I don't know much about Android settings for Wi-Fi calling - do you have recommendations?

[Wally J]

Like anyone miles from the nearest tower, I use Wi-Fi calling.
But what are the best Android settings for Wi-Fi calling?

Nobody tells us that.
Do you have recommendations?

Here are my relevant settings (as far as I know what to look for anyway).
<https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings
<https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities
<https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options

What related settings do you use for the best Wi-Fi calling (& texting)?
--
Posting a question on Usenet is an attempt to learn from others who know
more than you do, and to combine our tribal knowledge for all to benefit.

[KenW]

On Sun, 19 Nov 2023 19:48:06 -0400, Wally J
<walte...@invalid.nospam> wrote:

>Like anyone miles from the nearest tower, I use Wi-Fi calling.
>But what are the best Android settings for Wi-Fi calling?
>
>Nobody tells us that.
>Do you have recommendations?
>
>Here are my relevant settings (as far as I know what to look for anyway).
> <https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings
> <https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities
> <https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options
>
>What related settings do you use for the best Wi-Fi calling (& texting)?

In my Pixel6a, I just turned it on and nothing else.


KenW

[Malone]

same with my Galaxy Note 10 - it just works

[Andy Burns]

Wally J wrote:

> what are the best Android settings for Wi-Fi calling?

The most important setting is one that the user cannot change, only your
MNO/MVNO can provision wifi calling.

If it's provisioned, you can enable it.

If it's enabled you can make wifi calls preferred or normal voice calls
preferred.

That's it.



In the UK MNOs/MVNOs used to be precious about only provisioning wifi
calls for phones they had supplied, with customised firmware, now they
tend to have whitelists of recent models they will allow. I had issues
because I had grey-imported a phone from Japan so it wasn't on their
list, after moving from a MVNO to the parent MNO, it is now provisioned
and works for me.

[Stan Brown]

On Sun, 19 Nov 2023 19:48:06 -0400, Wally J wrote:
>
> Like anyone miles from the nearest tower, I use Wi-Fi calling.
> But what are the best Android settings for Wi-Fi calling?
>

> Here are my relevant settings (as far as I know what to look for anyway).
> <https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings

My Android 13 Samsung A54 5G doesn't have "Allow 5G" or "Allow 2G"
under Mobile Networks, and neither one came up in a search of
Settings.

> <https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities

This one I discovered for myself a couple of weeks ago. I think I
posted about it, or at least I meant to.

> <https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options

My phone does not have Developer options, and it does not have any of
those under Developer Settings.

Alas! "Wi-fi safe mode / prioritize Wi-fi stability over
performance" sounds like it might help, because I do get dropouts in
Wifi calling. Switching to "Roaming network preference / Wifi
preferred" a couple of weeks ago has seemed to help.


--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...

[Andy Burns]

Stan Brown wrote:

> My phone does not have Developer options

If you go to settings/about phone and stab at the build number like a
lunatic, you'll gain the developer settings ...

[Wally J]

Andy Burns <use...@andyburns.uk> wrote

Thanks Stan for taking a look at the settings, where the goal here is to
find all the pertinent settings that make wi-fi calling the best it can be.
<https://i.postimg.cc/BQyYWpj3/devopt-verbose-wifi-log.jpg> Verbose Wi-Fi

As for enabling "Developer options", I know both Stan & Andy are Windows
users so I'll just say it's sort of like "Regedit" is, where there's a
'Rot13-like' way to get to it (which Andy explained is to tap 7 times on
"something", which is specific to each phone brand - see images for mine).
<https://i.postimg.cc/3N8zZ1vt/devopt05.jpg> Turning Developer Options on
<https://i.postimg.cc/jSB0rypj/devopt06.jpg> Press Build number 7 times

Keeping with the Windows analogy, Developer options is sort of like Regedit
where the first few hundred times we mentioned it way back a decade or two
when it debuted, we'd all be cautioned not to touch anything or the PC
would self destruct - but then - over time - we found out it was more mild.
<https://i.postimg.cc/28324Hdp/devopt01.jpg> Settings > Developer options
<https://i.postimg.cc/PrqFSfjR/devopt02.jpg> Useful devoptions switches
<https://i.postimg.cc/7LzRSBkP/devopt03.jpg> More devoptions switches
<https://i.postimg.cc/DZFxLn65/devopt04.jpg> Even more devoptions switches

I use Developer options almost every day (e.g., adb debugging over Wi-Fi);
but it's also useful to set your Mock Location app and to pinpoint keytap
X:Y coordinates for Windows scripts to operate your phone remotely, etc.

