If I had ANY evidence that the problem was broken hardware, I surely would have.
Oh, and FWIW, yesterday morning, for an hour or so, we popped back to VZW. We both had the absolute best WiFi Calling functionality we've ever had from them. By last evening, we were back to none at all.
@dwatson808 wrote:If I had ANY evidence that the problem was broken hardware, I surely would have.
Oh, and FWIW, yesterday morning, for an hour or so, we popped back to VZW. We both had the absolute best WiFi Calling functionality we've ever had from them. By last evening, we were back to none at all.
A defect in software is still a defect. Factory reset might resolve it. So might replacement. 🤷🏼♀️
Most warranties specifically exclude software defects... And getting two refurb Pixel 2s that require all the non-restore setup, only to discover that they don't work any better on VZW WiFi Calling at our home, is too grim to ponder. I'd rather buy two new iPhones and get on with life...
I have tried safe boot. It changed nothing. I have not tried factory reset--it breaks an awful lot of things that don't restore* so doing it just on the off chance it fixes this is not something I'm eager to do. If, say, somebody posted here that they had the exact same problem and a factory reset cured it, I'd probably go there. But nobody has done so. I also note that my wife's Pixel 2 had this problem on both sides of the Version 10 update. That's pretty invasive.
* Smart lock settings, stored fingerprints, Bluetooth parings, Android Auto pairings, authenticator registrations, VPN settings, Google Pay card associations, Gmail app IMAP accounts, among other things I found out the hard way the last time some support person conned me into trying factory reset because just maybe it might solve something. (The Pixel OG audio codec problem...) It didn't.
I see from multiple other replies in this thread that this is Verizon choosing to punish people with unlocked phones since this feature somehow magically works with sim cards from other networks. It's a shame because I had planned on picking up my box for fios tomorrow expecting to be able to use wireless calling in my house which is a dead zone for cell phones. Now it seems I will be cancelling both of my and my husband's phone contracts and the planned high speed internet contract and giving that to other providers. Both the wireless and my phone is useless without wireless calling, and more importantly I feel deceived. You should tell whatever blockhead in sales came up with this plan that he just lost two loyal customers.
We would never want you to leave the Verizon family, shannonld. I can understand that it is confusing to find out that Wi-Fi Calling is not operable on your unlocked phone. To help explain, these phones have not gone through the checks that are needed to support certain Verizon branded features. While the phone may offer basic network interoperability functionality, it doesn't have the certifications needed to ensure that features such as Wi-Fi Calling will work the way that we would expect and want for an optimal experience. This is a matter of quality standards, not an initiative put forth by a sales team. Does this help explain?
RyanM_VZW
@shannonld wrote:I see from multiple other replies in this thread that this is Verizon choosing to punish people with unlocked phones since this feature somehow magically works with sim cards from other networks. It's a shame because I had planned on picking up my box for fios tomorrow expecting to be able to use wireless calling in my house which is a dead zone for cell phones. Now it seems I will be cancelling both of my and my husband's phone contracts and the planned high speed internet contract and giving that to other providers. Both the wireless and my phone is useless without wireless calling, and more importantly I feel deceived. You should tell whatever blockhead in sales came up with this plan that he just lost two loyal customers.
That’s not accurate. Most carriers do not allow unlocked, non carrier androids to use WiFi calling on their network either.
No “magic” involved.
At&t is one of the most rigid. The only exception has been the Pixel 3/3 xl.
Now how is it logical of canceling service with the number one carrier? Are you going to have no cell service EVERYWHERE with another carrier? And how are you deceived?
@NewOldcustomer wrote:Now how is it logical of canceling service with the number one carrier? Are you going to have no cell service EVERYWHERE with another carrier? And how are you deceived?
When we came back to VZW, we knew that no wireless carrier had decent coverage where we live. VZW promised WiFi Calling support on Google Store Pixel 2s was the reason we came back to VZW. In 20 months WiFi Calling has only worked "as expected" for a rare few hours at a time. Most of the time it has worked poorly--only, say, with the wireless radio turned off instead of just bouncing between no service and zero bars--or not at all.
We are presently running Google Fi on the eSIMs (while retaining the VZW physical SIMs) with great success at home. It's the first time, since leaving AT&T and their 3G microcell back in December of 2017, that we have any likelihood--and the likelihood seems high--of being able to place and receive calls at home. Over WiFi. Something that has eluded us on VZW. We've been running on Google Fi for almost three weeks now including a week spent travelling. Yes, their coverage and, especially data coverage, is, overall, noticeably a little worse than VZW. (Some places better, worse in a few more.) But we can reliably receive and place calls from home.
We will be terminating our VZW, "number one carrier", service soon and going with the number 243 (or whatever) carrier instead. For us, that seems more logical that continuing to pay VZW for a promised service that doesn't work and leaving our phones, when we are home, more than half of our lives, as little more than tiny WiFi tablets with poor battery life.
Sad.
What a bunch of nonsense. You are telling me that my 2 otherwise identical moto g6's, one unlocked and the other VZW flashed do not have the same QC testing or specs? Of course the VZW has wifi calling and the unlocked one does not.
This is an intentional move by Verizon to discourage the use of non VZW phones on their network. You are also in the blame game business, VZW blames Motorola and Motorola blames VZW. Since my unlocked phone works flawlessly with all other carriers, I know where the blame lies.
Non-carrier branded androids are excluded by both software installed on the carrier version, and IMEI.
Even with the amount of flexibility in the newer software on Samsung and LG phones these phones still function best on the network they were made for. This means it is very difficult for people to migrate back-and-forth between carriers without a phone that is more universal. Pixel and iPhone currently are the only phones that are going to be universally functional between all carriers.
We assure you our intention is to help you in the best way possible. Besides the Wifi Calling, do you have any other concern with your device?
RachelM_VZW
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