Singtel Wifi calling

[uncle_josh]

Here is the list of telco that support VoWiFi :
https://www.circles.life/sg/blog/volte-vs-vowifi-vs-hd-voice-call-quality-singapore-sim-card/

 

[A7997A]

Just tested, wifi calling doesn't work on Circles.life.
For the longest time they do have literature that talks about wifi calling, but when you actually test it or talk to their CSO, they will tell you it is not supported.

There is also a number of errors in that table :
1) Simba supports wifi calling on Android devices, more consistently than any other telco in SG, and the only one that supports it when overseas.
2) MyRepublic isn't using Singtel like the article claims.

 

[xiaofan]

Here is the list of telco that support VoWiFi :
https://www.circles.life/sg/blog/volte-vs-vowifi-vs-hd-voice-call-quality-singapore-sim-card/

Just tested, wifi calling doesn't work on Circles.life.
For the longest time they do have literature that talks about wifi calling, but when you actually test it or talk to their CSO, they will tell you it is not supported.

There is also a number of errors in that table :
1) Simba supports wifi calling on Android devices, more consistently than any other telco in SG, and the only one that supports it when overseas.
2) MyRepublic isn't using Singtel like the article claims.

@BBCWatcher

You may want to take a look at the above comment from @A7997A who is probably one of the most knowledgeable about Voice over Wi-Fi and SIM Only plans in Singapore.

I understand you were hopping VoWiFi may work with eight when roaming. Most likely it does not.

Of course we may want to get more clear confirmations.

My wife is actually traveling in China now with eight and SingTel hi! for roaming. Unfortunately she will not entertain any of my requests to carry out any testing...

 

[loganrunning]

@BBCWatcher

You may want to take a look at the above comment from @A7997A who is probably one of the most knowledgeable about Voice over Wi-Fi and SIM Only plans in Singapore.

I understand you were hopping VoWiFi may work with eight when roaming. Most likely it does not.

Of course we may want to get more clear confirmations.

My wife is actually traveling in China now with eight and SingTel hi! for roaming. Unfortunately she will not entertain any of my requests to carry out any testing...

just got back from VN. used eight, simba and a CMHK roaming sim.

eight was inconsistent.
- no VoWiFi on local wifi service (hotel, restaurants), none on another eight and simba acting as hotspot.
- VoWiFi turned on when using CMHK acting as hotspot
- phone used is NP2, which does NOT turn on VoWiFi in SG, regardless of telco (m1, st, sh)

Simba (also on NP2). Did not turn on VoWiFi whether using local wifi services or other eight in hotspot mode.
- this line always turns on VoWiFi in sg (regardless of telco)

CMHK. turned on in VN only, so didnt try it out in SG
- VoWiFi turned on using local WiFi services.


whether the inconsistency was due to the phone (not, since it works), or telco support/provisioning, i didn't bother to document and note the pattern (lazy me)

 

[keenklee]

@BBCWatcher

You may want to take a look at the above comment from @A7997A who is probably one of the most knowledgeable about Voice over Wi-Fi and SIM Only plans in Singapore.

I understand you were hopping VoWiFi may work with eight when roaming. Most likely it does not.

Of course we may want to get more clear confirmations.

My wife is actually traveling in China now with eight and SingTel hi! for roaming. Unfortunately she will not entertain any of my requests to carry out any testing...

just got back from VN. used eight, simba and a CMHK roaming sim.

eight was inconsistent.
- no VoWiFi on local wifi service (hotel, restaurants), none on another eight and simba acting as hotspot.
- VoWiFi turned on when using CMHK acting as hotspot
- phone used is NP2, which does NOT turn on VoWiFi in SG, regardless of telco (m1, st, sh)

Simba (also on NP2). Did not turn on VoWiFi whether using local wifi services or other eight in hotspot mode.
- this line always turns on VoWiFi in sg (regardless of telco)

CMHK. turned on in VN only, so didnt try it out in SG
- VoWiFi turned on using local WiFi services.


whether the inconsistency was due to the phone (not, since it works), or telco support/provisioning, i didn't bother to document and note the pattern (lazy me)

IMHO.
Alas, I had destroyed my notes.
IIRC.
In Malaysia roaming. 4G,
Heya hotspot, VoWifi for Eight and Simba - OK
Simba hotspot - VoWifi for Eight - Not OK
Cannot distinctly recall for Eight hotspot.

P.S. Do note is IIRC as it was > 1 year back. Maybe I sort of "dislike" SImba which I hard code to memory why Simba don't share with others.

 

[BBCWatcher]

I understand you were hopping VoWiFi may work with eight when roaming. Most likely it does not.
Of course we may want to get more clear confirmations.

More reports would be welcome, including with wireless travel routers that "hop" back to Singapore using a VPN.

To reiterate, Eight's Web site currently has zero references to VoWiFi. It's not an advertised feature within or outside Singapore. If it works, it's a bonus.

 

[loganrunning]

To reiterate, Eight's Web site currently has zero references to VoWiFi. It's not an advertised feature within or outside Singapore. If it works, it's a bonus.

yes, on my 1+12, and travelling companion's 1+13: it occasionally works in sg (regardless of location on/off)
same for np2. local does not work, overseas it works.

i'm not sufficiently motivated to document it and work out a pattern, so it's as you say, if it works, it's a bonus <shrug>

 

[A7997A]

More reports would be welcome, including with wireless travel routers that "hop" back to Singapore using a VPN.