Mostly I'm outlining my own Galaxy A32-5G Developer options Wi-Fi settings
in this thread, where Andy Burns and I am aware of what Stan probably isn't
yet that Google is constantly adding more and more Wi-Fi related settings
into Developer options (e.g., Wi-Fi MAC randomization per connection and
Wi-Fi Debug tiles) with each Android release.

One major point to everyone here is that the XDA Developers web site is
filled to the brim with thousands of people complaining they can't access
their phone screen because they broke the screen - where that's when the
first question anyone asks them is this sixty-four dollar question...
Q: *Did you set "USB debugging = On" in Developer options?*

If you don't know why you need that, then ask back the instant before you
drop the phone and break the screen such that you can't interact with it.
--
Usenet is a venue for intelligent people to widely share their knowledge.

[Wally J]

Stan Brown <the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote

>> Here are my relevant settings (as far as I know what to look for anyway).
>> <https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings
>
> My Android 13 Samsung A54 5G doesn't have "Allow 5G" or "Allow 2G"
> under Mobile Networks, and neither one came up in a search of
> Settings.

Hi Stan Brown,
I know you from the Windows newsgroup and you are well respected there.

Thank you for looking at the annotated images as sometimes I wonder if it's
worth the effort to do all that work if nobody benefits from me doing that.

I would _love_ for you or Andy Burns or anyone else to explain to me _why_
the phone has those switches as they don't seem to make sense to me either.

<https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings

Q: Why have "Allow 2G" and not "Allow 3G" or "Allow 4G/LTE" for example?

>> <https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities
>
> This one I discovered for myself a couple of weeks ago. I think I
> posted about it, or at least I meant to.

I agree that this is likely one of the most important switches as we're
constantly moving about when we're on a Wi-Fi call, such that we often go
down the driveway while still on the call - and then - it drops on us!

Why?

Probably because it didn't switch over to Wi-Fi data quickly enough, right?

Which is why those extra settings in Developer options might be important.
"Settings > Developer options > Mobile data always active = On
Always keep mobile data active even when Wi-Fi is active
(for fast network switching)"

That's one of my questions I'm asking of others in this group, where I saw
that most people don't even know about these settings in Developer options.

But for those who do know about them, what are _your_ settings set up as?

>> <https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options
>
> My phone does not have Developer options, and it does not have any of
> those under Developer Settings.

Every Android phone has Developer options, just like every Windows PC has
regedit. You just have to know the secret way to make it available, which
Andy Burns covered in another post so I won't belabor the issue here.

There is a ton of good stuff that Developer options enabled, where I'll
just show you a few illustrative screenshots for remote Android control.

<https://i.postimg.cc/9M0Tqzm6/adb01.jpg> Wireless debugging option
<https://i.postimg.cc/hPVtkTXK/adb02.jpg> Boot turns W/L debug off
<https://i.postimg.cc/Dyy7rWYd/adb03.jpg> Activity requires permission
<https://i.postimg.cc/wTfg06CK/adb04.jpg> WiFi Calling on/off Activity
<https://i.postimg.cc/Gm4rfWR4/adb05.jpg> Some Activities fail to run
<https://i.postimg.cc/3xz7Qtrn/adb06.jpg> Run Activity from Termux
<https://i.postimg.cc/W3vvhtkZ/adb07.jpg> Activity = Bad Component Name
<https://i.postimg.cc/9X1hQmF4/adb08.jpg> Starting Intent with -n
<https://i.postimg.cc/zB5sqMsS/adb09.jpg> Same Intent different name
<https://i.postimg.cc/rwb9Mrr8/adb10.jpg> WiFi settings overview
<https://i.postimg.cc/xTqWjL47/adb11.jpg> WiFi control history
<https://i.postimg.cc/R0x8TyZ5/adb12.jpg> Using an Activity Inspector
<https://i.postimg.cc/7hhQ6ym7/adb13.jpg> Adb using -a for wifi Intents
<https://i.postimg.cc/sxn4F1WS/adb14.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Activity
<https://i.postimg.cc/ZK9B82gP/adb15.jpg> adb pair [IP][Port] [code]
<https://i.postimg.cc/SRRXtvKh/adb16.jpg> Android 12 Wireless Pairing
<https://i.postimg.cc/CLWZmJT3/adb17.jpg> Allow wireless debugging
<https://i.postimg.cc/rmBHmvtV/adb18.jpg> Windows adb vysor & scrcpy
<https://i.postimg.cc/CLyK8z9v/adb20.jpg> Both vysor & scrcpy use adb
<https://i.postimg.cc/qRhkhTwV/adb21.jpg> Android Wireless-debugging tile
<https://i.postimg.cc/zfLp8b2v/adb22.jpg> Windows Ctrl-Z,bg workaround
<https://i.postimg.cc/85FwbwfX/adb23.jpg> USB needed before Android 11
<https://i.postimg.cc/SRBWNrJ3/adb24.jpg> Android 12 needs no USB
<https://i.postimg.cc/6p90PBGv/adb25.jpg> C:\> set ANDROID_ADB_SERVER_PORT
<https://i.postimg.cc/YjBWwCPw/adb26.jpg> setprop service.adb.tcp.port #
<https://i.postimg.cc/L4bDbk6z/adb27.jpg> scrcpy --tcpip=[IP]:[PORT]
<https://i.postimg.cc/zDCTY9NS/adb28.jpg> multiple adb connections
<https://i.postimg.cc/R0BXTMCy/adb29.jpg> multiple pairing connections
<https://i.postimg.cc/DZV4tcYM/adb30.jpg> Windows pairing debuggers
<https://i.postimg.cc/436FCYFX/adb31.jpg> Local adb runs on Android
<https://i.postimg.cc/7YLhtcZL/adb32.jpg> ladb eliminates the PC
<https://i.postimg.cc/9MSg3sjj/adb33.jpg> Long and short serial formats

