Irish Mobile Operators with Wi-Fi Calling?

babelfish1990

I plan to move to Ireland shortly and will require a mobile service. My home country is not in the EU, and roaming charges are high. I am looking for an Irish operator who offers WiFi calling native in the handset, to avoid roaming charges when I am back home.

I propose to get a new Samsung Galaxy S7, which supports WiFi Calling, but I need to choose an Operator who supports it. I will be going for a Bill-pay contract, and will probably opt for a bundle with fixed-line Broadband.

Do any of the Irish Operators offer WiFi calling?

(Great forum, by the way! Loads of info on the different operators - I'll definitely be avoiding Three - they seem to the worst guys, which has generally been my experience elsewhere)

PAKNET

eir Meteor are actively trialling it on the S7 and S7 Edge and it's launch is imminent any day now:
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/eir-to-become-first-irish-network-to-launch-wifi-calling-1.2972821

Vodafone are also reported to be testing similar technology along with VoLTE but there hasn't been any solid indication as to when or where it might emerge.

Three are still merging their own native and the acquired O2 networks together and it appears to be taking far longer than they originally let on it would take. I imagine that's their priority right now before they start looking at WiFi calling - certainly their 4G network is far too sparse to make VoLTE in any way worthwhile at the minute or to allow for seamless handoff from a WiFi call to the mobile network.

One gotcha to be wary of - you may find you won't be accepted for a billpay plan with subsidised handset if you are literally just landing here. Or you may be asked to make an upfront equivalent to part (or all) of the value of the handset which will then come off your bills each.
The networks will ask for things look employment status, a proof of address for the prior 3 years to date of application, photo I.D., etc. as part of the billpay application and will factor all of these in before choosing to accept you.

It may be cheaper if you bought the handset upfront in your home country and then sign up to a 30-day SIM-only billpay plan on Vodafone or eir. This also gives you the chance to move around amongst the networks if you find one network is cheaper for calling back home than another.

ted1

babelfish1990 wrote: »

I plan to move to Ireland shortly and will require a mobile service. My home country is not in the EU, and roaming charges are high. I am looking for an Irish operator who offers WiFi calling native in the handset, to avoid roaming charges when I am back home.

I propose to get a new Samsung Galaxy S7, which supports WiFi Calling, but I need to choose an Operator who supports it. I will be going for a Bill-pay contract, and will probably opt for a bundle with fixed-line Broadband.

Do any of the Irish Operators offer WiFi calling?

(Great forum, by the way! Loads of info on the different operators - I'll definitely be avoiding Three - they seem to the worst guys, which has generally been my experience elsewhere)

You are probably better off with a dual sim phone. One sim from your home country, the other for the EU.

babelfish1990

Paknet - thanks - that is very helpful.

It looks like Eir are the only operator who have WiFi Calling working, and they have the Samsung Galaxy 7 - which suits me perfectly. They also appear to have good value Fibre Broadband bundles with mobile, so I'll probably sign up for Eir.

Having to pay for the handset up-front is not an issue. This is common in most countries where I have been, if you are a new resident. My employer will re-imburse me for the handset up-front, and will pay a flat monthly fee towards the monthly mobile plan and fibre broadband bundle. I just don't want the exposure of large amounts of international roaming charges, when back home. I don't think getting a Sim-free mobile abroad and bringing it to Ireland would work. As far as I know, WiFi calling is in the operator specific firmware for the phone, and is configured for your home network only. Hence, you would probably have to go back to Samsung to get a foreign phone re-flashed with Eir firmware.

Ted1 - thanks for the suggestion re Dual SIM - but this wouldn't suit me, as it doesn't get around the roaming cost for my Irish number, and I don't want to force my Irish colleagues and clients to have to make expensive International calls to a mobile in my home country. I expect to be working from home about 1 week per month, so WiFi calling is a much better solution.

ED E

Id be cautious here. Eir have trialled VOIP products like BBTalk before and then pretty much dumped them. As its just a trial theres no guarantee it'll be kept on OR if you have a problem there'll be support staff trained on it.

