Did T-Mobile stop charging voice minutes for calls over wifi?

[HoosierDaddy]

My wife just told me she is no longer being charged voice minutes over wifi on her 521 with the $30/mo unlimited data, unlimited text, 100 voice plan.

I know a lot of people were upset that they were still being charged voice minutes when using wifi but thought I would have heard or read if T-Mobile reversed themselves. So did I just miss the notification or is this a fluke she should keep quiet about.

I know this isn't a 521 question but didn't think there was a T-mobile plan forum here.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I called T-Mobile and they did not know of any change in policy. Either Customer Service got left out of the loop or my wife is getting free minutes due to some glitch.

I'm in a community property state so have to look into what happens when they catch it 10 years from now and send a bill for a gazillion wifil calling minutes. LoL

 

[WeAreNotAlone]

I'm in a community property state so have to look into what happens when they catch it 10 years from now and send a bill for a gazillion wifil calling minutes. LoL

Isn't she worth it though?

PS: I think carriers should NOT charge for Wi-Fi calling minutes.
So far as getting s straight answer out of T-Mo, good luck I'm on a post paid account and never could get a straight yes or no answer.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Isn't she worth it though?

PS: I think carriers should NOT charge for Wi-Fi calling minutes.
So far as getting s straight answer out of T-Mo, good luck I'm on a post paid account and never could get a straight yes or no answer.

I can live with charging wifi calls to voice minutes if they can. I have the same plan but never use the 100 voice minutes. But when I realized they were counting wifi calls toward voice minutes, I turned wifi off completely. So my T-Mobile unlimited data went from 100-150 MB/mo to ~4GB/mo. LoL

 

[WeAreNotAlone]

I can live with charging wifi calls to voice minutes if they can. I have the same plan but never use the 100 voice minutes. But when I realized they were counting wifi calls toward voice minutes, I turned wifi off completely. So my T-Mobile unlimited data went from 100-150 MB/mo to ~4GB/mo. LoL

T-Mo is using Wi-Fi calling so they don't have to upgrade their network, they are not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It's a way of artificially boosting your coverage area using the CUSTOMERS, or others Wi-Fi NETWORK.

Don't get me wrong, Wi-Fi is good, and routing the calls does cost them, but the thing is they shouldn't be charging regular rates for such.

PS: By them charging for it if I'm reading your post right T-Mo increased network loading 4000% ? (I assume you're using a VOIP app?)


Anyhow they shouldn't be charging the same rate, if at all as they don't have to upgrade their network.
(Yes I realize you cannot get a signal in some places, even if the tower is a block away.)

Oh, by the way.... "Is your wife worth it" if you had to pay a bill for a gazillion wifil calling minutes?

Note: Correct answer if there is any chance your wife, her friends may run across this post is YES!

.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

T-Mo is using Wi-Fi calling so they don't have to upgrade their network, they are not doing it out of the goodness of their heart. It's a way of artificially boosting your coverage area using the CUSTOMERS, or others Wi-Fi NETWORK.

Don't get me wrong, Wi-Fi is good, and routing the calls does cost them, but the thing is they shouldn't be charging regular rates for such.

PS: By them charging for it if I'm reading your post right T-Mo increased network loading 4000% ? (I assume you're using a VOIP app?)


Anyhow they shouldn't be charging the same rate, if at all as they don't have to upgrade their network.
(Yes I realize you cannot get a signal in some places, even if the tower is a block away.)

Oh, by the way.... "Is your wife worth it" if you had to pay a bill for a gazillion wifil calling minutes?

Note: Correct answer if there is any chance your wife, her friends may run across this post is YES!

.

I'm sure I already said she was worth it. It must be a forum glitch that deleted it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm not using VOIP. I'm retired and just don't use 100 minutes a month voice any more. I use a lot of data but until T-Mobile got greedy with the wifi calling minutes, I was using MY wifi for almost all that data. Now T-Mobile gets to pay for it all except for the small amount I use away from wifi.