> Alas! "Wi-fi safe mode / prioritize Wi-fi stability over
> performance" sounds like it might help, because I do get dropouts in
> Wifi calling. Switching to "Roaming network preference / Wifi
> preferred" a couple of weeks ago has seemed to help.

Ah. Good. I'm happy that you _looked_ at the images as I'm always wondering
if it's worth the effort to help others with images if they never look
(which is something you see a lot on the child-like Apple newsgroups).

I'm glad you _looked_ at those settings, not only because most people just
go with the defaults but also because this is a hidden Wi-Fi option
(well, it's not hidden so much as harder-to-find if you don't know how).

You and I are always trying to get better Wi-Fi and both of us can use that
"Wi-fi safe mode / prioritize Wi-fi stability over performance" option".

If you turn it on, and if you (or anyone) can find out more about what it
actually does, I would _love_ to hear back from you as I'm clueless.

I'm never afraid to admit when I'm ignorant - where all I did was set that
switch long ago - but I don't really know what it's actually doing.

In summary, I do NOT know what "Wi-Fi Safe Mode" really does nor do I know
why there are settings to "Allow 2G" but not "Allow 3G" or "Allow 4G/LTE".

Nor am I sure which collection of Wi-Fi settings makes Wi-Fi calling more
stable where the situation for most of us is probably similar in that
a. We're likely using Wi-Fi calling (connected to the router) at home
b. But we also have our cellular data probably turned on at the same time
c. And we often drive down our driveway while on a call initiated at home

I'm trying mostly to find the best Wi-Fi calling setup such that when I
drive down my driveway, I don't lose the call - because it should switch
over to the cellular data network when it loses the router Wi-Fi AP signal.
--
On Usenet, each time you faithfully try to help someone else, you learn.

[Wally J]

Malone <msl...@nospam.uk> wrote

>>> What related settings do you use for the best Wi-Fi calling (& texting)?
>>
>> In my Pixel6a, I just turned it on and nothing else.
>>
>> KenW
>
> same with my Galaxy Note 10 - it just works

Thanks for letting us know that just setting one option works for you.

I envy those who say the default Wi-Fi calling settings work as what I find
happening is I connect to the Wi-Fi access point on my router on a call and
then when I drive down the driveway, it doesn't switch over to cellular
fast enough and drops the call as a result (although that has improved).

As Stan Brown noted, there are a _lot_ of hidden Wi-Fi calling settings.
I was hoping to find out what others have set which works for them too.

For example, these are some of the settings that I documented a while ago:
<https://i.postimg.cc/d0dcz022/adb13.jpg> Adb using -a for wifi Intents

<https://i.postimg.cc/sxn4F1WS/adb14.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Activity

Notice the "Calling preference" options of:
a. Call over Wi-Fi
"If Wi-Fi is unavailable, use mobile network."
b. Call over mobile network
"If mobile network is unavailable, use Wi-Fi"
c. Wi-Fi only
"Call over Wi-Fi. If Wi-Fi is lost, call will end."

Notice the "call will end" is the part I'm trying to most avoid.

To ameliorate that problem, maybe these hidden setting are important?
"Settings > Developer options > *Wi-Fi safe mode*
Prioritize Wi-Fi stability over performance"

"Settings > Developer options > *Mobile data always active*
Always keep mobile data active,even when Wi-Fi is active
(for fast network switching)"

"Settings > Developer options > *Wi-Fi scan throttling*
Saves battery and improves network performance"

Probably less so these settings, both of which I have turned on:
"Settings > Developer options > *Enable Wi-Fi Verbose Logging*
Increase Wi-Fi logging level, show per SSID RSSI in Wi-Fi Picker."

