Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling are now available on most UK networks if you’re using a compatible mobile phone.

In the UK, Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling are now available on most mobile networks when you’re using a compatible device. The functionality allows you to make and receive phone calls and text messages wherever a Wi-Fi signal or a 4G mobile signal are available. This allows you to stay connected in more places, as well as giving you better quality phone calls and faster download speeds on a call.

In this article, we’ll look at Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling capabilities in the UK. We’ll start by looking at what the technology is, and the mobile networks on which you’re able to use it. We’ll also look at handset compatibility and alternatives to the technology if you’re not able to get it.

What Is Wi-Fi Calling & 4G Calling?

In the UK, Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling capabilities allow you to make and receive phone calls using a Wi-Fi or a 4G connection.

  • Wi-Fi Calling (also known as VoWiFi) allows you to make and receive phone calls over a Wi-Fi network. The primary benefit is that it allows you to stay connected in places where a traditional mobile signal isn’t available (e.g. inside buildings with thick walls and in more rural locations where a mobile signal isn’t able to reach).
  • 4G Calling (also known as VoLTE) allows you to make and receive phone calls over a 4G mobile network. The primary benefit is that your phone doesn’t need to drop down to an old 2G or 3G connection to make the call. This gives you a more reliable service and faster download speeds when you’re on the call. You can also benefit from better quality HD voice calls.

In both cases, the Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling functionality are provided by your mobile network. There are no special apps required to use it: you just need a compatible device and you can make phone calls as normal. It also uses your regular phone number, both for receiving inbound calls and for making outbound calls.

With Wi-Fi Calling, text messages (SMS) can also be delivered over Wi-Fi. This is handy for receiving one-time passcodes (OTPs) which are often required when shopping or banking online.

Upcoming 2G & 3G Switch-Off

On mobile networks and mobile phones that do not support Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling, your device needs to fall back to older 2G and 3G networks whenever you make a phone call. This is known as CSFB (Circuit Switched Fall Back).

In 2023, the UK mobile networks will begin to switch off 3G coverage. This will be followed by the 2G network switch-off, which is due to be completed before 2033.

The upcoming 2G & 3G network switch-off makes Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling increasingly important features to have. Without them, your phone needs to fall back on older 2G and 3G networks whenever you make or receive a call. As this coverage becomes increasingly difficult to find, it’s possible that your phone calls will fail to connect.

Wi-Fi Calling & 4G Calling: By Network

To use Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling on your smartphone, you’ll need a mobile network and a device that supports the technology.

The following table shows a list of a UK mobile networks and whether they support Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling functionality. We’ve also shown the underlying coverage provider for each network:

Mobile Network Wi-Fi Calling & 4G Calling Coverage Provider
1pMobile Yes, check device EE
ASDA Mobile Yes, check device Vodafone
BT Mobile Yes, check device EE
EE Yes, check device EE
giffgaff No O2
O2 Yes, check device O2
iD Mobile Yes, check device Three
Lebara Mobile Yes, check device Vodafone
Lycamobile No EE
SMARTY Yes, check device Three
Sky Mobile Yes, check device O2
Talk Home No EE
Talkmobile Yes, check device Vodafone
Tesco Mobile No O2
Three Yes, check device Three
Virgin Mobile Yes, check device O2
Vodafone Yes, check device Vodafone
VOXI Yes, check device Vodafone

For both Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling, the list of compatible devices can vary slightly depending on your network. For this reason, it’s worth double checking your mobile network’s website to see if you’re able to use this on your device.

Whenever you make a phone call or send a text message through Wi-Fi Calling or 4G Calling, you’ll be charged for it as normal by your mobile network. If you have inclusive minutes on your plan, you’ll just be able to use them as normal. Meanwhile, Pay As You Go customers will continue to pay their normal per-minute and per-text rates.

In some cases, certain advanced mobile network features may not be compatible with Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling (e.g. call recording and conference call features). These mainly affects corporate mobile users. If this is the case, you’ll need to turn off those features before you’re able to use Wi-Fi Calling or 4G Calling.

Alternatives

If you’re not currently able to use Wi-Fi Calling or 4G Calling, it’ll still be possible to make phone calls using Skype, WhatsApp or other voice-over-IP apps. In this case, you won’t be able to use your normal phone number and you might only be able to call other people who are using the same app. However, this can sometimes be cheaper (e.g. if you’re travelling abroad or making international calls).