I'm sorry, I just like to find ways to make stupid decisions made from a position of power cost the people who made them. Like a 10 year stretch with a company that wouldn't do net payroll deposits without giving them the right to withdraw money if they think they made a mistake. Since I was salaried with fairly consistent paychecks, I just had them deposit a set amount equal to ~$2 less than the total. So I didn't have to authorize them to withdraw and got a ~$2 check every time and just threw them in a box. When the expiration date got close (2 years at the time) I'd deposit a bunch of them. Got a chuckle from them having to print a check AND do a deposit and carry the uncashed checks on the books all that time. Not to mention there were situations where it was useful to mention that I hadn't cashed any of my paychecks for over a year. LoL

 

[WeAreNotAlone]

I'm sure I already said she was worth it. It must be a forum glitch that deleted it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I'm not using VOIP. I'm retired and just don't use 100 minutes a month voice any more. I use a lot of data but until T-Mobile got greedy with the wifi calling minutes, I was using MY wifi for almost all that data. Now T-Mobile gets to pay for it all except for the small amount I use away from wifi.

I'm sorry, I just like to find ways to make stupid decisions made from a position of power cost the people who made them. Like a 10 year stretch with a company that wouldn't do net payroll deposits without giving them the right to withdraw money if they think they made a mistake. Since I was salaried with fairly consistent paychecks, I just had them deposit a set amount equal to ~$2 less than the total. So I didn't have to authorize them to withdraw and got a ~$2 check every time and just threw them in a box. When the expiration date got close (2 years at the time) I'd deposit a bunch of them. Got a chuckle from them having to print a check AND do a deposit and carry the uncashed checks on the books all that time. Not to mention there were situations where it was useful to mention that I hadn't cashed any of my paychecks for over a year. LoL

I understand completely, Sounds we were twins separated at birth.
(Good call on the wife thing btw ...Boy that was close).

Please do update the thread with any further info you may run across. (That said I'm on Post-Paid so Wi-Fi might actually be free?)

Oh, A better place to ask carrier related questions may be "Howard Forums", those guys eat, sleep, and breath cell phone stuff:

HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - HowardForums Home

 

[Eric J F]

I just looked at our T-Mobile account and it looks like my wife's WiFi Calling minutes do not count against our 1000 Shared minutes. In the My Account app they're called 'UMA,' which I think means 'Unlicensed Mobile Access.'

Whatever the real purpose of WiFi Calling it's a great thing to have in poor signal areas and when traveling outside the country.

 

[DCProjMgr]

... when I realized they were counting wifi calls toward voice minutes, I turned wifi off completely. So my T-Mobile unlimited data went from 100-150 MB/mo to ~4GB/mo. LoL

You turned WiFi off? Why? You're using the same amount of voice minutes either way (at worst). Don't confuse data with voice service; they are two different things, each metered separately. (Understandably WiFi calling blurs the distinction.)

Use WiFi data as much as possible to keep your TMo data needs at a lower tier and less expensive. You gain nothing and have slower network speed by avoiding it.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

You turned WiFi off? Why? You're using the same amount of voice minutes either way (at worst). Don't confuse data with voice service; they are two different things, each metered separately. (Understandably WiFi calling blurs the distinction.)

Use WiFi data as much as possible to keep your TMo data needs at a lower tier and less expensive. You gain nothing and have slower network speed by avoiding it.

If it wasn't clear, I have unlimited data on my plan. It cost me the same if I use 1kB or xGB. So until they want to pass on some of the savings to THEM for me using wi-fi calling, I'll use their bandwidth for data instead of mine. If I had unlimited call minutes, I probably wouldn't care, but I don't.

Slower network speed for the data is irrelevant. The 4G (1st 5GB/mo) is as fast as I can read or watch and I don't care if map updates, etc take longer. If I find a data use that 4G isn't fast enough for, I'll turn the wi-fi back on for data.