To reiterate, Eight's Web site currently has zero references to VoWiFi. It's not an advertised feature within or outside Singapore. If it works, it's a bonus.

From what I can tell, eight actively blocks Wifi calling connections from overseas IP.
What constitutes overseas IP is another story, those tables are known to be not fully correct, and it is not uncommon for IP to be classified to a different country. That could be why it could sometimes work.

On top of that, it appears that eight now also blocks wifi calling connection when connected through Simba's (and possibly others) roaming data. I was able to connect through Simba's roaming data last year.

And it is not just Eight that has very poor documentation on wifi calling.
Pretty much only the traffic light MNO has any decent reference to wifi calling and all of them explicitly mentioned that it is for local use only. From experience all traffic light telcos block wifi calling when overseas, basically they want to ensure users cannot use it as a "free roaming" service.

List of wifi calling telco is actually very short :
Singtel based, only Singtel, no MVNO
M1 based, M1 & Maxx, MyRepublic 4G (not seen any reference for sometime). not Circle.life though, I would really like to see it working on CL.
Starhub based should have it enable, MyRepublic 5G & Cuniq users have reported it worked in the past.
Simba have no official support, but it does runs well on Android phones only. I have not tested on iPhone recently, in previous test it doesn't work.

Basically if you need wifi calling to work overseas using local wifi, Simba on android phone is the only option.
And you can't trust it to always work, government mandated blocking, wifi networks allowing only TCP traffic and other issues could cause it to fail, but at least the issue is not with SImba.

 

[keenklee]

From what I can tell, eight actively blocks Wifi calling connections from overseas IP.
What constitutes overseas IP is another story, those tables are known to be not fully correct, and it is not uncommon for IP to be classified to a different country. That could be why it could sometimes work.

On top of that, it appears that eight now also blocks wifi calling connection when connected through Simba's (and possibly others) roaming data. I was able to connect through Simba's roaming data last year.

And it is not just Eight that has very poor documentation on wifi calling.
Pretty much only the traffic light MNO has any decent reference to wifi calling and all of them explicitly mentioned that it is for local use only. From experience all traffic light telcos block wifi calling when overseas, basically they want to ensure users cannot use it as a "free roaming" service.

List of wifi calling telco is actually very short :
Singtel based, only Singtel, no MVNO
M1 based, M1 & Maxx, MyRepublic 4G (not seen any reference for sometime). not Circle.life though, I would really like to see it working on CL.
Starhub based should have it enable, MyRepublic 5G & Cuniq users have reported it worked in the past.
Simba have no official support, but it does runs well on Android phones only. I have not tested on iPhone recently, in previous test it doesn't work.

Basically if you need wifi calling to work overseas using local wifi, Simba on android phone is the only option.
And you can't trust it to always work, government mandated blocking, wifi networks allowing only TCP traffic and other issues could cause it to fail, but at least the issue is not with SImba.

IMHO.
I just emailed Eight

Yes, Eight supports VoWiFi (WiFi Calling) on compatible devices.

VoWiFi can be used both locally and while overseas, provided that:

• Your device supports WiFi Calling.
• WiFi Calling is enabled on your device.
• You have a stable WiFi connection.

Same as my findings years ago

IMHO.
Alas, I had destroyed my notes.
IIRC.
In Malaysia roaming. 4G,
Heya hotspot, VoWifi for Eight and Simba - OK
Simba hotspot - VoWifi for Eight - Not OK
Cannot distinctly recall for Eight hotspot.

P.S. Do note is IIRC as it was > 1 year back. Maybe I sort of "dislike" SImba which I hard code to memory why Simba don't share with others.

 

[poland_ball]

From what I can tell, eight actively blocks Wifi calling connections from overseas IP.
What constitutes overseas IP is another story, those tables are known to be not fully correct, and it is not uncommon for IP to be classified to a different country. That could be why it could sometimes work.

On top of that, it appears that eight now also blocks wifi calling connection when connected through Simba's (and possibly others) roaming data. I was able to connect through Simba's roaming data last year.

And it is not just Eight that has very poor documentation on wifi calling.
Pretty much only the traffic light MNO has any decent reference to wifi calling and all of them explicitly mentioned that it is for local use only. From experience all traffic light telcos block wifi calling when overseas, basically they want to ensure users cannot use it as a "free roaming" service.

List of wifi calling telco is actually very short :
Singtel based, only Singtel, no MVNO
M1 based, M1 & Maxx, MyRepublic 4G (not seen any reference for sometime). not Circle.life though, I would really like to see it working on CL.
Starhub based should have it enable, MyRepublic 5G & Cuniq users have reported it worked in the past.
Simba have no official support, but it does runs well on Android phones only. I have not tested on iPhone recently, in previous test it doesn't work.

Basically if you need wifi calling to work overseas using local wifi, Simba on android phone is the only option.
And you can't trust it to always work, government mandated blocking, wifi networks allowing only TCP traffic and other issues could cause it to fail, but at least the issue is not with SImba.

so VPN back to SG and VoWIFI should work?

 

[A7997A]

so VPN back to SG and VoWIFI should work?

In principle it should. But take note that VoWifi is a VPN by itself.
So you are running VPN over VPN.
Each VPN reduces max packet size, and could cause issue for some applications.