If you’d like to receive phone calls and text messages on your normal mobile number, you’ll need to use the Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling capabilities provided by your mobile network.

More Information

For more information about Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling, please refer to your mobile network’s website. You can also see our in-depth guide to mobile coverage in the UK, along with our guide to networks that use EE coverage, O2 coverage, Three coverage and Vodafone coverage.

For more information about how to set up the feature on your device, see the instructions for using Wi-Fi Calling on an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or other Android devices.

Your Comments 72 so far

We'd love to hear your thoughts and any questions you may have. So far, we've received 72 comments from readers. You can add your own comment here.

  • Jim Dixon said:

    Think you are missing the most important aspect of wifi calling, we are visiting the UK from Australia, one of our mobiles still has a local Australian sim card [Boost] installed but they do not offer global roaming, however they do offer wifi calling and the mobile is compatible with wifi calling so we are able to make and receive free calls to Australia saving us a fortune on global roaming costs.

  • William Hodgson said:

    My wife is on Lebara and has just had an e-mail telling her that they are now rolling out wifi calling and that she is one of the first. Unfortunately her phone does not provide this option.

  • JT said:

    Hi Ken. Just to let you know that I have been successfuly using both VoWiFi (Wi-Fi Calling) and VoLTE (4G Calling aka 4G Super-Voice) using my Smarty SIM in my Oneplus 5T for the last three months (since May 2021). Both work perfectly, which is great for me since I live in a 2G/3G signal blackspot and I had no end of trouble with call quality before I switched to Smarty. (I signed up for your £5/month 2GB deal – thank you!) It would be great if you could update this page to include Smarty in the list of Wi-Fi Calling providers. Many thanks, JT

  • Jim said:

    Hi Ken,

    can you just clarify how a call is billed by BT via wi-fi calling. Currently just installed BT Sim Wi-Fi Calling , Unlimited minutes and Unlimited texts. If I make an international European call (i.e. Irish Republic) through my Wi_Fi network at home , will the cost of the call be taken off the Unlimited Call minutes ?

    Thanks,
    Jim

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jim,
      Thanks for your comment. If you’re using Wi-Fi Calling, it will still be charged as a regular phone call by BT. If you’re calling the Republic of Ireland, this will be billed by BT Mobile as an international call at the standard rate.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

  • Ken said:

    A bit late to this discussion point, but my question follows on from earlier posts about 3 mobile’s 4G and 4G super-voice calls. If the ‘VoLTE’ symbol appears on the phone screen, is this definitive proof that the phone is indeed delivering VoLTE calling?

    I ask this because I use an inexpensive Cubot P40 with a 3 payg sim. On the face of it an unsupported phone, not supplied by 3 and used on payg should not be able to use 3’s VoLTE – but the symbol is ever-present on the phone screen

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Ken,
      Thanks for your comment. I guess the definitive way to check would be to make or receive a phone call when you’re connected to 4G. I’d also make sure Wi-Fi is switched off just to be sure you’re not using Wi-Fi Calling. If your phone doesn’t switch to 3G coverage, then it’s most definitely using 4G Calling (VoLTE). If it isn’t, a technology called CSFB will kick in (Circuit Switched Fallback), making your phone switch back to 3G whenever you make or receive a call.
      Hope this helps,
      Ken

      • Ken replied:

        The VoLTE symbol does indeed remain on the screen during calls. Looks like VoLTE will actually work on a wider variety of phones than 3 mobile have indicated!

  • Val said:

    Hi Ken,
    Thank you for solving why my husband and I cannot use WiFi calling in the first few lines….we use pay as you go as don’t need mobiles except for emergency use and banking authority codes 😤We were looking to buy better mobiles to be able to use WiFi calling. So thank you again for saving us time and money.

  • Kurt H said:

    I’ve noticed that Three’s Super-Voice doesn’t work all the time because it’s limited to LTE Band 20 (800 MHz). E.g. my local mast broadcasts on Band 3 (1800 MHz) so my phone locks on to that but there’s no VoLTE.

    • Martyn replied:

      Hi Kurt,

      Assuming that your phone is VOLTE capable and you’re in a 4G supervoice area (you can check on the 3 website coverage checker here: http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage) then the following needs to be borne in mind.

