[fred1266]

Been seeing this alot lately, tried google in it but still not getting any information can someone please explain

Posted via CB10

[scrannel]

Wifi-calling, essentially, allows the user to connect to his cell system through wifi. So, I was recently in Kazakhstan, and where ever I could get on wifi: airport lounges, gates, restaurants, hotels, I was able to make "local" calls to my home and business and receive them with zero long distance charges. However, it is like calling from home, so if you call a number which would ordinarily be long distance, it still will be. The other advantage is if you are based in the US and find yourself in an area (or live in an area) with poor signal, you will have perfect reception with wifi-calling. In the US, of the four majors, this is only avail on T-MO. Other big advantage is you use your regular cell number. Oh yeah, wifi-calling allows you to send MMS over wifi.

[DoctorNeutron]

My daughter and I routinely video chat via our playbooks (Wifi only). If I am away from my PBs and she starts a VC, my zed will participate. (The first time it happened, I was stunned and could not believe it.) Verizon probably does whatever, most likely minimizing bandwidth load and choosing Wifi when it can.

[MADBRADNYC]

Hmmm. That's weird.
I get tons of information when I Google "WiFi Calling"...
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=wifi+calling

[scrannel]

You can call and receive calls from people who do not use the app. When I'm in Almaty, my wife calls my cell number -- local call.

[fred1266]

OK thanks, if I have WI Fi home I can use this feature without being charged by my cell company

Posted via CB10

[scrannel]

OK thanks, if I have WI Fi home I can use this feature without being charged by my cell company

Posted via CB10

In the US, you have to be on T-Mo. The others do not have the infrastructure and the app will not work.

[punbb]

How about in Canada?

Posted via CB10

[scrannel]

How about in Canada?

Posted via CB10

I thought Rogers had UMA or a version of wifi-calling. I'm sure someone here can say for sure. But not sure if the T-Mo app would work. UMA was the original version that required hardware on the phone. T-Mo then went to Kineto which allowed it to be added to Android OTA. Now they're running IMS. It's on all their phones except the iPhone. Of course.

[xamdam]

I use ephone on my playbook over wifi it is awesome.

You can also get ephone for the z10 if you desire to save your minutes.

ephone is free to use in North America = Canada and USA all for Free and its to any north American number, not just ephone to ephone all Free

[scrannel]

I use ephone on my playbook over wifi it is awesome.

You can also get ephone for the z10 if you desire to save your minutes.

ephone is free to use in North America = Canada and USA all for Free and its to any north American number, not just ephone to ephone all Free

Voip services are great. However with wifi calling people can get hold of me using my regular cell number.

[fred1266]

OK I from Caribbean so we don't have that type of infrastructure either

Posted via CB10

[xamdam]

Voip services are great. However with wifi calling people can get hold of me using my regular cell number.

I forgot to mention Ephone by comwave can also be used over cellular service data.

Also if u and whom ever has Ephone installed all you have to do is dial the persons cell number not the Ephone number as that is to be used if you like to Ephone to Ephone or if u have Ephone and the other person does not.

Ephone from comwave is on most cell phone OS platforms

[WArcher]

There are two kinds of WiFi calling in BlackBerry-ville; the first is the Carrier supported version where a normal phone call is placed and the carrier allows that call to be placed over WiFi or the cellular network. Not all carriers support this for all devices. On BlackBerry 10 I've seen T-Mobile start to support it. It was popular on some BBOS devices too. Rogers here in Canada supported it well.

The second kind of WiFi calling is application-to-application calling. This has nothing at all to do with the Carrier. A device without a SIM would still work perfectly.

The best known one is BBM which supports both Voice and Video calls over WiFi. The PlayBook has had this as a special application since birth (because it doesn't run BBM). Skype supports this, too. You just need the same thing on both ends of the call and you're set. (So Skype would work with an Android device today, for example). In a couple of weeks you will be able to use BBM on Apple and Android devices so your contacts can share a common calling experience.

Hope that helps.

[WArcher]

I thought Rogers had UMA or a version of wifi-calling. I'm sure someone here can say for sure. But not sure if the T-Mo app would work. UMA was the original version that required hardware on the phone. T-Mo then went to Kineto which allowed it to be added to Android OTA. Now they're running IMS. It's on all their phones except the iPhone. Of course.

