Wifi Calling worked & stopped working

[andre88224]

Hi,

I am using an ulocked iphone. I just swithched to Fido yesterday from Rogers, and I gave my IMEI to the rep. I successflly activated Wifi Calling, and it worked for a couple of hours. Then it was turned off some how, and when I tried to turn it back on, it says to allow this account use wifi calling, please contact Fido.

I chated with support, she helped me reset my network setting on her end, and I did on my iphone too. Right now, it pops up a websit, similar layout as the one that let you fill out the first time when you try to active it. But it says unable to process your request.

Anyone can help please?

[FidoSaad]

Hey there @modelcitizen

Welcome to the community

Thanks for your feedback, we'll also be sure to have it forwarded.

In the meantime, if you'd like to follow up on your recent interactions we'd be happy to send you a PM and look into it.

[andre88224]

Hi,

I still can't turn my wifi calling on. Can someone send me a PM?

Thanks

[FidoPierre]

Hey @andre88224

I am sorry to see you're still experiencing issues with this feature. I'll send you that PM right away so we can check out the details together. 

[njh]

I've been with Fido from the very beginning and there were some very tough times when it looked like Fido wasn't going to make it plus cell service dropout was an issue. But, I hung in there. 

I have bought all my phones through Fido but I decided to buy an unlocked one this time through the Apple Store for a few reasons. I live in an area where Fido cell service is pretty much useless and I've complained about this for years but nothing has changed. So, when I heard about WiFi callling it was a promising solution and one I, and folks like me, deserve for our loyalty and for having such bad cell service in our area. 

Having a technical background I REFUSE to believe that Fido can only support phones bought from Fido. If their techs have a reasonable skill level they can change the code of the backend to allow for unlocked phones, instread of punishing us. Which is really what this is.

Fix this Fido, or put a new tower in the White Rock/South Surrey area. And please, do NOT suggest that my issues with cell service are because of my proximity to the border. I say this, because my Fido service is much better when I'm in Blaine. Explain that one. Or, maybe I've hung in long enough and need to consider another cell provider. 

[Cawtau]

Hello Njh,

  Welcome to the community!

  I cannot comment regarding Wifi-calling because I am not familiar with that service.

  Judging by this screen capture, there are not many cellular towers in the area.

Taken from here. I cannot vouch for accuracy.

  Cellular reception would vary depending on where you are located in relation the cellular towers. In addition to proximity to the cellular towers, there are many factors which can impede those signals from reaching your phone (ie topograpy, buildings, etc). I only mention it because while the closest tower to Blaine is at 8 Ave, there would be relatively less obstruction from a golf course. That could be the reason why you get better reception in Blaine.

  Have you enabled roaming? Depending on your plan, you might be able to access Extended Coverage and connect to the other towers as Fido-EXT. While there should be measures in place to prevent US tower roaming in Canada, you might consider trying to connect to Fido-EXT manually. If you have a compatible plan, there are no additional charges for using extended coverage. However, it may not be a solution for your situation. Extended coverage use is only meant on a temporary basis. If you spend more time on Fido-EXT than you do on Fido, then the service might get blocked.

  You suggested Fido/Rogers install a new tower in the area. Are there any restrictions regarding the placement of new cellular towers? In the township of Langley, there is the municipal telecommunications tower policy that requires a vote from residents regarding the placement of certain towers. Sometimes it's not as simple as just putting up a new tower...

Hope this helps 

Cheers

[FidoManuel]

Thanks for the feedback @njh! I'll forward it to the team in charge of that feature. 

Regarding the network, we're always working on getting our network in more places. I see White Rock is fully covered by our network but you're also close to the boarder.

Can you try to disable the roaming on your phone so it doesn't try to bounce from our network to a US network. 

Also disable LTE to see if that makes a difference in reception. 

Keep me updated on the results.

[FidoCatherine · Accepted solution]

Hi there @andre88224

Thanks for reaching out!

We actually have an interesting article about "Enabling Wi-Fi Calling" on or Fido Community, I would invite you to check out the details HERE 

As noted on this article, your compatible device must have been purchased from Fido. If you have a non-Fido device and no conflicting services, Wi-Fi Calling may work, but we can’t assure that the feature will work properly!

If you're using an Unlocked non-Fido device, that may be the reason for the difficutlies you're experiencing. 

I hope this helped in some way 😃 

[andre88224]

Hi Catherine,

Thanks for your reply. I have read the article about only Fido contract phone can use this service.

I am curious why it was ok for a couple of hours after I activited it, and I even got an email says I successfully opened wifi calling. Then it seemed locked, I gave Fido correct IMEI, and it did work for a while. 

So I don't believe the whole only Fido phone can use wifi calling explaination. And lots of people have the same situation like me.