      1. If there is a usable 3G signal which the three network uses for voice calls , then VOLTE isn’t needed. The 3G / H / H+ icon doesn’t need to be shown on the handset for this to work, mine usually shows 4G but when I make a call the 3G / H / H+ icons display. This implies that 4G coverage overlays 3G coverage.

      2. The VOLTE (Supervoice) will only kick-in if the 3G signal is to weak to handle a call typically in a rural area or in a building if the 3G signal becomes to weak. This is technically known as Circuit Switched Fallback (http://www.telecomabc.com/c/csfb.html)

      3. You can verify this by using a network monitoring app like Network Cell Info which will list the base station you’re connected to along with other ones that the mobile knows about but isn’t using. On my phone the Supervoice frequency of 800Mhz is generally shown at the bottom of the list.

      4 The aim is to eventually carry calls naively over 4G on the higher frequency bands too. When this happens, I’m guessing that the only way we’ll know is if the 3G / H / H+ symbol doesn’t appear when a voice call

      • Kurt H replied:

        Thanks for the update Martyn!

        I have a cheap Chinese phone with a Mediatek processor. I was able to use the ‘MTK Engineering Mode’ tool from the Google Play Store to temporarily disable the LTE Band. My phone then picks up a more distant cell site which, presumably, in on Band 20 because then ‘VoLTE’ is shown on my display. Anyway, thanks again for the useful info and links.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Andrew,
      Thanks for the heads up and letting me know about this! I’ve updated the list from Sky’s website.
      Much appreciated!
      Ken

  • Sue Nelson said:

    I have spent 4 hours this afternoon trying to bottom out what is available and for how much. I bought a Motorola G7 Power sim free. I was promised mobile coverage at home by Tesco but to no avail – no signal from any mobile provider as far as I can tell. I have cancelled that contract and spent the afternoon trying to get answers to how I can access calls through wifi. The answer is BT or EE for £13 a month. Pretty pricey given that I am unlikely to use the phone for calls more than once or twice a month. I may revert to Tesco at £7.50 pcm and get used to walking out of the valley every day … and the government goes on about 5G – how about universal 2G coverage? Oh, I live about 35 miles south of central London, not the Highlands of Scotland.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Sue,
      Sorry to hear about the issues you’ve been having with coverage where you live. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi Calling still doesn’t work with many SIM-free handsets – you’ll often need to buy a handset directly from your mobile network on a Pay Monthly contract to get access to it 🙁 This might explain the issue you’re having on your Moto G7 Power.
      With regards to the rollout of coverage across the country, I think it’s actually a really positive thing that the focus is on 4G and 5G. The main thing that determines how far a signal travels is the frequency that is used (lower frequencies travel much further). Many 4G networks actually use lower frequency spectrum than older 2G services (more specifically, 4G can use the 800MHz spectrum that previously used for analogue television whereas 2G used either 900MHz or 1800MHz). Because of this, 4G coverage will soon be better than 2G ever was, and it’s also far more efficient in terms of spectrum usage so you can get things like 4G home broadband (already a feasible alternative to fixed-line broadband for many people in rural areas).
      Fingers crossed the situation will improve soon where you live!
      Ken

    • James T replied:

      Try using an app like Zoiper – for voice over IP. Fiddly to set up but lots of help on their website. NB:needs fast broadband – and not too many other devices in your home fighting for it or streaming.

  • Sally Nicholson said:

    I have exactly the same problem, no, or very poor signal, at home through 3 network on my Moto G6+ phone although my Moto G4 worked perfectly. I bought the phone from Carphone Warehouse (more fool me) who won’t replace or refund as they say there’s nothing wrong with the phone. However, a phone that can’t be used at home or indeed in many other places is surely not fit for purpose. This is anti-competitive and is intended to compel us to take out hugely more expensive phone contracts.

  • Di Pinnell said:

    Please note: Three’s Three-In-Touch app ceased today 15th May 2019. They abandoned it explaining that most phones come with wifi-calling now (!) but only guarantee that this will work on phones they supplied. They are providing me with a box to plug in to my router to simulate their ex-App. Motorola said their phones are capable of wifi calling, but only if the service provider enables it. This makes it almost impossible to choose a new phone if you have a SIM-only contract and are used to choosing your own phone and buying it from Amazon or whoever. Sounds a bit unfair: if they improved signal coverage we wouldn’t have the problem in the first place!!!

