies in the US) that it seems inevitable.

I love Verizon and one of the reasons why is the customer service. Sounds strange, I know, but have almost always had a pleasant experience and they work to get things right for me. One instance was with regards to the poor LTE signal in my home, which was a drain on all our phones. So they hooked me up with this:

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...msung-4g-lte-network-extender/&token=tcZPaUpT

That Extender has been nothing short of a salvation. Four-to-Five-bar LTE coverage throughout our home, including the basement. No need for WiFi Calling, no phone drain due to horrible signal. I suggest you give them a call and ask about it. They may not give it to you completely free of charge, but you should be able to get a good discount when you explain the situation. Then you won't have to worry about this WiFi Calling hiccup on the Pixel. Good luck.

 

[DJM626]

For the amount of money Verizon charges, they should GIVE those Wi-Fi Extenders away

 

[Almeuit]

For the amount of money Verizon charges, they should GIVE those Wi-Fi Extenders away

Really? I pay less with Verizon unlimited then I did for T-Mobile.

 

[DJM626]

Maybe it's because I have an older grandfathered plan since I've been with them forever but I only have 450 minutes talk and unlimited texting and data and pay 100.00 plus a month which to me is a lot