TBH you sound like a perfect use case for a non geographic VOIP landline. You get an 076 number and can answer it in any way you like as long as you have an internet connection. More flexible as the underlying UMTS provider is irrelevant. From a clients perspective its just like calling your office.

babelfish1990

Thanks ED E for the suggestion re traditional non-geographic VOIP. WiFi calling on mobile is a hugely improved experience compared to traditional VOIP. I wouldn't rate the two as being comparable, although there may be niche users for whom traditional VOIP meets their requirements. I'm not one of them!

For starters, I really want to avoid having another Irish number, and I want colleagues, clients and friends in Ireland to be able to contact me on the same number they would normally use - i.e. my mobile. They shouldn't need to know whether I am in Ireland or back home - that's the reason mobiles were invented!

Secondly, traditional SIP/VOIP clients running on mobile phones are disastrous, in my experience. You need to leave them running, so as to catch incoming calls, and they have a severe impact on battery performance. By comparison WiFi calling is native to the handset OS, and integrates efficiently with the mobile network IMS platforms without impacting on battery performance, maybe even improving it in weak mobile signal areas.

There are many other benefits of WiFi Calling - it supports HD Voice, and has much faster post-dialling connection time than traditional mobile, because the mobile network knows exactly where the handset is located. It is also fully integrated with the mobile network, so supports SMS texting etc. While IM messaging is very popular now, users are in unconnected clouds such as WhatsApp, Facebook, etc, and if you want to message everyone, you always need to revert to the old reliable SMS.

I will actually have a standard desk phone in my Dublin office, with remote VOIP access from a PC or SIP client etc. In every job that I had in recent years in other countries, I have also had a VOIP based deskphone. However, my experience is that almost nobody uses these, except perhaps in meeting rooms to do conference calls. Most work colleagues and clients prefer to call a mobile first because they know they have a better chance of reaching their colleague whether they are at their desk or not. I guess it depends a bit on the job environment though.

After posting and getting help here yesterday, I went out and signed up for Eir (I am in Dublin get things sorted before moving here properly). I got an S7, and I can confirm that the WiFi calling is working perfectly. Very pleased with it! The guy in the store was very helpful, and seemed to know all about it. Eir only have it on a few Android models yet, but he said more will follow. In a couple of years, this feature will be standard on all new phones.

Most operators appear to be introducing WiFi Calling when they are VOLTE-ready because the same IMS technologies are used to deliver both. However, in my opinion, WiFi calling is actually far more useful than VOLTE. VOLTE delivers no real additonal benefit to the user vs 2G/3G voice, other than handover to WiFi calling. By comparison, WiFi calling solves indoor coverage problems, and can be used to avoid roaming costs.

I don't know where you got the idea that it is only on trial - the Irish Times article linked by Paknet above states that it was launched by Eir last month? Since it is only available on a few high-end handsets, perhaps they haven't done too much marketing of it yet - but it seems to be fully supported, from what I can see.

Anyone who tries mobile WiFi calling won't want to go back to traditional mobile or VOIP - I guarantee it!

I really appreciate all the help on Boards.ie - helped me make a quick decision here.

ED E

Glad it worked.

Waiting more than a year for any hint of VOLTE from Three

slegs

babelfish1990 wrote: »

I plan to move to Ireland shortly and will require a mobile service. My home country is not in the EU, and roaming charges are high. I am looking for an Irish operator who offers WiFi calling native in the handset, to avoid roaming charges when I am back home.

I propose to get a new Samsung Galaxy S7, which supports WiFi Calling, but I need to choose an Operator who supports it. I will be going for a Bill-pay contract, and will probably opt for a bundle with fixed-line Broadband.

Do any of the Irish Operators offer WiFi calling?

