AT&T Expands Wi-Fi Calling to Cover International Calls to U.S. When Traveling

[Agilis]

I wish things were different but I'm not a candidate for wi-fi calling. It seems no one I know uses it or their phone lacks supports for it. Those who do have a supported phone are local. I have tried using it from work where the celluar signal is weak and it just results in the other person not hearing me after the phone call connects or it just automatically disconnects. If Apple had an easier way of toggling wi-fi calling on and off I would attempt to use it more often.

 

[ghanwani]

WiFi calling is the only reason I'm going to get the iPhone SE.

If you make a call that starts out with WiFi and leave the WiFi area, if you have LTE coverage, will the call stay on, or will it get disconnected once you leave the WiFi area?

On a side note, my 5s is now worth only $100 on Gazelle.

 

[iOSFangirl6001]

Nice to see ATT adding more included features.

Not really.

AT&T's Mobile Share plans now have Canada/Mexico roaming as a free add-on.

But I don't travel to either of those.

You do realize you don't have to travel to use those don't you? You can call Canadian or Mexican phones from the U.S.


Also the FREE 1GB of Mexico Roaming Data they recently added woud be useful if one were to travel there

 

[avanpelt]

I wish things were different but I'm not a candidate for wi-fi calling. It seems no one I know uses it or their phone lacks supports for it. Those who do have a supported phone are local. I have tried using it from work where the celluar signal is weak and it just results in the other person not hearing me after the phone call connects or it just automatically disconnects. If Apple had an easier way of toggling wi-fi calling on and off I would attempt to use it more often.

The person you're calling doesn't need a particular handset in order for you to use Wi-Fi calling. I think you're confusing Wi-Fi calling with HD Voice. Wi-Fi calling can be used when you're calling any number -- even a landline.

I'm not sure why Wi-Fi calling wouldn't work for you unless the Wi-Fi signal is poor, the internet connection behind the Wi-Fi is poor, or the system admins at your office have blocked the ports that are used by Wi-Fi calling.

 

[amirite]

I don't understand why this was ever blocked?

 

[GoodWheaties]

I don't understand why this was ever blocked?

I think it just wasn't free before.

 

[bassjunky]

Just found this out ask. 100% fool proof way to avoid nasty international accidental cellular roaming charges while taking.

Keep it in airplane mode on wifi for calling.

I tried that, it doesn't work. You must disable airplane mode to place a call. Is there any way you can verify you're making a call over Wifi and not cell? Or even force it?

 

[2298754]

I tried that, it doesn't work. You must disable airplane mode to place a call. Is there any way you can verify you're making a call over Wifi and not cell? Or even force it?

Yes, it does work fine.

Just look at the top bar. If it's over WiFi, it will say AT&T WiFI.

 

[zorinlynx]

Was there some sort of legal/FCC reason that this wasn't the case before? Seeing that AT&T would actually have to go out of their way to DISABLE WiFi calling outside the US (the Internet is the Internet; it doesn't care where you are so it must use GPS to do this), I'm really curious about the reason.

I assumed WiFi calling would work anywhere! I'm glad I didn't travel before today assuming it would work and then be annoyed when it didn't!

 

[bassjunky]

Yes, it does work fine.

Well please enlighten me then... When I'm in airplane mode but have wifi on, when I place call, I get a message that says i must disable airplane mode to place a call, with the options of cancel or disable.

 

[nennewdad]

I wish things were different but I'm not a candidate for wi-fi calling. It seems no one I know uses it or their phone lacks supports for it. Those who do have a supported phone are local. I have tried using it from work where the celluar signal is weak and it just results in the other person not hearing me after the phone call connects or it just automatically disconnects. If Apple had an easier way of toggling wi-fi calling on and off I would attempt to use it more often.

WiFi calling is awesome. I was in an ER that blocked cell calls but offered free wifi. I was calling family while the staff was puzzled onto how i was doing it. You will love it. When you cannot make a call, with wifi, you now can.

