On Sun, Sep 29, 2024, at 19:32, Andrew Voumard via luv-main wrote:
> Hi Brian,
>
> VoLTE support is somewhat carrier customized (unfortunately).

Yeah, that fits with my experience and research.

Those various links you, Andrew, posted were very useful.
Thanks.

It's hard to know what's really happening.

If I might add an account of my varied experience.

A few years ago, my main daily phone was a Bluboo S1 (one of the
other Chinese brands, now apparently defunct).  I got a Boost
pre-paid SIM (which runs on Telstra network).  I couldn't make
phone calls.  However, if I put the SIM in my then new
Pinephone, it worked fine for making and receiving VoLTE
phonecalls, without any adjustments to settings.  I got a refund
for Boost SIM on the grounds that their packaging hadn't
mentioned the need for VoLTE-capable phone, my main intended use
being in the Bluboo phone.

But it is a data-point:  That at least for some SIMs on the
Telstra network, they started being VoLTE only several years
ago.  And that, at least for that network, the Pinephone did
VoLTE.

Now my setup is an original Google Pixel phone running Android
10 with a Moose Mobile SIM (and a replaced battery), and that
Pinephone running Mobian with a Coles SIM.  Both run off the
Optus Network.

....
> If you are on the Telstra network, you can check if your phone supports 
> VoLTE by sending an SMS:
>
> https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/3gxt-3g-closure-sms
....

That SMS number, "texting 3 to 3498", seems also to work on
Optus.  But for me, for both phones, the response is "your
device is not a mobile phone"!  I'm guess that the Pixel is too
old and the Pinephone too weird to be in their database.

The Wikipedia page for the Google Pixel says that it's VoLTE
capable, and so does the page
....
> More details from Telstra on older 4G phones that do work with VoLTE
>
> https://www.telstra.com.au/support/mobiles-devices/enable-volte-mobile-phone
....
(though not for roaming).

That gives me some hope, though maybe it needs some
configuration, and may not be supported.

One the Pinephone, when making phonecalls, I noticed that the
connection showed as 4G while making phonecalls (that is, it
didn't drop back to 3G).  In Settings, I've since changed the
"Network Mode" to "4G only", and phonecalls still work (checked
again just a few minutes ago).

On the Pixel, it's inconclusive: the only relevant option in
Settings is "4G preferred", and the display doesn't show whether
it's a 4G or 3G connection.

I haven't had time to do any deeper probing.

I guess the take-away from this is, "who knows?".  I guess we
wait and see what happens at the end of the month, and take care
not to have any emergencies then.  :-)

The Pinephone does look promising, though, in that it seems to
do VoLTE on both Telstra and Optus networks.  A long delayed
project of mine is to get Waydroid installed on my Pinephone, so
I can shift over the few Android-only apps I use (like Signal,
and Whatsapp for less enlightened relatives and friends), and
continue my life.

I also have a Purism Librem-5, and a Pinephone Pro, but I just
don't have the time at the moment to do any serious VoLTE
investigations with them.  (It's a fair bit of disruption to
shift SIM cards around, and I had a problem — since resolved —
with the Librem-5's SIM tray jamming, making me less
inclined to swapping SIMs.)  If people are interested, and at
some point I find out anything interesting about the Librem-5
and Pinephone Pro, I can post again here.

Well, for what it's worth, those are my observations.  I hope
they're of some use to you.


— Smiles, Les.
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