In my home, especially the basement, I get terrible cell service! The rollout of WiFi calling was a saviour to me – as it will be to many with poor cell reception. This guide talks about what WiFi calling is, and how to turn it on on your mobile device.

WiFi calling uses your WiFi signal instead of your cell signal. Office buildings, basements, remote homes, etc. can usually get great WiFi but poor cell signals. Using your WiFi signal to make calls will give you much better reception and dropped calls as a result.

That’s pretty much it! It’s really more analogous to WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype calling. With the caveat that it will still use your existing phone number, and your cell provider will still count the calls as regular calls. Meaning if you have limited minutes, then the WiFi calls will still count as part of those.

To sum up: If you get good results with making calls via WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype, and poor results making calls with your cell signal – then WiFi calling is for you!

To turn WiFi calling on, you need a semi-recent phone. Pretty much from 2013 phones will work. If you have a phone later than 2013 – good on you, but you may not be able to take advantage of WiFi calling.

Your carrier must also support the ability for WiFi calling.  Consult their website to see if they do. If they don’t – honestly it’s time to switch.

iPhone

Couldn’t be easier to enable WiFi Calling on your iPhone (or iPad if you have the cell version). To use Wi-Fi Calling, you need an iPhone 5c or later.

• Go to Settings > Phone, and click on  Wi-Fi Calling.
• You’ll see Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone, toggle that to the on position.

Enable WiFi Calling from your iOS device.

To confirm it is on you’ll see Wi-Fi after your carrier name in the status bar.

Pro Tip: From the Wi-Fi Calling Menu you can also enable other iOS devices you may have to use the service.

Android

To turn WiFi calling on an Android phone, it will depend on the phone you have. The two most popular phones are Google Pixel phones, and Samsung Galaxy phones — so we will lay out the steps for these. Other Android phones should follow similar steps.

Google Pixel Phone

1. Go to Settings > Network and Internet, and Calls & SMS.
2. The Wi-Fi calling option is at the bottom, tap on it, then toggle on Use Wi-Fi calling.

Samsung Galaxy Phone

1. Open the Phone app, and then tap on the More options (the three vertical dots) icon.
2. Select the Settings menu.
3.  Find and tap the switch to turn the Wi-Fi Calling feature on.

The setting is located in the Phone app (the app you use to make phone calls).

Toggle Wi-Fi Calling on.

To confirm you have WiFi calling on, you will either see it next to your carrier’s name or the WiFi calling symbol next to your WiFi bars in the status bar.

Confirm your Wi-Fi calling is on by checking the carrier name, or by seeing the phone with wifi bars icon in your status bar.

That’s it! Go on and make calls as you normally do. You should have an option to ‘prefer WiFi calling’ over the cell signal, but ultimately your carrier will dictate when it should switch over. You can always turn on air-plane mode with WiFi enabled to force it.

You may also have to fill out a 9-1-1 (or emergency service in your country) form when enabling WiFi calling. This will register your address with the phone number you call from. Meaning, if you call emergency services from your phone number using WiFi calling, they will have your address on file.

We install residential and commercial WiFi systems for clients, and turning on WiFi calling for them is always an added bonus. It’s much easier to improve your homes WiFi than cell reception. It really is a saving grace for some.

If you are in the Vancouver, BC area and wish for us to enable WiFi calling on your devices, or improve your home’s WiFi please see our service website here: dynamictech.ca