At the top of the hour Apple unleashed iOS 10.2 for the masses, along with tvOS and watchOS updates too.
Part of the iOS 10.2 update brought forth the 27.1 TELUS carrier update, which has now added Wi-Fi Calling support, as noticed by iPhone in Canada reader @IAmDanBratt:
First, to trigger the carrier update, go to: Settings > General > About > and the accept the update when it pops up. Once that’s done, you should be able to get the WiFi Calling option on your iPhone 6 or newer (on a postpaid plan).
How to enable WiFi Calling on your iPhone with Telus? Go to:
Settings > Phone > WiFi Calling > Toggle ON
Now, Apple says the iPhone 5c or newer supports WiFi Calling, but carriers have sometimes limited the feature to newer models at launch. Bell launched WiFi Calling for iPhone 6s/6s Plus users first, but eventually expanded it to iPhone 6/6 Plus and iPhone 5s users.
Wi-Fi Calling allows cellular calls to be routed over Wi-Fi networks, in areas of poor wireless coverage. For example, in areas where signals are at one bar (err, dot), WiFi Calling takes over and will allow your incoming and outgoing calls to be routed over WiFi, if you’re connected to a WiFi network.
Currently, Bell, Virgin Mobile, Eastlink, Rogers and Fido support Wi-Fi Calling, according to Apple. A carrier update was released for Public Mobile users (27.0), but no WiFi Calling support is available.
Also, the 27.1 carrier update also saw Telus customers receive emails indicating VoLTE (voice over LTE; HD Voice) and VoWiFi (voice over WiFi; voice and texts over WiFi) are coming, as the email noted “changes to your Telus mobility account” and details the following were “added” on December 12, 2016: “VoLTE and VoWiFi Access for $0.00.”
Let us know if you’re seeing WiFi Calling with TELUS and VoLTE and VoWiFI as well. Koodo and Public Mobile saw carrier updates today, but no WiFi Calling support yet.
Update: a Telus spokesperson emailed us the following regarding WiFi Calling:
Wi-Fi calling is available within Canada to TELUS post-paid customers using an iPhone 6 (or newer) running iOS 10.2 (or newer) activated on a TELUS LTE SIM card.
Telus also said there were no updates at this time for VoLTE, Koodo and Public Mobile regarding WiFi Calling, but we’ll be hearing updates soon.
If you need more clarification about how WiFi Calling will work with Telus, here’s their explanation sent to us:
We’re excited to announce that Wi-Fi Calling is now available to TELUS iPhone customers! iPhone customers can send or receive calls, text and multimedia messages as usual, but if they ever experience poor cellular coverage, their iPhone will automatically switch to an available Wi-Fi connection for a more optimal experience. Most importantly, there is no additional cost. Wi-Fi calls and messages are billed the same way as regular calls and messages sent through the TELUS network.
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What about Koodo??
Got it activated on my Telus Mobility iPhone. thumbsupemoji.jpg
Koodo is not on the list 🙁
UGH. I know! I received a carrier update from Koodo and hoping WiFi calling feature will appear on the Settings. T__T
Well, because of the staff discount, or I will move on to fido ????
Neither is Public Mobile – confirmed on 10.2 there’s no option for wifi calling. Sad panda.
Will Koodo launch or not? Between the 3 carriers, fido and virgin do better than Koodo . ????
Dumb question from this geek: Are calls made on Telus Wifi calling deducted from your cellular minutes? My wife has a legacy plan that has enormous data but limited calling minutes. So this will either be great (unlimited calling over wifi!) or status quo (same minutes as now, just over wifi and cellular).
It’s usually the same minutes built into your plan so you will still have whatever mins you have using cellular
OK, thanks. I’ve also asked Telus Mobility on Twitter to confirm. Appreciate the response.
Hey Mike,
The whole point of wifi calling is to let users make calls in parts of the house/city where the cell reception might be low but wifi connection exists.
Example: you might get 1 cellular signal bar in a basement but have full signal of Wifi.
The minutes will be deducted as normal from your plan.
It cannot necessarily be treated as traditional VOIP apps which gives you unlimited minutes over wifi.
Hope that helps 🙂
Are there long distance charges associated with WiFi calling?
Yes! Your plan stays the same as it is. It’s just the matter of where the signal travels ( via wifi or cellular means)
In essence, NOTHING has really changed expect you can make calls in low reception areas ( basements, parts of the city)
If its the same as how Wifi Calling works on Rogers, there aren’t roaming charges if you’re using Wifi Calling because it’s as if you’re calling from your home area since it’s through the internet. Long distance is charged for calls to outside Canada but calls within Canada on Wifi Calling is billed as “local” since they cannot tell if you’re in Vancouver or Toronto. Telus could implement it differently, but that’s how I’ve been using it on Rogers.
Thanks, Manpreet. Appreciate the explanation. Makes complete sense.
