Pixel 4a 5g - WiFi calling issue?

doney84

I have this phone and I'm with Eir mobile. The WiFi calling option doesn't appear but when I put a Vodafone SIM in the WiFi calling options appear. So I know the phone supports it but have no idea why they don't appear when I put my Eir SIM in. Eir says WiFi calling is enabled on all their plans.

Would anyone have any idea as to what the issue maybe?

ps. I also noticed with the Eir SIM in I connect to LTE but with the Vodafone SIM it says 4G, would that make any difference?

GIMP

Que.............. babelfish1990

babelfish1990

doney84 wrote: »

I have this phone and I'm with Eir mobile. The WiFi calling option doesn't appear but when I put a Vodafone SIM in the WiFi calling options appear. So I know the phone supports it but have no idea why they don't appear when I put my Eir SIM in. Eir says WiFi calling is enabled on all their plans.

Would anyone have any idea as to what the issue maybe?

ps. I also noticed with the Eir SIM in I connect to LTE but with the Vodafone SIM it says 4G, would that make any difference?

No issues with LTE vs 4G - they are the same thing - this is not the reason for your problem.

Unfortunately, Android requires a carrier-specific build of firmware which contains the WiFi Calling server settings for your carrier. I haven't used a Pixel - but if Google haven't got the Eir Server settings in the firmware, then you may not be able to use Eir's WiFi calling on the Pixel. They may only do this for carriers who are selling their phones, and the Pixel isn't currently in Eir's range of phones. The best way to ensure that WiFi calling works on Android is to get the phone from your carrier - this ensures that the carrier-specific settings are in it. You can get a phone elsewhere, but you will need to flash the phone with your carrier's settings. However, you can only do this if a carrier-specific build is available from the handset manufacturer. You need to check this before buying a handset. I am not a fan of Apple - but they seem to put all carriers settings in all their phones, so you can change carrier without any issue - this is one thing I have to credit Apple for.

You could try contacting Google - but I doubt that they will do the firmware on the fly for one customer.

doney84

babelfish1990 wrote: »

No issues with LTE vs 4G - they are the same thing - this is not the reason for your problem.

Unfortunately, Android requires a carrier-specific build of firmware which contains the WiFi Calling server settings for your carrier. I haven't used a Pixel - but if Google haven't got the Eir Server settings in the firmware, then you may not be able to use Eir's WiFi calling on the Pixel. They may only do this for carriers who are selling their phones, and the Pixel isn't currently in Eir's range of phones. The best way to ensure that WiFi calling works on Android is to get the phone from your carrier - this ensures that the carrier-specific settings are in it. You can get a phone elsewhere, but you will need to flash the phone with your carrier's settings. However, you can only do this if a carrier-specific build is available from the handset manufacturer. You need to check this before buying a handset. I am not a fan of Apple - but they seem to put all carriers settings in all their phones, so you can change carrier without any issue - this is one thing I have to credit Apple for.

You could try contacting Google - but I doubt that they will do the firmware on the fly for one customer.

Thanks, so there is nothing Eir can do to send an update over the air to avoid having to flash the firmware? It's all about Google having to support Eir's WiFi calling settings?

My previous phone, Nokia 7 plus, has the WiFi calling settings when I put my Eir SIM in. Does this mean Nokia included Eir's WiFi calling settings in their firmware as this phone was also bought carrier free?

babelfish1990

doney84 wrote: »

Thanks, so there is nothing Eir can do to send an update over the air to avoid having to flash the firmware? It's all about Google having to support Eir's WiFi calling settings?

My previous phone, Nokia 7 plus, has the WiFi calling settings when I put my Eir SIM in. Does this mean Nokia included Eir's WiFi calling settings in their firmware as this phone was also bought carrier free?

Google need to put the settings in their firmware. You need to contact Google, if anything. I doubt that Eir will be able to sort it for them and they will likely say that they don't support that model. Nokia have probably taken the same approach as Apple and included all carriers in their build. It's unfortunate, because Pixel's have a nice spec, and Eir are the only network offering fully-featured WiFi Calling.

Brianb8802

I am having the exact same problem, just got a Pixel 4a 5G yesterday and the Wifi calling options aren't available in settings. When I pop my sim back into my old Samsung S9 everything works fine.

I was onto google support and they said everything has been enabled and included in the firmware on their side. It is Eir who needs to allow the phone model to be used with Eir's Wifi calling system.

I had a look online and it looks like Vodafone customers were having similar problems but it was resolved last December and it is now working as it should.

I'm not very hopefully Eir can sort this problem out in the next few days, if they can't I will have to return the phone and start using my S9 again because mobile reception is pretty much non existent inside my home

Brianb8802

I contacted Eir and didn't get too far unfortunately. Customer support just say there must be a problem with the phone if the wifi call setting isn't showing up in the menus. You can't talk to their mobile tech support directly so can't explain the problem properly.

I'm thinking of returning the pixel 4a 5g and getting the pixel 5 instead. Is there anybody out there that confirm if the pixel 5 works with wifi calling on Eir.

Brianb8802

Just a further update, Eir customer services called me back today (:eek:) after talking to technical support.

They said it is a problem with the phone rather than the Eir network, as all the correct settings have been applied to the sim. I told them that the phone works with wifi calling when using a Vodafone sim and they offered to change the SIM to see if it will help. But the Eir sim works fine with wifi calling in other phones.

End result I've decided to just change over to Vodafone.

babelfish1990

Brianb8802 wrote: »

Just a further update, Eir customer services called me back today (:eek:) after talking to technical support.

They said it is a problem with the phone rather than the Eir network, as all the correct settings have been applied to the sim. I told them that the phone works with wifi calling when using a Vodafone sim and they offered to change the SIM to see if it will help. But the Eir sim works fine with wifi calling in other phones.

End result I've decided to just change over to Vodafone.

The WiFi calling settings are not held in the SIM. They are hard-coded in the handset manufacturer's firmware. Google need to setup firmware with Eir settings and probably test the handset with Eir to authorize it's use on their network.

doney84

I chatted with Google on this and repeatedly asked for a list of the Irish networks they have included WiFi calling settings for in their firmware. Eventually I was told that they had no access to this information and once I confirmed that Eir said WiFi calling should be working on my handset they offered to look into warranty options for me.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/116738369#Comment_116738369

did you get any resolution to this in the end?

doney84

Unfortunately not. Every time there is an update to download I check to see if the WiFi calling option appears but I've pretty much given up on it at this stage. Pity as it's a great phone otherwise and Eir mobile when bundled with home broadband is a great price.