wifi calling ios 14

Also, to address the quoted section below in Spain's post, my routing system does use both 2.4 and 5 ghz bands, and does not let me select one or the other. So Apple's suggestion of being able to use both signals does not work.

Apple is currently working on this issue and will be releasing the fix in an upcoming software update, although we don't have an exact date as to when that update will be released. Some routers broadcast both a 5GHz and 2.4GHz signal. The 5GHz connection will be faster but have a shorter range. Have you tried connecting and using wi-fi calling with both of these signals from your router (if available)?”

i think you are correct. The problem I see is that the range is much to short. Once I get away from the router more than 20 feet I start dropping calls on Wifi calling while connected to 5GHz channel. On 2.4GHz there seems to be no limit. No dropped calls.

There must be a software issue that needs to be corrected. That short of a distance should never be a problem.

I do believe if you can get into your router, you can select either. There are still some devices that only work off of 2.4GHz.

Try and find the user manual on line for your router. It should give you instructions on how to get in and how to change your settings.

I recently got T-Mobile Home Internet which uses cellular signal. It uses a mesh wifi and this is EXACTLY when my issue started. I had been using a hotspot with a T-Mobile SIM which used the same cell signal. I had some overlap and was able to test each and it IS the mesh now that I see this post and others. I had excellent tech support from my cell carrier - AT&T and from T-Mobile. The cell service is wifi calling enabled, as is the T-mobile wifi. I planned to call Apple next.

Does your network have both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If yes the problem may be a range issue with 5GHz channel. I would test it by staying as close as you can to your router. Test to see if your phone drops Wifi calls. If not make another call while not so close. I have found that at some point as I move away my call drop. I think was is really happening, it that it is trying to jump to 2.4GHz channel as the 5GHz gets weak.

I to have a Mesh network which is very fast throughout my entire house. So I could not see why it would drop the channel. If I force it to stay on the 2.4GHz I do not drop calls. If I stay close to the router with 5GHz. channel, I do not loose calls.

Same here. I have an Eero mesh network and the problems all started with the iOS upgrade. I can be 3 feet from the main Eero access point and my phone still drops calls. My ISP is Xfinity and I recently decided to put my XFi router into bridge mode to see if this might be a double NAT traversal related issue. So far, so good, but the jury is still out on that.

You can't use Xfinity's Mesh network, eg their "pods" but you can certainly use another vendor's Mesh, eg Eero, Orbi, etc. I have my Xfinity modem in bridge mode and my Eero is purring along just fine. Adding to that, I have anecdotally seen better performance w/r/t the dropped calls problem; I've been on a call for 50 minutes now and it's still going without a drop. Fingers crossed.

You all may already know this but you can have WiFi calling enabled but you may not actually be calling over WiFi.

Since I’m on Verizon I know I’m on WiFi calling only when in the upper left it states “VZW Wi-Fi” in the status bar in upper left of screen. When I’ve tried calling with that status and get disconnected my phone most of the time automatically switches from “VZW Wi-Fi” to “Verizon” even with WiFi calling still enabled. If “Verizon” is showing I won’t be disconnected from calls and I’m assuming I’m not really WiFi calling at that point.

Sure thing. It's actually a pretty simple change. First, you need to login to the XFinity gateway, which is generally via http://10.0.0.1 or http://10.0.1.1 . When you get a login screen, default login is admin and default password is password.

Once you get to the main screen, you will see a button that says "Bridge Mode" and a selector for Enable / Disable. Click on Enable and follow the instructions (basically it will just need to reboot your router) and you're all set. So long as your Eero is set to grab a dynamic (DHCP) address from the router, you're done.

As I mentioned, I have seen improvement in the dropped calls. I had two pretty lengthy calls today without a drop. I will do some more tomorrow and will let you all know how it turns out.

Thank you. Why do you think bridge mode is better. I understand that your calls are much better. But what is the Techology that leads you to believe that bridge mode is the way to go.

Bridge more for Xfinity is mostly used when you have a different WiFi router. Correct?

Bridge mode removes a layer of translation between your phone and the Internet. When bridge mode is off, the Xfinity modem is performing "NAT", or Network Address Translation, between your modem's public IP address and the Xfinity's LAN network. By default, the Xfinity modem also performs basic firewall functions.

When you have an Eero, or similar product like a non-Xfinity WiFi router, the Eero is also performing NAT between the Xfinity LAN and the Eero LAN, and it also has its own firewall. So you wind up with "Double NAT" and a double firewall which is not only a potential performance issue, it can confuse network applications, like the iPhone's WiFi calling feature, which are used to being only one "hop" away from the Internet.

Bridge mode turns off the Xfinity modem's NAT and firewall, vastly simplifying the network topology, and letting the Eero have direct access to the Internet.

So my theory is that removing the extra firewall and NAT is helping with the dropped calls issue.

I hope that helps!

I still have the WiFi call dropping issue when going into bridge mode and using my personal WiFi router. I have Xfinity too and this is why I tried this. I actually got better results (a bit longer WiFi calls) when I used Xfinity’s WiFi router instead of going into bridge mode w/ my own WiFi router.

I believe, and have always believed. That the problem is the phone is switching from 5GHz channel to 2.4GHz channel. when range (not speed) becomes an issue. I have another router that I connected to my Xfinity router. Not Bridge mode. Just a cable from my router to the Xfinity router. It has a different SSID name. And it only has 2.4GHz channel. When I connect my phone to that router, I do not drop calls in the same place in my house I was dropping before. And have not dropped a call at all. So I think that software 14.x.x does not deal with 5GHz/2.4GHz in the same way that software 13 and below did. And it may have something to do with the 5G hardware in the new phones which requires different software.

In any case I think Apple needs to address it.

Have an iphone 7+ with 14.3 and the issue is horrible. Have aruba wireless environment and have tried one ap / multiple aps as well as 5.ghz only and the problem is terrible. Honestly i thought it was my wifi but the problem started with the ios14 update. ios13 was just fine. I feel the problem comes in when it switches from wifi calling to cell. We are on the edge here with verizon and sometimes its on VZW-WIFI and others its on verizon cell it bounces alot more since the ios14 update.

Really need some help from apple on this.

My gateway is new from xfinity in last year, no mesh stuff. It is probably the frequency flipper you allude to. My typical location is in a room beneath the room with the gateway, full 3 WiFi bars on the iPhone 7 phone w/ iOS 14.3for what that’s worth. So, made 4 test calls within a foot of the gateway/router. 3 dropped @2, 2, 5 min. One survived to 10 min and I ended it.