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Wi-Fi Calling Now Available for AT&T Users

CarlosQG said:
How is this different from FaceTime Audio? I'm guessing it goes through the carrier but switches to WiFi when the other fellow answers?
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You can only call other folks with Apple devices for FaceTime Audio. This is using WiFi to route cell phone calls so you can call anyone and receive phone calls from anyone.
 
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convergent said:
First off, this is only for calls... not anything else. I was using an Android phone and wifi-calling doesn't help you with texts. They don't work consistently if you have a bad signal. With an iPhone and iMessage, this is less of an issue unless you are communicating with someone that doesn't have an iPhone by text... and wifi calling doesn't help.
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Texting works fine with WiFi calling. I actually tested this by sending and receiving texts (yes, GREEN messages, with a non-iPhone user) with airplane mode and Wifi on.
 
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cgatesman said:
It says it requires AT&T HD Voice which requires both the caller and receiver to have AT&T HD Voice. This means, you cannot use this feature to call outside of AT&T.
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Umm, no. It only requires that your device be HD voice *CAPABLE*.

You can make a WiFi call just fine to any other phone number, even land lines. You won't have HD voice quality because the other end doesn't support it, but the path from YOU to the PHONE SWITCH is HD voice.

Think of it as listening to AM radio with a $15,000 Hi-Fi audiophile stereo system. You're still using the technology, but you're listening to an AM radio signal so the quality won't be very good.
 
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convergent said:
Someone mentioned it not working outside the US. I'm pretty sure that I used it in Europe on T-Mobile and it worked. Did you see somewhere that it doesn't work outside the US?
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I spent a couple weeks in Europe this summer and used a T-Mobile account for wifi calling the entire time, no extra charges for the calls from Europe back to the US or even within Europe.
 
Mr Buckets said:
How do we check if we have "HD Voice"?

I'm too afraid to set it up because I don't want to get charged extra. I've got Family Talk plan for minute, Unlimited Text, and the grandfathered Unlimited data. However, I've never seen "HD Voice" anywhere on my bill
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I have the same plan, it activated just fine. I believe the "HD Voice" is the voice and data option in the cellular LTE areas of settings.
 
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garylapointe said:
I keep getting this oops message when I try to activate it...

screen-shot-2015-10-08-at-2-10-17-pm-png.590798


Gary
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Just keep trying. That happened to me as well. Their servers are probably slammed.
 
Mr Buckets said:
How do we check if we have "HD Voice"?

I'm too afraid to set it up because I don't want to get charged extra. I've got Family Talk plan for minute, Unlimited Text, and the grandfathered Unlimited data. However, I've never seen "HD Voice" anywhere on my bill
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Make a call. If you're still on LTE (and it hasn't fallen back to 4G or 3G), then you're on HD Voice (or VoLTE).
There is no charge for it!
 
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thisisnotmyname said:
I have the same plan, it activated just fine. I believe the "HD Voice" is the voice and data option in the cellular LTE areas of settings.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you don't have to do anything to set up HD Voice/VoLTE. You DO need to have a SIM card less than about a year old, though. If you moved your SIM card to an iPhone 6 from an iPhone 5S or older, you may not have a new enough SIM card to use VoLTE and WiFi calling.

See http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB425890&cv=820
 
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Nickerbocker said:
You can only call other folks with Apple devices for FaceTime Audio. This is using WiFi to route cell phone calls so you can call anyone and receive phone calls from anyone.
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Isn't Apple routing those calls (like iMessages)? So Apple is basically setting up an ad hoc peer to peer connection. Which is different than what I imagine the cell service providers are doing which is actually receiving your call and patching it into the nationwide phone service. So you can reach grandma on her old rotary phone or your favorite techno dweeb who is calling from behind seven proxies.
 
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I wouldn't get too excited about this. I've been Wi-Fi calling with T-Mobile for a while and I get dropped calls all the time and just keep it turned off most of the time
 
zorinlynx said:
Texting works fine with WiFi calling. I actually tested this by sending and receiving texts (yes, GREEN messages, with a non-iPhone user) with airplane mode and Wifi on.
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bah thats nothing , i left my iPhone at home and used my mac at mcdonalds and i was able to send green texts, t-mo allows ' calls on other devices ' heh
 
TomTomTuning said:
I travel to Toronto a few times a year, and I was hopping this would allow me to make calls over Wi-Fi, but judging by the comments here, I guess that is not possible. Bummer.

I get great cell signal at home and work. So unless traveling (in the US) and on Wi-Fi, it's not super useful for me. 🙁
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Well then, AT&T needs to just do away with this service then since it's not useful to TomTomTuning.
 
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I work at schools and sometimes coverage in those buildings is really really poor, I'd use Skype a lot to call others (I used to have the unlimited plan). The downside is this uses minutes and the Skype was pretty cheap when you purchased unlimited for the year (I think if you pay yearly it's a about $2.51 a month for unlimited US calling to phones).

Not suggesting you switch, just thinking out loud about how I was using it then. In the one district I didn't have phone in the computer lab, so Skype was necessary and useful at the time.

If you're ever coming close to using all your minutes on your cell phone plan, it's a cheap way to free up some minutes on your cell plan. Just a few of those longer calls a month (when you know you're going to be on hold) could free up a lot of minutes (and not drag down your cell phone battery).

Gary
 
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phpmaven said:
I wouldn't get too excited about this. I've been Wi-Fi calling with T-Mobile for a while and I get dropped calls all the time and just keep it turned off most of the time
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I'm excited because we get calls on other devices and not just regular wifi calling like you had.
i dont even need my phone to be on at all. and i can still make a regular wifi to cellular call on my watch
 
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Just used AT&T Wi-Fi calling to make a call to a landline. The quality sounded on par with FaceTime Audio (i.e. better than traditional cellular).

Anyone care to travel across the Canada or Mexico border and see what happens when you try to place a Wi-Fi call? I know AT&T says it won't work. I wonder if connecting to a VPN in the U.S. would circumvent Wi-Fi calling not working outside the U.S. and its territories?
 
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convergent said:
I've been using WiFi calling on T-Mobile for a while with a work phone, because their service is terrible at my house. Our family using AT&T and we have a Microcell for that. So just a couple of thoughts for you that think this may be a great thing.

First off, this is only for calls... not anything else. I was using an Android phone and wifi-calling doesn't help you with texts. They don't work consistently if you have a bad signal. With an iPhone and iMessage, this is less of an issue unless you are communicating with someone that doesn't have an iPhone by text... and wifi calling doesn't help.

Someone asked about what was new about this vs. other wifi calls, i.e. Skype. This wifi falling is essential treating wifi as a microcell, so its through the phone/carrier, not via an app. So you can just dial the phone as normal and if there is wifi available it will use that instead of your carrier's tower. This is why you have to configure your address so that it works for 911.

Someone mentioned it not working outside the US. I'm pretty sure that I used it in Europe on T-Mobile and it worked. Did you see somewhere that it doesn't work outside the US?
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It works for texts as well. I've been using it for years on T-Mobile.
 
zorinlynx said:
Umm, no. It only requires that your device be HD voice *CAPABLE*.

You can make a WiFi call just fine to any other phone number, even land lines. You won't have HD voice quality because the other end doesn't support it, but the path from YOU to the PHONE SWITCH is HD voice.
Click to expand...
Ok. Makes sense. Thanks for clarifying!
 
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