Any Windows Phones Still Functioning?

[Old_Mil]

...with everything going VoLTE?

 

[fatclue_98]

It depends on which carrier you use. On T-Mobile, the ONLY Windows Phone running the 1709 branch that is compatible with TMO's bands and VoLTE is the Alcatel Idol 4S. That's it. I believe AT&T still supports the AT&T-branded Lumia 950. Someone on AT&T would have to confirm this. As far as functionality, outside of Microsoft's own apps, very little is working.

 

[Old_Mil]

It depends on which carrier you use. On T-Mobile, the ONLY Windows Phone running the 1709 branch that is compatible with TMO's bands and VoLTE is the Alcatel Idol 4S. That's it. I believe AT&T still supports the AT&T-branded Lumia 950. Someone on AT&T would have to confirm this. As far as functionality, outside of Microsoft's own apps, very little is working.

So I picked up a T-mobile Lumia 640 LTE running the latest WP 8.1 and am trying to use it on T-mobile. The IMEI checker shows that it is compatible.

At rest, after manually editing the APN settings and MMS APN settings, LTE is displayed next to the five bars of coverage.

When I make a call this drops to 4G (not 3G or 2G as some Lineage devices do).

The phone call displays HD Voice.

All bands in the engineering menu (including Band 12) are active.

Cellular + SIM > SIM > Use enhanced 4G LTE services is ON.

However in Settings > About > More Information it says IMS not registered.

SMS/MMS/Voice/Email works, and that's all I really care about at this point besides surviving the T-mobile 2G/3G cutoff on 7/1/2022.

Thoughts?

 

[fatclue_98]

My understanding is that any T-Mobile phone made prior to mid-2016 will be cut off. It's all about e911 from what I remember - this is not new. I'm curious as to why you had to manually edit the APN settings on a T-Mobile-branded device.

 

[Old_Mil]

My understanding is that any T-Mobile phone made prior to mid-2016 will be cut off. It's all about e911 from what I remember - this is not new. I'm curious as to why you had to manually edit the APN settings on a T-Mobile-branded device.

So it's July 2nd and my Lumia 640 LTE has survived the 3g deactivation and continues to have full service. As for manually setting up the APNs, automatic provisioning activated voice and sms, but I couldn't send or receive mms picture messages until I manually added separate internet and mms apns.

Now, if there was a way to install a browser that was a little bit more up to date than IE and a PDF reader, that would be about all I need.

 

[RTGent]

So it's July 2nd and my Lumia 640 LTE has survived the 3g deactivation and continues to have full service. As for manually setting up the APNs, automatic provisioning activated voice and sms, but I couldn't send or receive mms picture messages until I manually added separate internet and mms apns.

Now, if there was a way to install a browser that was a little bit more up to date than IE and a PDF reader, that would be about all I need.

Surprised, but happy for you. My non-VoLTE 950 is now relegated to wi-fi duty. As for browsing, I've been running Edge for years on it. And for .pdfs, I have PDF Viewer Plus installed. Enjoy and Go 640!

 

[Old_Mil]

Surprised, but happy for you. My non-VoLTE 950 is now relegated to wi-fi duty. As for browsing, I've been running Edge for years on it. And for .pdfs, I have PDF Viewer Plus installed. Enjoy and Go 640!

So I continue to use the 640 LTE as my daily driver. I updated it to Windows 10 Mobile using unofficial methods which restored a significant amount of functionality to the browser and system in general. It cost me the Here Wego navigation app though.

The absence of WhatsApp and Signal are the two most noticeable missing links. But I d have telegram working.

I'm pretty satisfied with the situation at this point.

 

[EFats]

So I continue to use the 640 LTE as my daily driver. I updated it to Windows 10 Mobile using unofficial methods which restored a significant amount of functionality to the browser and system in general. It cost me the Here Wego navigation app though.

The absence of WhatsApp and Signal are the two most noticeable missing links. But I d have telegram working.

I'm pretty satisfied with the situation at this point.

Wow I thought I was hard core! I have the 650 and I find it painfully slow now. On 950/950XL now.
But 'works'? Ermm...
I can check email, calendar, but have to use work-arounds for some accounts (e.g. iCloud). The browser is pretty good except when sites check specifically for Safari or Chrome.
Microsoft To-Do stopped syncing, have to use work-around.
The default weather app just broke (for some locations only)...
For the maps, I'm ok with the Microsoft version.

No issues with voice calling and SMS, but at this point, it's dipping close to feature phone level. Can't even get the emergency alerts. Things seem to be getting worse all the time. Even my older Blackberry 10 devices are generally able to maintain more functionality! At least they don't seem to lose functionality on the built in apps. I know with AT&T, at least a couple years ago, I still got the emergency warning on my Passport

 

[SA31]

I have an att branded lumia 950 that still works on att. I don’t use it very much, I just don’t bother swapping the sim anymore. I’d imagine not too long from now a sim will be the thing of the past and that will prevent my 950 from coming back.