    • Eddie J replied:

      I agree. I’ve just bought a Moto G7 Power (3 Pay As You Go Sim), which doesn’t have the Wifi calling setting available. I’ve contacted Motorola who ensure me that the phone supports wifi calling and 3 insist that their sim will enable wifi calling if the phone has wifi calling enabled.

      So everything looks like it should work, but still no wifi calling! It looks like I may be doing a lot of phone returns until I find one which works.

      Also my Wife’s Huawei P20lite does provide wifi calling with a 3 Pay As You Go Sim, but given Huawei’s current problems I don’t want to go down that route.

  • Martyn said:

    I’ve just purchased a Moto G7 SIM Free (UK Version) which was not sourced from the Three network. I have two SIM’s in the phone: 1 x Pay As You Go and 1 x Rolling monthly contract. (Both on the 3 network)

    I am happy and somewhat surprised to report that the voLTE appears to be enabled when another icon appeared on the right hand side of the notification bar with a small handset which initially confused me today as I had no active call when I was in central Nottingham. I figured that it may be voLTE.

    To test this, I make a voice call from one of my favorite coffee shops where there was previously no signal at all and the call worked fine. It even appeared to remain enabled when I subsequently connected to the local WiFi network.

    It was also clear from the dual SIM network signal strength notification bars (One for each SIM) that the Pay As You Go SIM had completely lost its 4G network connection which is what I would expect given that voLTE had not been enabled on that SIM card (controllable by myself through the phones settings)

    It’s also interesting to note that a 4G+ symbol (It normally just shows 4G) also appeared when I was watching Netflix via a tethered connection at home earlier in the day which apparently boosts 4G speeds by up to 33% through carrier aggregation.

    See: https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252451804/Three-introduces-4G-at-2700-sites

    So overall, it appears that 3 are now managing to enable voLTE and 4G+ on certain non 3 sourced mobiles which I believe is their aim anyway. It should be noted that both functions appear to be dynamic in that they are only activated as required i.e A weaker voice call signal area triggers voLTE and/or high data demand may trigger 4G+ if required.

  • Casa said:

    Hi Ken,

    There’s a lot of information out there and for a non techi person like me it’s all quite confusing so your advise would be appreciated.

    We live in a black spot area which doesn’t appear to receive a signal from any provider. Until now I have been relying on WhatsApp for voice calls but that is unreliable and keeps dropping the call. However Three claims on their website that although we don’t have 4G we can get 4G Super Voice calling – hows that then? How can you have one without the other? That’s confusing from the start.

    Before I read about Three’s Super Voice calling we were investigating Wi-Fi calling which I believe runs differently to Whats App and would be more reliable?

    Should I choose Three’s Super Voice (if it really is available to us) over another provider which only offers WiFi calling? We thought it would be better to choose Three as I understand it offers both and therefore would be more of a belt and braces job?

    Many thanks.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Casa,
      Thanks for your comment. You’re right – this is really strange. In the technical sense, it’s absolutely true that you can’t have 4G Calling or 4G Super-Voice with no 4G coverage (as it’s the underlying 4G coverage that carries the phone call). In this case, however, I don’t know how Three are advertising the services on their website. I believe they use 800MHz spectrum for 4G Super Voice, as opposed to their usual 1800MHz spectrum for normal 4G. It’s possible they’re saying that you should be able to get the 800MHz 4G service, but not the 1800MHz service. This is probably something I would clarify directly with Three and I would love to find out what they say on this!
      Ken

    • Martyn replied:

      The first thing to do Ken, is to check if Three super-voice is available in the area(s) you wish to use your mobile in. That can easily be done at the following web address:

      http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Network/Coverage

      If available, the next thing to do is to verify that the mobile you’re using will support Super-voice (voLTE). You can check whether a particular device is supported at the web address given above too.

      Generally, Three state that they only provide voLTE and Voice over WiFi (voWifi) for mobiles sourced from them since it requires specific software that Three provide themselves for their own mobiles.

      That said, they also state that they hope to expand support to mobiles not sourced from Three. As per my earlier post in this forum, it appears that the (UK Model) Moto G7 purchased SIM free from Amazon does support both voLTE and voWiFi. Both features have to be enabled within the phone’s settings and I can confirm that both are working for me on a Three pay monthly SIM.

      I’m guessing that the complete Moto G7 series e.g. Moto G7 Plus / Mpto G7 Power will also provide similar functionality but I’d await verification from someone who actually owns these phones to prove the point.