(Great forum, by the way! Loads of info on the different operators - I'll definitely be avoiding Three - they seem to the worst guys, which has generally been my experience elsewhere)

Wifi calling when implemented is generally not offered as a means to avoid roaming charges. Most operators (here in UK anyway) charge you the same whether you make the call over 2g/3g, VOLTE (limited to no VOLTE roaming yet) or Wifi. Calling over Wifi saves them money but that doesnt mean they will pass that saving to you.

For example see review on EE Wifi Calling (they actual disable the feature when phone is detected as roaming)

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/mobile-phones/1403041/everything-you-need-to-know-about-ee-wi-fi-calling-roaming-iphone-6-and

babelfish1990

Slegs - there are no roaming charges when using Eir WiFi Calling. It works the same if you connect to WiFI at home or abroad. When you are connected over WiFi, the mobile network always treats you as if you were at home. It definitely bypasses roaming charges, and Eir appear to be marketing this as a feature.

The UK EE/(British Telecom) restriction on roaming with WiFi calling is bizarre. Vodafone UK allow roaming with WiFi calling - no extra charge. So do US operators Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile, and Canadian Operator Rogers. In fact, I am not aware of any other operator that restricts WiFi roaming like EE - but correct me if I am wrong.

LpPepper

Got an email from eir this morning to say that Wifi calling is now live on S7 and S7 Edge. Tried it out earlier today - my mobile signal at home isn't that great - and call quality was great...

babelfish1990

LpPepper - Yes - Wi-Fi calling supports HD Voice - it's great quality compared to either traditional mobile or landline.

I was on a conference call today from our office, and had HD Voice end-to-end with WiFi Calling at my end! Apparently, the office platform uses an Eir VOIP service.

babelfish1990

babelfish1990 wrote: »

Slegs - there are no roaming charges when using Eir WiFi Calling. It works the same if you connect to WiFI at home or abroad. When you are connected over WiFi, the mobile network always treats you as if you were at home. It definitely bypasses roaming charges, and Eir appear to be marketing this as a feature.

The UK EE/(British Telecom) restriction on roaming with WiFi calling is bizarre. Vodafone UK allow roaming with WiFi calling - no extra charge. So do US operators Verizon, Sprint & T-Mobile, and Canadian Operator Rogers. In fact, I am not aware of any other operator that restricts WiFi roaming like EE - but correct me if I am wrong.

Just to report back that I have been travelling abroad with my Eir S7 since posting here, and have found the Wi-Fi calling feature works very well from everywhere that I have been. It works exactly like as if you are back in Ireland for incoming and outgoing calls and texts. Not that I really needed WiFi calling in the EU, since Eir are already offering free roaming throughout EU, and coverage levels in mainland Europe are generally excellent. The real benefit of this feature is when you are outside the EU, or in an area of poor coverage.

200motels

Are Vodafone doing wifi calling?

babelfish1990

Vodafone have WiFi calling in the UK, but not yet in Ireland.

It seems that Eir are the only mobile operator in Ireland with WiFi calling.

_Kaiser_

So I'm considering moving away from 3 (again). It's cheap, never any backoffice/billing issues, very good bundles - but the actual network quality ranges from ok to abysmal.

To be fair this latter issue isn't helped at home by the fact that the apartment I'm living in blocks most radio/mobile signals anyway.. but this leaves me with 2 options to have a decent signal at home.


1. Goto Vodafone and use their suresignal device to amplify the 3G signal. Downside: expensive plans, low data packages, long contracts, poor customer service (from previous experience)

2. Move to eir and use Wi-Fi calling. I am with them for fibre anyway so could get a decent package for initially €25 a month or go Sim free and get an S7/8 - unless it'll work on an S6 Edge+ ?


What would YOU do?

PAKNET

200motels wrote: »

Are Vodafone doing wifi calling?

Reportedly under test alongside VoLTE but nothing concrete.

babelfish1990

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

So I'm considering moving away from 3 (again). It's cheap, never any backoffice/billing issues, very good bundles - but the actual network quality ranges from ok to abysmal.

To be fair this latter issue isn't helped at home by the fact that the apartment I'm living in blocks most radio/mobile signals anyway.. but this leaves me with 2 options to have a decent signal at home.