 

[2298754]

Well please enlighten me then... When I'm in airplane mode but have wifi on, when I place call, I get a message that says i must disable airplane mode to place a call, with the options of cancel or disable.

I have to wait about ~20 seconds for the "AT&T WiFi" tag to show up, next to the airplane.

Then calling works. Is it enabled in the settings?

 

[JulesK]

Well please enlighten me then... When I'm in airplane mode but have wifi on, when I place call, I get a message that says i must disable airplane mode to place a call, with the options of cancel or disable.

It works, but WiFi calling must be on and the WiFi calling icon must be visible, as with the above screen shot. I just tried this, and it works perfectly. It did take a few moments for the WiFi Calling icon to appear.

 

[bassjunky]

Yes, it does work fine.

Just look at the top bar. If it's over WiFi, it will say AT&T WiFI.

Just realized I didn't have it enabled on my 6s. Thanks.

 

[2298754]

Just realized I didn't have it enabled on my 6s. Thanks.

Nice. Glad you got it to work!

 

[redman042]

WiFi calling is awesome. I was in an ER that blocked cell calls but offered free wifi. I was calling family while the staff was puzzled onto how i was doing it. You will love it. When you cannot make a call, with wifi, you now can.

Agreed. This is a terrific feature, which offers the perfect fix for poor coverage areas, international calling, and dead spots in buildings. It also requires no extra apps or repeaters.

As for AT&T's exorbitant international data rates, I believe a big part of that was the refusal of overseas networks to negotiate a fair price. This works around that entirely. I imagine this new tech will help them being down those rates in the future.

 

[Carlanga]

Then AT&T isn't right for you...

I'd rather have better service in my home country (America) than worry about other places.

AT&T is right for me, why you want to take out of context a feature is what I don't get. I recommend you read before replying. BTW, America is not a country lmao.

Nice to see ATT adding more included features.
You do realize you don't have to travel to use those don't you? You can call Canadian or Mexican phones from the U.S. Also the FREE 1GB of Mexico Roaming Data they recently added woud be useful if one were to travel there

Yeah I realize that, its just a feature I won't use at all. I travel to other countries and I even have the int package from att which sucks and is expensive so I always use the other countries sim card and put my att sim in a dummy phone to see missed calls.

 

[rdlink]

I'd like to fast forward about ten years or so, when people are laughing at how we paid for international calling on cell phones like we laugh at the fact that we used to pay for calls outside of our "home area" in the US.

 

[Huracan]

Not that the article had to mention this, but AT&T is just following T-Mobile's lead on this. T-Mobile has had free Wi-Fi calls to/from the US when traveling for as long as I remember Wi-Fi calling started at T-Mobile. More than a year. It's good to see AT&T trying to catch up to T-Mobile, but will they ever lead in giving value to customers, or always follow and try to stifle T-Mobile through imitation?

 

[mbc2237]

Not really.

AT&T's Mobile Share plans now have Canada/Mexico roaming as a free add-on.

Are you sure about Canada? I was just looking at it a few weeks ago and I found info all over about Mexico being added but couldn't find where Canada roaming was included. In fact they have those "passport" plans that include Canada. Would be great news if this is true. Can you post a link that confirms?

 

[B4U]

I guess I did not specify enough that I was having a gripe about the foreign calling part of that message from AT&T.


edit:
hm...I re-read what I typed, and it was clear that I was criticizing the foreign calling part on my original post...

Because WhatsApp is Facebook owned and they use all that data to market to you and build a better profile about you.

Plus you can simply do this like placing any other call with AT&T. No need for an app or the extra overhead it brings.
[doublepost=1458699579][/doublepost]

But that means you have to have T-Mobile and that means you're behind all other carriers to begin with when it comes to LTE speeds and coverage area.

