T-mobile's wifi calling

Wyn6

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Actually, it does. I picked up my 810 yesterday. If you go into your account online, and go to plans and services, you will see the option to add Wi-Fi calling for Free. Click the button and you're good to go.
 

calfee20

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That is good news! Now for the last question. Will it work for any plan like the $30, 100 minute unlimited data plan available online or at walmart.
 

Guzzler3

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That is good news! Now for the last question. Will it work for any plan like the $30, 100 minute unlimited data plan available online or at walmart.
If you are talking about the PRE pay plans, and you are thinking "Hey! If I enable WiFi calling, I can avoid loosing any of those precious 100 voice minutes because WiFi calling is FREE!"

STOP! Do NOT pass GO!

With T-Mobile PRE pay plans (i.e. Monthly - No annual Contract), ANY and ALL voice calls count against your voice minutes (cellular or WiFi) :shocked:

To be able to get the "Free WiFi Calling", you have to be on their POST payed plans (i.e. Individual - Classic, Family - Classic, Value package) for it to not count against voice minutes.

I subscribe to T-Mobile via PRE pay (100 min, UL text/data). I borrowed a cell phone that had WiFi calling feature, and put my SIM in and made sure WiFi calling was turned on, and made a voice call, later looked at my minute count go down. I had to spend an inordinate amount of time verifying this via phone calls, online chats, and face to face to make sure this was the case. Each time I asked why, I was responded with "Really?!? You lost minutes? Hang on." To which I was put on hold forever, with the eventual response of "Wow, I didn't know this, but free WiFi calling isn't allowed on Pre paid, sorry. If you want, we can move you to an Individual or Value plan and enable that feature."

Only once when I pressed the issue did they come back with "We use WiFi calling as a feature to help you when you are in an area that has poor cellular coverage, with POST paid accounts we give it as a free service."

Sad part, is I still can't find it in writing anywhere.
 

jab2980

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Actually, it does. I picked up my 810 yesterday. If you go into your account online, and go to plans and services, you will see the option to add Wi-Fi calling for Free. Click the button and you're good to go.

Wifi calling is a hardware/firmware based feature. Simply adding the feature to your T-Mobile account will not make this available unless the phone supports it. I have confirmed through both the user manual and a T-Mobile customer service agent that wi-fi calling is not supported by this device. Now on the flip side, you are stating that you own an 810, so you would know best. You can confirm that your device is making calls and sending messages via wifi? This is extremely good news if so.
 

Mystictrust

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Only once when I pressed the issue did they come back with "We use WiFi calling as a feature to help you when you are in an area that has poor cellular coverage, with POST paid accounts we give it as a free service."

Sad part, is I still can't find it in writing anywhere.
I know what you mean... best I can do for you is redirect you here: T-Mobile Bringing Unlimited Wi-Fi Calling Back | | TmoNewsTmoNews

Actually, it does. I picked up my 810 yesterday. If you go into your account online, and go to plans and services, you will see the option to add Wi-Fi calling for Free. Click the button and you're good to go.
Not so fast. While it is true that T-Mobile offers Wi-Fi calling to all customers on eligible plans, you also need an eligible device to be able to take advantage of it. As far as I know, Wi-Fi calling is not enabled in Windows Phones and that remains true with WP8. Not only does it require an app, it also deeply links into the phone and I'm fairly sure it has to be pre-installed on the device. Current rumor has it that T-Mobile is working with Microsoft to bring Wi-Fi calling to WP8 "in the next few months" but I'm not holding my breath for that, not until we hear something more substantial. Keep your eyes locked to tmonews.com, it'll be shouted from the heavens if it ever indeed becomes a strong rumor or fact. I'm hopeful it'll be posted here on WPCentral as well.

Now, that being said, if you can find a way to actually make a Wi-Fi call on your Lumia 810, you'll be my best friend (and I'll be hounding you for details on how you did it). VoIP doesn't count, obviously.