    • Kurt H replied:

      Hi Casa,

      Yes, this is very confusing indeed! I’ve been researching this because Super-Voice isn’t working in my area even though Three says it’s available. The reason for this is that Three only broadcast the service on their lower frequency Band 20 (800 MHz). Thanks to Ken for confirming this BTW. The mast near to my house must be Band 3 (1800 MHz) only. Therefore, if Three are telling you that you can receive Super-Voice in your area then, yes, it will only be Band 20 (800Mhz). There are apps available which you can check what band your phone is on (e.g. Signal Spy for Android, not sure about iPhone).

      So to answer your question, you should be able to get 4G if Three say that Super-Voice works in your area. Their website is confusing because I’ve noticed as well that they say there are areas with “No 4G but Super-Voice”. This is misleading to customers – as Ken has already mentioned you can’t have Super-Voice without it being 4G! Three’s coverage map may show no 4G in your area but if you check the Super-Voice option it will probably say that it works. However, I would obtain (or borrow) a free SIM card from Three to test this out – don’t take their word for it.

      Hope this helps.

      Kind regards,

      Kurt

      • Kurt Hitchen replied:

        Hi all,

        Just an update for you. I visited the Lake District this week (postcode: LA8 9PY). On checking the iD mobile coverage map, it reports NO 4G COVERAGE AT THIS POSTCODE! However, if you then tick the option “I have a 4G Voice Calling compatible phone, show me my updated coverage map”, it then shows excellent 4G coverage. I can confirm that this is true – the 4G coverage is being provided on Band 20 (with VoLTE).

        Strangely though, iD/Three seem not to be wanting to advertise this fact. From my experience, the phone rarely automatically connected to the 4G network but remained on 3G which is disappointing. I did manually force the phone on to LTE mode and unsurprisingly, I received good 4G VoLTE coverage, but soon as I switched the phone to LTE/UMTS/GSM the phone dropped back to 3G. I thought that this could be a fault with the phone, so I tried another 4G phone and that also remained on 3G/UMTS.

        I’m rarely getting 4G with VoLTE anywhere, so I’m not sure what Three are playing at. It almost feels like they don’t want people to use Band 20 because they don’t have as much spectrum available on that band? Thoughts please…?

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Kurt,
          I’m really sorry for the delay in responding to your comment over the Bank Holiday weekend.
          You make a really good observation regarding 4G coverage on Three. Essentially, mobile networks can decide to set their own priority of when different types of coverage are used. This determines which type of coverage your phone uses at different times. Three’s current configuration is to prioritise 3G coverage @ 2100MHz over 4G coverage @ 800MHz. This is why your mobile phone is connecting to a weak 3G signal, rather than the stronger & faster 4G Super-Voice signal. I believe Three are often criticised in online forums for this behaviour (e.g. see here). I believe the only work around is to set your phone to 4G only like you say, but this isn’t ideal as soon as you lose 4G coverage…
          Ken

          • Kurt Hitchen replied:

            Thanks Ken, much appreciated. I have also heard rumours that Three will launch Supervoice / 4G calling on 2100 MHz so we’ll have to wait and see.

            Best wishes,

            Kurt

  • Brian Shanahan-Gray said:

    Hi Ken, I’ve got a Samsung note 9 that I bought from Argos in December. It is running Android Pie. I live in a rural area and signal is patchy. A friend told me I should be able to use 4g calling & WiFi calling with Three or ID mobile even though I didn’t buy my handset from either of them directly. Is this now possible as I remember Three used to insist that your phone ran their firmware to access 4g calling?

    Brian

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Brian,
      Thanks for your comment. As a rule of thumb, I definitely wouldn’t rely on this behaviour when using an Android smartphone purchased from somewhere other than the mobile network. You’re right that there’s work being done to enable to this for unlocked handsets, but unfortunately I’m not sure what the latest status of that currently is, and I’m not sure the mobile networks maintain a list for this either (your mileage is likely to vary depending on your handset, mobile network, etc).
      Ken

  • Dave Robertson said:

    I bought a OnePlus 6 from o2 in June, and I switched from Three to EE in the last month.

    I was very pleased to see that the phone seems to support WiFi calling natively, which is surprising because it doesn’t have any carrier firmware (and if it did, it’d be O2’s, since I got it from them).

    It doesn’t work on the tube WiFi though, unlike my Pixel 2 XL. I assume that’s down to a lack of “official” support.

