Why is there no VoLTE option on my iPhone 11?

We have had the same problem, after spending hours on the phone to Apple support it is a problem with the phone. If the model of your Phone is A2111 it will never work on 4G as the handset is from either China, Hong Kong, USA or Canada so it is missing band 28 700 MHz. Don’t bother contacting the company that is listed in the box as they will just fob you off like they did to us and then tell you it is only Optus and Telstra shutting 3G down so you can use another telco but Vodafone shut theirs down in December 23. I have spent almost a week chasing this up and got a refund today so hopefully this helps.

JH1932 wrote:

We have had the same problem, after spending hours on the phone to Apple support it is a problem with the phone. If the model of your Phone is A2111 it will never work on 4G as the handset is from either China, Hong Kong, USA or Canada so it is missing band 28 700 MHz.

For the iPhone 11, model A2111 is the variant for Canada and the United States. A2223 is the variant for China mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao. A2221 is the variant for other countries and regions.

Identify your iPhone model - Apple Support

It is inaccurate to say that a U.S. or Canadian iPhone "will never work on 4G" without giving the context. A2111 phones support 28 LTE bands (20 FDD-LTE, 8 TD-LTE). However, they do not support band 28 – and it seems that in Australia, Telstra decided to rely heavily on band 28 when putting together their 4G cellular network. So the issue is with using a U.S. or Canadian iPhone 11 in Australia.

iPhone 11 - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

Apple's Support document on 4G and 5G coverage no longer includes information for the iPhone 11. But Google search found this, which indicates that for the iPhone 11, only model A2221 – the one for "the rest of the world", including Australia – has support for FDD-LTE band 28. Conversely, A2221 variants lack support for the FDD-LTE bands 14 and 71. According to the Reddit threads, AT&T and T-Mobile like to use those bands.

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/d79luu/iphone_11_models_and_their_cellular_bands_overview/

4G and LTE mean the same thing.

some older phones that are 4G capable only use 4g for data and default to 3g for voice calls.

they Lack “VoLTE” which just stand for Voice over LTE or 4g

some phones that have both 4G and VoLTE support still default to 3g for emergency 000 calls.

the link will tell you how to enable VoLTE for iPhones.

some phones may not have the VoLTE switch option. This may mean that it’s tuned on automatically and no longer an option as of the latest iOS so don’t panic.

it also has compatibility lists for many phone brands for VoLTE

Yes some import phones lack certain frequency bands and hence cannot take advantage of the full 4g coverage in Australia.

And they may work better with one vs another provider as Telstra and Optus whilst sharing some bands also have their specific bands that they use for 4G. If in doubt, the best is to ring Apple and confirm your device capabilities.

Or just text “3G” to 3498 if in Australia and you will get sent a text stating if your phone will be affected by the 3g shutdown.

buying a refurbished phone does not affect its reception unless there is still a fault with the refurbishing etc.

Kmart in USA sells refurbished iPhones.

these will be the USA model, always check the model number.

the USA model will have differences I.e IPhone 14 will have no sim tray and only support eSIM. Unlike the AUS version which has aim slot.

Identify your iPhone model – Apple Support (AU)

this link from Apple will help you identify what iPhone you have as in, what region it was made for.

before buying any phone , confirm the model number, just because a online seller says it has for example a iPhone 14 for sale does not mean that there is only one version of it, there are many for different regions all with their own reception differences and some physical differences as I stated above.

Remember, buying phones from Facebook Marketplace and online in General unless it’s from Apple…..

there is a high chance that the iPhone you are buying will not be for your region and that’s why it’s cheaper, or it will be refurbished which means fixed as in it has a previous fault with it. But ALOT of “Refurbished” phones also are foreign region phones, nothing wrong with this just will not work as intended as they are meant to be sold in a different country and online sellers are just profiting from this as people assume they are buying a local model.

Alex - Int****y ***io ***al

email ale********@gmail.com if you need more help after reading this.

[Edited by Moderator]

with 3G closing tomorrow Kmart customers are panicking as their refurbished iPhones will stop working.

to lodge a warranty claim, go to www.Alegre.net.au/kmartwarranty

i am just starting the process for the three iPhone 11’s I purchase as gifts for my family. I am unsure what they will offer.

Whoever you spoke with clearly doesn't know what they're speaking about. Of course the phone supports 4G. And 4G is VoLTE. Are you suggesting the phone doesn't work for making or receiving phone calls? If yes, contact the carrier who may need to push a carrier update to the phone.

We've been caught between the company we bought it from and of course, Telstra. We've been around in circles trying to figure out who's responsible.

At the end of the day, the phone is 4G compatible, and it's 3G they're winding down so - the problem lies squarely with Telstra. Incredibly they're allowed to put customers through such confusion. I'm sure they've sold a bunch of new phones though.

I'm assured that if we switch providers, the issue will go away.

Here goes...

No, it means whoever told you that from his carrier doesn't know what they are talking about.

There is no option to turn it on or off because it is on by default. It is required by all US carriers. All iPhones since the iPhone 6 support VOLTE as required by the carriers.

The link I mentioned in my post that somehow did not get included.

How to enable VoLTE and a list of compatible phones.

If the VoLTE option is not there on newer iPhones , it just means that it’s tuned on by default.

[Edited by Moderator]

Yes we got ours from Kmart refurbished iphone11 , contact head office and they will hopefully be able to sort it out for you.

Hi there, did you find a solution for this? My mother is in the same boat - refurbished phone from Kmart is now getting the warning that the network is shutting down. The service provider gave instructions to enable VoLTE but the phone doesn’t have that option. Would love to know how you have managed this, or not?! Thank you

Manda moo wrote:

I didn’t get an email from Kmart

Kmart still exists? Hmmm … looks like it does – just barely.

There were once more than 2,000 Kmart stores and 3,500 Sears store in the U.S. It appears that now there are only 5 Kmart stores and 9 Sears stores left.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears

There is an Australian spin-off that might be in better shape.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart_Australia

Did you get your phone from Kmart? Would love to know how you went about getting a refund.

I have this issue, Kmart are refusing a refund. I have just lodged a complaint with consumer affairs Victoria.

Kmart have sold a product that’s not fit for purpose and are not willing to refund.

Alegre ask you to post the phone to

them. Hopefully they offer a refund as we have had to replace the phones.