New Member
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25.7K Messages
When Will Prepaid/GoPhone Allow for WiFi Calling?
I recently bought a iPhone 6E, which is WiFi calling-ready. However, because I went with a prepaid account, it doesn't appear I can enable WiFi calling. This is disappointing since the AT&T sales person said there is no difference in prepaid vs. postpaid accounts in terms of service capabilities, data speeds, etc. This apparently was not true. So now I am wondering whether AT&T is planning to permit WiFi calling on prepaid accounts sometime soon, or am I going to already have to bail out of the GoPhone service and seek something else.
Gary L
ACE - Expert
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16.5K Messages
7 years ago
Just say "only iPhones and AT&T branded phones will work with WiFi calling, your phone may or may not work. Ask in the forums..."
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pgrey
Master
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3.5K Messages
7 years ago
Yep, @lizdance40, I guess there's the support side of things too.
A surprisingly large number of those "grey market" phones don't have WiFi call/text support, interestingly enough. I know, because my daughter is ready to move on from her Win Phone, and I've been looking at mid-level models (from a breadth of sources), and a lot of them don't have it (perhaps for a similar reason, the OEM never finished implementing/testing for those).
You're right though, probably plenty of phones out there that are going to be a headache in some cases, but then if we do look at some of the "allowed phones", the current implementation of Advanced texting has it's own set of issues (most likely server-side).
Sure seems like it would cost a whole heck of a lot less though, say if in an increasingly dense setting, you could "fall back" to people using a mix of WiFi and cell, particularly during busy times, I suspect the WiFi call/text server infrastructure is far less than adding/adding-onto a tower, but who am I to guess...
@Gary L Yeah, I think that's exactly what they don't want to publish, IMHO ;-] It would also be "... won't work", given the current implementation anyway, which wouldn't look very BYOD friendly, in perhaps too many bold letters...
If yours is a combined deal with the other though (letting equipped, non-branded phones in), then that would make sense. This is more or less how other carriers do it, from what I've seen, devices like my 6P (it's an easy one, it just works, because it was designed for mixed WiFi and cell, really heavy on the WiFi side) are enabled, since they report back correctly, and provision as such.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.1K Messages
7 years ago
Yeah. That simple.
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David18
Teacher
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11 Messages
7 years ago
@garylapointe
Just say "only iPhones and AT&T branded phones will work with WiFi calling, your phone may or may not work. Ask in the forums..."
I would add to that ...... " WiFi Calling wont work on GoPhone Plan "
Then it will leave no doubt , but could always double check by asking in forums
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.1K Messages
7 years ago
@David18 yes. One of several missing bits of information
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David606
Employee
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3.5K Messages
7 years ago
And it's pretty much the carrier's right to dictate what phones they will allow to use the services that require network side provisioning in order to function. Cellular networks are not public utilities and I don't think this current presidential administration and his appointed FCC chairman will change any kind of rules or requirements for BYOD. If voice calls over any technology work, that's all they require for a compatible phone.
I know this is a huge point of contention but this is also why cellular is an industry that provides end users with a choice of whom to get service with. If the policies of one company aren't fitting or suitable, someone else may fit particular needs. Taking a stand vocally and diatribes about what's fair or what isn't won't change anything. Voting with your wallet however is something that can demonstrate a willingness to spend your money with a carrier that does provide what is needed. Will that spur a change? In my opinion it probably won't because it would take massive amounts of churn to draw attention to the matter.
After all the carriers are in this business to generate revenue and profits. The amount of customers leaving because VOLTE and other RCS features don't work on non-branded phones isn't going to outweigh the enormous sales of AT&T branded phones.
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pgrey
Master
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3.5K Messages
7 years ago
@David606Sure, but that assumes the converse is true, that enabling this functionality is going to significantly change the sales of branded devices. I would challenge that this assertion isn't valid, or at least proven, and is inversely supported by the fact that almost all carriers have this support, and still manage to sell a good deal of their devices.
I don't think (see my previous comment) that most people even know that the phone they're buying does/doesn't support WiFi call/text, probably some fraction of a percent knowingly purchase this way. Carrier sales are more likely based on a combination of convenience, and lack of any knowledge ("I've always just gone to the store to get a new phone...").
I think having a healthy discussion is a valid "use" of our resources, unless it's specifically prohibited, isn't that the point of the forum, anyway? If it's not, then it should be moderated out, accordingly.
We had similar discussions about the Unlimited plans and tethering, up until a few months ago, for example, and I think people benefited from them, in a variety of ways. Perhaps some even "voted with their wallets", or at least it appears that the business side thought that this was going to be a factor, because it changed, along with the rest of the US industry movement.
I don't think we're asserting that the FCC will change this, particularly as you mention in the current climate. Maybe there was some comment to that, in the entirety of the thread, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure most of us are not asserting that a governing body is the answer, necessarily, in this case. I may/may not have certain views on this, but it starts to get political/personal pretty quickly, IME, so I don't generally assert things this way.
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Lilybell2
ACE - Professor
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2.2K Messages
7 years ago
AT&T appears to be putting its eggs in its DirecTV Now basket, and doesn't seem too concerned about losing wireless customers... yet.
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pgrey
Master
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3.5K Messages
7 years ago
@Lilybell2 Interesting, I guess I wasn't tracking this. I sort of wonder what effect that will (at least eventually) have. Perhaps it does indicate it's time to "pull out more stops".
@lizdance40, Yeah, the support piece is real, but you're right, if you've got some wildly incompatible device, it's not like you have a way out of it with provisioning now. The same would likely hold true for the other services, except, perhaps, that it could be slightly more difficult to diagnose, depending.
I really was just trying to respond to the person asking about the issue, initially, and probably did carry it a bit beyond that.
I do tend to get a bit passionate about standards and features that don't get used; I've spent a good deal of my professional life trying to engineer solutions to remove these types of blocks, or at least lessen their impact, across the broadest spectrum. I would *always* go to the carpet for the consumer, even to the point where I've had to make calls on re-engineering h/w (and s/w, less expensive usually) components, if I thought it would impact a significant segment. I often figure out a new way to do due-diligence, and demonstrate the "larger need", based on numerical analysis. This has mostly served me well, but admittedly has been an issue, occasionally, if other, larger agendas were already in motion...
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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117.1K Messages
7 years ago
@pgrey If engineering ways to take down roadblock has been your work, this must drive you up the wall.
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