  • Rick said:

    Hi Ken, in your excellent article on 4g calling in the section related to O2 (my current provider) you state: ‘On O2, you’ll have access to Wi-Fi Calling on Pay Monthly and SIM Only‘
    So, is there 4g calling on O2? I was under the impression that Wi-fi calling and 4g calling are not the same thing. The alternative for me is Three where you clearly state in your article that 4g calling is available via their “4g super voice” system. Before I ditch o2 can you just confirm that they do or do not support 4g calling but that the section in your article mentioning Wi-fi calling should be amended to state 4g calling?
    Many thanks.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Rick,
      Whoops! Looks like a typo in my article – it should read “4G Calling” and not “Wi-Fi Calling”. Thanks for letting me know – I’ll amend this above 🙂
      Ken

  • John Haworth said:

    Bought a Nokia 5 at car phone warehouse with a £10 ee pay as you go SIM which I did not activate. Put in my bt SIM only card switched on Wi-Fi calling and now I get ee Wi-Fi calling almost all the time at home because of the very poor signal and it is just like having 5 bars, it’s wonderful. My phone tells me it is connected to ee wifi calling and not bt Wi-Fi calling even though it is a bt sim.

  • Robin Dew said:

    I have a LG K8 phone which is using wi-fi calling. The phone decides it does not want to continue working about 30% of the time and drops back to normal calls. Getting the phone to reconnect to Wi-Fi calling is very difficult. As I have virtually no signal then this service is useless. Quality of calls, when it is working, is poor with poor transmit volume and frequent call dropping. I had the same problems with my Lumia phone. My broadband is fibre at 38Mbps so the issue is not there. In my view wi-fi calling is very unreliable.
    Robin

  • Tim said:

    We have had OWE, wifi calling, enabled near work. Unfortunately there are known issues with this system and it can stop your phone falling back from 4g to 3g, which is used for calls by older smart phones. The symptom is that you can make calls but not recive them, you don’t see the missed calll in your call log either..

    I’ve had this problem in certain locations for over two months now and it has taken a concerted effort by a large number of users and my employers to get any traction at all. It still isn’t fixed.

  • Rupert said:

    My wife has just set this up on her iPhone and the results been mixed at best. She uses it for business calls at home where there is a weak EE signal. However the phone is reluctant to use our wifi although she is sat next to apple airport express and we have great broadband. When she makes calls they default to the normal phone signal (i.e. not wifi calling) and she struggles away on the weak phone signal with poor quality / drop-outs.

    When we experimented by changing the carrier setting on the phone (i.e. away from EE so it could not use the phone signal) the call defaulted to wifi and it worked really well. The same effect was achieved by turning to flight setting and turning wifi back on. However…..if she stays in this mode it won’t take incoming calls – so she has to switch back at the end of the call – all it all its proved to be a bit of a waste of effort!

    Any thoughts?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Rupert,
      I use EE’s wi-fi calling on my own phone and I agree, it can be a little hit and miss as to whether it uses wi-fi for calling (I believe the phone automatically detects whether the wi-fi network is fast enough and will then choose either 3G or wi-fi based on that). I’m not sure if there’s any way of adjusting the priority (e.g. to use wi-fi preferentially) – this is something you might need to check with your manufacturer or EE?
      Ken

  • Alex said:

    I’ve just bought a Nexus 6P from Google (not EE!) and have persuaded Customer Services to enable WiFi calling. It works a treat!

    It looks like the restriction on phones bought from EE only is just there to get you to buy phones from EE!

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Alex,
      Thanks – great feedback! I’ve just tried this on my Nexus 6P from Google as well – I enabled the wi-fi calling option in the settings, restarted the phone and it now works on EE’s wi-fi calling! I wonder if this might be specific to the operating system, however, it’s possible some older versions of Android lack the wi-fi calling software.
      Thanks again,
      Ken

  • Malcolm said:

    Hi I’m using ee wifi from home as the mobile signal is weak. However when I ring out it seems the caller id is set to ‘international’ which is putting people off answering given the prevalence of unsolicited calls these days. Is there a setting that will ensure my mobile number is displayed? I’m using an iPhone 6. Thanks

  • Jon said:

    Just as a small correction to the article, it states that there is no handover from WiFi calling to mobile network. I can’t speak for WiFi calling “proper”, but certainly on Blackberry UMA version (which I use extensively while working at one particular location) there is handover from UMA>mobile but not vice-versa.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jon,
      Thanks for the feedback about UMA on the BlackBerry! Unfortunately, as it stands at the moment, there’s no handover between EE Wi-Fi Calling and the mobile phone network. For more information, you can see the ‘How it works’ section of this EE help article.
      Ken

  • Michael Oram said:

    In UK, I have a Lumia 640 with EE which worked fine with WIFI CALLING using Windows Phone 8.1. However, since upgrading to Windows 10.0.13005.0, Wifi Calling switch does not toggle on.

