No Voice or Text on Inland Cellular (non-MVNO) but Internet Data Works!

[rocket2nfinity]

Ignore my other response in the other thread. If I recall correctly, CDMA support is not functional at the moment and probably never will be because cdma networks are being retired. I have two suggestions:

-See if inland has or is willing to set up sip service for you. If not, then

-Consider using a VOIP company that is sip based and use that for your calls via Inlands LTE network. Or forward your calls to you via Google Voice until they get VoLTE up and running.

Thanks for your prompt reply, rocket2nfinity but I'm still confused, because Verizon is CDMA and the PinePhone is reported to function with Verizon--at least under Arch:

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_A..._.28USA.29

Arch doesn't work in p-boot for me (I get an error logon terminal screen that would require a keyboard to attempt to use) but should I try to get Arch working and try it with Inland?

Or is Verizon CDMA simply a different variety than Inland CDMA. The band/freq table I linked lists Inland as "CDMA2000." I've also heard the acronym WCDMA.  Are CDMA, CDMA2000, WCDMA all different?

Yes, it appears that WCDMA and CDMA2000 are different: https://durofy.com/differences-between-wcdma-cdma2000
The article implies to me that "CDMA" is a general term for the general modulation method but WCDMA (Verizon) and CDMA2000 (Inland and others like FreedomPop and Google Fi) differ.

But then the PinePhone wiki says Google Fi (allegedly CDMA200 works for SMS and text:

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_A...#Google_Fi ("These are settings that Google provides for their "data-only" SIM cards, but also appears to work fine with the normal SIM card for texting and calling.")

whereas FreedomPop doesn't not work for voice and text (except via their VoIP service):

https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/PinePhone_A..._.28USA.29

Arrghh! Again, I sure find this to be very confusing and I very much appreciate that you're helping to educate me!

I also don't see how Inland can help me with SIP service, because it's just the protocol under which VoIP phone operate. AFAIK, I'll still need VoIP software on my PinePhone, because it doesn't contain VoIP hardware. Shouldn't I just be looking for VoIP software than runs on a PinePhone Linux OS of one sort or another and see if it works okay over Inland LTE? I don't see how Inland can help me (except maybe to get VoLTE support working)!

I'll also ask the tech now long he thinks VoLTE will take to rollout (for whatever it's worth) but VoLTE appears to be hit and miss on the PinePhone too, and I think I read somewhere that VoLTE was considered "unsupported" not long ago.

Again, many thanks!

Yes, CDMA2000 and WCDMA are different. But neither is supported on pinephone. The people who have gotten cdma based carriers working have done it via VoLTE only. It does work, but needs set-up on the pinephone. Manjaro and arch both work on pinephone. I would suggest using Mobian or Manjaro (Manjaro is arch based). Both have Voip apps, but success has been mixed. I've been meaning to research the succesful ones myself.

Google Fi uses t-mobile gsm for their data and voice networks. Only Nexus/Pixel phones still have access to their cdma network, and that is being terminated with the Sprint merger.

Some carriers offer sip service. Search mobile voip in google. Otherwise, yes, you'll have to subscribe to a Voip service in addition to Inland. This will be required for any phone that does not support VoLTE by Jan 2022, as all maijor US carriers will be VoLTE only by then

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Although sip is a protocol for VOIP, VoLTE uses a compressed protocol that is more efficient, and routed within the modem. Sip based Voip just uses the regular 3g/4g/5g data network and call handling is done via the app, not the modem