Thanks

[Northa60]

I have the exact same problem > I have spent countless hours on the phone, on online chat, on FB messenger with Fido and they tell us it's Apple. We live 2 hours by plane away from a city. My husband was down and went to Apple, Apple tells him it's Fido. Needless to say I'm pissed because we live in an area where the cell phone towers are congested and we have very poor service. My wifi calling worked completely fine until that big update, now it doesnt work. My husbands wifi calling works no problem but his phone is not unlocked. 

Has anyone had success in having wifi calling work with their unlocked phone? 

[VirgilBoy]

Suddenly, Wi-Fi Calling has activated on my unlocked iPhone 6 purchased from Apple. I just happened to try testing after the last iOS update, and it seems to be there.

Hard to say if Fido changed their system or the update fixed something.

BTW, Fido is the only cellular company (in my experience, which includes Rogers and T-Mobile in the US) that does not officialy support Wi-Fi Calling except on phones purchased from them. Lame!!

[TRoN]

Lame.Yes. I too have an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and 5 calls to Fido customer service concerning wifi calling accomplished nothing. There must be a way to fix this. A brand new S7 edge can be purchased for $600 or less right now. Ask Fido how much they want for one.

[SS_1964]

Me too, i can't get wifi calling to work on an unlocked (non Fido) Galaxy S7.

They just block the system to force you to buy phone from them. 

Just change provider, that should make a statement clear enought.  I will do that soon to Telus in Quebec. Just tired of Fido stupid answer and support. Only answer is buy a phone from us.

[FidoAmanda]

Hey SS_1964!

We definitely wouldn't want to lose you, but, as much as we would like to, we don't have a way to guarantee that any of our services will work with an unlocked phone. 

That said, let's take a closer look at your options. 

I'll send you a PM shortly. 

[bmbhkjhkh6]

 Hi FidoAmandaN,

I'm in the same situation. My partner and I just moved back to Canada and I signed us both up for Fido Pulse plans. We really liked having VoLTE and Wifi calling on our unlocked phones back in Australia (our carrier there, Telstra, didn't discriminate against devices not bought from them as Fido seems to do).

We understand that you can't test phones you don't sell, but we are tech-savvy enough and our S8 and S8+ are fully compatible with VoLTE and Wifi Calling, and we do not appreciate your company blocking our IMEI numbers, just because we like many others, didn't buy our devices from you. If the service didn't work with our phones, we would understand, but what bothers us is that you're not letting us even try. We are still paying just as much for your service.

That being said, my partner has asked me to switch us to Bell as they support non-Bell devices. I would rather you just do the right thing and register our IMEI numbers so that we can use VoLTE and Wifi Calling on our phones. Please contact me ASAP.

Thank you, and apologies for the screen name. I can't seem to change it now.

[FidoKenny]

Hey @bmbhkjhkh6, thanks for reaching out.

For now, WI- FI calling is only guaranteed on Fido phones.

We will definitely make sure to forward your comments and feedback to our support team.

[bmbhkjhkh6]

Hey @FidoKenny, @FidoAmanda@ mentioned that there are options. What would those be? 

[FidoNick]

Hey there! 

At the moment we can't guarantee it on non-Fido phones, we'll send you a PM though to take a look at things

See you there!

[Alukuk]

Nice discussion. 

I have Fido locked s8+ with wifi calling previously activated on it. Today I have updated my firmware and now I'm going through the same loop of trying to "activate" wifi calling again. I assume I should just buy another phone to make it work LOL

[FidoKenny]

Hey @Alukuk.

The WI-FI calling should work fine on your phone.

Did you try to do a reset of your phone to see if you get a better result?

[looking4help]

Same run around with Fido here also. Here is my story.. I had a Fido purchased s6 edge for the past 2 years, WiFi calling worked fine but the battery started to get very bad so I needed to purchase a new phone. I couldn't afford a new phone through Fido since I am on a BYOD plan. So I went elsewhere  and purchased a new unlocked LG G6. I put my sim card in a everything worked great INCLUDING the WiFi calling. I had NO issues for about 2 weeks until I called to update my IMEI # because I heard it might help increase my weak signal I was receiving from Fido. Ever since that IMEI # was updated I haven't been able to get my WiFi calling to work. I try to enable it and it tells me that my device is not compatible  which is complete BS because I was using WiFi calling fine 2 weeks prior to that call to Fido!

 I have called Fido reps and Fido tech about 7 times now for help and keep getting no where with them. I have been with Fido for over 10 years now and as soon as see a similar deal to the plan I have I am out of here. Fido can't lock phones anymore so they are locking services from their customers just because they didnt buy a phone from them. Yet they have no problem accepting my payments every month, no more. 

[FidoPierre]

Hey @looking4help, 

I can understand how this would be an unpleasant situation. I assure you that we are not looking to make things any more complicated than necessary for our customers. We value your time with us and want to make sure you get to use your service as smoothly as possible. However, we cannot guarantee full support for this service on an unlocked phone.

That being said, we would be sad to see you leave and I would like to take another look into this with you. I'll send you a PM so we can check it out together.