  • Simon said:

    Hi ken
    I recently upgraded to an s6 from the note 2 to make use of wifi calling. All done through ee shop. It didn’t work on the phone at all. When I contacted EE on 150 they stated that there was problem with the software on both iPhones and Samsungs and they’re waiting for the companies to sort it out. When I took the phone back to the shop they said they have not heard anyone complain. They even called Samsung who said they knew of no problems… do you know if there have been any issues and what handset would produce most reliable wifi calling?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Simon,
      Thanks for your comment. I’m not aware of any known issues with wi-fi calling on the Galaxy S6 (for a better answer, you might want to try posting your question on the EE Community). All I’d really be able to say is to make sure you have the latest software on your handset (go to Settings > About device > Software updates).
      Ken

  • Caroline said:

    Hi Ken

    You said in one of your earlier comments that I can access wifi calling from my iphone 6 even if i bought it from cpw?? how do i do this as when it is turned on it does nothing??
    Thanks
    Caroline

  • Russell said:

    I just bought an ee 24 mth contract for Samsung s6 through a 3rd party….from reading this I now know why I don’t get wifi calling but surely there is an app or update that can let me get my calls over wifi us g my number

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Russell,
      Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, there isn’t a third-party app that allows you to receive phone calls on the normal EE number. This is because such an application would need to hook in to EE’s network (at the moment, only their Wi-Fi Calling service is able to do this). Sorry 🙁
      Ken

      • Russell replied:

        I accept all that but as a contract ee customer I am being discriminated against by ee becouse I bought my phone via 3rd party…..just found out this effects all car phone warehouse customers too……everyone still pays ee but now ee has a class system

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Russell,
          Unfortunately, this problem arises due to software limitations.
          When the Carphone Warehouse provides you with a handset, it’s the SIM-free version that works on any network. The handsets are provided with generic UK software: there are no additions or changes from EE. Unfortunately, as the generic software doesn’t support Wi-Fi Calling, you aren’t able to use Wi-Fi Calling on these handsets.
          With the EE-provided Android & Windows Phone handsets, you’ll normally get an EE-locked handset with modifications and customisations added by EE. As Wi-Fi Calling is one of the EE additions, you’ll need an EE-provided handset to use Wi-Fi Calling. For the iPhone, a slightly different situation applies. As Apple have included Wi-Fi Calling in the basic software, you can use the feature even on CPW iPhones.
          I agree, however, EE should probably do more to publicise the fact that Wi-Fi Calling only works on EE-provided handsets.
          Ken

          • Craig Hallam replied:

            Hi there. I’m looking to move to EE from Vodafone but we live in an area with very poor signal. We have the Sure Signal with Vodafone and we are interested in the EE Signal Box. I know Wifi Calling is available but only if you want to spend £15 a month more getting exactly the same deal from EE itself rather than a third party!!! Does anyone know how much the EE Signal Boxes are and if they will supply one to someone who has purchased a contract through a third party? We would stay with Vodafone but the general signal and 4G appears to be well behind EE!!??… Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated before we jump ship.

  • Jonathan said:

    Great idea but hopeless in execution. I have fibre broadband but rubbish EE signal so delighted to get wifi calling but even standing 3 feet from the HomeHub 5 the calls keep dropping out. Orange tried this with Blackberry devices a few years ago and that didn’t work either. Like 4G, a good idea but rubbish in practice.

    • Eve replied:

      Belated response…but the problem is likely with your Home Hub’s firmware &/or security settings. My S5 will display the WiFi Calling icon whenever it’s in range of WiFi, except when I’m at home – where I have an HH5. A bit of internet poking yesterday revealed that this is a pretty common problem for BT/EE users. I haven’t solved it yet, but will give it a go & report back if that would be useful.