Rogers has it for BBOS devices but not BB10 devices yet. UMA is different than what T-Mobile is doing I'm pretty sure.
Rogers One Number in Canada allows me to take a call on my BlackBerry Z10 and then, when I get to my desk, click one button to transfer the call to my PC with no loss or call drop. Super clever.

[spacemanspork]

Oh yeah, wifi-calling allows you to send MMS over wifi.

I've actually had problems with this myself. MMS doesn't seem to like WiFi calling sometimes. In fact last night I had some issues.

To be fair, I used to be on Sprint and I had a Sprint signal booster in my place and while phone calls and SMS went through nicely, MMS also acted up frequently.

[scrannel]

MMS can be a bit hit or miss, but mine generally works. The two "types" of real (non-classic voip) are UMA (Rogers and older T-Mo, Cincinnati Bell etc.) where hardware is required on the phone, and the new IMS (T-Mo). But what separates them from classic voip is they use wifi to connect to your cell system. Thus you can use you own number. Of interest is the wifi-calling place in the new t-mo international plan: About Simple Choice Goes Global | T-Mobile Support

[M65c02]

If I see one more of these WIFI garbage explanations, I'm going to have to set up a seminar, or maybe wheel the Pushka from retirement. We need to be more observant here. Although BBOS now (mostly) beat me to the punch, some are definitiely misleading some people with regard to WIFI calling here, and in other posts. Enthusiasim is most often welcome, and otherwise good, but misleading or incomplete information placed in a post defeats, in part, the purpose a CB thread contributes as a problem solving (BB) tool.

1) NO U.S. carrier has a full WIFI service--integrated 2.5 & 5.0 mhz send receive capability--in the sense of a signal to signal connection without $$ charge. Obviously, one can send/receive calls via WIFI (if VOiP enabled phone) or call signal radio on virtually any carrier network with a proper App--albeit sometimes paying through the nose. Full featured WIFI App to App calling, however, can be found with no (or nominal) charges. So, again, of course, no carrier (yet) offers a full featured WIFI connection (especially for BB phones) that include a similar free APP to APP connection feature.

2) YES, as Scrannel again promotes, TM does have what they call a WIFI calling feature. T Mobile allows those subscribers that download a program (under their OS10.1 release) to connect with WIFI and even allows limited free usage (if unlimited minutes) of this function but only under the following specific conditions:
(a) You're calling from an area where you haven't a clear signal for your normal radio receiver function--i.e., a regular call and
(b) You have a clear internet signal with proper bandwidth. BTW, if you do not have a line of sight connection with the signal transmitter than it likely will be better to commect on a 2.5ghz signal--keep in mind if you are settting a/the dual band router. (I'm happy to get into more detail, here, but the effot would clearly be de minimus.)

3) Clarity of Voice: NO, the clarity is not going to be necessarily clear, nor even clearer in general terms nor even better than what otherwise appears to have been a poor non-WIFI radio signal. A user's words will be scrambled across the World--depending on its orgin and trunk/satelite traffic load--before hitting its destination and re-assembled--true whether sent or received. But whereas this quality, perhaps, was 50/50 as recently as 5 years ago, it tends to be clear 70-80% of the time today on intl calls and closer to 95% clarity on regional domestic calls.

4) BBOS touches on what are full WIFI calling networks--APP to APP capable and (usually) free. (This should be instuctive for the OP and others that consult this thread for reference in the future.) Obviously, BBOS finally won the battle with Skype (inclusive of video if desired), Viber (good luck on OS10), and half a dozen others offer App to App calls over WIFI. These services are mostly free (some have a small fee after intro) but all are less expensive than a "traditional" carrier--whether APP to APP or App to non WIFI cell. The user will have to have a new, dedicated number while using these services but the programs run with transparency (unlike the TM app) relative to other applications.

Therefore, with TMobile if the 2nd (or 3rd) party, for example, is hooked into WIFI there remains a (major) charge for calls outside the TMobile service area (TMSA) by the TM originating party. The absolute only exception to a non-charged call occurs when a TMobile customer travels outside TMSA, hooks to an appropriate internet signal, and calls back to the U.S. Alternatively, the only time one party can be outside of TMSA and not sustain a charge is when it is the TM customer returning a call to the U.S. YES, obviously anyone can feel free to call anyone in the world on TM, or most any other network, whether on WIFI or not for their $1-2/minute charge to the old Republics behind the Curtain, or half that to the West and parts of S.A.