Hope Telus does not plan to sell this as a feature like Bell does! Bell has Wi-Fi calling only on their expensive plans. I have a Bell corporate plan and they wanted me to switch to a family sharing plan to get Wi-Fi calling (which i need in the first place cause their coverage is terrible at my home).
Kelowna bc, VOLTE and WIFI calling working iPhone 6s plus. I had to update to 10.2 then had to update my carrier setting to 27.1 which enabled everything. Volte took a min to activate the wheel kept spinning. I’m not sure if its my router or not but wifi calling only works when i turn airplane mode on…. a little frustrating
Probably what they’ve done is that wifi calling only gets enabled if the cell service drops below a certain level.
It’s so you always have the best way to give a connection. They would prefer you use the cell network if your signal is strong enough.
I don’t think so, my basement I only get 1 dot of LTE and it still didn’t kick in. My friend on bell a few weeks ago wifi calling wasn’t working either, then hours later it showed up when in my basement..
Odd, I just got home and updated. I am on one bar of LTE and wifi calling kicked in for me.
I have full signal at home (upstairs) so maybe ill go downstairs where I have 1 Dot LTE and see if it kicks in.
Can anyone confirm does Wifi calling work on old Legacy plans? I know Bell requires you to go on one of their new plans for Wifi calling. I have a old 6GB Legacy plan but am hoping to still be able to use Wifi calling. I’m at work with no Wifi so I can’t update right now to check. Just curious.
my plan is a legacy plan and its working but only on airplane mode.
Does this replace Telus extend?
Yes this replaces telus extend. Telus extend will stop working as of Dec 30th 2016.
I didn’t get the carrier update after updating to 10.2
Opening up Celullar in settings didn’t kickstart it either
you have to goto settings, general, about, and accept the carrier update
Oh that did it. Weird place for it to be. Thanks!
Do you have a 6 or 6s? Curious if anyone has tried to see if the update works for iPhone 6 Volte…..
I’m with an iPhone 7+ but Telus is saying VoLTE is still coming
Make sure you goto into settings, cellular, cellular data options, and select Voice & Data, mine automatically switched to that, the wheel turned a little while then it was all set up. You have to restart your phone after you’ve done that, and boom working great.
Just did that. This is great! Finally. No more back to 3G while on calls. That was so frustrating!!..
Awesome, have you tried using the wifi calling? that you can google iPhone wifi calling and it explains what to do. Let me know if it works for you, mine is glitchy only working when low low signal or airplane mode
I cannot seem to get VoLTE working. Tried turning it off and on and restarting. No luck. Always switches to 3G
If wifi calling is like Rogers, it often requires a hard reset from Telus or you may have to wait 24 hours. Each time you do a phone restore or reset your network settings, you will encounter issues with wifi calling requiring you to call your carrier for a reset.
It’s also a good idea to call the carrier and confirm wifi calling is on your account.
It’s about time. I mean, I know they had Telus extend but still…
Do you need LTE enabled in order for VoWiFi to work?
Technically no you don’t, but if you move away from wifi it won’t hand off straight to 3G
Only available while in Canada?? Way to go TELUS..
shouldn’t be. any wifi network will work
I agree it doesn’t make sense but TELUS themselves specify it’s only available in Canada.
no Koodo T^T…..
This sucks the big luigi. No VoLTE for Public Mobile.
What’s the difference between Wi-Fi Calling and VoWi-Fi? And here at Montreal, Voice over LTE did not work for me. I can set it up on the settings, but when I make a call, it still switch to 3G. But Wi-Fi calling works great. Its about time, I was thinking changing carrier because of this, but now, I’m happy again with Telus.
The only thing I want now is Wi-Fi Calling on other device with iCloud.
is it working with iphone 5 SE ? it says iphone 6 or newer on Telus website, I think the SE is newer then 6 right ?
it’s not “iPhone 5 SE”, just “iPhone SE”. It’s an iPhone 6 packaged in an iPhone 5 form factor. Yes, it’s newer than the 6, but same internals.
Wi-Fi Calling is available for iPhone SE on Bell, so should be on TELUS, as well.
Not correct. iPhone SE is the iPhone 6s packaged in the iPhone 5(s) form factor. It’s the fastest little phone on the market 🙂
The SE, just like iPhone 6s, has the A9 chip and the same rear camera as the 6s. The front camera, however, is the same as in the iPhone 5s.
Ah, correct. I’ve lost track lately because of Apple’s weird and long-overdue release cycles. My gf has the 6s, and I remember telling her that we basically have the same phone, mine is just smaller and without 3D Touch.
Hopefully support for Koodo is added soon, too. Both Virgin and Fido have support, so there’s no reason why Koodo shouldn’t.
Also, hopefully we get proper VoLTE support, too.
I tried this out when it first launched with Fido and found the phone calls to be very inconsistent. The phone (at the time) did not handle switching between wifi and cellular networks very well. Never turned it on again. I wonder if its improved?
When Koodo will have it? Koodo official customer service rep told me next year. I hope it’s not the end of next year !