  • Tony said:

    Hi
    I got a message from the people’s operator who currently use ‘EE’ network, they told me it will work on comparable handsets, I’m on a iPhone 5’s latest software on the monthly tariff option, they install a profile for Internet on your phone. I don’t have the wifi calling option now in my settings.
    Thanks
    Tony

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Tony,
      Thanks for your comment. Wi-Fi Calling is actually available only on EE. It’s not available on EE MVNOs. I believe TPO have probably made a mistake if they sent you a message saying Wi-Fi Calling is available?
      Ken

  • a.g.vayani said:

    Hi Ken
    My phone, a Samsung Galaxy S5, used in the same way as 5 month ago in Karachi, with the EE full package in the UK.
    I am in Karachi again with aeroplane mode turned on, mobile data off and wi-fi on.
    I am now receiving calls (missed calls except from one where we spoke for a few minutes) and full messages.
    Full telephone signal unlike the last trip.
    I am in the same situation as the earlier UK writer in the USA.
    Thanks
    Ghaffar
    Northwood,middlesex,uk

  • Jayne said:

    Hi Ken I have followed your instructions Tap Settings > Wi-Fi on your iPhone. When WiFi is enabled, your phone will search for available WiFi networks. Tap the name of the network you want, enter the password and choose to join. Once you’re connected, you’ll see the WiFi logo appear in the status bar at the top left of your display.
    When I tape the name of the network I want, I do not get asked for a password to join. I am on the EE contract through carphone warehouse. Thanks for any insight.

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Jayne,
      Thanks for your comment. There’s no need to enter a password for all wi-fi networks (you’ll only need it on password-protected networks that you haven’t connected to before in the past). Are you able to follow the rest of the instructions with regards to enabling the feature in Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calls?
      Ken

  • rosemarie sutherland said:

    I am currently out of the UK. I updated my Samsung Galaxy 5 this morning and noticed a drastic change. Although my mobile data is off and airplane mode on , I have received several mobile messages from ee. I have also noticed a new icon…wifi signal with a telephone below and I was able to make a call to the UK. I do hope am not charged because I have taken every precaution to ensure that this does not happen. Upon research, I realised that ee has launched a wifi cslling service which is limited to the UK. My questions are: Why are calls to Uk connecting although am outside the country? Am I being charged?

    • Ken replied:

      Hi Rosemarie,
      Thanks for your comment. Did you receive a text message from EE when abroad? If so, I’d double-check to make sure flight mode has been disabled all of the time (it shouldn’t normally be possible to receive a text message unless you have a mobile signal). It’s also possible you could have received this message using EE Wi-Fi Calling. Can you double-check to see whether the feature is enabled on your Galaxy S5? You can do this through Settings > Call > WiFi Calling. If your phone was on flight mode and if you haven’t connected to a mobile network abroad, EE may still think you’re in the UK (hence why you’re able to use the service). With regards to the question of whether you were charged, I’d recommend having a look at the My EE website.
      Hope this helps and do let me know what you discover from the above!
      Many thanks,
      Ken

      • rosemarie sutherland replied:

        Thsnks for your reply Ken. Yes, I received several text messages and calls as well.This is while the flight mode is on and mobile data off. Yes, am abroad (USA). I also called ee 150 and spoke with an agent who told me this should not be happening if flight mode is on…but yes, it’s on. I can see the icon on my phone and I have also checked. I’ve been away now for the past two weeks and this wasn’t happening. Since I’ve updated my Samsung Galaxy 5 this morning, I was alerted by a message from ee hence my research. the wifi icon with the little telephone image is still on my phone as well as the flight mode icon.

        • Ken replied:

          Hi Rosemarie,
          Count me in as totally stumped by this question! As you say, the phone shouldn’t be able to receive regular calls or text messages when stuck in flight mode (you can still receive iMessage/WhatsApp/Skype/Facebook calls etc). Could you kindly double check something for me quickly? On the Galaxy S5, could you go to Settings > More > About device > Status? It would be interesting to see the readings for Network, Signal strength, Mobile network type and Service state. On my device, when it’s put into Flight mode, it says: Unknown, -113dBm 0asu, Unknown, Radio off. If your smartphone is showing some information here, the Flight Mode feature may be working incorrectly. As a final thing, have you received any phone calls or text messages when not connected to wi-fi? Or do they only come in when you have a wi-fi connection?
          Many thanks,
          Ken

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