"Settings > Developer options > *Wi-Fi non-persistent MAC randomization*
When this mode is enabled, this device's MAC address may change
each time it connects to a network that has MAC randomization enabled."

In summary, I'm trying to find out from others what works for them.

That's why I showed the screenshots - so that we could compare what I have
set to what others who have the same issues have set for themselves.

<https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings
<https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities
<https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options

--
An advantage of Usenet is you can compare your results to that of others.

[Malone]

Just to clarify my circumstances. I'm a long way from any cellular
coverage. Just going down my driveway doesn't help. I need to drive for
15 minutes before I can pick up cellular. So, automatic switching from
wifi calling to cellular isn't an issue for me.

[Wally J]

Wally J <walte...@invalid.nospam> wrote

> What related settings do you use for the best Wi-Fi calling (& texting)?

Ooops. I just found another set of related Wi-Fi settings.

Just now I cleared my firebase app indexing and had to reset all my
settings where I noticed these "Intelligent Wi-Fi" settings also.
<https://i.postimg.cc/8zN8J7CK/wificall04.jpg> Intelligent Wi-Fi
Settings > Connections > (longpress) Wi-Fi > 3dots > Intelligent Wi-Fi

Here's what my "Intelligent Wi-Fi" settings are set to currently.

Intelligent Wi-Fi
Switch to mobile data = On
"Use mobile data whenever your Wi-Fi internet [sic] connection
is slow or unstable.

Network exceptions = none
"Your phone will remain connected to these networks, even if
the connection is unstable"

Switch to better Wi-Fi networks = On
"Automatically switch to Wi-Fi networks that are faster or more
stable than your current network. To prevent interuptions, this
only happens when the screen is off."

Turn Wi-Fi on/off automatically = Off
"Turn on Location to use this feature."

Show network quality info = On
"Show network quality info in the list of available Wi-Fi networks.

Show network quality info
"Get network quality information from Samsung. This includes information
such as a network's speed, performance, and internet availability.
It will be shown in the list of available Wi-Fi networks."

Detect suspicious networks = On
"Get notified when suspicious activity is detected on the current
Wi-Fi network. Use secure Wi-Fi to get additional protection from
suspicious activity and attacks on Wi-Fi networks.

Network exceptions = none

Auto Hotspot connection = Not signed in
Intelligent Wi-Fi = 5.0.0

Here's a summary of my current related Wi-Fi settings:

<https://i.postimg.cc/P5Kb99jy/wificall01.jpg> Roaming & Network Settings
<https://i.postimg.cc/xTDPzL5v/wificall02.jpg> Wi-Fi Calling Priorities
<https://i.postimg.cc/g0TVkhr6/wificall03.jpg> Wi-Fi Developer options

<https://i.postimg.cc/8zN8J7CK/wificall04.jpg> Intelligent Wi-Fi settings

How do yours compare?

[Wally J]

Malone <msl...@nospam.uk> wrote

> Just to clarify my circumstances. I'm a long way from any cellular
> coverage. Just going down my driveway doesn't help. I need to drive for
> 15 minutes before I can pick up cellular. So, automatic switching from
> wifi calling to cellular isn't an issue for me.

Thanks for clarifying that you don't have cellular coverage at home.

For you then, probably you will lose the phone call the moment you
leave the area that is painted by your home router's access points.

I can't think of anything you can do if there isn't cellular coverage,
other than the extreme of adding an expensive vehicle cellular repeater
which I'm sure you won't want to do (yes, I know you implied no cellular,
but these things are super sensitive so they can pick up low signals).

I don't have a mobile cellular repeater but I do have a static cellular
repeater and a femtocell (both of which are essentially tiny towers).

Mine have to be registered with the FCC since they're legally cellular
towers even though they only service a few hundred yards of radius.

Looking at headers, I noticed your email address ends with "uk" so I don't
know what they do across the pond, but here, in the states, all three major
carriers will provide a free femtocell (often called a microcell) which
boosts signal when you're inside the home & somewhat outside the home.

But that cellular tower inside your house won't make it all that far down
the driveway (I should test it since every tower, even femtocells, has a
unique FCC-registered tower ID so I can tell if I'm connected to it).

Some day I'll test how far the femtocells paint outside the house, but for
you, even that won't get you more than to the end of your own driveway.

So you're pretty much stuck making Wi-Fi calls from inside the house only.

[Malone]

Indeed. I'm actually in New Zealand where rural connectivity is very
poor for some of us. Elon Musk has provided us with decent internet but
connection to the cellular network is currently only possible using wifi
calling within the range of my router. Voice communication using Wifi
calling via Starlink can be a bit iffy (especially to another Starlink
user) - possibly due to the small latency - but it's better than nothing...