4G VoLTE calls confirmed working with carrier x

[Kevin Kofler]

VoLTE requires LTE, so if they really do not support LTE anymore, VoLTE will also no longer work. So it all comes down to whether "Vodafone switched off vanilla LTE support recently" as you claim is true.

[spazz]

Hi Kevin. Thanks for your response. Obviously I am no telecommunications expert. Not even a beginner.

Yes, my previous claims were incorrect.
I have spoken again with Vodafone to clarify the issue for myself somewhat.
My understanding is still very bad,
but from what I understand (please correct me where needed):

4G internet / Data works on the LTE standard,
and obviously that is still operational with Vodafone and will remain so.

VoLTE enables voice data over internet.
If a phone does not have VoLTE enabled, or has no capability for VoLTE,
it will not be able to communicate voice data over the 4G network.
As such, my phone had previously been doing voice over 3G. 

Anyway,
I guess the crux of my question is whether Pinephones will support VoLTE either with only basic / minimal config to the modem (or whatever else)
to be compatible with either Vodafone and/or any other telco / provider within Australia (?)

dcinoz's posts at    04-15-2023, 07:51 PM    and    04-15-2023, 07:51 PM
makes me think this is possible with both Telstra, and TPG / Vodafone,
and I would like to know more, about ease of setup.
Is it just as described in this thread?

Vodafone can't provide me with any actual information,
they just want me to go on some rubbish plan for one of their handsets.
...no surprise there.

I have never actually purchased a brand new handset, and PinePhone (or possibly fairphone) are the only ones I would purchase new,
as Pinephone are the only manufacturer making privacy-conscious / privacy-respecting phones, and with Linux by default.

[Kevin Kofler]

In principle, VoLTE should work. (It works for me, but I am almost at the other end of the world, in Austria (2 letters sure can mean a huge distance geographically), so that confirmation does not help you all that much.) What I know is that for some carriers, VoLTE might only work with a specific modem firmware version or with manual configuration, for most, it will just work. If you need confirmation, you will have to wait for someone who has tried VoLTE on Vodafone Australia to hopefully chime in.

To answer the original post:
In Austria (the one in Europe), carrier: HoT (MVNO on the network of T-Mobile/Magenta), VoLTE just works (since it was enabled late last year – there was previously no carrier support for it).

[pjsf]

Hi Kevin. Thanks for your response. Obviously I am no telecommunications expert. Not even a beginner.

Yes, my previous claims were incorrect.
I have spoken again with Vodafone to clarify the issue for myself somewhat.
My understanding is still very bad,
but from what I understand (please correct me where needed):

4G internet / Data works on the LTE standard,
and obviously that is still operational with Vodafone and will remain so.

VoLTE enables voice data over internet.
If a phone does not have VoLTE enabled, or has no capability for VoLTE,
it will not be able to communicate voice data over the 4G network.
As such, my phone had previously been doing voice over 3G. 

Anyway,
I guess the crux of my question is whether Pinephones will support VoLTE either with only basic / minimal config to the modem (or whatever else)
to be compatible with either Vodafone and/or any other telco / provider within Australia (?)

dcinoz's posts at    04-15-2023, 07:51 PM    and    04-15-2023, 07:51 PM
makes me think this is possible with both Telstra, and TPG / Vodafone,
and I would like to know more, about ease of setup.
Is it just as described in this thread?

Vodafone can't provide me with any actual information,
they just want me to go on some rubbish plan for one of their handsets.
...no surprise there.

I have never actually purchased a brand new handset, and PinePhone (or possibly fairphone) are the only ones I would purchase new,
as Pinephone are the only manufacturer making privacy-conscious / privacy-respecting phones, and with Linux by default.

I use vodafone in oz (via iinet) and volte works fine using the latest adsp firmware and Biktorj's custom modem firmware (https://github.com/the-modem-distro/pine...LASHING.md) . I don't think volte worked with stock firmware tho.

[spazz]

Hi Kevin.
Ah! Living in zi good schnitzel-town! (:  
Thanks so much for the replies. 
They have been confidence-inspiring. 
I think based on what has been said already and previous confirmations from dcinoz,
I will just chance it and buy one.
If necessary, I am even happy to keep moving carriers until I find one that works with the pinephone's modem f/w    (and if I do, I will be happy to let each carrier know WHY I dropped them).
__________________________________________________________________________________________

@ pjsf
Hey pjsf,
thanks so much for that reply! I don't know why I didn't think to check github,
(or if I had, I probably wouldn't have had any idea what to start to locate what I needed to flash the phone with if it wasn't for your reply and this thread in general). 

So: thanks so much for sharing that. 
Glad you did the testing on that f/w.  

I had a brief read through the f/w flashing instructions, and it is not over my head.
Happy to try that if necessary, and take care not to brick. 

Any other input or experiences are much appreciated, but I feel like I've learned a bit already, and I know where else to research now, and have a few things to try.

Thanks everybody!

[dcinoz]

VoLTE confirmed working with Amaysim PAYGO (Optus MVNO), Australia


Modem firmware
EG25GGBR07A08M2G_30.007.30.007

+QMBNCFG: "List",21,1,1,"Optus-Commercial_VoLTE",0x05800CA2,201910241

+QCFG: "ims",1,1


Using Mobian with modem set to 4G only.

Calls work. SMS works in 4G only too.