I made good use of Wi-Fi calling on my Android. At least one place I frequented had horrible reception indoors, but they had a Wi-Fi network so I took advantage of Wi-Fi calling for calls and text. I also took advantage of it at home and noticed better battery life, since my phone was never searching for signal :)

T-Mobile, in February of this year, stated that they remain committed to Wi-Fi calling and will try and push to get it on all their devices, so I hope that rings true for us!! It might come down to Microsoft and if they want to allow it.
 

calfee20

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It is not the minutes so much as the signal. Tmobile's coverage map has me as good or average signal. The wifi calling would allow me to call from anywhere in the house. I could replace my landline phone but the signal would still come from a physical wire, cable. The 100 minutes should be enough for me. What happens if you go over your minutes? Do they cut you off or charge outrageous prices.
 

bradbamford

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Actually, it does. I picked up my 810 yesterday. If you go into your account online, and go to plans and services, you will see the option to add Wi-Fi calling for Free. Click the button and you're good to go.

That's great news, can you post a screenshot of that?
 

Guzzler3

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What happens if you go over your minutes? Do they cut you off or charge outrageous prices.
It sucks if you use up your minutes during a call, it drops you. But, you can call the person back and continue on, being charged $0.10 per minute. Weird.

I throw in a couple extra dollars into my account to cover the occasional overages. But even with the extra money in the account, it will still disconnect your call if you use up the 100 minutes during a call.

One other thing I noticed, if your call is only for 30 sec, you still get docked for a 1 minute of usage.

Personally I would LOVE for them to offer an "Unlimited Web & Text with 240 Minutes of Talk" for $35 or $40
 

calfee20

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.10 / min is not bad. My daughter is on verizon 500 min and I thought I heard her say if she went over it was like .45/min. It is good to know you can add money to your account. As for being cut off .......it is a good way to end a call.
 

Wyn6

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So, setting up the service on the web site it says it will take effect on 12/9 which is when my next billing cycle starts. So, I won't be able to fully confirm until them. But, it gives you the option in services. I checked my fianc?e's line and this is not an available service to her (HD7). Also, there's no option to toggle on my phone itself. I guess when I get a text or email telling me the service has changed, I'll give it a shot and report back.
 

Guzzler3

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I bought my 810 yesterday, I have been going through every setting I can, and I can't find any switch to turn on WiFi (aka UMA) calling. So it looks like they didn't include it.

Other than than, it's a damn nice phone :D
 

Wyn6

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I bought my 810 yesterday, I have been going through every setting I can, and I can't find any switch to turn on WiFi (aka UMA) calling. So it looks like they didn't include it.

Other than than, it's a damn nice phone :D

Correct. There is no setting for it on the phone. But, log into your Tmo account online and select change plans and services for your line. Then select Individual Services and scroll down. Under Extras you will see Wi-Fi calling and a button to "Add" it and the word "Free" next to it.

This was the same type of set up they had for Visual Voice Mail in WP7. You had to add the service from the website or call Tmo to have it activated. Again, I added this in services and it says it will be available on 12/9 (beginning of my billing cycle). So, I'll wait till then to see if it's true or not.
 

Wyn6

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Yeah, unfortunately this Wyn6 guy has no idea what he is talking about and is providing inaccurate information.

Look, Jab2980. Do you have an 810? If you do, then go to the website as I stated above and see for yourself that Wi-Fi calling is a free add-on service for the phone. If you don't have an 810, then you have no room to comment on whether or not somebody's statement is accurate or not. In either case, I know for a fact that you haven't verified this yourself. If you had you would note that any inaccuracies would be on T-Mobile's part. Why? Because, this is on THEIR website. I don't just make things up to try and impress people on the internet.

As I also state above, the website claims that service will be activated for me on the 9th of December and that I would check it at that time to see if it actually does work or not. In case you have difficulty understanding... my statement says that I am skeptical myself, but the website does say it's available.

So, either go and check T-mobile's site yourself and see what I'm actually talking about or hold up on trying to correct somebody on something you have no clue about.
 

smurfercom

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There is no wifi calling on wp8, they did not implement the radio for UMA ( Unlicensed Mobile Access) it really is a shame they didn't. But it's not to big a deal for me as long as I can wifi internet I'm all good.
 

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