Nexus 6P, Verizon HD Voice, VoLTE

[xxDavexx]

Hi folks,

I have lurked here for years and have never felt the need to ask a question(s) until now. I have spent a huge amount of time with searches, so if I missed something, please accept my apologies. As such, I'll try to keep this as short as I can.

I have a Nexus 6P. Recently I experienced my phone not being able to hold a LTE signal on Verizon's network. I'll spare all of the details, but a new SIM took care of the problem.

However, in the discussion with Verizon Tech support, I learned there was something on their end called Voice HD. To my understanding, this allows for phone calls to be made with WiFi where areas without cell coverage, or limited coverage.

This would describe my home. Verizon's signal is horrible here, and usually calls cannot be made. Topography seems to be the issue, as moving out my neighborhood alleviates any issues.

I've looked on my phone, and I can't seem to get to "advanced calling" to initiate wifi calling. I'd love to be able to use this feature, but I don't know how to enable it.

I spent alot of time searching here, and I've seen reference to a bunch of keystrokes on the dial pad, but I'm not sure if that is what I need.

If you don't mind walking a relative newb (novice) on android to get this service squared away, it would be greatly appreciated.

I went to Verizon's website to look for a product that it refers to as "Voice HD," but I don't see it. I have the most recent update (Oreo), and I can't see how to enable wifi calling.

If anyone can help an admitted ***** when it comes to smart phones, I'd appreciate the help. Bottom line is I would like to be able to use VoLTE (if I understand things correctly), but I'm not seeing a way to get there. Thank you in advance.

Dave

 

[B. Diddy]

VoLTE (Voice over LTE) goes by various different names, depending on the carrier, which can be confusing: there's Advanced Calling, HD Voice, and Enhanced 4G LTE. You are correct in that HD Voice needs to be turned on in order to take advantage of Wi-fi Calling. On the phone, go to Settings>Mobile Networks and see if there's an Enhanced 4G LTE option.

If not, or if you continue to have issues, take a look at this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/co...d_5x_users_activate_advanced/#bottom-comments

 

[lmdroid]

You can find the setting on your 6P at Settings>Network & Internet>Mobile Network>Advanced>Enhanced 4G LTE Mode. I have never been able to get wifi calling to work on the 6P as Verizon will not allow it since they have not certified a Nexus 6P as a phone for their network. You can call out with wifi by using the Hangouts dialer. If anybody knows how to use wifi calling on the 6P with Verizon, I would appreciate knowing how to do it. It looks like my next phone will have to be one that Verizon sells.

 

[gibsonb2]

Verizon doesn't support Wi-Fi calling for unlocked phones. It doesn't matter if the phone itself supports it or not, they do not provision the service for phones that aren't sold by them. It didn't work for the Nexus 6P I had nor does it work for the Essential phone I own.

 

[xxDavexx]

Thank you all very much for your replies. I'll be digging into the Reddit thread just to educate myself about the topic down the road.

Based upon your posts, I guess I'm just plain out of luck. Prior to my OP, I had drilled into Settings>Network & Internet>Mobile Network>Advanced, but I don't have any sort of option for Enhanced 4G LTE or anything similar. The explanation about Verizon not allowing the unlocked 6P makes sense and maybe that's why I don't see that option.

I guess at this point, I have two options that I can go with. The first is a network extender, and the second is a new phone from Verizon. Not looking forward to the Verizon phone simply due to bloatware and their services and slow updates.

Granted, we've dealt with our current reception issues for decades, so there's no real hurry. Having learned about VoLTE, I thought this might have been a quick and easy solution.

Thanks very much for the assistance.

Dave

 

[lmdroid]

Dave,
You may need to activate HD Voice on Verizon's website. Go to My Verizon/My Plan and Services/Manage Products and Apps. HD Voice should be under the Get Products tab or Manage Your Products tab. HD Voice needs to be activated for VoLTE to work.

 

[xxDavexx]

Dave,
You may need to activate HD Voice on Verizon's website. Go to My Verizon/My Plan and Services/Manage Products and Apps. HD Voice should be under the Get Products tab or Manage Your Products tab. HD Voice needs to be activated for VoLTE to work.

Thanks, and I'll take another look. However, when I looked at products that are available to me, HD Voice was not one of them. Maybe I missed it, but I'll see what hoops I might be able to jump through and try again. Appreciate your reply.

Dave

 

[GSDer]

I guess at this point, I have two options that I can go with. The first is a network extender, and the second is a new phone from Verizon. Not looking forward to the Verizon phone simply due to bloatware and their services and slow updates.

The network extender is definitely the first option you should look into - it would provide better service for anyone in the household that is on Verizon.
If you're interested, the Verizon Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL (the latter being closest in size to your 6P) have essentially no bloatware and are receiving updates just as soon as the unlocked model that you could purchase directly from Google.

 

[xxDavexx]

The network extender is definitely the first option you should look into - it would provide better service for anyone in the household that is on Verizon.
If you're interested, the Verizon Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL (the latter being closest in size to your 6P) have essentially no bloatware and are receiving updates just as soon as the unlocked model that you could purchase directly from Google.

That is good to know, thanks very much. My only concern about the network extender is that it appears that anyone can get on it, and I can't restrict access to it. Maybe that's a non-issue at the end of the day, but I just haven't researched the issue enough to know better.

I find it interesting to see your comment(s) about lack of bloatware for the Pixels. If that's the case (along with the update issues), I'll certainly take a hard look down the road. Appreciate the input.

Dave

 

[lmdroid]

You might keep in mind that the Network Extender requires an ISP with 10 Mbps down/5 Mbps up. I am in a rural area with limited 4G signal and limited ISP service. My dsl ISP which is the only thing available to me is 10 Mbps down/.89 Mbps up, so the Network Extender will not work for me. It doesn't make much sense that Verizon requires an internet speed for their extender that is not available in the same rural areas that cell service is weak.

 

[GSDer]

I find it interesting to see your comment(s) about lack of bloatware for the Pixels. If that's the case (along with the update issues), I'll certainly take a hard look down the road.

IIRC the only Verizon bloatware that was on the phone are the applications below:

go90 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.verizonmedia.go90.enterprise
My Verizon https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vzw.hss.myverizon
Message+ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.verizon.messaging.vzmsgs

And you can uninstall them if you choose, although 'My Verizon' is actually useful (and I prefer Message+ over the stock Messages app because it has Glympse integrated).
There's the usual Google crapware (Docs, Slides, etc) but you can uninstall that as well.