Samsung J3 and VOIP use
 

My wife has a Samsung J3 phone which gets very poor reception in the house. We have tried to set it to use VOIP internet calling but failed dismally. We have been through all of the menu options and it seems to be set up the same as my slightly newer Samsung phone which gets marginally better reception in the house but it still pays me to set it to use VOIP whenever I am at home. We are both on contracts with suppliers who lodge on the EE network but not with the same suppliers. In my case the VOIP only works if I set Aeroplane Mode and then re-enable WiFi, it won't go there if it thinks it has a mobile signal of any strength. We have tried this on the J3.

Could it be a service supplier issue?

We took the into one of the local mobile phone shops and they think they demonstrated it going to VOIP but as they didn't set Aeroplane mode we suspect it was just using it's normal network service.......

How can we find out if this model of phone actually supports VOIP calling? It may just be in the menus in the software/firmware and not supported by the hardware.

Rans6....................

Yes, it could.

I think you mean what’s generally called 'calling over WiFi'?

Although this is a form of 'Voice over IP', VOIP generally refers to voice calls using apps such as Skype or Whatsapp, or to the new 'fixed' handsets being handed out by BT as they decommission their analog network.

Ive been trying to enable Wi-fi calling on my phone for a couple of years. It works with every supplier's SIM I’ve tried except my own supplier's. I’m on a Family SIM plan and my daughter has a later model of the same phone as me. She was in the same situation as me until the manufacturer issued her phone with a software update from Android 10 to 11 at which point WiFi calling started to work for her. The same Android update was not issued to my phone.

So my conclusion is that phone hardware, phone software and service supplier are all involved, and it's impossible to find a definitive list of what combinations will work.

Good luck.

Thanks for the info. It seems likely that the phone service supplier has not enabled WiFi calling for my wife....

J3 Manual
 

This any help? https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...D08_160216.pdf

Does it mention 'Calling over Wifi'? I couldn't find it.

After some discussion the service provider has admitted that the SIM they issue does not support WiFi calling. Apparently they are in the process of selling out to EE but that won't in itself allow WiFi calling to function. If we want to enable WiFi calling my wife can swap to a proper EE SIM for a small increase in monthly contract charge. The other option is a further small increase in cost and to swap to my service provider which will reduce the tariff on her energy bills. Before doing either of these I will put my SIM in the J3 and see what happens.

Thanks.

Rans6..................

Sounds like you have the same service provider as me.

I was considering asking them to replace my SIM with an EE one.

I may still do that but I'm less hopeful about the outcome now.