BUT DON'T be fooled by either thinking that while connected to a data WIFI that you have enabled VOiP protocol for TM WIFI calls or, generally, that you have a free call on TM. (Reminder: You must download only TM approved 10.1; TM will not work on leaks unless you find a separate radio compatible leak upgrade.) IF you want to call for free: Make sure that you have initiated the TM WIFI program, hooked to an internet (i.e., WIFI enabled icon is showing), and that you are calling back to the U.S. (and within one of its service areas). Otherwise, you will incur Int'l charges, roam charges, or both. Finally, billing for these calls will typically only be shown on your bill at the end of the month--that is, you won't be able to do test call to see if being charged.

The carriers have a long, long way to go where WIFI calling is concerned but this is not a technology impediment as much as a strategic management decision.

NOTE: This is important as hundreds, if not thousands, of T Mobile customers misunderstood the usage of WIFI and have incurred untold thousands of dollars in extra fees. Of course, some people are more than happy to take or place a legitimate, but very short, int'l call and trade the ridiculous charge for convenience. (BTW, admittedly this is a minimal problem for OS10 users to date as TM has only recently coded its WIFI feature for BBOS phones.) The BB world has more than enough problems today, editorials aside, the least we can do is to attempt to be more accurate in our semi-technical posts.

P.S.--T Mobile has, or is, taking steps to make this feature more clear (i.e., downplay for puffery) to its users.

Posted via CB10

[scrannel]

Another misguided tome from M65... so, here we go in brief: wifi-calling (once known as UMA) connects a subscriber (T-MO) to their home cell network via wifi. It is not a stock voip service. If I am in Paris using T-Mo wifi-calling, I can call the United States FREE. People in the United States can call me FREE. We KNOW if we call any LD point from our home (US) cell system we will be charged. However, with the new international package, MOST of the time, that charge will be $.20/min.

I have been using the new IMS wifi-calling provided by T-Mo and it is crystal clear. People I talk to when I'm in the US tell me it's clearer than my land line. When I was doing conference calls from Kazakhstan two weeks ago, everyone remarked that I sounded like I was "next door". Got it? Real world use here and abroad.

So, M65 if you're sick of reading about wifi-calling, please stop. We'll all be happier. Oh yeah, about those terrible LD charges you are always threatening us with?

About Simple Choice Goes Global | T-Mobile Support

And please stop trolling here? OK?

[dalej88]

I forgot to mention Ephone by comwave can also be used over cellular service data.

Also if u and whom ever has Ephone installed all you have to do is dial the persons cell number not the Ephone number as that is to be used if you like to Ephone to Ephone or if u have Ephone and the other person does not.

Ephone from comwave is on most cell phone OS platforms

Ephone used to be free and worked well, but now they are charging for minutes. App Deleted.

[KemKev]

How about in Canada?

I am on Rogers and can make calls using Magic Jack on my Samsung tablet. Still cannot do wifi calling on my phone though.

[scrannel]

I am on Rogers and can make calls using Magic Jack on my Samsung tablet. Still cannot do wifi calling on my phone though.

Didn't Rogers once have wifi-calling?

[dalej88]

Didn't Rogers once have wifi-calling?

Yes, called UMA, but not for Z10

[coolj40041]

I updated to 10.2.1 on a z10 gsm unlocked. I have T-Mobile so I get the Wi-Fi feature, except the Wi-Fi program gives me an "error" message. that's it, nothing else. Anyone getting the same thing or know a work around? Will the 1926 radio help? Just want to get that working.

[scrannel]

I updated to 10.2.1 on a z10 gsm unlocked. I have T-Mobile so I get the Wi-Fi feature, except the Wi-Fi program gives me an "error" message. that's it, nothing else. Anyone getting the same thing or know a work around? Will the 1926 radio help? Just want to get that working.

I presume you are getting an error on wifi-calling (not wifi)? If you load a leak it will kill wifi-calling and I do not believe anyone has a radio that will fix it. You can go on the leak/beta thread and ask around.