1. Goto Vodafone and use their suresignal device to amplify the 3G signal. Downside: expensive plans, low data packages, long contracts, poor customer service (from previous experience)

2. Move to eir and use Wi-Fi calling. I am with them for fibre anyway so could get a decent package for initially €25 a month or go Sim free and get an S7/8 - unless it'll work on an S6 Edge+ ?


What would YOU do?

I would go with Eir & WiFi calling, especially since you can just add it into your Eir Fibre bundle. You can use WiFi calling anywhere there is WiFi - not just at home. If there are other places that you have poor coverage, this may be useful - but particularly when abroad as it completely avoids roaming charges when you are on WiFi. The S7 package starting at €25 per month for unlimited voice, text, 15GB, and the phone for only €49 seems slightly better value than going SIM-only. Just remember to review your contract at the end of 24 months, and go SIM-only at that stage if it is still the right thing to do.

By comparison, Vodafone suresignal will only provide you with coverage at home, and as you point out, their plans are expensive, particularly for data. While it will allow you to use any 3G handset, it does cost money up-front. I would sooner put the money towards a better phone.

One way or the other, you need to get away from Three! In other countries where I have lived, they were always the worst network, but the best at Marketing. They have a reputation for overloading their networks and not investing in coverage or capacity.

_Kaiser_

Just to follow up on the above... is this service also available on Meteor then? I know they're basically the same but are there firmware differences on the phones?

Also, I read that they were planning to enable this for the S6 range as well. Any update on that that anyone is aware of?

Reason I ask is that my current S6 Edge+ could easily be reflashed with the Meteor firmware from Sammobile but they don't have a separate eir firmware listed (thus my first question ) but also, I could go SIM only if the S6 range will be added soon.
The S7/S7 Edge is a bit too small for my tastes (I have one for work) and the S8/S8+ is more than I want to spend right now if I didn't have to in order to get this feature.

Cheers!

babelfish1990

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Just to follow up on the above... is this service also available on Meteor then? I know they're basically the same but are there firmware differences on the phones?

When I was looking for service around a month ago, Meteor did not support WiFi Calling - only Eir. However, Meteor were planning to introduce it, so perhaps it is there now, or imminent?

Regarding the Samsung Galaxy S6 - Eir only offered WiFi calling on S7 & S7 Edge when I was signing up. However, they told me that they planned to offer additional handsets in the near future. I would expect the S6/EDGE to be included soon, as these models do have the hardware capability for WiFI calling. I'm no expert on flashing alternative Firmware, and I wouldn't fancy doing it on a brand new phone, in case it voids the warranty.

Meteor: Kyle

Hi everyone

Hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I just wanted to let you all know that we're currently rolling out wifi-calling.

Regarding the S6, wifi-calling is now available on this and will be available on the S6 Edge from tonight.

More phones are soon to follow so we hope you enjoy the service.

Thanks guys

-Kyle

_Kaiser_

Meteor: Kyle wrote: »

Hi everyone

Hope you don't mind me jumping in here. I just wanted to let you all know that we're currently rolling out wifi-calling.

Regarding the S6, wifi-calling is now available on this and will be available on the S6 Edge from tonight.

More phones are soon to follow so we hope you enjoy the service.

Thanks guys

-Kyle

Thanks Kyle,

Does that also apply to the S6 Edge+ and on eir as well as Meteor?

Cheers

long_b

Kyle, Will it only be available on phones obtained from Meteor?

Got a full list of phones that are in line to get it please?

Meteor: Kyle

Hi there

Android devices from other operators will require the eir/Meteor software applied to the device before it is WiFI Calling compatible. This can be carried out by dropping the phone into store who will then send to Fonefix. The process takes 3-4 days to complete at a cost of €20 if the device is no long under warranty. If under warranty, it will be free of charge.

For now, we have the S6 & Edge, S7 & Edge, S8 & Plus available and they all need to be updated to the Nougat software.

-Kyle