Does Verizon WiFi calling work on an iPhone 5S with iOS 9.3?

Note that this thread is over a year old. At the time my carrier was Verizon -- no longer is. Also note that the first 2 of my 3 posts in this discussion were in error at the time. Note the 3rd post that I made above to correct the first 2.

Thanks, I'm just wondering how come I can not find VOIP on my iPhone 5s. What I've read is that this phone should have it, yet the option for WIFI under phone settings does not show up. So now I'm wondering if it's the model phone I have, or a Verizon issue. My work phone is a 6s and it's on AT&T, and it was a piece of cake to turn on VOIP.

As I indicated above, my first 2 posts were in error. At the time (over a year ago) Verizon did not support wi-fi calling on the 5s. I suspect that is still the case but don't know that for certain. You may want to contact Verizon customer service to verify.

vtnh wrote:

Have been looking forward to FINALLY getting Verizon WiFi calling on my 5S once iOS 9.3 came out, but I'm now thinking maybe it only will work with 6, 6S, 6 plus and 6S plus. Is this true? Does it work with 5SE?

Thank you.

You should ask Verizon this question, as it is a carrier feature.

or you can look at their website and see if your phone is compatible or not.

Why not update to 9.3 and find out or contact Verizon and ask them?

I haven't used it but the option to turn it on is now available after upgrading to iOS9.3 on my Verizon iPhone 5s

vtnh wrote:

Have been looking forward to FINALLY getting Verizon WiFi calling on my 5S once iOS 9.3 came out, but I'm now thinking maybe it only will work with 6, 6S, 6 plus and 6S plus. Is this true? Does it work with 5SE?

According to Verizon, it currently only works with the 6/6+ and 6S/6S+.

As the iPhone SE (not 5SE, by the way) has not been released, Verizon hasn't provided any information on it.

FoxFifth wrote:

I haven't used it but the option to turn it on is now available after upgrading to iOS9.3 on my Verizon iPhone 5s

I'd be interested to hear if that works as Verizon says it's not an option for the 5S.

Meg St._Clair wrote:

FoxFifth wrote:

I haven't used it but the option to turn it on is now available after upgrading to iOS9.3 on my Verizon iPhone 5s

I'd be interested to hear if that works as Verizon says it's not an option for the 5S.

The on/off switch works! 🙂

Not sure how I can test more than that. I was looking forward to the option as the place where I spend January through March had terrible cellular service from AT&T and Verizon even though it's in plain sight of downtown San Diego. A couple of years ago I switched from AT&T to Verizon hoping they might be better. They weren't but about a year ago both improved their service here. Since I now have decent cellular I don't know if there is a way to test the wi-fi option.

I have little reason to use it as Verizon's service in my area is excellent. I'll give it a try this evening. If I can think of someone to call. I hardly ever talk on the phone. 😉

This is weird. iPhone 5S with 9.3. NO option under Phone Settings for WiFi calling. Same on my iPad Air, 1st Gen. Any idea if a settings conflict might be present? I believe the release notes say the 5S IS included in the Wifi calling for Verizon.

Peter

I Called Verizon. WiFi calling is NOT supposed to be available on the 5S and below. Just the 6 and 6 S series. Has to do with the "HD" feature that allows talking on LTE while you can simultaneously browse on WiFi ( like ATT has had for a while). What ever! No other problems PTL. It will be available on the "SE". -:)

Appledoc102 wrote:

I Called Verizon. WiFi calling is NOT supposed to be available on the 5S and below. Just the 6 and 6 S series.

Yes, that's what I said.

Verizon and Sprint uses CDMA technology for their cell service. AT&T and T-Mobile uses GSM. CDMA does not allow surf and talk at the same time. However, GSM does. Some phone makers did allow some of their phones to surf and talk while on a CDMA cell service. But that only worked when that particular phone was using two antennas at the same time. Thus using nearly double the power while on the internet (surf) and voice (talk) at the same time.

With that being said, both AT&T and Verizon have rolled out HD Voice. HD Voice is a fancy way of saying that the voice part of the call is being done over the internet. AKA VoIP. This means that both AT&T and Verizon, the phone needs to be on the LTE network to work. Or be with in range of WiFi with WiFi calling enabled on the phone.

A friend of mine, who has an AT&T iPhone was able to be on a VoIP call at home on his WiFi and leave the house and it'll transfer to AT&T VoLTE seamlessly. However, he could not move from VoLTE back to the WiFi until he was done with the call. Then a fix came out a month or so later. So now he can.

KOT

Kingoftypos wrote:

With that being said, both AT&T and Verizon have rolled out HD Voice. HD Voice is a fancy way of saying that the voice part of the call is being done over the internet. AKA VoIP. This means that both AT&T and Verizon, the phone needs to be on the LTE network to work. Or be with in range of WiFi with WiFi calling enabled on the phone.

It's not generally referred to as VoIP buty rather VoLTE: voice over LTE. And, it's not the same as WiFi calling. The iPhone 6 and later has had VoLTE for quite some time. WiFi calling is new.