Voice call signal defaults, etc.

dabradster wrote:

I live in a 200 year-old house with stone and masonry interior walls. Best Verizon router really reliable only in the room containing the router. The house is also in a valley with a barely usable cell tower signal, even outside. Have FIOS and a Verizon / Samsung cell signal booster and have tried wifi boosters, etc. to little avail. Trying to understand how signals all work with phone so as to decide how not to miss / lose / drop any more important calls, as I'm beginning volunteer work as a child welfare advocate. Please help me with answers to these questions. (Verizon iphone 11)

I used to live in a similar house. And coverage (especially 5 GHz Wi-Fi) can be a problem.

) If only a wifi signal (no cell tower) is available, can a wifi calling enabled iphone receive calls from phones where the call was placed through a cell tower network?

Yes; the carrier “knows” how your phone can be contacted, so it doesn’t matter how the call originated.

) If the answer to #1 is yes, is there a way, while I am at home, to set my iphone to receive calls only through wifi ( I would leave the phone in the same room as my router to eliminate problems with the thick house walls)?

Put the phone in Airplane Mode, then turn on Wi-Fi. However, usually it will use Wi-Fi in preference to cellular if both are available, because it means that the cellular network has more available resources for phones that aren’t using Wi-Fi.

2) Is it true that for voice calls, wifi signals and cell tower coverage are always mutually exclusive, that is, the phone can only make use of one or other?

The phone will use one or the other depending on signal strength, but it can switch between them while on a call. For example, if you are on a Wi-Fi call and you leave the range of the Wi-Fi it will switch to cellular (as long as cellular is on)

2) Assuming the answer to the #2 is yes, if a wifi calling enabled iphone is in a room where both wifi and cell tower signals are present, does the phone always have to default to receiving calls through the cell tower signal?

No, it defaults to Wi-Fi (see my other answer)

3) In the same room, if a call received through a weak cell tower signal is answered and then the cell signal drops out, is the phone theoretically or ideally supposed to maintain the call through an automatic switch to wifi, or is the call just doomed because it was begun with a cell tower signal?

Actually, it will start on Wi-Fi if a Wi-Fi connection is active. Carriers love Wi-Fi calling, even more than users do as it doesn’t use any network resources.

As you have Verizon their service includes whole house Wi-Fi coverage. You should have the latest version router, and instead high end range extender. One that connects with coax cable will work better than just a relay.

Another option is to replace or supplement the Verizon router with a Wi-Fi mesh network.

As you have Verizon their service includes whole house Wi-Fi coverage. You should have the latest version router, and a high end range extender. One that connects with coax cable will work better than just a relay.

Another option is to replace or supplement the Verizon router with a Wi-Fi mesh network.