Won't help Failbook much if I do not even have an account. As I avoid it like rabies.
Also, the point is to criticize them for even thinking about telling us to use it to call a foreign number when traveling...

Because 99% of all people don't have Whatsapp.

This is a free service that seems to be mostly targeted toward US travelers to be able to call home for free while abroad. Considering how few things AT&T gives us for free, I think you should just take this as a huge win and keep using Whatsapp if you want to.

Yet, most of those calling plans overseas are still way cheaper to use to call back to the States. Trust me, I have been overseas for months at a time with families and at&t is total rip off on that.
This is not really free from at&t since it is Wi-Fi. Where are your numbers for the 99% came from?

So if you've decided to extend your trip a couple of days and you need to call your dentist and reschedule an appointment, you just call your dentist's receptionists smart phone with the WhatsApp app on the phone.

You find out your best friend has been in an accident and is in the hospital. But they don't allow cell phones in his room. You just call the main hospital switchboard's WhatsApp, and they connect you to your friend's room.

Making wifi calls for cheap or even free has been possible for a long time. Six years ago I used Skype to call home from the UK on my iPhone (I kept the phone in airplane mode to ensure I didn't accidentally make a call over cellular roaming). But AT&T (and the other carriers that now offer this service) has made it easier. You don't need a special app, and you can call any us phone number whether or not they have the matching app.

a) Extending stay, not a problem, still way cheaper to call from overseas landlines or cell phones to US instead of accidentally receive a call/text while not on Wi-Fi and overseas...
b) Friend in accident, and don't allow cell phone? Are we still living in the 90's? Every single hospital I have been to recently have Wi-Fi for everyone to use. So, no need to ping the switchboard.
Ultimately, at&t is way too late to bring something like this to the table AND expect us to use it and maybe intentionally baiting us to use it to call foreign numbers.
Here is an example: I was overseas last year and a local calling card was only 8 USD for 2 weeks and unlimited 4G LTE data. AT&T can never even match it...

 

[ilfn143]

been using google voice oversea for years

 

[R3k]

When abroad, how can I make sure my iPhone is only using wifi calling? Eg, how can I force it to use Wifi calling only?

 

[tizeye]

Finally beginning to catch up, but still not there. Seems like still dependent on 3rd party wifi overseas, and shocked that didn't offer that. Several years ago switched to T-Mobile for that feature and more, and no-one to this date offers a reason for me to switch back or to them. Daughter lives in Switzerland, and we are over here for a month as I post this for the birth of a grandchild. Not only do I receive free text and email while overseas, and we were a bit of an envy of our friends several years ago at their wedding in the Canary Islands. But T-Mobile doesn't limit you to free wifi hotspot, as it includes access to the local carrier's cellular system. I can power apps over the cellular system - such as maps indicating where you are in the city and pinning the location of the hotel. Cellular calls still cost, but I changed my voicemail advising that don't answer or listen to voicemail, advising to text the number they just dialed if the need to reach me, or email. For calls, we use Skype or WhatsApp, and routinely Skype our daughter weekly (or family back home from here). Currently the only calls I get are telemarketers whose dialing machines are clueless and I would hate to pay to answer one of those calls, as some are tricky as you think it is a local call from your home area code.

Another example of using the local cellular is powering the SBB (national train) app. Not only does it show the train/bus/ship/other for your custom designed route, it shows changes and train arrival/connection departure platforms, where the trains may have a 5 minute layover separation which would really stress trying to read/decipher the local master schedule. Likewise with the bus, not only determining the route and change, but while enroute it shows real time where the bus is along the route.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

Go post-paid. There is no reason why AT&T should offer premium features like VoLTE or VoWiFi to the lower-end customers.

As an iPhone 5s owner who paid full price, $600, I do NOT consider myself a "low end" customer.

ATT has never enabled WIFI calling on the iPhone 5s even though it is available on other carriers even in the US!

ATT claims that it is a technical reason. HOGWASH. ATT sucks!