 

[WeAreNotAlone]

I just looked at our T-Mobile account and it looks like my wife's WiFi Calling minutes do not count against our 1000 Shared minutes. In the My Account app they're called 'UMA,' which I think means 'Unlicensed Mobile Access.'

Whatever the real purpose of WiFi Calling it's a great thing to have in poor signal areas and when traveling outside the country.

Q: Post Paid. or Pre-Paid account?
Q: Did you have to enable /"Turn On" Wi-Fi calling in your account?
(Sounds like you're talking about a post-paid account. I'm getting the impression calls made via a Post-Paid account (Locked into a 2yr Contract) don't count, and if you're on a pre-paid (No contract- you can cancel at anytime without a ETF) "Wi-Fi" calls do count.)

 

[Eric J F]

We're on what you're calling a post-paid but no contract anymore since I bought our phones outright.

And- yes- T-Mobile has to enable WiFi Calling.

 

[qbot101]

I am on the Pay As You Go plan (pay per minute) and airtime is charged for calls made on Wi-Fi.

 

[liteon163]

Today I will be receiving a Nokia Lumia 521 for use as a "house phone" when my two (old enough) kids are left home alone. I'm going to go with a pay-as-you-go plan on T-Mobile, starting off with the 1000 minutes/texts for $100, good for a year. I'm already trying to figure out how the kids and I can use wifi for calling and texting each other. I'm hoping wifi calling will be enabled, but I doubt T-Mobile will allow that since my minutes would last A LOT longer if wifi calling/texting doesn't count against what I paid them for. Otherwise, it looks like Skype will work between this phone and my Samsung Galaxy SIII on Verizon. Granted, if they need to call or text anyone not on Skype they will have to use the "real" minutes/texts. But 1000 minutes/texts should last a long time, especially considering their mother got them each their own Nexus 7 (2012) tablets from which they can use Google Hangouts to contact me.

I purchased the phone simply to avoid her ******** about me not having a phone available to the kids. And I don't want to share the cost of a TracFone with her, since she expects 50% payment when I have the kids 1/3 of the time. Yeah, this costs more money... but I get a new gadget to play with. And if my 16 year old daughter likes the phone, I'll get her one for her high school graduation in the summer.

 

[metalchick719]

Today I will be receiving a Nokia Lumia 521 for use as a "house phone" when my two (old enough) kids are left home alone. I'm going to go with a pay-as-you-go plan on T-Mobile, starting off with the 1000 minutes/texts for $100, good for a year. I'm already trying to figure out how the kids and I can use wifi for calling and texting each other. I'm hoping wifi calling will be enabled, but I doubt T-Mobile will allow that since my minutes would last A LOT longer if wifi calling/texting doesn't count against what I paid them for. Otherwise, it looks like Skype will work between this phone and my Samsung Galaxy SIII on Verizon. Granted, if they need to call or text anyone not on Skype they will have to use the "real" minutes/texts. But 1000 minutes/texts should last a long time, especially considering their mother got them each their own Nexus 7 (2012) tablets from which they can use Google Hangouts to contact me.

I purchased the phone simply to avoid her ******** about me not having a phone available to the kids. And I don't want to share the cost of a TracFone with her, since she expects 50% payment when I have the kids 1/3 of the time. Yeah, this costs more money... but I get a new gadget to play with. And if my 16 year old daughter likes the phone, I'll get her one for her high school graduation in the summer.

Skype won't work on the 521 because there's no front facing camera.

 

[liteon163]

I had Skype working just fine. I was able to "text" between my 521 and SGSIII. I didn't try voice chat yet, but I will. Then I could conceivably talk and text my kids at home without using any T-Mobile "minutes." The phone service would be used to contact emergency numbers or other people not on Skype.

Later edit: I successfully used voice chat between the two phones.

 

[trobs29]

Skype video calls actually work. Tried it once but had to hang up quickly. Got to see the video feed of the caller but didn't get to play around enabling my feed through the rear camera.

 

[ntice_521]

Be warned that Skype on Windows Phone doesn't support voicemail. It's not a fully functional version of Skype.